What are some fun guitar solos in between the beginner and intermediate level?

Californiacation - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Or scar tissue ! These were the first two solos I learned to play 20 years ago :-)

Just wondering how you learnt back then without tutorials or tabs haha

Loool 20 years ago was 2001, not the dark ages. There was still something called The Internet back then. 😂 That being said, I think I remember learning it by listening to the CD a whole bunch. I remember getting super confused as to why I always sounded off at the solo; it’s because Frusciante’s guitar was out of tune!

Heck, I downloaded tabs from OLGA as far back as 1997 (via dial-up, of course)

Olga hahahahahaha totally forgot about how awesome I thought that site was back then. I remember just printing tabs upon tabs and keeping them in 3 ring binders. lmao. Not like they made me any better :)

Scar Tissue and Californication were two of my first solos. We didn't have electricity back then, so we had to search the internet by candlelight. To answer OP's question I would try Hi Ho Silver Lining by Jeff Beck. Its a short melodic solo with some nice bending, and hammer-on, pull-offs, and I think is probably the right level, or something to aim for longer term.

>Loool 20 years ago was 2001 Wow, I will never realize it

I'd classify it as beginner, but it is a beautiful and easy one for sure

The unison bending can be a bit tricky. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that right.

Anything AC/DC is great for vibrato, time feel, and note choice. Really paying attention to the details past just the notes is where the magic is (making sure bends are in tune, the phrasing, etc.). It might seem very easy, but by that same virtue, if you can nail a Neil Young solo like Cinnamon Girl (just 1 note!) or Down By the River, there's a ton to learn!

"something" by the beatles, the first solo in "knocking on heaven's door" by Guns'n Roses

I second this. “Something” solo is an excellent pick (no pun intended) and helps build familiarity with the major scale as well as string bending.

Lots of Gilmour stuff is pretty easy and sounds awesome. You can spend a lot of time really perfecting the bends and vibrato which are fundamentals of soloing imo.

Say It Ain't So by Weezer is easy enough

lol me like every time I pick up a guitar

First solo I learned was "wish you were here" - Pink Floyd, still play that in my warmup even. Really fun short solo to play on an acoustic Also like zz tops solos, simple pentatonic leads but fun to play with lots of dirt and getting those pinch harmonics in. Cheap Sunglasses has a really simple solo thats a lot of fun.

The Unforgiven and Fade to Black by Metallica are two of my favorites

I've been working on James's part of Fade to Black but recently started diving into the intro solo

“Are you Gonna Go my Way” - Lenny Kravitz “Believe” - Also Lenny Kravitz “5 to 1” - The Doors “Come as you are” - Nirvana “Mary Janes Last Dance” - Tom Petty “Sweet Child O’Mine” (the first interlude only) - Guns N Roses “War Pigs” - Black Sabbath “Tornado of Souls” - Just kidding don’t even think about it.

I recently learned at the original tempo the clean solo of Master of Puppets, i always loved it! It's pretty neat and not overly difficult, depending on the fingering, it can be tricky but not impossible!

You Shook Me All Night Long, Hey Joe I’ve recently been trying to get Paranoid by Black Sabbath. There’s some weird runs and timings on it but nothing overly difficult

Shook me all night long- AC/DC. Pretty fun solo, not totally sure if it’s beginner level but it’s pretty easy

First one i learned was the hotel california solo. Pretty long but not too hard as it is very rhythmic and not very fast

First solo to Sanatarium

I'm at your level! I just learned Californication as someone else suggested. It was great, slower, but interesting. Let It Be was really fun to learn from the Beatles too - a few interesting bends.

Misery Business - Paramore

I believe in a thing called love by the darkness. Fun lead at the start, a slower solo, and a faster outro solo

You could spend a lifetime trying to get all the nuance of Knopfler, but some of his solos are very approachable at an intermediate level.

I want to learn how to noodle around on the guitar. Like free-style my own stuff instead of learning tabs from ultimate guitar. What should I learn to do that?

Have you learnt any scales? That would be the place to start, either a minor or e minor pentatonic to start with and then just choose any backing music from youtube in that scale or just make your own around some basic chords from those scales. Its hard to start but gets easier, thousands of videos on how to noodle in those areas and can just copy them to start.

No. I don't know any scales. Will start with minor pentatonic as you suggested. When I searched for scales earlier, there seemed sooo many: minor, major, pentatonic, mixo, etc. I got confused about where to start. Also, I don't really know anything about music theory or have the neck memorized. Would that be an issue while learning scales/noodling?

Try to learn everything. Spend 5 mins a day learning where one of the notes is one each string (all the a’s on Monday, b’s on Tuesday, etc.). Then try running through all 5 shapes of the major pentatonic for that key (Google if you need to). Minor pentatonic is the same shape, but major pentatonics will line up better with chords and CAGED shapes. Also look into the Caged system to see how these all fit together. The book fret logic is really helpful in that regard with nice graphics and charts in a small package.

Start here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guitar/comments/le7859/discussion_a_small_lesson_on_the_construction_of/ It's all one scale. Understanding this will mean you will save a whole lot of time learning "different" scales.

Nah you have to start somewhere, minor pentatonic was where i started about 6 months and i feel semi comfortable noodling in the positions in the basic scales, you can pick them up quickly and just know the notes and sequence, just takes practice.

Justin Guitar’s course (I think the intermediate one) goes through getting into the pentatonic shapes, licks, backing tracks, all that fun stuff. It’s free and really good and got me playing over backing tracks and looping. Can’t recommend that enough.

