Intro: MichaelP

[MichaelP]

Hi, I am a newbie to SOFT ,

my relation to guitar :

12 years On and Off - self taught.. just simple open chords and some barre chords.

Cant read music scores...

And so when I do 'picking' or plucking' , I just do it by ear, that means listening over and over again to a song. For example...Richard Marx's Now and Forever... I had to listen to that song like more than 50x to get the intro just right..

Just bought an electric guitar a few weeks back - a Fender Strat (Made in America) and its great. And just now struggling to understand what all the dials and the combo of dials will give me what kind of sound...

Any help from you all will be deeply appreciated

 

[fenderrules]

Hi MichaelP and welcome to S.O.F.T!!!

I do believe you will enjoy your stay here =)

Hey, it's totally alright if you are self taught and that you can't read music scores. I can't read 'em to save my life even though I have been playing for 7 years straight. Sheer determination got me through a lot of difficult stuff like speed picking. It's all a matter of being patient and working on your goals one by one. You can do it man!

And congrats on your purchase of the MIA Fender Stratocaster. You just got yourself a very good and versatile instrument which you must really treasure and take care of since it must have cost a bomb. Do begin to explore your style and tone by fiddling and playing around with different settings on both your guitar and amp. If you don't have an idea of how to do that, do research up on google and youtube on how to get the tone you are looking for.

Oh, and by the way, I'm starting a series of gatherings for the guitar newbies in this forum, which happened before once, and plan to do it on every weekend, preferably a Saturday. The details of the upcoming one can be found here:

http://soft.com.sg/forum/music-kopi...lay-acoustic-guitar-gathering-numero-2-a.html

Cheers and good luck in your playing

 

[teleplayer]

"I'm right here waiting for you..." :mrgreen:

 

[fgl]

welcome 2 the jungle
we got what U need

 

[theunknown]

Hi Michael welcome to SOFT! i'm self thought too. been playing for a year plus, and trying to master my second major chord, E!

anyway is the fender your first electric guitar? or do you have tons of others? dont forget to post a pic in the gear gallery under gear guitar. haha

oh and what type of songs do you play?

 

[Girlpants]

i'm self thought too. been playing for a year plus, and trying to master my second major chord, E!
?

You kidding right???

Anyways, WELCOME MICHAEL!!

 

[evident]

he is the true meaning of what a self-taught musician is. figuring everything out on your own without teachers or books. just by ear. that is teaching yourself.

 

[sloopyblue]

hi mike,
welcome! carry on on what u doing and be passionate abt it. also surround yrself
with 'positive' guys.
one day u will just find n i quote 'it will just come' by Henry Chua of the "Quest". the chords that is. thats what he told me when i was struggling with my chords.
believe me self taught with good tips from freinds is best taught. u never need to go
over 50 times again on any songs but maybe slowly going done to 15 times.
[ps. i m now a self taught 'vocal']
phil

 

[mus]

Welcome to SOFT!

 

[ramblinglibrarian]

And just now struggling to understand what all the dials and the combo of dials will give me what kind of sound... Any help from you all will be deeply appreciated

I remember watching this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqMUe-5kK7I
It shows the difference between a Fender Strat and a Paul Reed Smith. By comparing to another guitar, I think you can appreciate the features of your Strat better. Hope that helps. I'm sure you can find more videos on the Internet.

Oh, I'm a self-trained can't-read-notes guitarist. Heh, I could do something about it (like learn how to read notes) but I'm too lazy to do so. So I accept that I won't be as good as I can be. Heh.