at the moment im sixteen but iv'e been playing since december of last year...i practice everyday..but do you guys think i started way to late...i always wanted to play but i never gave too much thought to it until last year when i had the urge to start a band and saved up money to buy an axe...

It's never too late my friend. Your actually starting at a young age, which is best. I know alot of older guys that would have gaven their left leg to start out a younger age.

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Darko...wat do you think are the first scales i should start of learning..im thinking of buying a paul gilbert video to learn some stuff cause at the moment i dont make enough money to pay a teacher

fuck 16 isi n't late

Its never too late.

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hell yeah it is never to late. I started when I was just about 17. Although I wish I had started back when my parents were offering back when I was like 13. oh well

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I know what you mean, I started out when I was 8 and now I am all pissed off.

i started at 11, but never really played then i got lesson when i was almost 13, now ill be 15 soon and i can SHREEEEEED!

Just like everyone else said... it's not too late. There are tons of people out there that started at a really young age and some start at a later age... for those that start at a later age just have to work twice as hard to get up there and be really good but it's well worth it. I used to play when I was a little kind like at the age of 5 or 6 and then stopped for a year and did it again for a few years then had to stop for about 2 1/2 years because of moving and some other problems. I don't play a TON anymore but lately have been play a shit load and am going to keep doing it now but I also play drums a ton now too so that takes a bit of time away from it but oh well, it's all worth it to me. But anyways, just keep playing and don't stop. Learn all your chords, read up on theory, etc. Don't learn any bad habits, videos and books will help you a bit too and theory is a really good thing to learn and I don't care what people tell you about that, I never really did that theory shit because it got tiring and boring but wish I did do it all, it will help.

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Wow, I really wish i had dollar for eveytime you mentioned your age in a non-related thread. Seriously, it's not impressive.

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i know someone who took up drums at 46
how is 16 too late?

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I don't care. I'm not here to impress

If I had a dollar everytime you said that in this thread, I would have one dollar.

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I guess your name really explains it all... that was gay.

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I started at X-mas, when I got my first guitar. I was 14 then and now I'm 15 as of a few days ago.

I wish I had started earlier. I'm sucking pretty bad. Oh well, I might get better.

the thing is, it doesnt matter when you start, you will always suck when you first start

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exactly

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Another thing is, it doesnt matter how early you start, you always wish it was earlier.

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Exactly! It's like when you win a bet at the bookmakers - you always wish you wagered £20 instead of £5. There's nothing you can do about it, but the fact is you've started and so long as you practise, you'll be a good player eventually - no matter how old you were when you started.

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Just to let all you 'children' know. I'm an old fart compared to most of you. I started when I was 25. I totally sucked! I would play at the lowest volume I possibly could so nobody could hear me, and that was on acoustic! Now, I'm better. I totally should have started out when I was younger but circumstances would not allow it and I may have neglected practice and learned bad guitar habits. Practicing is such a great way for me to unwind after a days work. I totally forget everything around me and this helps clear my mind.

All these grown-up problems...

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HUH?

me american no understand english analogy

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I started out when I could barely walk, maybe I can get some pics, it looks hilarious, little fucking kid with a huge gibby les paul

well actually my dad was a led zep freak and had me pose with his guitar

Bookmakers = betting office = turf accountants = a place we're you wager a bet. For example, you'd go there if you wanted to place a bet on a horse at the Kentucky Derby or on the Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup. Over here we have betting offices on every street nearly.

Now, say you placed a bet on a horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the horse won - one of the worst things about gambling is that even if you win, you think, "If only I'd have put 20 bucks on instead of 10 I'd have double the winnings".

So the analogy works when you consider when people wish they started playing guitar earlier: even if they did start playing earlier, they'd still wish that they'd started playing even earlier. Kind of like not being happy with the hand you've been dealt, even though you've got three aces.

