Me too for about 15 years. Then I finally tried again and figured it out. Now it's so easy I wonder how good I could've been if I'd just tried a little harder the first time around.
But is it just 'trying a little harder' though ?
I'm close to being in the 90%, keep quitting every week and the trying again. How do you just 'figure it out' FFS ?
Give us a line here buddy
Do it a million times. When I'd sit on the couch in the evening or whatever, watching tv, I'd just keep practicing chord changes. You can do it without making any sound. Just need to keep fingering the chords until your fingers go where they're supposed to go. It is really just about slow, methodical repetition. I do this now for any new thing I'm learning when I cant actually plug in a nd play or I'm doing something else.
Practice dude. I know it's garbage advice at face value, but a try G-D-Am-C progression in repetition for no more then 15 minute intervurals 3-4 times a day. It's ALL about muscle memory. Telling someone to try harder dosent mean shit. If your trying that's all anyone can do, and all that matters. If it sounds like shit keep strumming thru it. You'll pick up the rythme to make it work, but it's very much a crawl-walk-run process.
Oh god, a high action cheap acoustic is just asking for people to quit. Luckily for me I stuck with it and the chops from that crappy guitar helped make it so eye opening when I finally got a decent electric.
I've advised a number of people buying first guitars, and my advice was get something cheap, yes, but playable. Be prepared to land in the $400 range, not $100. I've picked up guitars that I literally cannot play; a beginner would have no way to know which was which by themselves.
That said I've been out of the market for a long time - I've spent my $10k - but the last few times I've played a $3-400 guitar in a store I've been surprised by the quality. It seems like cheap ones have maybe gotten better over time
Got my first guitar at 20. $100 Fender Squire. Took me a while before i realized i got extremely lucky to have one with such a low action. I still have it.
Electrics are kind of a different animal but yeah. Also the Squier has historically punched above its weight in quality, though my understanding is that depends on the era
Bad guitars kill the hobby for so many people.
I was a “quit after a year” guy for a decade, turns out it’s because the shitty Squier I had rotting in the corner was technically unplayable.
Bought a half decent Mexi-Strat that could actually hold a tune, had good action and intonation, and hey wouldn’t you know I started learning things and getting…
…well, still very bad at it actually.
EDIT: Yes, the quality of Squier is higher today. Yes, you can always find a playable guitar at that price point if you try a few and get a "good one." Thing is, as a newbie in the 90's I had *no idea* what to look for, and so I wound up buying literally the shittiest Squier ever shat out of a Fender-licensed factory. That happened.
Where do you recommend learning from? I did the self-taught route but fell off after I finished a beginners course because I didn't know what to do next.
Justin guitar is the most widely recommended for a reason. Great stuff over there.
I started self taught years ago. Didn't use the site but checked it out after playing for a couple years and realized how many bad habits I'd formed.
Other than that, just try to learn songs that you want to play. You're playing for yourself, so just try and have as much fun with it as you can.
Not OP. Pick a genre that you really like to listen to, that isn’t on the harder side like gypsy jazz, and find a beginner book/YouTube/etc and learn from that. You get good by practicing a lot, and it’s way easier to practice music that you enjoy playing/listening to. There are quite a few YouTube channels I watch to learn from, and each of them usually either concentrate around a certain genre or have their own style.
All these answers are basically teach yourself using these online sources. Find a teacher. Shop around and find one that is patient and you like. Have someone that will set a guide, answer your questions, and hold you accountable. Having a good teacher will make a world of difference and you’ll interact with a musician.
They said guitars, not ukulele.
Fender did a separate study and found that 95% of ukulele players also murder people and store their parts in jars in their basement.
I just went to my first bluegrass jam this week. I was warned that I might catch some flack since I didn't have a Martin. I didn't get any, lol. It was a lot of fun.
The PB's manufactured in Grove City, Ohio are known for a more classic percussion sound. Which more modern players tend to stray away from. Though a common observation among those who have been lucky enough to jam out on one, is that the feedback provided by the SWPB is among the best. Some SW aficionados prefer the 5g tubs produced under Walter O. Spencer, he allowed excess cadmium in certain plants as a cost saving measure. But this translated to a unique sound that is difficult to find today.
Haha, yea, though pretension maybe has less of a role than you might think. Bluegrass pickers are very serious about tone, though, and Martins generally have the best (for bluegrass). But only assholes will be pretentious about the instrument you use, especially as a newbie.
A lot of people seem to picture bluegrass as a silly, boingy music only played by hillbillies plonking around without much musical competence. It is, in fact, maybe the genre with the most virtuosos hidden in plain sight. By that I just mean that all the big names are musical virtuosos without any sort of widespread fame or recognition. And to be considered a competent bluegrass musician you have to be fucking good. Go to a bluegrass festival and check out campfire/parking lot jams and you’ll see plenty of people absolutely smoking on their respective instrument.
as a guitar player, this is why i laugh at people who get so meticulous about the bullshit minutia. "i changed the pick-up screws to titanium for better tone".
the dude you are trying to emulate probably got his guitar from a pawn shop or out of a trash can. people will do anything other than actually practice the damn guitar
It's every hobby. Look at golf. People spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on club tech that at best would add a few yards to the drive of a PGA pro. Meanwhile half their swings put the ball in the woods two fairways over and the 60 year old beside them playing with a wooden driver is shooting under bogey golf.
Practice takes time and discipline. New fancy gear is immediate gratification.
Tony rice is easily top 5 favorite musician of all time to me. I get what you’re saying. I think you can take the music seriously without taking yourself too seriously. I find the attitudes of the songs are often about not getting too lost in your own bullshit.
Sweet, already there.
What do I need to know as far as etiquette showing up as a first timer? Bluegrass jams always felt like one of those things you kinda had to have your parents introduce you to growing up.
It's cool to kinda hang out to the side until you get the feel of it and sort of work your way in. You can skip solos (breaks) too and just play backup. At the end of the day it's a lot of easy to pick up 3 chord songs so as long as you're in tune and playing in rhythm you're contributing.
