I was very confused by everything when I first started playing a year and a half ago-I'm self-taught as well. Tabs are just an easier "shorthand" per say for guitarists rather than actual bass/treble clef notation. Knowing what notes you're playing helps a lot-say like the 5th fret on either E string is an A. I haven't mastered this skill yet, but I do have a general idea of what notes I'm playing. Accomplished guitarist (which I have yet to become) can look at chords for a song and play melodies and solos based ont hose chords. So there's a lot of stuff to learn at first, but after it clicks, it'll become much easier. Good luck playing, and feel free to post whatever questions or problems arise as you learn 
Have fun!
326 2008-08-20 02:19:20
Re: pls help, teaching myself, i hope (10 replies, posted in Acoustic)
327 2008-08-20 02:05:55
Re: easy acoustic solos (4 replies, posted in Acoustic)
It's hard to get down at first, but I don't find Layla (unplugged) that difficult to play-there's the intro solo and then the other solo, which is easier than the intro I think.
328 2008-08-19 14:52:35
Re: I love a lot of PHRASES underneath an answer or thread so.... (46 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
"I'm not as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was" -Toby Keith
329 2008-08-18 13:13:56
Re: Drop A! (3 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Just curious, does anyone else ever use drop tunings like this on the acoustic?
330 2008-08-17 15:49:00
Re: Need some motivation...don't want to play the electric enaymore.... (12 replies, posted in Electric)
mhall1101 wrote:
I was wondering what kind of electric do you have, I know its a danelectro, but what model, the reason I'm asking is because i've gone through maybe 20 to 30 different guitars over the 19 years I've been playing and I'm just know finding the type of body styles and brands I like. That maybe your bigest problem is find that guitar that was built just for you.
Mine is a Danelectro Hodad 12-string, around a 2000 model I think. I love the guitar, it plays great. I think I'll try to get some easier music-trying to play Eric Johnson isn't working. I have music for Little Wing and the Texas Flood intro, so I'll be working on these. Thanks for your replies!
331 2008-08-16 23:55:14
Re: Need some motivation...don't want to play the electric enaymore.... (12 replies, posted in Electric)
arkady wrote:
Hi 06sc500
I've owned both electric, electro acoustic and acoustic and the way I see it is for the amateur player the elecro acoustic is the most versatile of the bunch.
It gives alot of the attributes of electric when set up with right stuff with the ability of taking on a more acoustic role when needed...
So if your've got little motivation for electric why bother?
My thoughts
Ark
Well, I guess I just need to take the time to "learn" the instrument, like I have with my acoustic. I played for a while today and found that some stuff I've been working on actually doesn't sound all that bad
332 2008-08-16 12:12:56
Re: Need some motivation...don't want to play the electric enaymore.... (12 replies, posted in Electric)
dino48 wrote:
Hi 06sc500, my first guitar was an electric and like you I seemed too become a non player after awhile,I went out and bought a cheap acoustic sears guitar.I had a hard time putting it down . I only play certain songs and riffs on my electric even too this day.Seems an acoustic can stand alone by its self.are you playing alone most of the time? that makes a difference also. You may just be an acoustic player.Thats just my thoughts,I am sure you will hear many other members thoughts soon. Yoy may also after some years from now go over too piano,as many guitarist do switch back and forth,as I have gotten a korg pro series.I go back and forth some days I will play guitar and some I will play the korg.I just went back and re read your post, are you playing atwelve string electric? That could be A problem,they are alot different then a six string, you can always take off the extra six strings,that will make a huge differance. Sorry you had too wade through the rest of my answer. dino
Yeah I know how to play piano, but because I've spent my time playing guitar I'm not that good. About the electric, I really like the sound of the 12-string (why I got it in the first place), and once I tried taking 6 of the strings off, but the action was so low that they just rattled and buzzed. And to answer your other question yes I do play alone most of the time. I really do like my 12-string though, I just think I need to take some time and sit down and learn some music on it, like I did with my acoustic.
333 2008-08-16 01:45:26
Topic: Need some motivation...don't want to play the electric enaymore.... (12 replies, posted in Electric)
Hey guys, I was so excited back in the spring when I got my first electric guitar. There were so many songs I wanted to learn! But lately I've found myself grabbing my acoustic every time I feel like playing. While I'm learning new techniques, songs, and coming up with my own arrangements of songs on my acoustic, it seems like whenever I plug in my Danelectro and work on playing something I just find myself frusterated because I can't play fast enough, bend a string up enough (which isn't easy on a 12-string), or just get the right sound. I have one of those Guitar Tab White Pages books with a ton of songs I know and like, in addition to other music I've found online, but it seems like he songs require either different equipment (ie pedals, amps) or just a really high level of playing. What can I do to improve here?
334 2008-08-15 23:15:28
Re: Drop A! (3 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Lowest I've gotten on that guitar is G, but it was really loose. With this A, I can hit the note without it buzzing, just as long as I'm not too hard on it. I actually am using a capo on the first fret, just because I like the sound better.