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If you keep thinking like that then you WONT get better. You have to know you will get better and just practice ton's everyday. Practice about 5 hours a day and in a few months you will be kicking ass. And no I don't mean do little shit like learn little parts to songs and all, I mean learn the boring shit like theory, chords, and all and build that up until you perfect it 100% then move to learning songs from easy shit like Metallica (yeah even if you don't like them it doesn't matter it's just learning a damn song on guitar) and then move up from there.

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ya know, Dog Track would get the point across as well

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There's no need to bring my mother into this.

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ha, i find it extremely impressive. Shred, keep talking shit about how ur only 14. you young piece of shit. oh, and by the way. it kinda is a related topic.
hmmm the thread is about what age is to late to start guitar, he mentioned at what age he started guitar.... i see a relation

EDIT: haha my friend is sitting next to me and he saw me post this and he told me that his grandpa is 76, started playing at 68! apparently he can shred, but i havnt heard him. my friend says he plays a lot of Stevie Ray Vaugh, so hes obviously not bad

i agree w/ everyone who says "it's never too late", thats true for just about everything, except if you want to become a major olympist you should start the sport when your like 7, but thats just what ive heard about most major olympists.

I started when i was 13, and i tried starting when i was 9 but i quit after like a day because my hands were really small and all i had was this stupid "getting started on your fender guitar video"

you see, i play guitar because i want to be in a band. i want to get successful and all thet shit. i wanna get signed. i have school [high school - year 9] and well we all know that takes up 5 days of my week. but even then i think i mihgt get 2-3 hours in on those days.
music is really the only thing i have. i teach myself - only at school do i take an elective music class. but i dont value anything else then music, really. all my money goes to cd's or my guitar or shit. its like those guys that spend 24/7 tuning up a vintage car, so its better than anything you'd buy these days...

ur playin for all the wrong reasons. i play guitar because i love it. i play in a band because i love it. sure, i would be fuckin thrilled if we get signed, and even more if we're successful. if i can make my whole living off of my band, i will be more happy than anyone possibly could be. but if not, i will still play guitar simply because i love it, and i will still play in a band, because i love it.

how do know i dont love it? i want to be in a band. im basically the same as you, but i'm try to push further a get a fanbase, get people interested, get attention. im not gonna quit guitar if nothing happens.

I understand what you are saying man. There is nothing I want to do more when I am older than play guitar. All I do any more when I'm not with friends is listen to music, and play guitar. I watch T.V for about half an hour on the odd day just to watch south park. My mom is pushing me to become an engineer because of the good grades. They are more of a burden now than anything.

im not saying you dont love it. but that needs to be your reason for playing. if you are trying to become succesful, it will be harder to write songs. you will think too much about whether other people will like it. first priority should always be to satisfy yourself man, never forget that.

i know where you are coming from Adrew 1331. but havnt you ever thought about how fucking awesome it would be to be Erik Rutan or whoever your favorite guitarist is in your favorite band? thats what i think about. i want to push myself to become good and work the way up.

as for ShredIsNOtDead - I think we are on the same page dude.

yea i got you dude. my favorite band being In Flames, i would kill to be Jesper Stromblad or Bjorn Gellote. they are my gods.

EDIT: as a matter of fact, i play drums a little, i sing for my band, and i started out playing bass. so basically i would like to be any person in In Flames

it's never too late. i started when i was 12, some people start when they're 40, who cares? it makes it difficult to become a big rock star.. but, honestly, i would recommend that you not make it a dream to produce a revolutionary record by the time you're 21. i know a guy who did that when he was young (he's in his 30s now), and he told me that it screwed him up for a long time after he didn't do that. he's still no huge star, but he does know a bunch of people, so he's come a long way. but he told me once to make sure that i wasn't playing guitar so that i could come up with some amazing record while i'm 21. you have to play 12 hours a day for YEARS to be that good by the time you're 21. that's how much all of the greats played. 12 hours!

hehe.. guitar is fuuuun

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"ur playin for all the wrong reasons. i play guitar because i love it. i play in a band because i love it. sure, i would be fuckin thrilled if we get signed, and even more if we're successful. if i can make my whole living off of my band, i will be more happy than anyone possibly could be. but if not, i will still play guitar simply because i love it, and i will still play in a band, because i love it."