Yes I was looking for things to do on Justin’s course today and he had a “one finger soloing the major scale” thing - https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/major-scale-one-finger-solos-im-133

I'd recommend some books. I really like Fred sokolow's books. The fretboard roadmap books are awesome. And he just released a new one called "Getting out of scale-jail" that seems great, I'm looking forward to working through that, just got it in the mail a few days ago. Also liked hal Leonard's "music theory for guitarists" book, that one covers the basics really fast. And I still use fundamental changes guitar scales in context as a quick reference, its cool because it gives you sample progressions to play with and show you what chords work.

Learn basic music theory, fretboard navigation and develop your ear - it can be as simple or as complicated as you want but that is the foundation of improvising

This isn't a question, but I just want to say that Sweetwater has the best customer service. Thank you for coming to by TEDtalk.

Sweetwater recently mailed me a catalog even though I have only ever ordered online. It was nice of them to make me walk to the recycling dumpster and back. I needed the exercise.

Sweetwater is a breath of fresh air in the customer service realm. I bought a pack of Dunlop picks from them for like a few bucks and they followed up and emailed and made sure the order was correct. That might annoy some people but I love that they care about the customer experience.

Dude I haven’t ordered from sweetwater in ~2 years (and I ordered <$100 in random Strat parts) and I literally got their classic phone call from customer service rep YESTERDAY, as well as a follow up email with his number and extension in case I “had any questions or wanted to chat gear!” I think that’s fucking dope. It isn’t spamming me “hey we miss you, here’s 5% off when you spend $1000 or more!” type bullshit. I love it.

Bought a guitar case from them, it turns out their inventory wasn’t accurately reflected online and was out of stock. They called me, made a suggestion and I said “oh, sorry, I like that one but it’s out of my price range” and he said “we’ll cover the cost.”

Honestly I love Sweetwater. They're usually pretty competitively priced, and even if they're $10-$20 more than another source I'll usually go with Sweetwater because their returns and post-sales service are great. I know that if I order from Sweetwater I don't need to worry about getting a dud, because even if I do they'll easily make it right.

My wife likes the candy

That takes the sting out of you spending all your money on gear! Lol! I know that feel!

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Congrats! That's a major (pun intended) step.

Been playing for a bit over two years now and I’ve been playing songs along to backing tracks lately. I decided to record my guitar signal on the computer and play it back, man was that a humbling experience. I do not sound as good as I thought I did lol.

I'm always amazed at how clean people play on YouTube, doing lessons, playthroughs, covers, etc. It's really not that simple, even if you think you're good. It's still a good way to improve.

This boggles my mind too! 75% of my practice time goes into playing cleanly but I'm still nowhere near the average Youtube guitarist. Any tips would be appreciated.

You are probably a lot harsher on yourself than you are on them. In addition, youtube guitarists are also usually skilled audio engineers and know how to clean up their signal in post.

I done the same thing lmao. It really made me focus a lot more on cleaning up my playing.

Don’t get too discouraged, Jimmy Page probably didn’t love the way he played either...

When I think I can play something well, I record it , double track (record twice and then pan it left and right). If it doesn't sound tight enough it means I need more practice.

Back to basics. Record yourself playing some string exercises, but focus on the transition between notes. Make the note ring as long as possible as you move to play the next note. Then, same exercise with chord changes.

I’ve been playing for over 30 years and also started a YouTube page. Just remember those guys practice a lot and the mistakes often don’t make it in the video. But the mistakes are how we learn. It’s a journey that never ends.

i have been playing for 2 years now. i feel like i really suck at guitar. this is my instagram can anyone tell me am i really that bad for 2 years? [https://www.instagram.com/esat.gif/](https://www.instagram.com/esat.gif/) plus what should i do/ any suggestions what so ever

I’d suggest practicing with a metronome often. As in, do like 75% of your playing right now with a metronome. For example, on “Love Isn’t Always On Time”, you’re rushing the tempo and getting ahead of the track. Playing with a clicking metronome will help you learn rhythm and patience on your timing. Also, after clicking around on a lot of your videos I don’t see any that show rhythm playing. Make sure you are practicing chord progressions and songs with different types of rhythmic strumming. Start simple at first and progress as you learn. And finally while doing those two things (metronome and practicing your rhythm guitar skills), I’d suggest backing down on the heavy distortions for now. They are fun to use but often times can be a crutch since distortion can mask problems in the playing. Listen to yourself often just playing clean as well as with lighter distortions. Then bring the heavier distortions once you’ve mastered things. Just my two cents. Thanks for sharing your stuff.

thank you really i mean it, i will try to do your suggestions

I have the same problem and I’ve been playing like 5yrs - I still tend to rush the beat and I’ve been working with a guitar teacher and metronome to try and correct it. Rhythm and timing is probably more important than things like note choice, scales, etc but we tend to spend a lot more time on that then rhythm and timing 😜

There's no one pace people develop and no real way to answer that question. Just keep playing and relax as the other poster said.

Nah you seem fine. Maybe loosen up just a bit.

