help please

If you know absolutely no knowledge and it sounds like you don't have any knowledge ( correct me if I'm wrong ) then a teacher would be my advise .

Finger charts are good if your position of your instument is correct that aside then probably , A / G / D / C / maybe god place to start

make sure you have a nice clean sound on all strings being strummed muffled noise means your fingers are touching a string they should not be or your finger holding down string is not right ( position on the fret )

but honestly go get a couple of lessons strumming technique is very important and placement of fingers on strings and position of your instrument

cheers

Hey X,
Welcome!!

Advise from another newbie. I've been playing for about 4 months now and this is what I did.

I've allowed this notion of learning Guitar to become a total OCD (Obbsesive Compultive..) thing for me. Its a release for me in many ways. Living in Oregon in the winter I need something to do inside that doesn't require me to be on this damn 'puter all the time or cook up all kinds of food only to put lbs on my waist . :lol:

Anyhoo heres a list of a few things I've done thus far:

1. Find an instructor and get some lessons as soon as possible!

2. Search the WEB: There's a ton of resources on the Web. Guitar Noise is one of the greatest. So Start here. Read all the posts in this Q&A. