Learning guitar (possibly)

[Lonyo]

I've decided I might try and learn the guitar, although I have no musial background (never played any instruments before), is the guitar hard/easy to learn?
Is it any easier to learn electric or acoustic guitar?

I have a summer break coming up soon, in a month or so, about 8 weeks of doing nothing, so it'll give me something to do, plus my g/f has an acoustic guitar she plans to learn, and I wouldn't mind kicking her ass

So, any tips on whether it's a good/bad idea or easy/difficult?
Other options are PC bits or a games console, but they're not so much of a challenge.

 

[aircooled]

Get a beginners acoustic guitar and learn how to tune it, and the basic chords. Once you have that down, the path you take will probably dictate itself by personal preference.

 

[MegaloManiaK]

Definately use an acoustic. Acoustic is harder to play but you can transition to electric later with little problems. Going Acoustic to electric requires knowledge, going Electric to acoustic requires knowledge and dexterity/finger strength. I learned by getting a chord book and using the online guitar archive to learn to play songs i liked. Each time you see a chord you dont know in a song, learn it and add its distinctiveness to your collective and eventualy you'll have a knowledge base that allows you to play most any song, or at least learn to play it. Be warned that most people quit playing becuase when you first start out it will hurt alot. I had pain for months before i built calouses (sp?) then after about a year those went away. Even now though if i dont play for a week or two it hurts to do a set again. The best way to sucess is to play music based on what you enjoy instead of trying to build up a bunch of skills and then play what you want. People dedicated to like piano lessons can do this, but most musicians like myself couldn't keep motivated playing crappy learner music. Also the acoustic and electric styles are nothing like eachother (in my opinion).

 

[Lonyo]

Cheers for the tips, and acoustic guitars are cheaper

Anyone else got an opinion (except Moonbeam)

 

[Eli]

I wouldn't say it's exactly easy, but don't let that discourage you. Go for it.

 

[oboeguy]

I've been thinking about it too. I'm classically trained oboist (duh) and have always wanted to be able to play something portable which does chords (piano is eliminated). I think that my parents have an old guitar -- any advice on restringing it?

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Why don't people wear latex gloves to play guitar?

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Why don't people wear latex gloves to play guitar?

Why would you wear latex gloves to play the guitar?

 

[fonzinator]

Originally posted by: oboeguy
I've been thinking about it too. I'm classically trained oboist (duh) and have always wanted to be able to play something portable which does chords (piano is eliminated). I think that my parents have an old guitar -- any advice on restringing it?

Is it a nylon or steel stringed guitar? Go to Guitar Center, not some ma and pa music shop, to get strings. Ma and pa shops are usually about twice as expensive as Guitar Center. Restringing a guitar isn't hard to do. If you have a friend that plays, ask them to show you how. Otherwise, get some instructions off the internet and try it out. For steel strings that are good but cheap, I'd recommend Di'addario (sp?) phosphor-bronze lights. You probably want light guage strings for your axe.

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: fonzinator

Originally posted by: oboeguy
I've been thinking about it too. I'm classically trained oboist (duh) and have always wanted to be able to play something portable which does chords (piano is eliminated). I think that my parents have an old guitar -- any advice on restringing it?

Is it a nylon or steel stringed guitar? Go to Guitar Center, not some ma and pa music shop, to get strings. Ma and pa shops are usually about twice as expensive as Guitar Center. Restringing a guitar isn't hard to do. If you have a friend that plays, ask them to show you how. Otherwise, get some instructions off the internet and try it out. For steel strings that are good but cheap, I'd recommend Di'addario (sp?) phosphor-bronze lights. You probably want light guage strings for your axe.

I live in NYC, so how about Sam Ash or Manny's? Is it worth taking the axe (as you so perfectly put it, haven't heard that in a while) there to have them do it? I'm not too worried about tuning it, as I have pretty good pitch and have a tuner and tuning forks to boot (the life of an oboist).

BTW, any good guitar sites out there?

 

[fonzinator]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Cheers for the tips, and acoustic guitars are cheaper

Anyone else got an opinion (except Moonbeam)

Try to learn songs that you like and that are easy. Search for the chords and tab on the net. Play along with the song until you get it. That will help with strumming and chord changing. Play with other people whenever possible. That will improve your skills, especially when playing with better musicians. If you practice regularly, you will get good and have fun. If you don't practice regularly, you will suck and be frustrated and will probably quit. Stick it out for 6 months and you'll be able to play any song on the radio (just about)!! Best wishes!

