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  1. #1

    Learning the guitar.

    Sup everyone, I am looking for some new hobbies and figured learning the guitar or even the piano might be a great thing to invest my time in considering how much I love music. Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to teach myself, good resources or books or websites for doing so, as well as any suggestions on a good starter guitar. Right now, I have found this acoustic guitar and figure it's a good place to start. However, a part of me is saying get either an acoustic electric, or just a straight electric guitar. Any advice would be appreciated.

  2. #2
    Bassman here..i don't know what music style you want to play, but i suggest to go electric because the feeling is not the same. Also, i'd would be better if you go try the guitar before buying it, because there is so much to think about.. Large scale is better if you have long fingers, the shape of the guitar affect the playstyle too (i can't stand to play on a special shape like B.C Rich)

    I like Dean, Schecter for guitars and Ibanez for basses, it fits me.

    Piano is also a really good option, so fun!

    As for learning : learn the chords on internet / youtube, then search the tabs of songs you like..it's a good way..if someone tells you what to play you'll give up for sure.

  3. #3
    Well for learning try to start with someone who has had some classes, experience etc. He can teach you all the basics you need. Then there are tons of scores, tabs etc for guitar online. I've been playin electric and classical and acoustic guitars. When I play alone (no bands, jam, friends etc) I really prefer playing acoustic or classic guitars. It has more music into it and its easier to play it here and there. Electric you need more gear not comfortable to play it everywhere but well it has its own style you can rock hard with it, variety of techniques etc but for me gets boring fast when I play it alone.
    Last edited by Marooned; 2012-12-20 at 08:06 PM.

  4. #4
    Deleted
    8 years ago, a freind of my came with a guitar, he was wondering if he culd learn me 3-4 chords, he did, then he stopped due to i was better than him.. learn some simple chords via youtube mate, you wont regret it, start to make some songs, or learn some songs, then learn some harder ones, then just go from there but be prepaired to have your fingers to hurt the first few days, then after that, just go for it

  5. #5
    I'm a guitar noob myself and am probably not too far ahead of you (if anyone else here catches me giving dumb advice, please feel free to correct me), but I own both an electric and an acoustic guitar. I've been told by friends who've been playing longer than I have that it's best to start on an acoustic to learn the very basic stuff like chord progressions (regardless of what music style you eventually want to play), so that's what I've been working on. After a couple of months, I've gotten to the point where I've memorized most of the basic chords and can play them without having to look down at the guitar now. Seems like a good place to start.

    Also, if you're playing an electric guitar and playing with heavy enough distortion, that can tend to "hide" a lot of mistakes like bad picking/fretting and cause you to develop bad habits (you'll think you sound really awesome but will be doing things wrong). Acoustic guitars don't mask mistakes as easily. So if you fuck something up, it'll sound bad, and you'll know to correct it. On an electric with distortion, you can sound okay, but you might be making mistakes and not realize it.

    Above all, just practice a lot. Set a schedule for practicing, however often you feel comfortable, and stick to it. I tend to have a lot more free time in the late evenings, so I usually go an hour or two a night when I can. Even 15-20 minutes a day would be a good start though. It takes a TON of practice to get anywhere with a guitar, so don't expect to become Joe Satriani overnight (he's been playing for like 40 years to get where he is).

    http://www.justinguitar.com/ someone else on these forums directed me here when I asked, and I've found it to be very helpful so far. This guy is a very good teacher, and he has tons of free instructional videos on his website. All of the content is free (it is nice to give him a donation for his time if you can afford it and found the content useful). He starts out VERY basic (I actually skipped some of the "these are called strings, this is called a pick" vids), but you can pretty much start wherever you feel comfortable and work your way on from there.

    This is the acoustic guitar I have. Recommended to me by a friend as a nice, cheap acoustic for a beginner, and it's been working very well for me.
    http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...k?src=3WWRWXGP

    And this is my electric (or pretty similar, mine is the warlock with the pointed head). The amp it includes is not the greatest in the world, but it's better than nothing and is not bad for what you're paying.
    http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...r-and-amp-pack

    Those guitars are both very "noob friendly" from my own experience and make it easy to get started.

    By the way, here is my "I'm a guitar noob, help me" thread that I posted a few months ago. There's a lot of good stuff in here.
    http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1190633-Music-Teaching-myself-to-play-guitar-Any-advice-for-a-beginner?p=18347738#post18347738
    Last edited by Ciddy; 2012-12-20 at 09:26 PM.