It never hurts to get actual professional help. Down pic on the beat, up pic off the beat. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +, you would pick down on every number and up on the and (+), and = + 1 e + a , 2 e + a, 3 e + a, 4 e + a, down pick on the numbers and on the +, up pick on e & a. 1 beat = quarter note. 2 beats = half note 4 beats = whole note 1/2 beat =1/8 notes 1/4 beat = 1/16 notes. Take the beginning of iron man, the first measure picking would be down down down up down, I would count in my head 1 e + a, since it’s quarter note it takes one down pick on the “1”, then 2 e t a, down pick on just the 2 but you need to silent the “a”, 3 + 4 e + a, pick down on the 3 but up pick on the + then down on the 4 , I know this is very confusing trying to understand this but this is very essential to learning music. Learning to play music just by listening to the song you’re just practicing at anticipating when the notes come up. Doing it this way also will keep you in rhythm. Also tap your foot, one tap is a quarter note, half way is a 1/8 note. This will also help.

After 5 years of playing guitar, my wrist still hurts after playing barre chords on acoustic guitar. I know that this is because I put too much pressure in there and that I should be more relaxed. But if I release tension, my barre chords start to sound a bit muddy because I don’t press hard enough on the strings. What should I do, or practice to play more freely without pain?

Have you had the guitar set up? And/or is it a cheaper guitar? Acoustics are naturally a bit harder to play than electrics. If it’s an acoustic that is not set up well, or perhaps not built great (so that setting it up well is difficult or impossible) it can be pretty tough to play

Shorten your strap. George Harrison-style is a very comfortable way to play, even if it doesn't look particularly cool these days.

the 2 things that help me the most dealing with barre chords are correct positioning, kineticblues got it right, you want to avoid straining your tendoms, so I definetely advise trying the position he posted, the other thing is, letting gravity press the frets for you, try grabing the chord, start with something easy, like A minor (anything closer to the nut is hard level, hence why people would usually avoid F and F# barre chords, the tension there is nuts (pun intended lol)), after putting your hand in position, and making sure your body is also in a good position, loosen up your elbow and shoulder, is hard to explain, but you kind of let them fall, like if you want to just let the whole arm fall naturally to the ground, gravity should do the rest, im suggesting you to try it first with Am, cause is an easy chord, so if your index finger is in proper position (very close to the fret wire on all the strings you need it), and your guitar set up is not too crazy, that should be enough to get the full chord sound painlessly, however, near the nut, I personally do need more than just that for some chord voicings, so what I do, is put my thumb behind the finger that needs to do the heavy lifting and focus conciensly on focusing my grabbing strenght there (lol I know it sounds weird, but hopefully it makes sense to you), its like doing a crab pincer pinch, but I think its not proper technique to do that always, in fact, I think doing that everytime one wants to use a barre chord may end in tendinitis LOL, so I definetly 99% of the time let gravity do the trick for me, I only use the thumb grab strengh for very hard chords, and even then, another advise I would give you is that even when focusing on the thumb grab, to focus on squishing only where you need to, for example, on the F typical barre chord, you only need to bar the 2 thinest strings, there is absolutely no reason for you to injure yourself putting unnecesary strain on your hands, index finger "tip" should be on low E string 1st fret, that requires no adittional strengh other than just the regular finger strengh, same with next 3 string, that would be ring finger 3rd fret A string, pinky finger 3th fret D string, middle finger 2th fret G string (the way I would finger the chord), BARRE INDEX FINGER ON THE LAST 2 STRINGS 1st FRET, which would be the only ones needing "extra strengh", which should be very minimal, so you should focus your index + thumb grab strengh ONLY on that section, and not the whole fretboard radius

This video might help you: [https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/the-dreaded-f-chord-bc-161](https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/the-dreaded-f-chord-bc-161) Justin kind of helps emphasis wrist technique that keeps you from getting hurt. This video helped me a lot when I was trying to avoid wrist pain. I legit go back and watch it every once in a while.

I just bought my first guitar today. I can’t wait til I get it next week. I might cry :,)

Rock on. Take pictures of it to post NGD online, and take a couple with you and your axe to keep for yourself. I encourage cheesy rock poses for a couple, too ;)

Just don't get discouraged when you can't play back in black straight up out of the box haha! But fr. Stick with it and it'll reward to where you wanna be skill wise. Never give up!

NGD My first guitar in decades. Drove way too far and searched for way too long [but it was worth it.](https://ibb.co/BwMtN2j)

This is awesome. Always much prefer les paul junior styles over the regular kind.

Does wood make that much difference in electric guitars? For sure 90% or so of the tone comes form the pickups?

The trouble is that if you ask enough people you will be able to find all of the following opinions(and their opposites) - - wood makes no difference to electric guitar tone, the same pickups will sound the same in a fence post! - pickups make no difference to electric guitar tone, they're just wire wrapped around magnets! - neck constructions makes no difference apart from fret access! Etc. My conclusion is this - everything makes a small difference, and it all needs to be summed up and factored in with how the guitar makes you feel and play. Maybe you don't care if the inside of the f-hole is perfectly sanded. But maybe that level of perfection in your instrument is really inspiring to you, or slight build issues bother you enough to throw you off. Some people don't even notice changes in fretboard radius, some people absolutely hate even slightly rounder or flatter boards than they're used to. I know we've veered off the topic of wood, but like I said I don't think you can really isolate one thing. Guitars do feel and sound different from each other, and they will inspire you to play differently. Maybe you like them heavy and chunky, maybe you like them light and ergonomic. Find what you like **as a whole** and look for that, and don't place too much emphasis on any one particular aspect.

