I think either way you're gonna learn how to play a guitar. The thing I like about the acoustic is that its so easy to just pick it up and play if you leave it in a stand. I guess you can play an electric unplugged to, but it just ain't the same. Let your personal taste in music be your guide.
I was really interested to read everyone's reply to this discussion and at the risk of being shot down in flames I have to say that a lot of my learning has been done on an acoustic and I am sooooo greatful I chose that route. My experience was that the lectric seemed to be a lot more forgiving whereas if I didn't place my fingers precisely for a chord or if my fingerpicking wasn't exact it would sound like I was playing a kiddies tin guitar. As a result now I find that whenever I pick up the electric the good hbits I was forced to adopt on the acoustic have served me well
Having said that I am pleased no-one raised the old chestnut of "... your fingers only develop decent callouses on an acoustic - electricd are a waste of space." Yeah sure ... and little piggies flap their wings and fly overhead and scare the pigeons!!!
What did the guitarist do when he was told to turn on his amp?
He caressed it softly and told it that he loved it.
I don't get while people believe accoustic is better to start with, or that it's 'harder' or 'less forgiving'. Yes, the strings are often heavier but that doesn't make it harder. I have more problems with fretting too hard then not having enough strengths, and people who want heavier strings can just put them on anyway. Less forgiving? Don't get that one either. Record yourself strumming a clean electric guitar and an accoustic one, the electric will reveal dynamic changes much more, and in a nasty way. The fullness of accoustic guitars has the sound 'blend' with the other strums. As for barre-chords, I believe they are usually being taught way too late. When I teach people around here, which I do, I like to bring in the barres within the first month. If you don't tell people barre-chords are super tough most don't realise it themselves. It's the constant whining and moaning about it that makes people scared to the extent of not putting in the time to learn it or just sticking with open chords all together.
In any way, they are two different instruments, and no matter which one you'll start with you'll have to re-adjust your technique if you try the other. Each instrument has it's own strengths and limitations and you'll need to take that into consideration. A best or worst don't really exist, that has more to do with personality and physique then the instruments themselves.
As for barre-chords, I believe they are usually being taught way too late. When I teach people around here, which I do, I like to bring in the barres within the first month. If you don't tell people barre-chords are super tough most don't realise it themselves.
This was one of the things that I thought was weird when I got on here and began reading posts, I didn't really find the transistion to barre chords that difficult at all. Sure it makes my hand ache when playing them all night long but thats more of an endurance issue.
I'd like to have started on barre chords earlier, I feel like I would have been better off to train my fingers to use pinky, ring, and middle even when not doing a bar chord... of course that's what I work on some times but generally when I'm playing the open position chords habit has me using my index, middle and ring much of the time. The advantage I assume of not starting off using barre friendly fingering is that it's a little harder since for example, your pinky tends to be a great deal shorter than the other three fingers, would I have stuck it out playing guitar long enough if from the start I had learned fingering that was friendly for barre chords... probably not, my guitar was an ornament for the most part the first two years I owned it.
Actually Malicant you have a point.
Because I play all my power chords with index, ring and middle, I've only just tried to get out of this habit now. Once I start playing a song I'm ok but my default fingering always starts out with index, ring and middle then I have to slap my wrist and try again :P
I've only recently started doing this because I'm learning songs with both barre and power chords in them now.
I could already play somewhat when I started taking lessons. I'd been playing for about a year when I took my first lesson. Actually, I've only been taking lessons now for six weeks. Anyway, I could already play songs like Dust In The Wind, Blackbird, Bad Moon Rising, Simple Man, some classical songs by Ferdinando Carulli, and a bunch of other stuff. I was wondering what lessons would teach me or if I even needed them. Well, I did need them. Mostly we worked on theory. I already knew quite a few scales, but I didn't know why I should know them. I was playing the A minor pentatonic or maybe F sharp minor pentatonic, and my instructor said "just play the notes of the scale, but not in order, and I'll strum some chords." BANG, I was improvising lead guitar. He taught about relative minors, etc. Taught me a bunch of jazz chords, some blues riffs, some rock riffs, some bluegrass riffs, etc. I've really learned a lot in the past six weeks.
What makes something a jazz chord, I've seen many posts like yours mentioning jazz chords... if someone said a blues chord I'd assume a 7th chord... but jazz... all I know is heavy on the improv and tends to change keys mid song etc. I've seen people refer to a few chords I've seen as "funky jazz chords" (funky as in weird not as in funk)... the only thing I can think of is maybe using inversions of different chords.
A jazz chord is any chord that causes a jazzer's eyes to light up with delight and excitement, whenever it's mentioned (let alone actually played). It usually has to have numbers, the higher the better, and if it contains words like augmented, diminished, added, demented flat 5, #11 or anything similar, it qualifies.
A recently discussed example is by our celebrated jazzer, Kingpatzer who mentioned, EbMaj7add9add#11add13, without even pausing for breath :lol:
Yeah, I remember that... though wasn't there a much simpler name for that chord (this was the jacked up chord thread right)? I suspected high numbers to be a plus, but I guess aug dim # b etc help. Basically any chord you have to have a strong understanding of music theory to be able to name is a jazz chord. Can just being hard to finger qualify something as a jazz chord too?
Basically any chord you have to have a strong understanding of music theory to be able to name is a jazz chord. Can just being hard to finger qualify something as a jazz chord too?
No - it has nothing to do with technical difficulty. Really, it means chords that are typical of those used in jazz music and which give jazz its distinct 'jazzy' sound. Partly, that sound is achieved by extending chords (hence the use of 7th, 9ths, 11ths and 13ths) and also by altering them chromatically as b5ths b9ths, #11ths, etc.
(hence the use of 7th, 9ths, 11ths and 13ths) and also by altering them chromatically as b5ths b9ths, #11ths, etc.
Yes, those are the types of chords he's taught me. He also taught me the be-bop scale and the harmonized major scale in the key of F major (Fmaj7, Gm7, Am7, Bbmaj7, C7, Dm7, Em7b5) and in the key of C major. I absolutely LOVE the sound of these chords!
