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[Kagus]

For the past three weeks or so, I've been taking guitar lessons.  I have another lesson tomorrow, and I  haven't exactly completed everything my tutor assigned for me.  So, to make up for lost time, I've been spending the past few minutes goofing around on the guitar, completely ignoring all the stuff I'm suppose to be practicing.

I came up with this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

|---------------------------------------------
|---------------------------------------------
|---------------------------------------------
|---------------------------------------------
|--4--0--------5--4-'2'-4--0-----------2------
|--------4--2-----------------4--2--0-----4--2

Okay, so it's not exactly catchy, but it sounds kinda neat.  There's a pause just after playing the marked '2'.  I couldn't think of any other way to mark it.


Comments, anyone?  Oh, and if you've got a sound box, this sounds really cool with a little reverb.

And gimme a break, it's my first time. 

[Keiseth]

Aw, no sound file? I'm a dabbler in the acoustic guitar, I could try to play it but I doubt it'd sound right... Oh, I know, is this standard tuning? I can put it through Modplug tracker.

...Hmm, I probably got the timing off, and I don't have any decent electric guitar samples, but that's quite a good tune! Much better than anything I got out of my guitar.

[Tahin]

Anything that can be played on an electric guitar can be played on an acoustic guitar. All right, you can't get feedback on an acoustic guitar (unless you're plugged in, and then all you get is feedback) so that kind of puts some things out of reach, but that riff is more than playable on the little classical guitar I have on my lap right now as I type this.

Oh, and that sounds pretty good. It's a bit too complex to be terribly catchy, but if you simplified it a bit it might work better.

Oh, and generally when tabbing you tab it out such that each character represents a unit of time, so a pause would simply be however many blank columns you would need to represent the length of the pause.

[Kagus]

Yeah, the way it is now it's more of an intro than a riff.  I just called it a riff because I don't have anything for it to be an intro to.  And I didn't provide a sound file because chances are, I'd mess up on my own timing...  Or something similar.

And yeah, no special effects for this one.  It should be fully playable on an acoustic.

[the Mij]

Hmm!  I like it, it's fun.  I've been playin' around on the guitar for little while now without lessons.  I don't use a pick despite the fact everyone tells me I oughta, heh.  I do have a bit of a tip, for ya though...  I'd reccomend keeping the open notes to a minimum.  Sounds cleaner imho, and as a bonus you can bend the notes, which sounds cool.  Plus you can choose a little easier how long you want the note to ring for.  Since on the upper three strings the 5th fret is the open for the next down it'd look like this.  Not sure if the spoiler thingy is needed, so I'mma just keep it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|--4-----------5--4--2----4--------------2-------
|-----5--4--2----------------5---4--2--0-----4--2

It's sounds really dark, very cool.  I'mma try to figure out how to do it on a higher scale, I think.  *ponders*

Here's one I came up with a few days ago.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|-------5------------------------7---------------
|----7-----------7------------7-----7--8--7------
|-5--------7--5-----8--7--5------------------8--7

It's fun to just kinda mix and match these, since it's all divisible by four.  Haven't tried it on electric yet, but I figure I will soon.  Hey, Kagus, what kinda stuff are you learning on your lessons?  Just strumming or picking out notes?  I've kinda neglected my strumming, heh.  >.>  Maybe I'm a bassist at heart?  Anyway, I'm really not sure how lessons progress with guitar.  Is it pretty helpful?

[Tahin]

Here's a bit of a variation I came up with on Kagus's one. I just changed one note and the timing on a few others. I think.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(Each - or # is equal to one 8th note. Spaces are placed between the 2nd and 3rd beat for legibility. This is not an attempt at copyright infringement, I'm merely making a suggestion.)
e|---- ----|---- ----|---- ----|---- ----|
B|---- ----|---- ----|---- ----|---- ----|
G|---- ----|---- ----|---- ----|---- ----|
D|---- ----|---- ----|---- ----|---- ----|
A|4-0- ----|5-4- 2---|5-0- ----|--2- ----|
E|---- 4-2-|---- ----|---- 4-2-|0--4 2---|

Mij and Kagus... How long have you two been playing? I've been playing for about a year and a half, myself.

Maybe I'm a bassist at heart?

You might like playing lead, actually, though it's best to learn your open chords first.

Hmm!  I like it, it's fun.  I've been playin' around on the guitar for little while now without lessons.  I don't use a pick despite the fact everyone tells me I oughta, heh.  I do have a bit of a tip, for ya though...  I'd reccomend keeping the open notes to a minimum.  Sounds cleaner imho, and as a bonus you can bend the notes, which sounds cool.  Plus you can choose a little easier how long you want the note to ring for.  Since on the upper three strings the 5th fret is the open for the next down it'd look like this.  Not sure if the spoiler thingy is needed, so I'mma just keep it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|--4-----------5--4--2----4--------------2-------
|-----5--4--2----------------5---4--2--0-----4--2

It's sounds really dark, very cool.  I'mma try to figure out how to do it on a higher scale, I think.  *ponders*

Here's one I came up with a few days ago.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------
|-------5------------------------7---------------
|----7-----------7------------7-----7--8--7------
|-5--------7--5-----8--7--5------------------8--7

It's fun to just kinda mix and match these, since it's all divisible by four.  Haven't tried it on electric yet, but I figure I will soon.  Hey, Kagus, what kinda stuff are you learning on your lessons?  Just strumming or picking out notes?  I've kinda neglected my strumming, heh.  >.>  Maybe I'm a bassist at heart?  Anyway, I'm really not sure how lessons progress with guitar.  Is it pretty helpful?