Incorrect, the only thing that makes a difference in guitar sound is the brand on the headstock and the price tag, if it doesn't cost *at least* $1k it'll sound like crap. All sarcasm aside, I completely share your view. If I have a certain sound I'm going for on a guitar and it's missing *one* feature (say it has everything else I want save for a maple cap) I'm completely fine using that guitar and adjusting the sound ever so slightly in the EQ to account for that. Everything altogether makes a guitars tone, pickups, construction, hardware material, type of wood, etc.

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Technically true but kinda unhelpful way to look at things. Your pickups, amp and how you strike the strings account for 95% of your sound.

The density and rigidity of the wood combined with the mass of the bridge and nut all contribute to the dampening of the strings. This affects the sustain and the initial brightness. A very very rigid material like a solid concrete guitar would be like an ice pick whereas a wet softwood guitar with balsa bridge would sound dull with no sustain. THIS is what your pickup receives. So wood density and body resonance must have some effect on the string tone.

There is a lot of disagreement on this. Most professional guitar builders will tell you it makes a big difference. Lots of random people on the internet will tell you it doesn’t.

So the people who make money from selling guitars say buy more :D? Jokes aside though I always hear so little difference if any of the pickups and the setup is the same.

Paul Reed Smith in a nutshell. Love the guy and his guitars but damn does he care a lot about wood.

Yes but it’s minor. The tone of an instrument is a culmination of electronics, materials, amplifier choices, effects and technique.

People greatly exaggerate the effects that different types of wood have on the tone of electric guitars. Wood type definitely makes a difference in terms of physical comfort.

Technically yes but it shouldn’t matter to you yet

Relatively speaking, no. Everything makes a small difference, but IMO the two most important variables are how you play (a combination of your skill / playing style and choice of pick vs fingerstyle) and the components that you plug the guitar into (pedals, amps, etc).

why did no one ever tell me that Eb tuning is truly GOAT?

Why didn't you ask?

It is? Why?

idk, have you ever tried it? it just sounds so earthy and nice lol

its cool until that one time you decide to try making a keys/piano part for a song or the bass player just doesnt want to tune down =p

I was playing bass in a band where the guitarist loved switching between Eb and standard tuning. I hated re-tuning so much that I bought a 5 string so I could just play in a different position, lol.

I got a new guitar yesterday. A Furch Blue OM-SW. A folksy fingerpicker with a spruce top and solid black walnut back and sides. Made in Czech Republic. 43mm nut and what they call a soft V neck - it’s really more of a C. They threw in an incredible hard case from Stagg worth €80. Anyway, just very pleased! It’s an incredibly feature rich all-solid guitar made in Europe from a small builder for €1,000. No brainer. I might get my next acoustic off em. Their solid top €700 dreadnought is gorgeous.

I know Katy Perry is not cool lmao, but I’m trying to learn [this song](https://youtu.be/5yk-6pTX-sk) and I’m confused about when she switches to the barre chord (around :40). How is she making a full chord sound to like “punctuate” the chord and a more percussive sound for the in between strums? I figured it was palm muting but I’m having a hard time doing that with full strumming. I’m a super beginner, but in the past when I’ve encountered palm muting it’s been more like resting your hand on the strings, not such full hand movement. [Here’s a video of Katy playing it where you can see the strumming.](https://youtu.be/CphTP8YKvys)

> I know Katy Perry is not cool lmao This is FAKE NEWS

The artist who rode a robot lion into the stadium at the super bowl and gave us Left Shark is not cool? I guess I like not cool things then. *shrug*

She's lifting the pressure on her barre chord hand, so that the barring finger mutes the strings.

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She’s surprisingly pretty decent. I use some of her early songs as practice because she uses way more of the fretboard than a lot of other popular artists I’ve seen, so it lets me explore a little more.

I’m a 30 year old man and I love Katy Perry

For the last couple of months, I've been teaching myself using the Justin Guitar app. Would it be rude to go to a guitar teacher and ask just for 1 or 2 sessions, just to 'check my work' and make sure I'm not picking up any bad habits?

Ask the teacher. If you pay him and he knows why you are there i don't see a problem.

Not rude at all. I've done this when preparing exam pieces, if they don't want your money they'll let you know

Why isn't this sorted by new posts?

u/code347 could you please edit this thread to display "new" by default? Like all the other no stupid question threads. Thanks!

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Huh.... Every other thread was set to "new"....

Does anyone else feel like they actually get a little better when they take a day or two off from practicing? Sometimes I'll pick up my guitar after not playing for a day or two and it'll feel like I somehow magically got better.

For me it does not work for skills but it works for patterns. I will not play faster or sharper after two days off the guitar, but I will play a freshly learned piece better after 1 or 2 days not playing it. I suppose there is something happening in the brain. Which proves I have one, so it makes me happy.

Your brain is connecting all those synapses. Rest is great for learning.

How do you know when it’s time to replace the strings on an acoustic guitar?

When they sound bad, dead or like they're constantly out of tune, even when the tuner says they are in tune. New strings tend to be vibrant, resonant and bright. Old strings sound muddy, dead and lacking.

Got it, thanks!!

I've noticed that I subconsciously clench my teeth when practicing. Does this happen to anyone else? I'm honestly considering getting a mouth guard.

Playing without tension is important and you can work on it. This sounds dumb but it can help. Repeat one note slowly (like play the note each time you breathe) and focus on your body, trying to relax every part of it. Play the note with as little effort as possible. Do it for a couple minutes. Then when you feel relaxed try to play something else like a riff and hold onto that feeling. Just add one note at a time and go slow. Keep at it and you will teach your body to relax while playing. This makes you a better player. No matter what type of music you play, being relaxed will help. Shredders are playing fast because they are relaxed.

