Diy teach yourself to play guitar/harmonica

[Ravie]

lol my way of learning guitar is do whatever the fuck feels good and sounds good! i'm very unorthodox...(sp?) i play whatever. i know only about 5 chords.... wich i dont even use. But if you heard me you would probably like what i play. stick to whats comfortable and with time you'll get better. Other than that, fuck around...alot. i made all my ongs just playing random crap that ended up sounding great.

 

[AlyKat]

when I first started playing, ultimate-guitar.com was recommended to me by friends who'd played guitar for a while. it taught me lots of what I know today and the info is relevant to beginners and seasoned players alike. basically I learned some chords and tabs from songs I liked at the time and went from there.

you learn pretty quickly what sounds good with what and that makes playing more and more fun. there are plenty of lessons as well of all types. an exhaustive wealth of knowledge. there is always more to learn keep jammin!

harmonica - I can't really help there, I am still trying to learn myself

 

[Meg]

youtube.

 

[Coywolf]

I still cant play the damn harmonica =( no matter how much I try. I bought one in A. Taught myself to sing and play guitar on the road when I ran outta money. It was the greatest thing Ive ever done. Fist song learned, "Dont think twice" by bob Dylan. Just play everytime you get a chance.

 

[Coywolf]

when I first started playing, ultimate-guitar.com was recommended to me by friends who'd played guitar for a while. it taught me lots of what I know today and the info is relevant to beginners and seasoned players alike. basically I learned some chords and tabs from songs I liked at the time and went from there.

you learn pretty quickly what sounds good with what and that makes playing more and more fun. there are plenty of lessons as well of all types. an exhaustive wealth of knowledge. there is always more to learn keep jammin!

harmonica - I can't really help there, I am still trying to learn myself

I have an Ultimate Guitar app on my phone. Everytime i get WiFi I put anotgher song on there. There is a Favorites section where you can view all of you tabs off-line. Also, if you have a smart phone, get the "Guitar Chords" app. lots of helpful info on there.

 

[Harmonica Bruce]

For harmonica, you need a 10 hole diatonic, your "blue danube" is a cheap chinese tremelo harmonica, it won't do you any good. Carry your 10 hole diatonic harmonica with you everywhere you go. Play it all the time. That actually works with any instrument.

 

[shabti]

Hey, so I'm teaching myself how to play guitar. I have a traveler guitar, which makes it easy to whip out and play anytime, and the Gilb Classical That I dumpstered. (I call it Darwin. The little guy is Nemo.)
http://www.travelerguitar.com
Was so psyched to get that on sale. Anyway, the advice I have is to look into P4 Tuning. Instead of EADGBE tuning, it's EADGCF tuning. Look up stanley jordan, or alex hutchings on youtube. Another guy who talks about P4 tuning is Tom, from "Tom's Music Lessons" on Youtube.

Why? you might ask. It's because I had to know about music. I got really frustrated trying to learn guitar. It's like, for every other instrument in the world, (violin, piano, electric harpischord, you name it) students are taught about music theory first, and then how to apply that to the instrument they are learning about. With guitar it's mostly backwards. The videos are all like "This is a super advanced lesson! We're gonna learn about the circle of 4ths!" or "This is for advanced guitar players only....its INTERVALS! Reading SHEET MUSIC! *(cue the movie announcer voice of DOOOOM)*

...which, yeah, was fucking frustrating. In P4 tuning, you learn one shape, and it applies for the whole fretboard. A major triad will always have the same shape, no matter what root note you have.

If the excess of info on "standard" (spanish) tuning versus the minimal amount of info on P4 tuning gets you hung up, then my advice is to learn music theory. Learn about whole notes, half notes, timing, the major scale, minor scale(s), etc, etc, etc. And don't give up! I've been at it for two years, and it get's way easier with time. good luck.

 

[etpyh]

i taught myself harmonica and kind of made up this system for writing out simple little tunes. i think it's pretty easy to understand to where people that know nothing about music/how to play harmonica could spend a half hour and memorize what to do to play the song.. i'd be up for putting some stuff together

Would love to learn more about your system, since I don't know anything about music at all.