I'm your Dad.

Thanks, I plan to.

RE: fleek; splatter, dunno? One of them coincidences?

Thanks! finger-toughness was quite a project. When I started playing again, I went out and re-strung my guitar on my own (which turned out to be a huge mistake... I have a classical nylon-strung guitar) with steel strings. Sounded FUCKING awesome, but likely warped the neck. Action's higher than I'd like now that it's restrung with nylon strings again, plus the guitar repair shop dude hadda replace all the tuning heads. Anyway, the steel strings were really tough to fret, but I'd just kinda ignore the pain as long as I could until it went away. As I started to get the hang of 12-bar blues in G, I was practicing pulling off all the string and hammering on the next chord. After a month I had a decent callus on my pointer finger, but it wasn't until probably a month ago that I could even effectively move my pinky to develop the final callus.

So... do your hammer-ons? I need to get myself a steel-string acoustic, and fast. Was thinking one of the value-geared Ibanez AE... don't remember which.

Anyway, how old are the strings on that Yamaha? Sometimes old strings just plain hurt to play, I had a lot of trouble on my friend's ancient (and absolutely gorgeous) acoustic/electric before he restrung it.

Ha ha, well you care for your guitars more than I do. Then again, if I had a respectable guitar I'd probably be all over keeping it in mint condition as well.

That narrows it, though. Daily practice, give it a month or so for your calluses to return.

Sure, why not.

I can read music... sorta. When I was in early grade school there was a band program and I started learning how to play the trumpet. Quit after a few years though, and then have pretty much been putting off learning guitar since then.

I really wish I'd started playing back then. That'd be... 8-9 years ago.

A poetic way to say guitar is life?

... in freudian slip form?

My brother. If you listen close, you can hear us bickering just before I start playing.

I learn from everywhere. I've got a book, several great sites that I've gleaned some tips and tricks from, and a few friends who play that I've been picking things up from.

Unless you mean songs. In which case, books cost money whereas online tabs are free.

Ha ha, that was his intention, no doubt.

It isn't your ears: DEFINITELY flat, moreso at some parts than others. I only tune my guitar once every week or so, and I've got a program on my iPhone to do it: funinculus 0.6 (only works on jailbroken iPhones). So it tunes well... but not like a REAL tuner.

Further: I've listened to it a few times since and I'm REALLY flat at some points. Like, painfully so (to me, anyway). I've got several excuses (bad mic, only had coffee that morning, had a sore throat past few days, etc.) but I feel like giving them is just deflecting poor performance. I'll be practicing, that's for sure.

Garfunkel, eh? Too kind. I want to learn 'I am a rock', but that slow trill on the guitar, though it seems simple, is not.

No wonder, you're 13.

Ha ha ha, thanks yo. What about the singing though? I'm really not adverse to unkind words, I can extract useful criticism regardless and it helps me improve.

Thanks, regardless of how emasculating 'pretty' is. : b

Ah... well to be fair I was recording the audio on a Dell Laptop's built in mic from a solid 3-4 feet away. But, yea... definitely not my most 'in-tune' rendition.

Anyway, I can easily sing deeper, my natural range is right around when I'm singing the word "cape" during the chorus. But, I much prefer the challenge of a higher pitch. So if think I'm ear-raping now, wait 'til I've finished learning 'Al Genina' by Our Lady Peace and start busting out the falsetto. ; )

Thanks for the advice.

Pretty manly indeed, amirite?

:: checks URL :: ... yep, we're on MY userpage.

Hah, thanks.

Hah, thanks. Don't give up, man just keep practicing. Search sites that give you free tips and tricks on the guitar.

It doesn't matter if you're learning on electric or acoustic. Acoustic is good to start because you can hear far more easily the difference between a well-struck note and a poorly struck one.

Learn chords. Do you know how to read tabs? Do you know how chords or notes are named? Do you know how to tune your guitar? Do you know how to tune your guitar relatively?

The cool thing about the guitar is that the strings have a pattern to 'em. You know what each note is on the open strings if you have it tuned EADGBE. Chords are named for the lowest string struck when you play them (mostly... though online tabs aren't always accurate), and then they have different addendums to the basic name to denote the different sounds.

You should learn some basic open position chords. Strings are counted from smalled to biggest (if you're a righty player, bottom-top). Play an open position G for me: first finger fifth string second fret, second finger sixth string third fret, third finger first string third fret. Play an open position C for me: first finger second string first fret, second finger fourth string second fret, third finger fifth string third fret (do not strike the sixth string). Play an open position D for me: first finger third string second fret, second finger first string second fret, third finger second string third fret (do not strike the sixth or fifth strings).