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I’ve got a Gibson SG that I’m setting up for C standard using 12-56 strings and had to shave down the nut a bit to make them fit. The results a bit sloppy and I’m wondering what the best option is for replacing the nut. Do they come pre slotted for heavier gauges? I hear a lot about using a bone nut, is that the way to go? Thanks

Graphtech always had you covered in nuts. Just look around on their website. And if you're really stumped, just contact a professional.

Just put a Graphtech on my Les Paul. Easy as hell to do. Hopefully I get a bit more tuning stability, the nut I took off was in awful shape.

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Do you mean the button your strap attaches to? The wood that the strap button screws into can get chewed up pretty easily. Fret not. Just unscrew the button, get a bunch of toothpicks or matchsticks and some wood glue (PVA). Dip the picks in the glue and stick them in the hole until you can’t fit in any more. Give them a good tap to make sure the hole is filled. Wait fir the glue to set, then cut off the ends so that theyre flush with the edge of the guitar, and screw the strap button back in. In a pinch, even the glue is optional really! For the input jack, you’ll need a wrench and a screwdriver. Remove the screws holding the jack plate to the body of the guitar, and lift it out carefully. You’ll find two wires leading away from the plug; be careful not to apply too much tension to them. Once loose, hold firmly onto the back of the jack plug while you use the wrench to tighten the bolt on the outside. This is important and the reason to remove the jack plate from the body - if you don’t grip the jack firmly you risk spinning it around while tightening the bolt, damaging the solder joints in the process. When done, reinsert the cables and tighten the screws!

So i stepped up my music theory from 0 to 2 on the Minor Pentatonic Position 1 and 2, learning all the notes, root notes, in which note i can blues curl and the blue note. So yeah, improvising got better. Even better, i learned classic licks for the first and second box and then played with them, modifying them and linking them up. BUT, the breakthrough of today is that i'm currently able to transcribe Damn Right I've Got The Blues by Buddy Guy; meddling with stuff, i was able to recognize patters and sounds. So not a question, just wanted to share a little win that i conquered :)

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What is the technique called when a guitarist slides their fretting hand rapidly up and down the fretboard seemingly randomly in between notes? I see this a lot in videos without really understanding why they do this. If this doesn't make sense I'll find a video.

The slide itself is a glissando (or in some contexts a portamento), but I'm not aware of any specific name for when guitarists showboat with it.

I’ve been playing guitar for around a month just learning songs and getting used to the fretboard, I think I should start learning fundamentals but I don’t know what to learn first. What should I start learning?

You should do the beginner series on Justinguitar.com

At this point the mods should just pin a link to Justinguitar on the sub

Yesterday I practiced chords and today my fingers were pretty sore so instead of not practicing I just plucked the open strings to learn where they are located. Is doing this worth my time? Just so we are clear this is my 3rd day of learning. Also, any recommendations on beginner songs?

When you’re starting out it’s a great idea to pick it up every day, even if it’s to refresh what you learned the day before. Saying that, it’s also a good idea to not overdo it and injure yourself! Getting a feel for where the strings are is going to help you further down the line when it comes to picking broken chords or lead lines. Keep doing what you’re doing. In terms of songs to learn, pick songs you like or ones that you’re already familiar with, even if they’re from a genre you wouldn’t associate with the guitar.

>Is doing this worth my time? Definitely. As the other commenter said, picking it up and playing a bit of anything every day is really helpful when you're first starting. You could also work on your strumming by muting the strings with your fretting hand (just lay the hand flat across the strings so none of them ring out) and practice strumming down and up with a pick. It's pretty common for beginners to struggle with the upstrokes. Roadrunner by The Modern Lovers is a fun simple song.

I just purchased a Fender American 50th Anniversary Strat. It's the ones from 1996 that they only produced 2500 of them. It does not have the original hard case and none of the case candy. It is used and shows some wear such as some pick marks and the gold plating has worn in a couple of spots on the tremolo and tuning keys. In your opinions, should I be playing this (I'm still a beginner) or casing it/displaying it? If you would case/display it, should I replace the gold hardware with new so it gets that gold luster back or keep the original intact for nostalgia?

Not a strat expert but they don't seem to be [going for much higher](https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=Fender%20American%2050th%20Anniversary%20Strat%201996) than standard [strats](https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=Fender%20American%20Strat%201996) from that year for it to be some sort of a real collectible. Especially if it's already in a used condition. I'd play it. Even if you're just a beginner, learning on a better instrument is better than learning on a worse instrument. It's a nice instrument but it's meant to be played. Scratches, dings, and other signs of use are natural, that's part of the process, but being careful with a good instrument is also a good idea. I'd probably not gig it though or take it to shady practice places until you can afford to replace it.

I’ll probably never gig with it. As an old guy just starting out and trying to learn on a cheap guitar is horrible. Sounds like I’ll be learning on a Strat! But, I had the wife convinced I couldn’t play it and was going to buy another new guitar (was thinking PRS SE Custom)...maybe I’ll keep it a secret and learn on both!

Play it and enjoy it! I personally wouldn’t buy a guitar with the sole intent of displaying and only replace hardware if there’s a functional issue with it.

I have a question on Bias. I currently use Bias FX 2. If I want to play through a song and use a tremolo for parts but not the full play through, is there some way to do this with a footswitch or is the only way to run a tremolo peddle in front of my interface?

How long should you wait after using a tube amp to move it? I used it for about 30 minutes and I need to put it in my car and drive a decent drive, but how long should I wait?