 

[nakedfrog]

I'll recommend WholeNote like I usually do when people ask this.
I would also recommend learning on acoustic, for the reasons already mentioned. I would also suggest spending a minimum of $100 on the guitar, but probably not over $200. Anything cheaper will probably be difficult to actually coax good sounds out of, and you don't need to go all out and buy an expensive one in case your interest wanes too quickly.

 

[fonzinator]

Originally posted by: oboeguy

Originally posted by: fonzinator

Originally posted by: oboeguy
I've been thinking about it too. I'm classically trained oboist (duh) and have always wanted to be able to play something portable which does chords (piano is eliminated). I think that my parents have an old guitar -- any advice on restringing it?

Is it a nylon or steel stringed guitar? Go to Guitar Center, not some ma and pa music shop, to get strings. Ma and pa shops are usually about twice as expensive as Guitar Center. Restringing a guitar isn't hard to do. If you have a friend that plays, ask them to show you how. Otherwise, get some instructions off the internet and try it out. For steel strings that are good but cheap, I'd recommend Di'addario (sp?) phosphor-bronze lights. You probably want light guage strings for your axe.

I live in NYC, so how about Sam Ash or Manny's? Is it worth taking the axe (as you so perfectly put it, haven't heard that in a while) there to have them do it? I'm not too worried about tuning it, as I have pretty good pitch and have a tuner and tuning forks to boot (the life of an oboist).

BTW, any good guitar sites out there?

Yeah, any big music store should have decent string prices. The strings I've recommended should be $4 or $5 a pack. If they want $10, walk out. You could bring your guitar to the store and ask them to show you how to restring it. They probably get that a lot, and they may want to charge you. It's up to you to pay or figure it out yourself. There are some great sites out there with step-by-step restringing instructions. Just google one up.



Harmony Central is a good guitar site. They have tons of reviews for everything guitar, as well as instruction on how to play.

 

[Gage8]

it has been said that the guitar is the easiest instrament to learn but the hardest to perfect. I picked up the guitar in no time at all. The best way is to get a book of cords, put in your favorate cd and try to play along.

It is best if you have friends who play...that is where you will learn the most.

 

[clamum]

Lots of good advice already given!

Guitar isn't too bad to learn, anyone can do it if they practice at it, and that doesn't even require practicing for hours and hours a day (unless you wanna be real good). When I first started playing I picked up the guitar like a left hand player does but my dad didn't want to buy a left-handed guitar (we already had a right-handed acoustic) so I ended up having to learn right-handed. That was kind of difficult but maybe for the better since my left hand which is my dominant hand gets to work the fretboard.

Anyways, I recommend MxTabs for tabs, they have a lot there. I just learn songs from tabs and playing them on my computer so that way I can play along and get the strumming down and stuff. Good luck!

 

[Ranger X]

Thanks nakedfrog for the site. I've been looking for an instructional website like that one.

 

[Gage8]

Originally posted by: oboeguy
I've been thinking about it too. I'm classically trained oboist (duh) and have always wanted to be able to play something portable which does chords (piano is eliminated). I think that my parents have an old guitar -- any advice on restringing it?

go down the the local guitar shop. They will show you how if you buy the strings from them.

 

[oboeguy]

You guys are the bomb! Great help. I'll report if/when I ever get around to this. All this advice is encouraging. The fact is I don't even get to play the oboe too much these days, but things should slow-down soon (I hope!).

 

[gistech1978]

guitar is hard to learn
it hurts until you get your caluses(sp?)
your fingers might bleed, mine did.
once you get over the pain and it doesnt hurt anymore then its fun.
oh & get GHS strings for the acoustic and/or electric.
thats just my opinion on the strings though i use em for both my acoustic and electric guits and they sound great.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Why don't people wear latex gloves to play guitar?

Why would you wear latex gloves to play the guitar?

So it hurts less.

 

[gistech1978]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Why don't people wear latex gloves to play guitar?

Why would you wear latex gloves to play the guitar?

So it hurts less.

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Why don't people wear latex gloves to play guitar?

Why would you wear latex gloves to play the guitar?

So it hurts less.

especially if you wank with your fret hand.

 

[firemoth12]

www.cyberfret.com

click on first fret

 

[Haller]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
Why don't people wear latex gloves to play guitar?

Why would you wear latex gloves to play the guitar?

So it hurts less.

Wuss...if you want to know about torn up fingers and cramped fret hands. Try playing a string bass.

Once you learn some basic chords get a book that shows you how to put them into comprehensible progressions, that way you can construct your own stuff. I'd reccomend looking into some classical books as well, just so you learn how to play melodies and such as well.

 

Learn scales, all of them. Practice over and over with a metronome until you get calluses on your fret hand. Start with the major scales, then minor, then pentatonic and if you really are having fun the Dorian.

The faster and more exact you get the better you will be with the instrument.