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Originally Posted by Dr. Eugene Felikson
I really wanna play "Break Stuff".
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That's probably one of the simplest songs of all time, so you're in luck! Okay, first of all, tune to mud sharp (he probably used drop-C tuning). He used a 7 string but you don't have one so we'll just say, a 6 string.. Put all your fingers on the third fret and play the bottom 3 strings ("bottom" means "low", not "furthest away from you"). Then put your fingers on the on the 2nd string, 2nd fret, 3rd string, 4th fret. Repeat that a million times. That's the main riff. The chorus is just the first 3 strings, first fret, and there's some bending, you play it a few times, and then play the fourth fret and 2nd fret. There's some other stuff but at least with my little guide here, you can play the two main riffs. Basically, aside from the power chord you form in the 2nd part of the main riff, you can EASILY play this whole song with one finger. As far as sweaty ADIDAS mook rock goes, Wes -- and the members of KoRn -- were actually pretty interesting guitarists, but all their stuff is extremely easy to play, with lots of processing and effects. Many of KoRn's verse riffs were just one or two notes played through a pedal... weird bent guitar interplay and stuff, interesting and creative.. Then, of course, most of their chorus riffs were just 3 or 4 notes, all played on the lowest string with one finger. Very 2-dimensional, boring and simple... but, then, most popular music in general
is 2-dimensional, boring and simple (White Stripes!)? I never took a lesson, I just developed my own style, utilizing lots of simple but neat-sounding techniques to compose riffs. Like, I use lots of harmonics, arpeggios, tremolo picking, finger tapping (though I didn't really know what any of that stuff was called when I first started fucking around), and mix different techniques within a riff -- I might play a few notes, palm mute a part, play some harmonics, then go back to the palm mute part, before I play two power chords -- all extremely simple techniques, mixed together to make some creative riffs. I always liked what Joey Santiago of the Pixies said... he siad he only wanted to play the type of stuff that made
his ears perk up when
other guitarists played them, hence all the really striking single note things he does and whatnot. I guess, just fuck around and develop your own style for a while -- by the time I actually watched a few youtube videos and read a few online tutorials, I'd already developed my own style almost completely, so once I introduced some real "technical" skill (beyond just "creative" skill), I was ready to go. And I also realized that I was already playing "better" than most of the popular guitarists anyway. Most of my favorite riffs ever are shockingly simple, and guitarists usually can get away with playing some simple stuff -- as long as it's striking. On the other hand, if your goal in life is to be Johnny Marr, you might want to actually take some lessons. It all depends on what you want to do. But I was really glad I just spent all those hours, alone, not being told what to do. And actually, I think I learned more just from watching other guitarists than I did from reading or whatever. I have never really been too worried about tuning, unless I'm playing slide, since my style allows me to go out of tune and I can kinda just go with it now. I mean, it's nearly impossible to be completely in tune anyway. But, uh, yeah, since you're just starting out, it probably does help to play in standard or whatever... to familiarize yourself with the guitar and the different sounds it makes... remmeber that the guitar never really changes, if you play now or in 10 years, and you'll eventually hopefully be happy with whateer you decided to do with it. Don't be afraid to play lots of power chords or just a few notes.
I highly suggest Ernie Ball strings -- they sound fucking great!