acoustic guitar lessons for beginners part 1 image
ryan n
I am willing to start with most types of music and learn more as i (hopefully) get better. A few things i want to know are what kind of guitar should i start with? (type, model and cost) i would also like to know if there are any books, websites out there that can help to get me started. any advice you have would be great.
Answer
Buying a guitar: I would suggest deciding on how much you are willing to spend. Many guitars on the lower end of the spectrum ($140-180) are still made very well due to the quality of today's manufacturing processes. I would suggest going to a music shop and ask them for some recommendations for a beginner guitar. Do not get the $90 starter kits and you won't need anything over $200ish. To keep costs down, you could go with an acoustic. But your choice will depend on what type of music you want to play. An electric guitar with an amp will allow you to play around with different effects. My starter electric guitar was an ESP - LTD EC50 for about $170 CA. The amp I got was a Line 6 - Spider III - 15 Watts (which is enough to annoy many a neighbor). I don't remember what I paid, but my guess is you could get it for about $75-$100 now. It has a number of effects on it too that would allow you to play various styles. Check the sources section for a review on the Amp.
Getting started is the hardest part. Where to get started? I would suggest getting a software or DVD course. This provides you with professional lessons (minus the feedback from a real teacher). Who has the time and money these days for real lessons? The quality you can get in some of these programs is unparralleled to what used to be coming out. I own two courses, 1) Jamorama and 2) Learn and Master guitar. Jamorama is a downloadable course for $40 and will provide you with excellent beginner, intermediate and advanced material. L&M guitar runs in the $150-200 range because it is a DVD course. Both are excellent courses and use text/video lessons/jam tracks. I would recommend getting either course.
The great thing about the courses is that you can progress at your own pace. And if you dislike the course... there is a full refund guarantee for I think 60 days. I think they have some free lessons to check out and a newsletter. http://www.stampproject.com/guitar.htm
There are some good articles at http://www.stampproject.com/guitar_articles.htm to help with learning how to practice, strumming, what type of guitar to get etc.
Best of luck with learning guitar. Just remember it is going to be getting started that will be the hardest. It can be really frustrating learning your first few chords and not be able to actually play anything. Stick with it and you'll be playing some great songs before you know it. My first song I learned was Pearl Jam - Last Kiss with a chord progression of G - Em - C - D and a strum pattern of DDUUDU. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5rgnFAAFCY
PS. Youtube is also a great resource for 'how to play' your fav songs.
Buying a guitar: I would suggest deciding on how much you are willing to spend. Many guitars on the lower end of the spectrum ($140-180) are still made very well due to the quality of today's manufacturing processes. I would suggest going to a music shop and ask them for some recommendations for a beginner guitar. Do not get the $90 starter kits and you won't need anything over $200ish. To keep costs down, you could go with an acoustic. But your choice will depend on what type of music you want to play. An electric guitar with an amp will allow you to play around with different effects. My starter electric guitar was an ESP - LTD EC50 for about $170 CA. The amp I got was a Line 6 - Spider III - 15 Watts (which is enough to annoy many a neighbor). I don't remember what I paid, but my guess is you could get it for about $75-$100 now. It has a number of effects on it too that would allow you to play various styles. Check the sources section for a review on the Amp.
Getting started is the hardest part. Where to get started? I would suggest getting a software or DVD course. This provides you with professional lessons (minus the feedback from a real teacher). Who has the time and money these days for real lessons? The quality you can get in some of these programs is unparralleled to what used to be coming out. I own two courses, 1) Jamorama and 2) Learn and Master guitar. Jamorama is a downloadable course for $40 and will provide you with excellent beginner, intermediate and advanced material. L&M guitar runs in the $150-200 range because it is a DVD course. Both are excellent courses and use text/video lessons/jam tracks. I would recommend getting either course.
The great thing about the courses is that you can progress at your own pace. And if you dislike the course... there is a full refund guarantee for I think 60 days. I think they have some free lessons to check out and a newsletter. http://www.stampproject.com/guitar.htm
There are some good articles at http://www.stampproject.com/guitar_articles.htm to help with learning how to practice, strumming, what type of guitar to get etc.
Best of luck with learning guitar. Just remember it is going to be getting started that will be the hardest. It can be really frustrating learning your first few chords and not be able to actually play anything. Stick with it and you'll be playing some great songs before you know it. My first song I learned was Pearl Jam - Last Kiss with a chord progression of G - Em - C - D and a strum pattern of DDUUDU. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5rgnFAAFCY
PS. Youtube is also a great resource for 'how to play' your fav songs.
Should I learn to play guitar?
Ally
What are your thoughts on this? I'm a girl. I'll be 15 in a few months, and I'm thinking about getting a guitar for my birthday. I'm a little worried though because 1. I have no idea how to play and 2. I have short fingers lol. My hands aren't that small, but I have relatively short fingers. I'm really interested, I don't do any activities (at school or anything), and I really love music. I want an acoustic guitar btw. Is it too late to learn? Would I need lessons, or could books and YouTube videos do the trick? And last but not least, are my fingers too short? Thanks!:)
Answer
Unless you have a definite disability, the length (or thickness) of the fingers isn't an issue.
No one has any idea how to play when they get their first guitar, but you must realize that you need to learn how to play - some people seem to think they just get a guitar and find out what to do and then do it! It's not like that at all - it takes patience, hard work and common sense.
Lots of people ask if a particular age is "too old" to learn, and I wonder at what age they think most people start playing - I was seventeen or eighteen.
Lessons from a GOOD teacher (that's not the same thing as a good player) are a huge advantage when starting out and the best way to learn, but you can do what I did and learn from books. I've been playing for forty years and I sometimes find You Tube videos useful when I want to know how to do one specific thing, or how to play a particular guitar part, but for a beginner? Forget it - there's just far too much absolute rubbish on there and the idea that watching a twenty minute video on how to play a D chord is better than simply looking at a diagram in a book is ludicrous!
You need to really want to play though and you need to decide for yourself. If you try it and decide that it's not for you after a few months then that's no big deal (happens to lots of people), but if you decide that after a week, you've just wasted your money and time.
Good luck..
Unless you have a definite disability, the length (or thickness) of the fingers isn't an issue.
No one has any idea how to play when they get their first guitar, but you must realize that you need to learn how to play - some people seem to think they just get a guitar and find out what to do and then do it! It's not like that at all - it takes patience, hard work and common sense.
Lots of people ask if a particular age is "too old" to learn, and I wonder at what age they think most people start playing - I was seventeen or eighteen.
Lessons from a GOOD teacher (that's not the same thing as a good player) are a huge advantage when starting out and the best way to learn, but you can do what I did and learn from books. I've been playing for forty years and I sometimes find You Tube videos useful when I want to know how to do one specific thing, or how to play a particular guitar part, but for a beginner? Forget it - there's just far too much absolute rubbish on there and the idea that watching a twenty minute video on how to play a D chord is better than simply looking at a diagram in a book is ludicrous!
You need to really want to play though and you need to decide for yourself. If you try it and decide that it's not for you after a few months then that's no big deal (happens to lots of people), but if you decide that after a week, you've just wasted your money and time.
Good luck..
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Title Post: Any one have any advice for me, wanting to teach myself to play the guitar?
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Rating: 100% based on 99998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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