I’m a long-term fan of the guitar and piano and have finally been able to sign up for guitar lessons at school. My friend has offered to help me with the guitar. I don’t want to waste his time with the basics but I also dont’ want to learn the fundamentals wrong. I’ve never held a guitar and I’m not sure if the new teacher teachs notes or tabs. I understand how to read notes and I get the idea behind tabs but besides that, I’m completely in the dark.Any tips or suggestions are more than welcome! Thanks!
Your thinking too much.
First off, you have knowledge of standard music notation and music theory!!!, you are way ahead of 95% of people who "play" guitar. No worries!
Second, Tab is just a visual representation of the guitar strings (low E/ the fattest strung on the bottom). Read it from left to right, the numbers just tell you where to press, which string when, in what order. No duration is given, it’s just a road map that people practice to learn to play their favorite songs. No music theory involved. Again, NO WORRIES, you are still way ahead.
Don’t over think it. You know much more than other people who are starting out. Just enjoy it. The hardest thing will be getting your fingers used to pressing the strings. Don’t worry about it, you’ll discover the simple things faster than the others, and grasp the more complex things in a way that will make the others dizzy.
The rock world is so full of cheats anyway. Power chords and drop tunings make the guitar so stupid easy that any 5 year old could be a super star. So many people use them and don’t understand the theory of how it works. What’s it matter, it still looks and sounds wicked awesome!!!>sarcasm<
Rock on!