^^^^
absolutely, man. i enjoy it everyday, i'm not sitting here hoping to make it big and change my life. i sit down and chug and go meedly meedly because i love doing it. i'm fine jamming out with guys just to jam. that's mostly what i band does, which is why we never get anywhere, and nobody cares. it's fun.

I know how you feel about the band thing man. I am kind of the same way but see all I am into is hot rods, choppers and music. All I do is listen to music, my friends come over and I just wan't to sit down and listen and they get pissed. I wish I could have music on ALL the time and shit like you see in something like a dirtbike vid or skate vid and shit you know? I don't care if I am in a band or not all I worry about is me being able to play my guitar and drums and get better and better. I don't try to be in a band and impress people, I just play what I wan't and if people don't like it then big deal. If I were you I would worry about getting good first. It's good your trying to think ahead because I do the same exact thing but worry about getting real good and you never know things might change. You always got to have a backup and all.

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its never too late.

i started when i was 14, and i play because its fun.

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hey guys i dont really have any peers that play guitar so i have nobody to go to for help i dont have a teacher either..where can in the internet can i find places to learn all about chords ,,scales..all that stuff?

www.wholenote.com the only lessons page you will ever need. It also has theory charts.

www.looknohands.com lots of scales tons of exotic scales.

www.chopsfromhell.com lots of lessons with video.

thank you shredisnotdead...thank you for helping the novices

newbie help is hard to come by around here

no it isn't, you just have to ask

a lot of people seem to get inpatient with newbs instantly.

wholenote is great, btw.

http://www.guitarlessonworld.com and
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~desmith/guitar/

are also good. sometimes it helps to read about the same thing from 2-3 different people.

people only get impatient when they keep asking the same fucking questions

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How do I get a (insert band here) tone with my mt-2, BLS?

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Yeah that shit get's annoying but they don't really know any better. I just ignore it and don't let it get to me. But there is a damn SEARCH button.

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I dont really understand how you learn technique through the internet and books though. How can you learn that through words on paper

A little application and experimentation helps.

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I started at 10 and am now 15, but 16 isn't too late.

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easy enough.. chord diagrams, scale diagrams, the theory behind them, they're all easy to present with words and a picture or two

seems reasonable, i was only asking because words cant show you through sound....

16 is really pretty young to start. Most kids don't even get serious about playing until then anyhow. just keep practicing and it really gets better and funner.

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funner hey?

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Yeah funner. as in fun....Like playing the guitar is fun.

GET IT?

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Playing guitar is about having fun, not about being the best. No matter what age you start, you'll wish you had earlier. I started at about 11 and still wish I started earlier. To tell the truth, you're probably better off at this age. You probably have a better understanding of it all than when I did when I was 11. Hell, I didn't even know what a scale was. Think of it like this: Everyone plays an instrument at least once in their life. You've passed by the 90% that chose not to practice that instrument and are now in the 10% of us that do (%'s may be higher or lower, it's just to prove a point). Anways, I'd start with with minor and major pentatonic shapes. Then, I'd move on to Major + modes and start some basic theory. Then I'd reccommend Harmonic Minor and Double Harmonic scales. That should give you most of the scales used by metal bands.

I agree with everything you reccomend, except the scale to start on. I firmly believe the major scale should be learned before anything else, C major specifically. The reason being all nomanclature and theory revolves around this scale. My son at 8 years old has begun to learn guitar, first thing learned, the natural scale.

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pentatonic is also very useful

Yes, I agree, but I still think the natural diatonic scale is better to start with since even the pentatonics are derived from it.

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im not too familiar w/ that scale, would anyone be able to post it?

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definitely.

i really need to take lessons. ive been playin for almost five years, and i havent taken one lesson, i just taught myself, with my brother, dad, and uncles guidence. other than that i dont know any scales so its a bitch to write my own songs.

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