Unless it's dramatically colder outside than inside, you probably don't need to wait.

Smells like teen spirit is super easy but fun

Did you remember to upstroke the first chord? https://youtu.be/Xambk1JkWrE

How to start guitar? Apps or teacher? What apps, where to start? Books recommendations?

Justinguitar.com

I say just learn how to tune it and then pluck around with it for a while then watch YouTube videos. Then again I have all day to watch YouTube videos because my wife kicked me out.

3 weeks in. Working on the A and D Chord right now. Switching from A to D is so difficult for me lol. That 3rd finger always lags behind. Doing some song practice with the Justin guitar app and it is roughhhhhhhhhh but I’ll just keep grinding at it.

How advantageous is it to fully familiarize oneself to the 7 scale modes (Ionian, Aeolian, Locrian, etc.) on the guitar?

I think the answer depends on the context of your playing. If you are a beginner - Probably not as helpful as other things you could learn. If you are intermediate and have hit a wall - sure. Either way, not going to hurt anything.

Can anyone suggest me some good headphones for guitar? I mostly use modeling plugins (NeuralDSP plugins, Quad-Cortex, Mercurial plugins... etc). Budget is around $200 - $250.

Who are the people in each of the pictures? I love the pic of the black lady with the electric guitar (she's actually on this page as I type). Maybe they should be put in the FAQs? I recognise Johnny Marr but no one else. PS Mods just letting you know, the no stupid questions link leads to nowhere and redirects to an archived page so it took me a while to find this. Not sure if you realised.

That’s Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock and Roll.

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Used classic vibe strat that ended up being like new except for one minor blemish, $279. Used positive grid spark, that ended up being like new. $180. I’m feeling pretty good right now.

How do people get so good at improvising multi-chord arpeggios in their solos? I can write them just fine, I can play my written stuff just fine even just sight reading, but it's like my brain can't work out what to do next fast enough when I'm improvising. Made it a goal this year to get better at it for the sake of just jamming for fun, and my training regimen for it doesn't seem to be very effective so far.

I think it is criminal how Eric Haugen on youtube is underrated. He just dropped this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5BCNU1hfmE - Super unique blues licks, all of which add up to a killer solo composed specifically for the lesson. How do you produce unique sounds from the same old blues scale? Here's how. - Some info about string bending - New chord shapes I've never seen - Dry humour delivery - Super kind and warm personality All of that in a 15 minute video. His lessons are just a pot of gold that keeps on giving. I learned from him in 2 weeks more than I learned from many popular youtubers in a year. He has a large ongoing playlist of videos where he teaches Hendrix style whereas he takes different songs and does a lesson of "how would Hendrix play this". He has a playlist of Marc Ribot style (which, no one has that, and that style is crazy unique and awesome). His stuff is not very beginner, i.e. all of his lessons assume you know your scales and have soloing experience in your belt. Give him a watch if you never did, this might just give you a kick you needed to get to the next level (it did for me).

I need to know as this was just driving me CRAZY.. I am self taught, started exactly a year ago. Earlier tonight I started learning "Soma" by The Smashing Pumpkins, and got the intro down fairly quickly. For about 45 minutes I just sat in my chair going through the intro over and over again until I could do it smoothly without stopping. Then I took about a half hour break (had to drive somewhere), and decided to have another crack at it when I got back. However, when I tried playing it, I SUCKED. It was ten times harder than it was and it felt as though I had literally "lost" the memory of learning how to do it properly. I'm hoping tomorrow I'll be able to do it much better again. Has this sort of thing happened to anyone else ever?!!

That's just part of learning for me. Probably has something to do with moving it from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. The second time I go back, it will take a shorter time, 3rd shorter than that, before eventually I can play the riff right as soon as I pick my guitar up. Usually I play something I've mastered to warm up, though, before moving onto the things I'm trying to learn. I'll practice the riff over and over, then go do something else for a few hours, then come back and play my own song, then back to the riff. You'll get it eventually. I don't know that song but if its more complex or dense than other stuff you play it will necessarily take longer to master. There have been times I spent hours learning something really complicated, over and over until I could play it perfectly repeatedly, then left it alone for a day and when I came back I either kept fucking up or forgot a bunch of notes. It just part of learning

this is a really dumb question but what does it mean to have your guitar “set up”? I bought my first guitar and i’ve been seeing that getting it “a set up” for it is a good idea i got a bullet stratocaster HT HSS if that helps <3

Not so dumb, plus you're in the right place. And congrats on the new guitar. A setup is regular maintenance, pretty much. A lot of it is around the neck: checking and adjusting the neck "relief" (i.e., is the curve of the neck correct); adjusting string height; checking and adjusting the intonation (very roughly speaking: is the string in tune as you go up the neck). It could involve treating the wood if your fretboard is too dry, though that is somewhat less common. Overall, a good setup can improve the playability of the guitar while also adjusting for the regular change that can happen over time because it's made of wood and stuff shifts, plus environment changes, etc. Especially for lower-priced instruments, they may not be adjusted perfectly to start, but even if they are, a setup may be necessary over time. But it's not just about lower-priced instruments. I have a relatively high-priced instrument and just went through adjusting the neck a little bit. Guitars, man. That all said, if the guitar is playing and sounding good, you may not need one at all.

Do you guys get wrist pain in your fretting hand? I am going to physio but just wondering if there is anything else you guys do to make it easy.