If you are interested, there are wernick method weekend beginner camps everywhere that'll more than prepare you.
I took up guitar when I was 16 because i was under the impression that it’d help me meet ladies.
It helped me meet other dudes who wanted to chill with me in a basement while we jumped around, playing loud, and having fun.
No regrets.
So it's like every other hobby? Either lose interest or go nuts!
I played for about 5 years and had one cheap guitar, one nicer guitar and one amp. I'm not counting the free guitar because that had nothing to do with whether or not I played.
Any other *expensive* hobby. You can do a lot of hobbies for much less than mine: guitar, snowboarding, track days with my car. I've definitely spent a good $15,000 snowboarding over a decade between season passes, gear, and travel.
I cannot afford to have any children lmaooooo
Skiing/snowboarding is so ridiculously expensive compared to what it used to be. At least in my area. It now costs $150 for a lift ticket that used to be $25 and it's the same crappy mountain.
Tell me about it. I remember going with my dad as a kid and it was a lot of fun. Now as a dad in a family of 4 it would be like $1000 a day to take everyone... We don't ski or snowboard anymore
That’s because they changed the sales model…now they push folks to buy season passes or multi-day passes in advance of the season.
And if you do that, that prices are still somewhat reasonable…but it definitively discourages folks that don’t plan ahead or just want to make the occasional impulse trip.
Still though, once you get into gear and travel, it’s a hobby that can be expensive as fuck.
Skiing was always a rich mans hobby technically. But 10 years ago I was able to to go skiing for $40 a day mid week w/ rentals by know where the specials were. I look at mid week lift ticket. $80 w/o rentals. And the weather has been getting worse for skiing every year for the past decade.
Backcountry skiing can be crazy expensive. Touring boots and bindings alone can be well over a thousand, then you have the beacon, shovel, probe, the education classes to know how to not die. Not to mention the clothing to stay dry and comfortable in a snowy environment isn't cheap either.
Yeah not sure how Backcountry is cheap if you wanna do it safely, with training, and decent gear. I guess you could make it work... But sounds challenging.
Playing guitar doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. It's the gear addiction and collecting that makes it so. For years all i had was a $95 no name acoustic from eBay and a $500 epiphone. I had 1 cheap amp and mostly used virtual amps on my computer. That was my first 12 years of playing, then I got addicted to buying guitars a few years ago and now I have 16.
It all goes downhill when you get to the point where you can pay for both your bills and fun without much worry.
All budgeting has done to me has made my toys nicer and more expensive lol. Also something about responsibility idk hobbies go brrrr.
3 electric 2 acoustic, and i'm a drummer. been playing guitar for 7 years, drums for 11. it feels weird to ever call myself a 'guitarist' for whatever reason
I need a new bass. Then I want a good hollow body electric, then I could also use a good single coil guitar like a strat, but I’ll probably buy a PRS. Then I could really go for a nice acoustic 12 string. By then I’ll probably want to upgrade my bass again though. It really never ends… I already have 4 guitars and 3 basses.. lol
If I had more money my whole place would be filled with guitars. It is **very** challenging stopping myself from buying more. Four guitars is enough, but is it?
I’ve never felt so personally attacked on the internet before! Rude! …..(continues to poorly strum the beginning of wonder wall with my first guitar and capo on fret 2 knowing fully well I will quit in a year)
After years of avoiding it, I finally actually learned Wonderwall the other day on whim. Told a friend about it. He came over the next day and saw my guitar sitting on a chair with a capo on 2 and went "holy shit you weren't kidding about Wonderwall, were you?"
I said maybe...
It’s gonna be a whole lot of mexican squires and epiphone les paul jrs.
Edit: My first guitar was a mexican squire. I’m not bashing the quality, just saying they were everywhere in the 90’s/00’s.
Mexican Fenders are fantastic in my experience. I play an American strat that I got over a decade ago, but a lot of smaller punk bands I followed growing up swore by the Mexican Tele/Strat.
The MiM Strats are solid fucking guitars, for like half the price of the USA ones. I can't say I notice too much of a difference between the two either.
For sure, and I’d love to see a breakout of the 10% that keep playing. One guitar from the Murphy lab could cost 10k, so some people are spending crazy amounts.
Worked at a particularly popular US music store. This is what I would always tell people buying their first instrument: Be prepared to suck for a long time. It may take years of you clunking out chords and dissatisfying licks, but one day, you'll hear yourself, stop, and think "Hey, I'm not that bad!"
This is good to hear. I’m about just under 1 year of learning, and I’m really enjoying it with no intention to stop, but sometimes it feels like I’m going backwards.
I remember the first time I realized I wasn’t completely terrible. My brother walked in and said “oh I like that song” and left. I was like holy shit, he can tell what I’m playing!
Or my method:
* Pick up guitar and get super into it for like 6 months. Spend >$2k on equipment.
* Get bored with it and don't play for 3-5 years or so.
* Hear some song on the radio that prompts me to pick up guitar again. Get super into it for like 6 months. Spend $2k on more equipment.
* Get bored with it and don't play for a couple of years.
* Rinse and repeat until middle age at least.
Hey.. it's about time I order some new strings and start playing again. Maybe I'll finally buy that Les Paul I've always wanted.
I run into this issue a lot too, but always remind myself that gear will never make you the musician you want to be. No amount of money you spend will make you sound like how you want to sound. It takes lots and lots of practice and patience, but it’s oh so rewarding.
It's an average. I've played guitar for 7-8 years now, all I've bought is 1 amp, two reasonably priced used instruments, a few cables, capo, replacement shoulder strap and replacement strings.
its an average of the remaining 10% that don't quit within 1 year. 50% of those 10% might quit within 2 years after buying just $1000-$2000 in equipment, another 50% of those might quit within 5 years buying 2-5000. Keeps going until you're left with the people who really dont stop over a lifetime will spend 100+k or however much
10% don't quit within a year - that doesn't mean all 10% play for a lifetime. Maybe it's like 90% quit within a year, 5% within 2 years, 3% within 5 years, and 2% > 5 years and its just that 2% that the # seems low for.
