Guitar talk

nimbleangler34 said:Is it better for a beginner to go with nylon or steel strings?🤔 😁

I guess it really just comes down to which ones hurt your fingers less... maybe that'll help you get those calluses going a bit faster.👍 😁

steelviper6 said:Obviously, the ones that dig into your fingers more are better... that way your calluses develop faster. 👍 😁

Yeah, right. Playing guitar without any pain is just like trying to have sex without actually getting anything in.

I can't believe I just snapped two old strings and now I’m onto a brand new first string... I try to tighten it, it pops, and it basically takes a little chunk out of me. Getting a bandage for the wound is the easy part—the real problem is I don't have any spare wire left. Is there any way to just buy a single string by itself?

Look, just go ahead and grab a few packs of strings. They aren't exactly breaking the bank, and if you’re playing as much as you claim, you're going to need to swap out a fresh set constantly anyway. This is the first time I've ever heard of someone buying individual strings like they're at a hardware store, and frankly, if you're tensioning them that tightly, you're just asking to wreck your guitar.

ruggedhound23 said:I somehow managed to snap two old strings and now a brand new high E.... I try to tune it up and it just pops and bleeds me a little bit. Getting the wound is easy enough, but I don't have any spare wire... can you actually buy them individually?

Hey there—I honestly don't get it... I mean... I've had my electric guitar for about a year now... both me and my buddy (who actually knows how to play and really puts these strings through the wringer... 😁 😲 ) have been playing hard, and I don't think a single string has ever snapped on us.

Maybe it's worth looking at your technique... 😁

Yeah, I definitely need to... I’ve already gone through three of them in less than a month, haha. I really hope they have them in stock per unit—because if they don't, I’m going to have to shell out $20 all over again just to end up with five extra ones sitting around...

ruggedhound23 said:Yeah, I definitely need to... I've already gone through three sets in less than a month—hehe. I just hope they have them in stock, because if not, I'll have to buy $20 more and end up with five extra sets sitting around...

Maybe you should just grab some strings from $3333 instead? 😁

P.S. Where do yours usually snap?

ruggedcrane22 said:Yeah, no kidding... playing guitar without any soreness is basically like trying to hook up without anything actually happening.

Alright, chill out, you guys don't have to clown on my question like that... 😁>

ruggedhound23 said:Yeah, I definitely need to... I've already gone through three of them in less than a month, haha. I really hope they have enough in stock, because if they don't, I'm going to have to buy $20 more, and then I'll just end up sitting on five extra pieces...

But you know how it goes, haha 😁

ruggedcrane22 said:I can't stand musicians who just play by the book.

Why is that? Do they know something you don't, or did some classically trained musician mess with you when you were a kid?

Buy some .012 gauge strings instead. 🙂 You might get that bassy tone you're looking for, but you’ll probably just struggle once they snap on you.... 🙂

Actually, no—the real issue is technique, especially if you're strumming the guitar without actually knowing what you're doing!

ruggedcrane22 said:Look, just buy a few packs of strings. They aren't expensive, and if you're playing hard, you’re going to be swapping them out constantly anyway. This is the first time I've heard anyone talk about buying single strings. And for heaven's sake, stop tightening them so much—you're going to wreck your guitar.

I've actually gone out and bought just a single G string four times in a row.😬

Think about it: I buy a full set, then the exact same string snaps again. Why waste money on an entire new pack when I can just grab the one I actually need? It's just common sense.🙂

Ryan Price20 said:Why? Do they know something you don't, or did some trained musician sexually abuse you when you were a kid?

I believe that for playing guitar, developing a sense for the instrument and practicing scales across the entire fretboard is far more vital. A rigid obsession with sheet music provides zero actual benefit; you just become a slave to the notation and find yourself unable to play anything practical without it sitting in front of you. The guitar is a supporting instrument—it’s meant to adapt to the voice. I have frequently encountered "guitarists" who could master specific licks with absolute authority, yet if you asked them to transpose to a different key, they were completely lost. I speak from experience here. I attended music school and learned piano, but without the notation, I was useless. It wasn't until later, when I began studying the saxophone, that a professor showed me the fingerings for the C major scale—allowing me to practice and improvise across the whole range. That was when I finally grasped how harmony works, specifically how to build chords from the notes within a single scale. That insight is what actually helped me learn the guitar, because I essentially started by improvising on it first. Only much later did I realize that coloring an Fmaj7 chord into an Fmaj7(#11) is called the Lydian mode, which isn't even that critical. Isn't that right?

ruggedcrane22 said:I really think developing a feel for the guitar and practicing scales all over the fretboard is way more vital. Being obsessed with sheet music doesn't help much because you just end up being dependent on it, unable to actually play anything without a page in front of you. The guitar is a supporting instrument—it’s meant to complement the voice. I've met plenty of "guitarists" who could nail specific licks perfectly, but if they didn't have the notation, they couldn't transpose to a different key to save their lives. This is coming from my own experience; I went to music school and studied piano, but I was totally lost without reading music. It wasn't until I started learning the saxophone that a teacher showed me the fingerings for the C major scale, which let me practice and improvise across the whole instrument. That's when I finally understood how harmony works—how to build chords from a single scale. That realization is what actually helped me pick up the guitar, since I basically started by improvising first. I only later realized things like coloring an Fmaj7 chord into an Fmaj7(#11) is called the Lydian mode, but honestly, does that even matter?

I agree that being a total scholar of music theory isn't everything. Ear training and raw skill are definitely the most important parts! But you still need a basic grasp of notation. It's obvious you have a great musical intuition, but telling a beginner to just skip learning music theory...? They need to know at least some basics. No one can survive solely on tabs forever...

Could someone point me toward a reliable website where I can download guitar tabs for famous songs?