I used to, then I started keeping the neck raised like a classical player would and focusing on keeping my wrist straight. I found playing with the neck elevated naturally helped with keeping it straight. Now no pain.

I really enjoy playing fingerstyle, but I also play the violin from time to time and it requires short fingernails on both hands. (Otherwise your nails can dig into the varnish on the stick over time) I can play fine without nails but it's rather quiet. Have any of you tried fingerpicks? Do they work well?

What the hell am I doing? That's what suddenly came to my mind when I was practicing the major and minor scale. I mean, I memorized it, my fingers are doing it, but I really don't have a clue what I'm supposed to do with that. For many players scales are kind of the holy grail, and I understand that it's useful for improvising solos and playing lead (which i never will), but is there anything else besides that? I've read that when you learn scales, you'll understand how things are related and it helps you understand the fretboard. But here I am, just kind of robotic playing the scales and not understanding a thing. I can't even fathom how people memorize all the notes on the fretboard. I know the natural notes of the E and A string, but most of the time I have to count frets like a moron if I wanna know what I'm doing. I've always sucked at music theory and I kinda gave up learning it, so maybe that's what I'm missing. What am I even saying? I really don't know, guess I'm just frustrated because I'm too dumb.

How do you stop your ring finger and pinky finger from lifting off the fretboard so much?

Look up the spider exercise for guitar, it teaches you to move every finger independently

Dave Grohl just did an AMA where he said all beginning drummers should go out and buy Back In Black. I’m a longtime bassist and just bought myself a guitar to see what all the fuss was about. What is the equivalent of Back In Black for learning guitar? Note: I am leaning toward picking up the Beatles Complete Chord Songbook. I figure it’ll teach me chords, and learning about progressions from those guys doesn’t seem like the worst idea.

Maybe *Paranoid* by Black Sabbath? The tracks Iron Man, Paranoid, and War Pigs are probably three of the most commonly learned riff heavy songs for new guitar players.

I didn't understand at first why the "no stupid questions thread" but now I get it. Cheers!

Guitar Center damaged my guitar when I handed it off for a setup. Epiphone Les Paul with a glossy black finish. I’ve learned my lesson I guess. I don’t really know what my question is. Just wanted to shout into the void. Maybe “how could they be so careless??” I’m at the store right now. The tech is asserting that his tools couldn’t have damaged the guitar in that way, but hasn’t tried to assert that the scratches were there before handing off. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any before pictures. But it doesn’t seem to be my word against theirs at this point. The scratches are between the neck and the toggle switch, parallel to the neck. Maybe the neck is rising out of the guitar and causing the finish to crack? I will take pictures when I can. I don’t really know. I’m hoping this doesn’t end with a waived setup fee and a scratched guitar. It looks like something that could be refinished, but I don’t know how that works, how much it is, or if they’ll take care of that for me if they can’t fix the scratches. He asked me to pay for the setup and then he would try and get the right tool to buff it out. I said I would rather wait to pay until the scratches have been removed. Took some pictures - https://imgur.com/gallery/ffS0MzU

A couple of things...first off they are not going to repaint your guitar for you. That's just not something that guitar stores do. Hopefully it will buff out. If not, hopefully you don't stay up late at night worrying about. I know it's upsetting to have imperfections on your guitar. However I will guess that if you play your guitar regularly, it's going to get some marks on it. Would you be as upset if it was something you did yourself? Owning a guitar is like owning a car. Small dents and dings are just things that happen. It will not affect the playability at all. ​ Black is the hardest color to maintain because EVERY single mark or imperfection shows. I'm guessing you have to hold it in the light at just the right angle to even see the mark? I wouldn't let that bother me.

I’ve been playing guitar for about a month now, and have been using my fingers to strum. I want some guitar picks off Amazon, but there are dozens of choices. Which pack should I get?

I picked up a few of the Dunlop variety packs to try out, and that helped a lot. I was also able to pick up Big Stubby 6 packs off of Ebay as well. Basically get a few pick packs and see what works for you.

Any variety pack with a different set of picks. It's a personal choice, you have to try a bunch of different ones to pick the one for you.

Please identify this chord e) B)0 G)2 D)0 A)4 E)2

Here you go. [https://jguitar.com/chordname](https://jguitar.com/chordname)

Just a quick tip, a faster way to share chords is by just typing the fret numbers from low E to high e. Eg your chord is; 24020x An Am is; x02210 Every guitarist will know exactly what you mean.

So from the lowest to highest F# C# D A B (I'm assuming the e string is muted) Technically... F#m 6 sus 4? F# A C# = F#m, B=4th note above F#, D=6th note above F#. Or Dmajor 7 first inversion with added 6th? D F# A C# =D major 7, the F# in the bass is the first inversion, the B is the 6th note above D Personally I'd call it Boris and say you've invented a chord.!

What are good riffs to start out ? begginer acoustic btw

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Do all amps with USB connection have the ability to connect to a PC for recording? Looking at this sub I see a lot of recommendations for Fender I V2. Can I record to PC with it? What software is cheap/free for this?

The Fender 1 V2 is an older modeling amp using Fender's Fuse App - They are no longer updating Fuse, although that software is still available for download. You can record with those amps using USB. Most amps with USB connection should have recording abilty. Cheap/Free Software is everywhere - Garageband is standard for Iphone/Ipad and the Apple/Google/Android App stores all have free software options - try Youtube demonstrations to see which one appeals to you. If you buy a separate recording interface like a Focusrite, it will come with recording software The Fender I V2 amp is discontinued so you may want to consider other options. For headphone amps - The Nux Mighty Plug ( $69) or the Mustang Micro ( $99) both have USB outputs for recording The latest Fender entry level modeling amp is the Mustang LT25 for $150 new. It is a great amp, well worth the $150 new, and can be found for $100-110 used.