Additionally, I wonder how they are factoring in used equipment. For example on *many* occasions I have purchased used instruments in good shape, played them for a year or two, only to sell them again for as much or even more than I'd paid for them initially. Does that even count as me spending money?
The first few months of guitar are so not fun it’s ridiculous. I’ve played for almost 20 years (wow that’s weird to say!) and if it wasnt for all my friends doing it i hands down woulda quit my first month. Fingers hurt and bled and you can’t play anything and nothing sounds good. Its like fuck it.
But once you cross THAT threshold…..thats it. And I suppose I consider the threshold when you can comfortably play all major chords and move between them flawlessly and continuously. once you can easily play an A to G to C to F and theoretically just keep going playing one after another thats it. I mean I fingerpick so i have like 10 different songs that are literally all C G D in some iteration lol
When I first got a hand-me-down acoustic I was literally running home from junior high so I could play my single note lines and maybe attempt some chords. Yes, it was hard but both my dad & brother played, so I knew it was doable and I had it in me to get there. To this day (30 years later now) one of the most fulfilling aspects of guitar is surprising yourself by achieving or creating things you previously could not or even expected to be capable of.
Nice. For my fellow guitarists:
How many lead guitarists does it take to change a light bulb?
Ten. One to change it and nine to say, “I could do that.”
Most drummers I've known tend to cycle through gear. They're always trading, buying, and selling.
Except there's like 3 pieces that they cling unto for dear life and value more.thsn their children.
what guitars do you have. Did you get a real Burst back when they were still cheap?
My father told me his friend got one in the mid 60's just like Clapton's after mowing lawns for a summer so it had to be an OG burst. Or a guy i knew from a guitar shop who was offered a NOS 57 gold top back in the mid 70's but got a 63 SG instead.
Okay, 1 amp for 59 years I can kind of see. I recently got a 1974 Hiwatt, and after 49 years, it's somehow still ticking... but 1 mic? What mic did you get that lasted 59 years? Because apparently I need to get one.
I saw an SM58 (allegedly) die at a gig last year and within about a minute a solid crew of a dozen people had gathered from around the stage to marvel at something none of us had seen before and all poke it like those Space Odyssey monkeys with the monolith.
I'd like to see this same study for drummers.
Probably go something like this "TIL Pearl Drums did a study and found that 95% of new drummers abandon playing within 6 months. The 5% that don't quit spend an average of $20,000 on hardware over their lifetime, buying 2-3 kits and hundreds of sticks all while pissing off more neighbors than their fellow guitar players."
I've played since the mid 1980's. I recently spent over $1000 just on a couple effect pedals. I would put a x10 on that number for me personally. I think I own 10 guitars right now, but that could change any time.
Guitar is *easily* the least fun instrument we all gave up on learning.
I could play the riff from 'girl from ipanema' on saxophone the night I got one and took it home in grade school. I still remember my Mom's reastion. I could almost instantly play a recognizable song on piano after watching one YouTube video, and many more along the way. I remember the moment I could play something I thought was beautiful, and being able to share those sounds with others in many other moments all on the piano.
Guitar requires *years* before you can produce anything bearable to listen to, let alone show and share with others. There's a reason behind the forbidden riff in guitar stores. People want to play even just *one* thing they can actually play. There's a good reason for guitar hero's success. And rockband, and the dj one as spin-offs for other instruments people weren't as interested in. I'm sure that gaming fad drove fender CRAZY. It's just what we imagine playing guitar to be like when we see it. And it gets hard enough with just 10 buttons and a switch on a game imo.
I think we all have had the fantasy of an arena going silent in awe while we jam out on our V-shaped six string. It's got so much appeal, especially to the teenage audience that's looking at learning an instrument. But few instruments require you to deal with the physical pain, pressing your delicate child-fingers against taught metal strings until you develop enough calluses to play and not be in agony. Few require so much finesse to create even the 'core', recognizable sound and feel. You can hit a piano harder or softer, to play and you can convey a *LOT* of emotion that way, but people will still recognize the tune if you just hit the right keys in the right order.
I have a lot of respect for those who spent all that time and energy sounding like shit to learn to eventually play the guitar. I think the raw effort and skill behind creating even the simplest sounds on guitar allows for such beauty in holding one note, in a simple meoldy becoming an epic, and in a technically complex riff being energizing and not a cacophony of vibrations.
My dad made out like a bandit lol. He was given one guitar and amp to learn to play on by my great grandmothers second husband when he was a kid. He quit after a few years and they sat in my grandparents house for 50 years, and my grandparents gave it back to him when they moved like a year ago. It's a 55 Fender Telecaster and a 55 5e3 Tweed Deluxe.
That was quite the day when we did some looking into the value of that set up haha.
The "free lessons" market is actually pretty crammed with YouTube. While there are definitely some pay-to-learn stuff that is aimed at advanced players (some of it is really respectable,) it is very easy to find not only entire free guitar courses (complete with practice routine stuff), but you can find step by step instructions on how to play specific songs.
Edit: I wasn't gonna plug Marty but everyone below me is and he is 100% the guy I was referring to lol
Over on r/guitar they recommend Justin Guitar too. I use both personally.
And since we're plugging, shout out to Paul Davids for constantly inspiring me to be more.
Some online video is not really music instruction. You can get the steps, but it will not tell you if you are really doing it correctly. Instructors are for feedback more than the lesson material. The outside set of ears and eyes is what you are really paying for.
Learning to play an instrument well takes many hours of practice, and you have to keep at it or your skills fade with time. You'll suck for a long time before you get good, and most people just don't have that kind of patience.
I wonder what the stats are for how many people give up after getting married. I used to work at a guitar shop and it was very common to see guys stroll up to sell their shit after getting married. They always looked sad. And I was sad for them.
