Quote (wh0racLe @ Thu, Oct 2 2008, 06:01am)
I'd really reccomend not getting into tabs too much. I mean it's fun to play your favorite songs and all, but it's just not a way to learn guitar.
You see, playing Tablature is not playing guitar. you are just following a memorized script. Music is about creating something of your own and improvising.
If all you know is tablature, you can't just pick up your guitar and play. You can only play songs that you have learned via tabs.
Not that TABS ARE THE DEVIL or anything, I just hate tab kiddies with a passion.
anyways, yeah guitar pro is good. you can easily torrent it.
w........t.........f
do you expect to be able to pick up a guitar and "just play" without having first learnt some material to give you an idea of how to play said instrument? (not that i'm saying you can't already play TS)
seriously i can't work out why so many people in this forum think that playing original material and improvising is all there is to guitar...or any instrument for that matter.
You're right in one regard that you don't want to be in the position of just playing tabs and the most generic songs that everyone learns to play, and not be able to do anything else but that.....but that requires a learning curve....you don't simply step into the shoes of a great songwriter or improv jazz guitarist and play away, you have to learn the fundamentals of how to do this.
Now i'm not saying tabs are the be all end all of learning guitar, far from it.....but they are a significantly helpful tool in learning how to fine tune your own methods of "creating something of your own and improvising"
Personally i don't like using tabs that much either, because i feel that a decent cover of a song should have your own adaptations thrown in, however small. But that doesn't mean i'm about to write off their usefulness and significance in grasping the potential and fundamentals of your playing style.
For those of you who play only originals and improvise.....tell me this....from where do you get your influences, from where do your ideas spawn and from where did you craft your playing style.
Because listening and playing the music that you love, and as wide a variety of music that you can....is one of the best ways to do this.
TS says he wants to learn how to use bends properly, is he meant to come up with this technique by himself by playing originals. I don't think so.
On Topic:
Guitar Pro is a really useful program, if you feel like going freeware, Powertab is another similarly useful one.
As far as learning bends goes i would reccomend learning a few blues tunes, they really focus on that kind of stuff a lot. If you're talkin electric then, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan are both pretty sweet, they use hammers/pull-offs frequently too so you'll probably get a lot out of learning a few songs of theirs.
Learning to play faster solos, dream theater and all that posted above is definately fast enough, but just make sure you're practicing at a speed you're comfortable with, and slowly increase the tempo until you can play it comfortably at faster speeds, you'll gradually get it up to speed and be a lot cleaner and better sounding than if you just try to make your fingers work fast enough from the get go.
I like that you're playing acoustic too, keep that up...it will probably help increase your fretting hand dexterity which will help with the solo stuff in the end.
But yeah definately consider guitar pro or power tab, it will help you with rhythm a lot more than listening on youtube will, especially at faster speeds.