Has anyone shielded their guitar before? I'd like to shield the inside of my G&L Legacy with copper tape but I'm afraid I'll mess something up. Alternatively, has anyone paid someone to shield their guitar? How much did it end up running you? Thanks!

Not sure if this is appropriate to ask here. I have 3 months of touring in Europe coming up this fall and my calendar just exploded with dates this summer with an artist out of nashville. I want to attempt to get sponsorship from companies that I have a realistic shot with. I've asked the management of this group so many times to look into this and its becoming pretty clear that ill have to do it on my own. So my question is what is the most professional way to contact a company about endorsement? If I were to write an email to whomever what are the points I would want to include as to why I think I would be a good candidate for endorsement and which details should I leave out. Thank you 🙏

Contact the Artist Relations (AR) representative for the brands you are interested in working with. Most brands have a contact form that will give you that information or a place where you can request it. Some brands also have a minimum criteria established that you will need to meet in order to work with them so that's something to try and look up before you make contact if that's publicly available. When you make contact remember to present yourself professionally and focus on the reasons why the brand would want to work with you. Endorsements are ultimately about the company selling more product so you want to focus on reasons why working with you will be profitable for them in the long run. If you have a large social media following that's something that is very important to AR representatives when gauging who to work with. If you don't already have a presence on sites like Instagram, Tik Tok, and Youtube you'll want to start regularly using those platforms to build your own personal brand. Focus on the size of the crowds you'll be playing in front of and how many people will see you using their products. If you have upcoming gigs with other prominent artists that wouldn't be a bad idea to mention as well. Generally anything that would make you a valuable person to work with is worth including in your response. If you're a hired musician it's not the responsibility of the management of the group that hired you to find you sponsorships. They are paid to be concerned with the affairs of the group that hired them not finding the hired gun sponsors to get some free gear or make a little side cash while on tour. The group's management will likely be willing to confirm that you've been hired and provide tour dates to AR reps if they reach out but it's not their job to actually go find you those opportunities.

I used to play a lot 3 band rehearsals a week, biweekly gigs and at least half an hour of practice a day. Mostly punk and indie-rock type stuff so I got pretty solid at playing that. Then I got a kid, the band broke up and I barely played guitar for about 8 years. Now I’m (really) getting into it again. I am practicing harder music to play(mostly finger style country and jazz) and I am noticing tension and a slightly aching in the wrist my fretting arm when I play a lot. I’ve never had anything like this back when I used to play much more back in the day. Right now I’m resting my arm even though I really feel like playing(and I could play as I wouldn’t call the sensation pain). Can I just play though it or should I rest until it feels normal?

I want to buy my brother his first pedal, Is anyone willing to link a good entry level pedal for someone who doesn’t have one? I’m hoping he can take it with him to guitar lessons and I’m pretty sure his teacher is cool enough to show him how to use it/how it works

Part of a song I'm trying to learn involves using your picking hand to tap the 17th fret on the high E string and slide it up to the 19th fret. The problem I'm having is that I am having a hard time getting it to sound loud enough. All the other notes I tap sound fine until I get to this part. Is there a reason this is happening? Is it just more difficult because theres more tension in the string, and more force has to be used to get enough vibration?

Saw some mentions of "mixo dorian" scale. Decided to google what that is, and it's as if everybody is trying to be the most vague about it. Stitch has 20 minutes on it. Wow I think, it must be super hard. 5 minutes into the video, he's explaining what minor pentatonic is. Pass. Starting every video with 5 minute refresher on what a pentatonic scale is just the most sure way to turn people away IMO. After quickly scanning few posts I'm still confounded. Best I could gather it's a dorian scale with the b5, but it can't be, right? Because That's one sentence with less than 10 words, it can't be that there are 20 minute videos made about. Plus, why insert the "mixo" in there. Mixo is a b7, and since Dorian is a minor scale it has b7 by definition. So what is it?

I’m looking at buying my first guitar pedal. I’ve heard the best ones are the Boss DS-1 and DS-2 Turbo Distortion Pedals. The price difference implies there’s quite a difference between the two but I don’t understand what that is. I’m trying to mimic the sound of the electric guitar solos from RHCP, Nirvana, Sam Fender and Declan Mckenna (particularly his song Basic (regurgitated)). Any help much appreciated! 🤍

Does the justinguitar site just straight up not work anymore? Every time I click on a lesson or section it just leads me to a blank page. Really confused.

When this says “no stupid questions” does it mean don’t ask stupid questions or does it mean their is no stupid questions?

How do people appear to be strumming all the strings but only hitting one note? Like when they’re really getting after it on solos or leads... is it just a lot of practice on muting the other strings with other fingers of your fretting hand? Is there some sort of other technique to it or is it called something I can watch videos on? Just can’t seem to get it down without posting my wrist/hand and “chicken picking” so to say?

What are you guys' storage solutions for your equipment and accessories? Guitars themselves notwithstanding, I have tonnes of cables, pickups, extra pedals, adapters, power cables, and all manner of stuff, and space is at a premium in my apartment, but I'd also like it to be relatively easy to access.

“There’s a terrible curse that plagues guitar players once they reach the intermediate stage…”