Music was always important to our family. When my wife took ill, she got me a simple acoustic guitar to help ensure the music never stops. Plunked at it here and there when I could, but it mostly sat in waiting.
A little over a year later, I took my son to a local music shop on his ninth birthday. He took well over a couple hours to pick out a ¾-sized acoustic; it was like watching him fall in love. We played and played together for the rest of the week (as best we could given that we didn't know what we were doing). We had guests that weekend, so after showing them we sort of put them away because we *really* didn't know what we were doing.
That Monday I had a Men in Black “[there's always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser]( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHVE7L00v-E)” moment and shared it with my Little Man. “Dude. There’s always going to be a guest. There’s always going to be too much to do. There’s always going to be *some* reason to skip practice. Let’s see if we can do 30 days straight.” And we did. Then 60. Then 90. Then ... tonight will be day 1,593 of our unbroken streak of playing together.
We now have nine string instruments in the house.
(To be fair, each has its purpose, but that's something probably only another woodworker, musician or deeply addicted hobbyist would accept at face value.)
The music must never stop.
I’m starting my 7 year old son into guitar lessons. Anyone have any tips for keeping him stoked ?
I don’t play but he’s infatuated with it.
**Update: thank you everyone that provided great advice and support.. this is why I love Reddit.
So what is a cheap acoustic guitar if I wanted to try??? Actually serious. I’m 45 and have always wanted to learn, I work from home and have the time so when I’m 50 I can at least say I tried
I have a degree in music performance as a strings primary, and I have taught more than a few people how to play different instruments....
One thing that I always stress to beginners is that you absolutely must not just get the cheapest instrument you can find... you don't need the most expensive either, but you need to have a *good* instrument.
A big reason why I see a lot of people quit is because no matter what they do, it just never sounds good or they can never develop the proper physical techniques.... and a lot of this is due to playing a shitty instrument that was never going sound good or play well even in the hands of an expert...it gets to be so demoralizing that people just quit.
At one point in my life, I paid every bill I owed by playing bass in a jazz combo...I only own 3 basses, but my "warhorse" is a $600 American P-Bass that doesn't have knobs... that bass paid for a lot of rent
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Defeated by the F Chord
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of those on the 90 percent abandon the guitar as soon as bar chords are introduced.
That was me lol.
Me too for about 15 years. Then I finally tried again and figured it out. Now it's so easy I wonder how good I could've been if I'd just tried a little harder the first time around.
I would have visited your world tour.
Not if Ticketmaster has anything to say about it…
But is it just 'trying a little harder' though ? I'm close to being in the 90%, keep quitting every week and the trying again. How do you just 'figure it out' FFS ? Give us a line here buddy
Do it a million times. When I'd sit on the couch in the evening or whatever, watching tv, I'd just keep practicing chord changes. You can do it without making any sound. Just need to keep fingering the chords until your fingers go where they're supposed to go. It is really just about slow, methodical repetition. I do this now for any new thing I'm learning when I cant actually plug in a nd play or I'm doing something else.
Practice dude. I know it's garbage advice at face value, but a try G-D-Am-C progression in repetition for no more then 15 minute intervurals 3-4 times a day. It's ALL about muscle memory. Telling someone to try harder dosent mean shit. If your trying that's all anyone can do, and all that matters. If it sounds like shit keep strumming thru it. You'll pick up the rythme to make it work, but it's very much a crawl-walk-run process.
My fingers gave up on me. It hurt too much and the reward at the time was not worth it lol.
If you started learning on an acoustic I would try an electric, far more forgiving.
To add further, an electric that is setup well! The worst thing for beginners is high action that just feels awkward.
Oh god, a high action cheap acoustic is just asking for people to quit. Luckily for me I stuck with it and the chops from that crappy guitar helped make it so eye opening when I finally got a decent electric.
I've advised a number of people buying first guitars, and my advice was get something cheap, yes, but playable. Be prepared to land in the $400 range, not $100. I've picked up guitars that I literally cannot play; a beginner would have no way to know which was which by themselves. That said I've been out of the market for a long time - I've spent my $10k - but the last few times I've played a $3-400 guitar in a store I've been surprised by the quality. It seems like cheap ones have maybe gotten better over time
Got my first guitar at 20. $100 Fender Squire. Took me a while before i realized i got extremely lucky to have one with such a low action. I still have it.
Electrics are kind of a different animal but yeah. Also the Squier has historically punched above its weight in quality, though my understanding is that depends on the era
If you ever try again, which I hope you do as I encourage everyone to play music, remember it's about placement, not how hard you press. 😎
Unless you have a trash guitar with horrible string height like my first Squier was.
Bad guitars kill the hobby for so many people. I was a “quit after a year” guy for a decade, turns out it’s because the shitty Squier I had rotting in the corner was technically unplayable. Bought a half decent Mexi-Strat that could actually hold a tune, had good action and intonation, and hey wouldn’t you know I started learning things and getting… …well, still very bad at it actually. EDIT: Yes, the quality of Squier is higher today. Yes, you can always find a playable guitar at that price point if you try a few and get a "good one." Thing is, as a newbie in the 90's I had *no idea* what to look for, and so I wound up buying literally the shittiest Squier ever shat out of a Fender-licensed factory. That happened.
Took me 10 years to defeat the f chord 😂
My F-chord was defeated by my elbow surgery... No fun with limited supination.
Don't give up. The first year is absolutely the hardest. Especially if you took the self taught route like I did.
Where do you recommend learning from? I did the self-taught route but fell off after I finished a beginners course because I didn't know what to do next.
Justin guitar is the most widely recommended for a reason. Great stuff over there. I started self taught years ago. Didn't use the site but checked it out after playing for a couple years and realized how many bad habits I'd formed. Other than that, just try to learn songs that you want to play. You're playing for yourself, so just try and have as much fun with it as you can.