  6. #6
    hey guys first time poster here. Ive played the guitar for many years. My suggestion is that most major guitar companies now offer "value packs". these packs come complete with everything a person needs to get started: a guitar, amp. strap , tuner, picks etc.. all at at a very affordable price. look into Ibanez jump start pack, Dean starter pack, Fender packs. As far as Learning find someone locally in your area, any music store in your area. Find someone capable, who is adaptable to the style of music that you like but understand, that you have to start slow and build on what your learning

  7. #7
    Learn how to keep your guitar in-tune and how to read guitar tabs, both very simple to do. You can find tabs for any semi popular song on sites like this one http://www.ultimate-guitar.com. I was playing simple Metallica parts the 1st day I bought my guitar.

    I'd recommend an electric guitar for starters. Electric is much easier to play than an acoustic. Acoustics can take a little bit of extra strength to bar a chord and might eat up your fingers with their thicker strings and higher string action.

    http://www.amazon.com/Fender-0280015...ter+guitar+kit Something like that will work if you decide electric.
    Last edited by Pipebomb; 2012-12-20 at 08:41 PM.

  8. #8
    I think i can help you. Been playing electric guitar for years now and actually started piano 2 days ago.
    First of all, never invent a huge amount of money into a hobby you haven't experienced yet, especially one as demanding as guitar. I assume you mean to take it seriously, because you mentioned an electric guitar, but you can never know... maybe it won't be your thing.

    I suggest your start with a classic guitar rather than acoustic, and especially not with electric. One thing, as i have mentioned, is the rather large amount of money electric costs (with the amp obviously). Second, and it might sound kinda dumb, electric and acoustic are "stiff" and actually very painful at start. It might be a good idea to start a a "softer" instrument such as a classic guitar. Might be a bit disappointing (was for me at least), not to be able to play cool solos right off the bat, but you wont be able to do it any way before you master the basics.

    Last thing, i highly suggest you get yourself a teacher. You can learn by yourself, of course, especially classic guitar. But if you want to move on to more advanced stuff, and you develop your own bad habits while you play, they can be hard to get rid off, and they WILL slow you down as you progress.

    These are just my suggestions, from an experienced player who made every single mistake i just todl you not to do
    And, one last thing, never give up, as it will get you frustrated

  9. #9
    The Patient Tileyfa's Avatar
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    If you get an electric & have a PS3 or an Xbox 360, you could get the game "RockSmith" it comes with a cable that allows you to plug your guitar into the gaming system. It's got different games to play, like "cord of the undead" which lets you kill zombies by strumming the current cord & it teaches you some songs. When you start, you only play some of the notes of the song & it adds more as you get better, once you can pass the song on expert, you can play the song.

    Fun educational games are a good way to learn something new when you are trying to learn it by yourself.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Thefatness View Post
    Sup everyone, I am looking for some new hobbies and figured learning the guitar or even the piano might be a great thing to invest my time in considering how much I love music. Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to teach myself, good resources or books or websites for doing so, as well as any suggestions on a good starter guitar. Right now, I have found this acoustic guitar and figure it's a good place to start. However, a part of me is saying get either an acoustic electric, or just a straight electric guitar. Any advice would be appreciated.

    Fender Strats are pretty awesome.

    Practice Practice Practice.

  11. #11
    Been playing for 15 years, I found classical guitars the hardest to physically play.

  12. #12
    Banned Gandrake's Avatar
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    start out slow, play the music you want to play, rome wasn't built in a day.

    also buy a cheap guitar, you probably won't be able to appreciate the difference in tone at first

    a lot of people suggest an electric guitar first, but everyone knows playing a guitar without an amp is not fun! for that reason alone, i prefer to suggest acoustic (unless you really can shell out for a decent amp) because you get a really beautiful sound from it, where it might be difficult for you to set up, say, the tone that john frusciante would get for some of rhcp's songs.

    But ultimately, it is up to you and what kind of music you want to play

  13. #13
    I've been playing guitar for years. I started with an acoustic and then after a couple years I bought an electric, and recently I bought a keyboard as I wanted to play piano. It all depends on what kind of songs you want to play, most amps come with multiple acoustic/electric settings, it's not the same sound as an actual acoustic guitar, but it's close enough.

    As for teaching yourself how to play, you can either learn by ear(which you may pick up by just playing regularly and you'll be better off), or look up tabs for songs online. Don't bother wasting your money on books as anything you want to know can probably be found online.

    For my acoustic guitar I bought some 100$ Kramer one that I've been using for years and still compares to any expensive one I've played.

    For electric I bought a fender and then a les paul.

