learning to play

Login to find out (April 21, 2007 at 5:20pm)

Congrats on your decision, music is a great hobby! But where to begin, so much to discuss....but I guess a good place to start is deciding whether you want to go acoustic or electric....imho I would start off w/ an acoustic guitar for a couple of reasons 1. dont need to worry about buying an amp (which can be pricey), 2. acoustic strings are thicker...and they it is harder to learn on, it will pay off in the long run, especially if you move to electric later on.
Be careful though when buying a guitar....there are alot of junk models out there but w/ some research, you can find a good beginner model for a reasonable price. Most important thing is to love the guitar you buy coz there will be times when you want to quit, but if you love your guitar you will always come back to it and it will be so worth it!!
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions :)

Login to find out (March 25, 2007 at 11:46pm)

If you've got the cash, spring for the SLG100S.

If not, go for a Washburn/Yamaha entry level acoustic guitar. Going with an electric may not be the best option in the beginning since you'll want to build up your finger strength.

Login to find out (May 29, 2005 at 6:32pm)

DBG and JCW thanks for ur comments.

DBG sorry i mixed up, indeed it was bar chards i was talking about. I kinda agree, i think playing chords needs a lot of patience, and then figuring out the strumming patterns is another matter altogether.

JCW: Is pumping iron for the classical guitar? I have an accoustic, works for me, a beginners guitar and a long time ago, i bought an electric, which i haven't even gotten around to starting on! So i'm not sure if i wanna leave this and jump into classical music.

I think one of my problems is that i have no one to jam with, what do you guys think of taking some guided lessons , perhaps joining a musical program?

Can you suggest some easy songs to work on in terms of chord progression, to start plugging away at?

Login to find out (May 28, 2005 at 1:53pm)

Tears in heaven: I recommend the pumping nylon book for you as well, wether you use steel strings or not. Pay close attention ot "left hand technique" (watch where your putting your thumb, pay attention to how you hold the guitar, how you sit, where it is if your standing and have it strapped on, etc. There is some amount of physical conditioning involved, but really its a matter of making where your fingers land a habit. Start slow moving between 2 chords (say, a G and an A minor) and go back and forth until its nearly automatic. Now move on to a G and a C, then an open B and D minor 7th, and so on. You can actually buy HUGE books on chords or find chord guides online. Learn them by name and associate the name with the hand position, you'll have chords of all kind conquered in no time.

Login to find out (May 24, 2005 at 10:38am)

are you finding power chords hard to play, or barre chords in general? actually power chords should be easiest to play because you can play them on just 2 notes (root and 5th). even if you double them up with the root one octave higher, still the pattern with standard tuning (at least with root on E and A strings) is quite simple. with chord progressions, i would advise you to start slow, making sure that all notes you want to ring are actually ringing. also, it is always good to play with a metronome, to get the timing right and gradually increase speed. good luck.

Login to find out (May 23, 2005 at 1:16am)

guys along the same lines...i'm a relative newbie, trying my hand for a year or so, problem is those damn chords....i'm not too musically inclined,

I worked on chord progression, but i'm still pretty slow, although i can read music ok now and play my basic notes. I find power chords the toughest. I'd like to be some day be able to play a songs like Daughters (John Mayer), Hotel california etc, on the guitar. Not really gungho on pursuing it more seriosly.

If anybody could help me, set me on the right direction, I would really appreciate it.

Login to find out (May 7, 2005 at 4:02pm)

Also, you should consider supporting your local "ma and pa" music shops. Ugly chain stores, like guitar center, funnel money out of your community and kill off family business. Do the right thing and support your community, don't buy from a chain if you can help it...

Login to find out (May 7, 2005 at 4:00pm)

also, Aria makes pretty decent classical guitars, from about $100 to $700. Bear in mind that its not unusual for student model classical guitars to command prices in excess of $2000us. Aria does a pretty good job at providing playable, good sounding instruments to people with smaller budgets. A good pack of strings (Savarez) really wakes the instruments up, and since they are made of laminated wood, you don't need to worry about them splitting in dry environments, unlike folks like me that need to humidify their solid instruments in the winter..

Login to find out (May 7, 2005 at 3:56pm)

There's a great teach yourself series for classical guitar students called "pumping nylon". It teaches basic techniques, sight reading, and quickly builds a pretty impressive repertoire. I can really only speak for classical guitar, which IMHO is very beautiful, challenging, and humbling. This www.martnet.com is a sample of a kind-of-early intermediate piece that I am working on. This recording is not mine, I don't know who recorded it...

salaam
johnny

Login to find out (May 1, 2005 at 12:54am)

if you're not sure you'll get into it or not don't spend more than 100. this way worst case, you only lost 100 bucks. ive seen guitars in brandsmart and walmart lol so finding a cheap guitar shouldnt be hard.

to teach yourself, buy or dl tabs of you favorite songs/albums and learn to play the entire song (memorize the notes). then repeat a million times so that your timing and speed improve. start w/ easy songs and move up to better ones. eventually, you'll get to a point where you can come up w/ your own stuff and in general will get more familar w/ the guitar. that's how i learned..but there may be easier ways.

Login to find out (April 26, 2005 at 3:27pm)

cool. let us know what u get. :)

Login to find out (April 26, 2005 at 1:03pm)

at this point, I'm not willing to spend more than $100. but a friend of mine helped me out a bit and found some pretty good ones (from what he's experienced) online for under $100. now it's just a matter of getting one. thanks all. =-)

Login to find out (April 26, 2005 at 11:53am)

it seems like ibanez is the best selling guitar on ebay, or maybe overall? i saw an electric/acoustic go for $150 yesterday, shipping was probably $30

Login to find out (April 26, 2005 at 4:26am)

Ovation Applause costs around $170, but you may get a better deal on websites like e-bay. There are other guitars too which would be less expensive. How much do you want to spend on it?

Login to find out (April 25, 2005 at 1:23pm)

thanks. I don't know if I want to buy a new guitar though.. about how much do they cost? I just don't want to blow a lot of money on it only to give up playing it (which is highly likely, knowing me).

Login to find out (April 24, 2005 at 6:40pm)

Welcome to the club! Obviously, first step is to get a guitar. :) You can either get an acoustic or an electric. Although most people start with acoustics, I think that electrics are a lot easier to play. Or you could get an acoustic electric to get the best of both worlds. I would suggest that Ovation Applause is a good guitar to start with. You could get it from Guitar Center or order online.

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