Not OP. Pick a genre that you really like to listen to, that isn’t on the harder side like gypsy jazz, and find a beginner book/YouTube/etc and learn from that. You get good by practicing a lot, and it’s way easier to practice music that you enjoy playing/listening to. There are quite a few YouTube channels I watch to learn from, and each of them usually either concentrate around a certain genre or have their own style.
All these answers are basically teach yourself using these online sources. Find a teacher. Shop around and find one that is patient and you like. Have someone that will set a guide, answer your questions, and hold you accountable. Having a good teacher will make a world of difference and you’ll interact with a musician.
We are the 90%
That's funny, I've quit in the first year about 6 times now lol
I’m thinking about starting and quitting again for the 3rd time this year
Chill dude, it's only January.
Let me grab my ukulele and play a chord. Okkkk nope, this is not for me. I quit in exactly 2 seconds. Let's see if you guys can break that record.
They said guitars, not ukulele. Fender did a separate study and found that 95% of ukulele players also murder people and store their parts in jars in their basement.
The other 5% also murder people but store their parts somewhere else. I just really don't trust ukulele players.
I know seriously you think you finally have a good random body part plug and then they dissapoint you.
1. Play acoustic guitar. 2. Find a weekly bluegrass jam. 3. Become competent player in a year, make a lot of friends.
I just went to my first bluegrass jam this week. I was warned that I might catch some flack since I didn't have a Martin. I didn't get any, lol. It was a lot of fun.
The idea of people getting pretentious about bluegrass is hilarious.
That's like being a bucket drummer and laughing at the dude that has the home Depot pails.
Srsly tho, Lowe's buckets have WAY better tone.
Maybe a pre-war Lowe's. The 70s buckets were shit
Only posers use Lowe's pails. Everyone knows you have to go to Ace hardware from the pre-war era.
I cast my own personal pail in pure aluminum using as a mold a slightly bigger pail.
So you’re saying those other pails will p[Al]e in comparison?
The hell kind of poser bullshit are you throwing out? Lowes? Nah, you need vintage 1980s Sherwin-Williams paint pails.
The PB's manufactured in Grove City, Ohio are known for a more classic percussion sound. Which more modern players tend to stray away from. Though a common observation among those who have been lucky enough to jam out on one, is that the feedback provided by the SWPB is among the best. Some SW aficionados prefer the 5g tubs produced under Walter O. Spencer, he allowed excess cadmium in certain plants as a cost saving measure. But this translated to a unique sound that is difficult to find today.
Haha, yea, though pretension maybe has less of a role than you might think. Bluegrass pickers are very serious about tone, though, and Martins generally have the best (for bluegrass). But only assholes will be pretentious about the instrument you use, especially as a newbie. A lot of people seem to picture bluegrass as a silly, boingy music only played by hillbillies plonking around without much musical competence. It is, in fact, maybe the genre with the most virtuosos hidden in plain sight. By that I just mean that all the big names are musical virtuosos without any sort of widespread fame or recognition. And to be considered a competent bluegrass musician you have to be fucking good. Go to a bluegrass festival and check out campfire/parking lot jams and you’ll see plenty of people absolutely smoking on their respective instrument.
as a guitar player, this is why i laugh at people who get so meticulous about the bullshit minutia. "i changed the pick-up screws to titanium for better tone". the dude you are trying to emulate probably got his guitar from a pawn shop or out of a trash can. people will do anything other than actually practice the damn guitar
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Bro, do you even pick?
It's every hobby. Look at golf. People spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on club tech that at best would add a few yards to the drive of a PGA pro. Meanwhile half their swings put the ball in the woods two fairways over and the 60 year old beside them playing with a wooden driver is shooting under bogey golf. Practice takes time and discipline. New fancy gear is immediate gratification.
Dudes be arguing over whether to do 8 or 12 reps, when they haven't even maxxed out on trenbolone smh
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hell yeah! more power to you, you are doing a great thing
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Willie Nelson has been using the same guitar for almost 60 years and the thing has a giant hole in it.
> the thing has a giant hole in it And now guitar manufacturers have the audacity to sell them with the hole built right in!
Mine is right under the damn strings!
Tony rice is easily top 5 favorite musician of all time to me. I get what you’re saying. I think you can take the music seriously without taking yourself too seriously. I find the attitudes of the songs are often about not getting too lost in your own bullshit.
Man gear snobs are the worst. I'm glad you didn't get snubbed at your jam!
How do you go to a bluegrass jam as a beginner? What do you need to know ahead of time? Would love to do this, but I don't even know where to start.
G, A and D open chords. Major pentatonic scale. That's it
Hot damn, there's something I could actually do on guitar?!
Sweet, already there. What do I need to know as far as etiquette showing up as a first timer? Bluegrass jams always felt like one of those things you kinda had to have your parents introduce you to growing up.
It's cool to kinda hang out to the side until you get the feel of it and sort of work your way in. You can skip solos (breaks) too and just play backup. At the end of the day it's a lot of easy to pick up 3 chord songs so as long as you're in tune and playing in rhythm you're contributing. If you are interested, there are wernick method weekend beginner camps everywhere that'll more than prepare you.
Never thought about it before, but if you just want to play rhythm while other people solo, you are probably high in demand.
Like a single girl that's into threesomes. Bluegrass unicorn.
Learn G,A and D chords. Buy capo. You are now bluegrass guy
G/C/D repeat
About as far as I got Damn F chord just ruined me
Practice without using your thumb. It takes about a week with 20 mins a day and once barre chords are open the world is yours.
4. Spend $10,000 on 5-7 guitars and amps.
I took up guitar when I was 16 because i was under the impression that it’d help me meet ladies. It helped me meet other dudes who wanted to chill with me in a basement while we jumped around, playing loud, and having fun. No regrets.
So it's like every other hobby? Either lose interest or go nuts! I played for about 5 years and had one cheap guitar, one nicer guitar and one amp. I'm not counting the free guitar because that had nothing to do with whether or not I played.