    And the piano I bought a couple months ago was
    http://www.amazon.com/Casio-WK-225-7.../dp/B0059ZVQ22

  14. #14
    The Lightbringer Deadvolcanoes's Avatar
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    I've been playing for 13 years, and here is my advice:

    Buy a cheap acoustic guitar. Spend no more than $100, and if you can, buy it from a local music shop. Electric guitars are great, but they require an amp and a power source. An acoustic requires neither.

    If you want to buy a beginners book, fine, but know that all information can be found online for free.

    Start by learning how to play the major chords. C, D, E, F, G, A, B. Learn the correct finger positioning. Trying switching from one chord to the next. For example, play C for 4 measures, then switch to G for four measures. Thousands of really popular songs are comprised of 4 chords. Learn these chords, and you can start playing some of your favorite tunes.

    The hardest part about playing the guitar will be training your fingers to make weird shapes and to press down accurately on the string. This can be incredibly frustrating. It can also be fairly painful until you develop calluses on your fingertips.

    The best advice anyone can give you is to stick with it, don't give up, and practice daily. Playing the guitar is hard, and it doesn't get easier, you just get better at doing it.
    It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

  15. #15
    I'm playing my way through Rocksmith, still not gonna rival any of the greats but I'm slowly learning some songs & the minigames (such as the chord minigame) are immense learning tools.
    Koodledrum - Balnazzar EU - 85 Priest - Retired.

  16. #16
    Deleted
    Learn how do do a basic blues shuffle pattern over the 12 bar progression, and learn the blues scale. Invite a friend over and start jamming. Music is a language, we learn it fastest when we interact with others.

  17. #17
    I've been playing for about 2 years, completely self-taught. No resources but the internet.

    Google is your friend. Search for some beginners guitar guides to teach to absolute basics like tuning and posture and proper form. Learn about your instrument. Learn about its construction and its mechanics and how it works. Then youtube. Instructional videos aren't a good alternative to a teacher (I wish I could afford a teacher), but they're still much better than books and written articles. There's videos for everything. Scale instructions, chord progression instructions, tips and tricks, or just song lessons.

    It will be slow progress, but it's doable.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    I'd recommend you buy some kind of guitar player starter package. The equipment is far from the best, but it's cheap and you don't want to shell out loads of cash for amplifier, guitar etc only to find that you don't like it. Depending on what you want to play, you can probably survive with your acoustic, at least for learning purposes. I managed to learn Black Sabbath on my acoustic piece of crap before I bought a proper guitar.

    There are most likely classes available locally, but if you don't feel the need to put down money and time, EVERYTHING you need is on the internet. You can easily find very extensive video lessons online and videos or texts explaining lots of the basics of the guitar, and there are also easily available applications for tuning your guitar. A great resource for learning songs is http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ It shows you how to play the chords and learning to read tabs is very easy.

    The way I did it was just look up the tabs or chords to songs I like and just practiced. The most important thing to learning it is to understand that you're not going to be able to play like Hendrix just as soon as you pick the guitar up. You'll be fumbling with the bascis for a while, but as your hands and fingers improve and your skill increases, you'll be able to learn stuff faster and faster.

  19. #19
    Just personally I would recommend staying away from acoustic electrics, especially cheap ones, for the reason that they generally make terrible amplified instruments. The piezo pickups are super shrill sounding, maybe that is something that disappears when you throw money at it(well almost definitely) but it is more of a performance tool, you are not going to be churning out nirvana riffs or some such, it is just not what they are designed for.

    Basically what I am saying is you are not really covering your bases with an acoustic electric. Decide what music you want to play, you want campfire songs and acoustic stuff grab and acoustic/(acoustic electric if it is a good deal), you wanna rock grab an electric and an amp. It really comes down to what is going to inspire you to continue and I hope you get both in due course I know I cannot live without access to both.

    Electric is easier on your fingers, by contrast, if you start on an acoustic you will probably(from a comfort standpoint) have less issues jumping on an electric.

  20. #20
    If you want a decent electric guitar and amp, I'd recommend a Jackson for the guitar, and a Peavy Vyper for the amp.

    My brother's first guitar was a cheap Jackson Warrior with Duncan Designed pickups, and it's still his main guitar years later. The neck and action are amazing, and it's surprisingly diverse for a metal guitar, you could play blues, indie and jazz on it easily, not just rock and metal. I'm always stealing shots of it even though I've got an 80's Washburn and a Schecter Hellraiser 7FR.

    The Peavy Vyper isn't that expensive, and unlike most cheap modeling amps (cough Line6 Spider cough), it actually sounds great. Again, it's mostly aimed at metalheads, but there's still plenty of good amps and effects to choose from, and you get great control over your tone off it.

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