I disagree with you on the open notes thing. I like to play as many open notes as possible, just because they ring better and sound fuller, at least on my guitar(s). And you shouldn't bend notes unless you know what you're bending them up to. Also, about playing with a pick: I like playing both with and without a pick, for several reasons. Without a pick, I have all five fingers to work with, which allows me a greater deal of flexibility. For strumming, I can adjust the shape of my hand such to create the effect I want (For instance, I can spread my fingers out to get multiple hits of each string.) With a pick, however, it's much easier to switch between strumming and picking quickly. When you're playing with your fingers, you (or I at least, I don't know how you actually play) have to completely rotate my hand to switch between picking and strumming. With a pick, I can do both without changing position.

And sorry about lecturing so much... It's a topic that I feel strongly about. Now, to learn the dwarf fortress music....

[Kagus]

You can play it on just about every string, except for B where you have to go down a fret in order for things to sound right (and that messes up the position).

I've been playing exclusively with a pick, because that's just what you use to play an electric.  Fingerpicking only comes up in very rare circumstances on the electric, like if you're playing Smoke On the Water.

As for guitar lessons, I've been split between chords and scales for the whole time.  Scales will get you good at picking and are the basis of solos and lead guitar, and chords will get you good at strumming and are the basis of rhythm guitar.  My tutor just adds on a couple more scales or chord progressions each lesson, and then the rest is just getting that material down.

And I do use bending in the riff, I just do it on the fifth and fifteenth notes. 


EDIT:  Tahin just posted, better say something...  Uhh, four weeks.

[Tahin]

It's probably worth noting that I play almost exclusively acoustic, though I did just buy a shiny new electric guitar, so that doesn't necessarily hold true anymore.

[the Mij]

Uh, not long, really.  I mean I got to play with a guitar a few times when I was a kid, but never had steady access to one.  About two years ago my interest was piqued by friend of a friend who was really good at guitar and laughable (he did it intentionally) at singing.  He taught me a little part of 'Dueling Banjos', hehe.

My little social circle ended up getting Rock Band a bit after it came out and all of a sudden I was playing air guitar constantly.  One thing led to another, it was revealed my best friend had an acoustic, yada yada, and suddenly BAM!  Mij has his own guitar.

Er...  Huh, didn't actually answer the question in all of that.  Uh, I think 2 months, now, really?  3?  I dunno.  Not good at that whole 'remembering' concept.  Hmm... Could be lead.  Gotta practice my awesome guitar solo face, though.  That the moment it's less "I am the embodiment of pure ROCK!" and more "My fingers are BURNING! BURNING!!"

It's funny, I'm still just as interested in the drums as the guitar.  Although, due to Rock Band, I now hate that drummer who does 'Run For the Hills.'  Seriously.  He's too good.  We need to take him out.   

What kinda guitar you got, anyway?  I've got an Ibanez SG-number-I-can't-remember electric.

-edit--  Oops, sorry, I type slow.  Didn't realize you guys responded already... before me... >.>  Anyway, I don't mind lecturing.  Creative criticism, baby! =)  Far as open notes go, with acoustic, I agree, they sound really cool.   With electric, or at least mine, they seem to have different quality.  With finger/pick I understand that the vast majority of electric guitarists use picks, but I dunno.  I like the kinda muted sound of not using one.  Although it's way harder to switch between strumming and picking.  I've been messing around with hitting two strings at once with my thumb.  Sounds cool, very fleshed out, but it's kinda difficult to do.  Might be it's just innately harder than with a pick, or maybe it's just the trying to learn a new skill hard. /shrug.

Scales are fun!  I was so amazed when I first learned the singing one, you know Do Re Mi, etc.  not sure the name of it, but was inordinately jazzed, heh.  I remember hearing that the chords were all set up with some kinda arcane mathematical system.  Gonna have to wiki that, been meaning to.  Anyway, I'm out for tonight.
Laters!

[Kagus]

Um...  Gibson SG Standard.

And as for the bass/lead guitar debate, it's possible to have a little of each...  Behold, the lead bass!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dWb-aCWR8U

[Tahin]

The Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do or whatever it is scale is called the Major scale. Learn it, learn how it applies to chords, learn how to play it in as many different positions as possible, etc. for it is the basis of all western music.

This is kind of what my acoustic looks like. Notice the round back.
And this is my electric that I just bought a few days ago.

Chords are pretty simple.
Let's look at the major scale:
It goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and back to 1, or 8. Right?
Well, in chords, this goes Major, minor, minor, major, major, diminished, major.
So the C scale in chords is:
C Dm Em F G Am (and I won't bother with the diminished because I don't understand it and it's almost never used. However, know that flattening the 7'th note and making it into a major chord will usually sound good and is used a lot. In this case it would be Bb.) Then you go back to C to form the octave.
Try to remember that, as it is the basic of most music. Of course, some stuff deviates from that, which in itself is an art form.

[Fishersalwaysdie]

Well I made this, it's kinda catchy, but I don't really like it...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

|--------------------------------
|--------------------------------
|-----------------0--------------
|------3-0------3--------3-2-0---
|--333------333------333---------
|--------------------------------

Not sure if I this is how I should put the marking for timing...

[Maggarg - Eater of chicke]

I play bass guitar almost passably, so I'd count as novice in DF, and I'd probably be dabbling with normal 'lecky guitar.

[Romantic Warrior]

and I won't bother with the diminished because I don't understand it and it's almost never used.

I wouldn't say that they are almost never used. It's fairly common in Jazz and sees use in Metal. "Michelle" by the Beatles has two diminished chords. I also think that a fully diminished chord is quite interesting from a theory perspective, because it has no key. All the notes are the same interval apart(minor 3rd).

[Tahin]

Well, as I said, I don't understand them. Maybe I should correct that... hmm...