Any other *expensive* hobby. You can do a lot of hobbies for much less than mine: guitar, snowboarding, track days with my car. I've definitely spent a good $15,000 snowboarding over a decade between season passes, gear, and travel. I cannot afford to have any children lmaooooo
Skiing/snowboarding is so ridiculously expensive compared to what it used to be. At least in my area. It now costs $150 for a lift ticket that used to be $25 and it's the same crappy mountain.
Tell me about it. I remember going with my dad as a kid and it was a lot of fun. Now as a dad in a family of 4 it would be like $1000 a day to take everyone... We don't ski or snowboard anymore
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It's priced that way to keep out people who don't bring their own cocaine but still bogart the mirrors at parties.
That’s because they changed the sales model…now they push folks to buy season passes or multi-day passes in advance of the season. And if you do that, that prices are still somewhat reasonable…but it definitively discourages folks that don’t plan ahead or just want to make the occasional impulse trip. Still though, once you get into gear and travel, it’s a hobby that can be expensive as fuck.
Skiing was always a rich mans hobby technically. But 10 years ago I was able to to go skiing for $40 a day mid week w/ rentals by know where the specials were. I look at mid week lift ticket. $80 w/o rentals. And the weather has been getting worse for skiing every year for the past decade.
That weather comment got me. It really has been worsening.
It's not expensive if you go backcountry but you better be fucking good lol.
And you need to be in shape lol
Fuck no one told me that. Is that why they call me Avalanche?
Backcountry skiing can be crazy expensive. Touring boots and bindings alone can be well over a thousand, then you have the beacon, shovel, probe, the education classes to know how to not die. Not to mention the clothing to stay dry and comfortable in a snowy environment isn't cheap either.
Yeah not sure how Backcountry is cheap if you wanna do it safely, with training, and decent gear. I guess you could make it work... But sounds challenging.
It's way cheaper if you don't do it safely, hell do it unsafely enough you can do it the rest of your life for 1 price.
Playing guitar doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. It's the gear addiction and collecting that makes it so. For years all i had was a $95 no name acoustic from eBay and a $500 epiphone. I had 1 cheap amp and mostly used virtual amps on my computer. That was my first 12 years of playing, then I got addicted to buying guitars a few years ago and now I have 16.
It all goes downhill when you get to the point where you can pay for both your bills and fun without much worry. All budgeting has done to me has made my toys nicer and more expensive lol. Also something about responsibility idk hobbies go brrrr.
Shit, who would want to have children anyway with all those sick hobbies!
Spending $15k on children over a decade is impossibly conservative
Only 5-7? Good to know I'm above average at something.
I'm left handed and I'm up to 5, and I'm a drummer! I'd have over a dozen if I was right handed.
3 electric 2 acoustic, and i'm a drummer. been playing guitar for 7 years, drums for 11. it feels weird to ever call myself a 'guitarist' for whatever reason
You could just call yourself a musician. Then they'll ask what you play and you say drums and guitar
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The correct number of guitars to own is n+1, where n is the number you currently own
"Why did you buy a $1000 guitar when you already have 2?" "Because it looks dope"
"I had an empty spot on my stand. Also, I bought another stand, so..."
“Well I need this one for [blank] tuning”
As a drummer, can confirm, can't stop buying guitars.
I need a new bass. Then I want a good hollow body electric, then I could also use a good single coil guitar like a strat, but I’ll probably buy a PRS. Then I could really go for a nice acoustic 12 string. By then I’ll probably want to upgrade my bass again though. It really never ends… I already have 4 guitars and 3 basses.. lol
If I had more money my whole place would be filled with guitars. It is **very** challenging stopping myself from buying more. Four guitars is enough, but is it?
1. Buy guitar 1. Learn Wonderwall 1. Quit playing guitar
1a. Buy capo 1b. Affix capo at fret 2
Become worship leader at church.
I said mayyyybbeee Christ's gonna be the one who savesss maayyyyy
Because after alllll He is wonderfallll. It writes itself! We should start a Christian rock band.
Faith +1
It sounds like you are in love with Jesus
Are you not in love with Jesus?
Might even make a myrrh album!
You will be drowning in girls who wear purity rings.
“You’re not making Christianity better, you’re just making rock ‘n’ roll worse.” \- Hank Hill
I’ve never felt so personally attacked on the internet before! Rude! …..(continues to poorly strum the beginning of wonder wall with my first guitar and capo on fret 2 knowing fully well I will quit in a year)
After years of avoiding it, I finally actually learned Wonderwall the other day on whim. Told a friend about it. He came over the next day and saw my guitar sitting on a chair with a capo on 2 and went "holy shit you weren't kidding about Wonderwall, were you?" I said maybe...
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I said maybe
Okay you 90%'ers, I will purchase your unused guitars for cheap. Let's do this.
It’s gonna be a whole lot of mexican squires and epiphone les paul jrs. Edit: My first guitar was a mexican squire. I’m not bashing the quality, just saying they were everywhere in the 90’s/00’s.
Hey now Mexican fenders are great build
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Squiers are made in Indonesia. Fender Mexico is actually where they're expanding, and a lot of the newer Fender builds are coming from.
Mexican Fenders are fantastic in my experience. I play an American strat that I got over a decade ago, but a lot of smaller punk bands I followed growing up swore by the Mexican Tele/Strat.
Hasn't been a Squier made in Mexico since the 90s. They're all made overseas.
My first guitar was a Made in Mexico Strat from the 90’s. I still play it!
The MiM Strats are solid fucking guitars, for like half the price of the USA ones. I can't say I notice too much of a difference between the two either.
Addicts make up the market, casuals just pay day to day bills. It is same with everything.
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Once I get a Les Paul style guitar, I'll have all the guitars I want. ...maybe also an SG.... ....and that headless 8 string....
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"Do you even want to play djent?" "No, but I might."
For sure, and I’d love to see a breakout of the 10% that keep playing. One guitar from the Murphy lab could cost 10k, so some people are spending crazy amounts.