335 2008-08-14 23:49:52
Topic: Drop A! (3 replies, posted in Acoustic)
I was coming up with my own arrangement of a song to play at church (He's Ever Over Me, if any one knows it) and I didn't have any music, chords, etc, so I figured out the melody by ear and discovered that it was based on an A chord. I wanted to have a nice low bass note to play in between chords and melodies, so I experimented with drop D, but found out that it just didn't sound right. I tried standard tuning but the low E didn't have the sound I wanted. After that didn't work, I tuned the bottom string to a full octave below the 5th string A (this is a standard scale Martin here). Wow, does that ever sound cool! I didn't think that getting the 6th string down to an A would be possible. Anyway, a long-winded post, I know, but if you want a really deep bass note between chords, try A if you can hit it.
337 2008-08-13 02:48:41
Topic: Pickup covers (9 replies, posted in Electric)
Does taking the covers off of pickups affect your tone at all? What about lipstick-style single coils? Just curious, thanks!
338 2008-08-12 03:04:39
Re: Fingerpicking songs - intermediate level (9 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Try these. . .tough but good to learn
Classical Gas-Mason Williams (I only know about half so far)
Song for George-Eric Johnson
Annie's Song-John Denver
Hotel California live (acoustic)-Eagles obviously
OK a new one I'm attempting to learn-although I warn you it's probably over the "intermediate" level: "Song for Life" by Eric Johnson. This one is probably the coolest of all of these-it's definately worth the effort. Although all of them are cool and worth the effort Good luck!
Oh darn how could I forget Tears in Heaven by Clapton? This is one of the easier ones of the bunch, but one of the greatest songs ever written.
339 2008-08-11 00:50:22
Re: Overdrive vs. distortion? (2 replies, posted in Electric)
Thanks that helps. Overdrive is for more of a blues-rock type sound, where distortion is for more of a hard rock-metal sound. I get it
340 2008-08-10 01:08:51
Topic: Overdrive vs. distortion? (2 replies, posted in Electric)
While looking at effects pedals, I noticed some that were "overdrive" and some that were for "distortion". My amp has overdrive, like most amps do, but what's the difference between these two terms?
341 2008-08-07 03:14:14
Topic: SRV-Little Wing (2 replies, posted in Bands and artists)
Is it just me or is the Stevie Ray Vaughan version a lot more complicated than the Hendrix one? It sounds pretty cool though. . .
342 2008-08-07 03:12:51
Re: Odd question. . . (8 replies, posted in Electric)
Yeah that makes sense. . .would guitar pickups respond to the A and E strings on a bass?
343 2008-08-07 02:50:12
Topic: Odd question. . . (8 replies, posted in Electric)
What would happen if you stuck bass pickups on a guitar or vice-versa? I don't really care, I was just curious if anyone has tried it if it could even work.
344 2008-08-05 20:43:37
Re: THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS EVER. (3 replies, posted in Bands and artists)
Hendrix influenced pretty much every guitarist that came after him. . .wasn't he one of the first to actually use distortion and other effects too?
345 2008-08-05 00:28:55
Re: Who? (5 replies, posted in Bands and artists)
OK, so I'm sure the wiki article explained who he is, but let me just say that he happens to be my all-time favorite guitarist. He is so diverse in his style-he plays everything from shred to jazz to rock to hard rock-style blues to acoustic blues played fingerstyle. Get the Ah Via Musicom album and just listen for yourself. And, if you have a chnace, go onto youtube and watch him play Cliffs of Dover live.
346 2008-08-02 19:44:38
Re: what are some good songs to learn as a beginner (14 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Yes you can. People overthink what they're looking at with tabs-all they are are numbers that show you what number fret you play on. Example, let's take an E major chord (I'm assuming you know some chords). The tab for an E major picked one note at a time from low to high would look like this:
e 0
B 0
G 1
D 2
A 2
E 0
Also, everyone always asks about begginer songs. It depends what kind of music you like. I could recommend some beginner songs that I like if you want. I highly recommend buying a songbook with wither an accompanying CD or DVD, or lessons on each song. A lot of songbooks for guitar will give you the tablature and notation transcriptions of the song as well as the chords. Good luck, if you have any questions send me a message on here.
347 2008-08-02 16:08:04
Re: Guitars for sale? (2 replies, posted in Electric)
gbugedy wrote:
does anyone have electric guitars for sale?
i want to buy one but i can only find expensive ones:(
so does anyone have one for sale at a resonable price?
thanks gerrit
www.musiciansfriend.com
or www.guitarcenter.com unless you have a Guitar Center in your area. . .
Check out how many good guitars you can find in the $100-$200 price range, because there's quite a few. If that fails, try ebay. Good luck!
348 2008-08-01 03:22:44
Re: Little Wing (5 replies, posted in Electric)
tonydr wrote:
never tried it that way.
Really? Because there's a bunch of chords you finger with skipped strings, ie 12xxx1212. I think using my fingers migh tbe easier than trying to deaden the other strings.