When you can finger those three chords successfully (the notes sound clear... put your fingers as close to the fret as possible), you should practice shifting between those three. Once you have that down, play this: G G G G | C C G G | D C G G. That basic pattern is known as the 12 bar blues, and I just taught it to you in the key of G.

Ha ha ha, I will inevitably... but not in the near future. : b

He was complaining about playing and singing in the living room, something I'd basically been doing all morning before he finally woke up and came downstairs. As for what he was doing... I dunno, something with cards. Your guess is as good as mine.

Yea, chords sound REALLY terrible when you're not in tune.

http://www.gieson.com/Library/pro jects/utilities/tuner/ . That page has an explanation of how to tune by ear that is essentially how I learned to do so (and I haven't really practiced since I have an electronic tuner). Basically: you want to use those tones to generate EADGBE with your computer speakers (one at a time). Then, while the speaker is playing E you tune your E to match. How do you tell if they match? When two frequencies are playing, if they aren't in tune you'll hear a sortof vibrating sound. Turn the tuning knob closer to in-tune and the vibrating slows down, turn it farther from and it speeds up. They're in tune when the vibration is at it's slowest. Think "wumwumwumwumwum. Wum-wum-wum wuuum wuuuuum wuuuuuuummmmmmm(in tune at this point)."

Relative tuning is as follows: it doesn't matter whether you're at EADGBE, guitar strings are a certain interval apart from each other by design. So you can match the note played on the fifth fret of your 6th string to your open 5th string. Do this again 5th fret 5th string for open forth string, again 5th fret fourth string for open third, and then FOURTH fret third string for open second, then again fifth fret second string for open first. When those all match, your guitar is said to be in tune RELATIVE to it's sixth string, even if it isn't tuned to standard (ie: you probably won't have true EADGBE, it'll probably be flat).

Tabs are easy, they're basically diagrams of the neck. Numbers represent which fret you're on, and you have to figure out which fingers to use on your own. Each line is a guitar string, bottom being 6th string and top being 1st string. Since you know G it looks like this in tab form:
e-3-
B-0-
G-0-
D-0-
A-2-
E-3-

Chords are named for the lowest note played in them. The G chord is a G chord because the finger you have on your 6th string is fretting the "G" fret on the low "E" string. The frets on the E string are as follows: E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E. Does your guitar's neck have dots or marks on the frets? The dots typically mark G, A, C# and finally E with a double-dot (because it's the 12th fret and therefore one full octave higher than the open string).

If tuning by ear is too difficult and annoying (which I think it is because I'm not so good at it yet), you should really invest in a legit tuner. They're not too expensive, just pick one up next time you find yourself at the store. You also might consider changing your guitar's strings at some point soon. Old strings sometimes can have difficulty staying in tune at all. Especially if you haven't kept them clean. I find that I have to tune my guitar at least once a week, any longer and playing is unbearable to listen to.

That depends entirely on whether or not you're genuine.

Yea, any of those letters are usually to indicate things that dress up your playing. S is usually slide, x means "mute this string" (or: don't strike it when you strum), h means 'hammer-on' which is a technique where instead of striking a string you're fretting you simply slam your finger onto the fret to sound the note, p usually means 'pull-off' which is the opposite of a hammer on. You pull your finger off the string to reveal the fret you're fretting behind that finger, or an open string, to sound the note. Again, instead of striking it. A 'b' is to indicate a bend, there're half-step and whole step bends in most songs. Bending is when you move the string horizontally on the fret, so that the note is tuned higher. Bends are probably the toughest technique there is. To do a vibrato (squiggly lines and/or sometimes 'v') you simply wiggle your finger. As a noob, you can do it as if quickly bending up and down (using your finger muscles), but the correct way is to wave your wrist. Using your fingers to do vibrato is bad for the muscles and can sound sloppier.

I've spent way too much time looking all this junk up, ha ha. So I figure it's easier to just impart my knowledge onto you as succinctly as possible instead of saying 'blah just spend hours looking this crap up like I did'.

Chords are VITAL to playing, however. Especially on the guitar. Because if you can shift quickly enough between the chords you need, most arpeggio songs will become a lot easier to play than if you're trying to treat them like scales. Learn how to finger a major and minor 6th and 5th string root barre to start.

He's alright. Muyburrito.newgrounds.com

I don't know about drums being necessarily more difficult to learn than anything else. It's all a matter of level of play, dedication, and style.

You could probably watch the video on youtube on your phone, right? Search 'Evarq' on youtube, should be the only one on there. In fact, it's probably the only Rosealia cover on youtube as well.