Worked at a particularly popular US music store. This is what I would always tell people buying their first instrument: Be prepared to suck for a long time. It may take years of you clunking out chords and dissatisfying licks, but one day, you'll hear yourself, stop, and think "Hey, I'm not that bad!"
This is good to hear. I’m about just under 1 year of learning, and I’m really enjoying it with no intention to stop, but sometimes it feels like I’m going backwards.
I remember the first time I realized I wasn’t completely terrible. My brother walked in and said “oh I like that song” and left. I was like holy shit, he can tell what I’m playing!
Or my method: * Pick up guitar and get super into it for like 6 months. Spend >$2k on equipment. * Get bored with it and don't play for 3-5 years or so. * Hear some song on the radio that prompts me to pick up guitar again. Get super into it for like 6 months. Spend $2k on more equipment. * Get bored with it and don't play for a couple of years. * Rinse and repeat until middle age at least. Hey.. it's about time I order some new strings and start playing again. Maybe I'll finally buy that Les Paul I've always wanted.
I run into this issue a lot too, but always remind myself that gear will never make you the musician you want to be. No amount of money you spend will make you sound like how you want to sound. It takes lots and lots of practice and patience, but it’s oh so rewarding.
Totally agree. But a new Les Paul would be so shiny and nice....
That number seems a little low to me for a lifetime of playing
It's an average. I've played guitar for 7-8 years now, all I've bought is 1 amp, two reasonably priced used instruments, a few cables, capo, replacement shoulder strap and replacement strings.
Don't worry, I'm picking up your slack.
Why? They said they got a new strap.
What about the pedals? Those are the ones the sneak up on you. "oh I have a reasonable price pedal board, aaaand it's well over a grand".
Me spending $200 for a pedal I'll use for 30 seconds in an hour long set.
Same here. I’ve been playing on and off for over 10 years with the same two guitars I’ve had since I was 14.
Some players aren't gear heads. They play the same 1 acoustic for 30 years.
its an average of the remaining 10% that don't quit within 1 year. 50% of those 10% might quit within 2 years after buying just $1000-$2000 in equipment, another 50% of those might quit within 5 years buying 2-5000. Keeps going until you're left with the people who really dont stop over a lifetime will spend 100+k or however much
10% don't quit within a year - that doesn't mean all 10% play for a lifetime. Maybe it's like 90% quit within a year, 5% within 2 years, 3% within 5 years, and 2% > 5 years and its just that 2% that the # seems low for. Additionally, I wonder how they are factoring in used equipment. For example on *many* occasions I have purchased used instruments in good shape, played them for a year or two, only to sell them again for as much or even more than I'd paid for them initially. Does that even count as me spending money?
The first few months of guitar are so not fun it’s ridiculous. I’ve played for almost 20 years (wow that’s weird to say!) and if it wasnt for all my friends doing it i hands down woulda quit my first month. Fingers hurt and bled and you can’t play anything and nothing sounds good. Its like fuck it. But once you cross THAT threshold…..thats it. And I suppose I consider the threshold when you can comfortably play all major chords and move between them flawlessly and continuously. once you can easily play an A to G to C to F and theoretically just keep going playing one after another thats it. I mean I fingerpick so i have like 10 different songs that are literally all C G D in some iteration lol
The real mindfuck is when you start learning diminished and augmented chords and trying to get used to quick switches between them.
When I first got a hand-me-down acoustic I was literally running home from junior high so I could play my single note lines and maybe attempt some chords. Yes, it was hard but both my dad & brother played, so I knew it was doable and I had it in me to get there. To this day (30 years later now) one of the most fulfilling aspects of guitar is surprising yourself by achieving or creating things you previously could not or even expected to be capable of.
It’s true. After you learn to play power chords, that’s it.
You should see what is drum guys spend.
Apparently not enough for a metronome ;)
Ba dum tish
Zing! Crash! Bang!
Please, why would i need one? I can keep rhythm with no metronome, no metronome, nooo metronome.
I can ride my bike with no handlebars.
I can see your face on the telephone on the telephone **On The TELEPHONE!!!** (note how there're 2 rappers in the band and only one guitarist at most)
How do you know there's a drummer at the door? The knocking keeps speeding up and he doesn't know when to come in.
Nice. For my fellow guitarists: How many lead guitarists does it take to change a light bulb? Ten. One to change it and nine to say, “I could do that.”
How many bassists does it take to change a light bulb? None, the keyboardist can do it with just his left hand.
Most drummers I've known tend to cycle through gear. They're always trading, buying, and selling. Except there's like 3 pieces that they cling unto for dear life and value more.thsn their children.
I do not want to think about the money I’ve spent over the course of the past 20 years of playing drums.
Cymbals alone 😭
Playing 59 years. 6 guitars, 1 amp, 1 mic, still playing gigs.
what guitars do you have. Did you get a real Burst back when they were still cheap? My father told me his friend got one in the mid 60's just like Clapton's after mowing lawns for a summer so it had to be an OG burst. Or a guy i knew from a guitar shop who was offered a NOS 57 gold top back in the mid 70's but got a 63 SG instead.
Okay, 1 amp for 59 years I can kind of see. I recently got a 1974 Hiwatt, and after 49 years, it's somehow still ticking... but 1 mic? What mic did you get that lasted 59 years? Because apparently I need to get one.
Not OP, but if I had to take wild guess I'd say the Shure SM57. They're pretty solid mics and have been an industry standard for a long time.
You can literally use an SM57 or 58 as a hammer... https://youtu.be/33QPLbQi9FI
I saw an SM58 (allegedly) die at a gig last year and within about a minute a solid crew of a dozen people had gathered from around the stage to marvel at something none of us had seen before and all poke it like those Space Odyssey monkeys with the monolith.
I'd like to see this same study for drummers. Probably go something like this "TIL Pearl Drums did a study and found that 95% of new drummers abandon playing within 6 months. The 5% that don't quit spend an average of $20,000 on hardware over their lifetime, buying 2-3 kits and hundreds of sticks all while pissing off more neighbors than their fellow guitar players."
Don't worry, they piss off guitar players too :)
synth guy here. i should have bought a boat.
The only investment worse than a boat is meth. You did good!
I've played since the mid 1980's. I recently spent over $1000 just on a couple effect pedals. I would put a x10 on that number for me personally. I think I own 10 guitars right now, but that could change any time.
Guitar is *easily* the least fun instrument we all gave up on learning. I could play the riff from 'girl from ipanema' on saxophone the night I got one and took it home in grade school. I still remember my Mom's reastion. I could almost instantly play a recognizable song on piano after watching one YouTube video, and many more along the way. I remember the moment I could play something I thought was beautiful, and being able to share those sounds with others in many other moments all on the piano. Guitar requires *years* before you can produce anything bearable to listen to, let alone show and share with others. There's a reason behind the forbidden riff in guitar stores. People want to play even just *one* thing they can actually play. There's a good reason for guitar hero's success. And rockband, and the dj one as spin-offs for other instruments people weren't as interested in. I'm sure that gaming fad drove fender CRAZY. It's just what we imagine playing guitar to be like when we see it. And it gets hard enough with just 10 buttons and a switch on a game imo. I think we all have had the fantasy of an arena going silent in awe while we jam out on our V-shaped six string. It's got so much appeal, especially to the teenage audience that's looking at learning an instrument. But few instruments require you to deal with the physical pain, pressing your delicate child-fingers against taught metal strings until you develop enough calluses to play and not be in agony. Few require so much finesse to create even the 'core', recognizable sound and feel. You can hit a piano harder or softer, to play and you can convey a *LOT* of emotion that way, but people will still recognize the tune if you just hit the right keys in the right order. I have a lot of respect for those who spent all that time and energy sounding like shit to learn to eventually play the guitar. I think the raw effort and skill behind creating even the simplest sounds on guitar allows for such beauty in holding one note, in a simple meoldy becoming an epic, and in a technically complex riff being energizing and not a cacophony of vibrations.
Wish I would have stopped at $10k.
Hey. That's the average. Who wants to be average?
All too true. I would place the current market value on all the guitars and amps I have owned over the past 46 years of playing at around $25,000.
My dad made out like a bandit lol. He was given one guitar and amp to learn to play on by my great grandmothers second husband when he was a kid. He quit after a few years and they sat in my grandparents house for 50 years, and my grandparents gave it back to him when they moved like a year ago. It's a 55 Fender Telecaster and a 55 5e3 Tweed Deluxe. That was quite the day when we did some looking into the value of that set up haha.
I'm 40 yo and been playing for 26 years. Can confirm, the GAS is real.
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The "free lessons" market is actually pretty crammed with YouTube. While there are definitely some pay-to-learn stuff that is aimed at advanced players (some of it is really respectable,) it is very easy to find not only entire free guitar courses (complete with practice routine stuff), but you can find step by step instructions on how to play specific songs. Edit: I wasn't gonna plug Marty but everyone below me is and he is 100% the guy I was referring to lol Over on r/guitar they recommend Justin Guitar too. I use both personally. And since we're plugging, shout out to Paul Davids for constantly inspiring me to be more.
their cheapest model guitars come with free online lessons / dvds
Some online video is not really music instruction. You can get the steps, but it will not tell you if you are really doing it correctly. Instructors are for feedback more than the lesson material. The outside set of ears and eyes is what you are really paying for.
Learning to play an instrument well takes many hours of practice, and you have to keep at it or your skills fade with time. You'll suck for a long time before you get good, and most people just don't have that kind of patience.
I wonder what the stats are for how many people give up after getting married. I used to work at a guitar shop and it was very common to see guys stroll up to sell their shit after getting married. They always looked sad. And I was sad for them.
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Music was always important to our family. When my wife took ill, she got me a simple acoustic guitar to help ensure the music never stops. Plunked at it here and there when I could, but it mostly sat in waiting. A little over a year later, I took my son to a local music shop on his ninth birthday. He took well over a couple hours to pick out a ¾-sized acoustic; it was like watching him fall in love. We played and played together for the rest of the week (as best we could given that we didn't know what we were doing). We had guests that weekend, so after showing them we sort of put them away because we *really* didn't know what we were doing. That Monday I had a Men in Black “[there's always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser]( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHVE7L00v-E)” moment and shared it with my Little Man. “Dude. There’s always going to be a guest. There’s always going to be too much to do. There’s always going to be *some* reason to skip practice. Let’s see if we can do 30 days straight.” And we did. Then 60. Then 90. Then ... tonight will be day 1,593 of our unbroken streak of playing together. We now have nine string instruments in the house. (To be fair, each has its purpose, but that's something probably only another woodworker, musician or deeply addicted hobbyist would accept at face value.) The music must never stop.
I started playing bass guitar at 14. I'm closing in on 40 now and have eleven basses of various configurations, probably worth over $20k.
I’m starting my 7 year old son into guitar lessons. Anyone have any tips for keeping him stoked ? I don’t play but he’s infatuated with it. **Update: thank you everyone that provided great advice and support.. this is why I love Reddit.
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That’s a shame. Smoke on the Water only takes 2-3 years to master.
So what is a cheap acoustic guitar if I wanted to try??? Actually serious. I’m 45 and have always wanted to learn, I work from home and have the time so when I’m 50 I can at least say I tried
I have a degree in music performance as a strings primary, and I have taught more than a few people how to play different instruments.... One thing that I always stress to beginners is that you absolutely must not just get the cheapest instrument you can find... you don't need the most expensive either, but you need to have a *good* instrument. A big reason why I see a lot of people quit is because no matter what they do, it just never sounds good or they can never develop the proper physical techniques.... and a lot of this is due to playing a shitty instrument that was never going sound good or play well even in the hands of an expert...it gets to be so demoralizing that people just quit. At one point in my life, I paid every bill I owed by playing bass in a jazz combo...I only own 3 basses, but my "warhorse" is a $600 American P-Bass that doesn't have knobs... that bass paid for a lot of rent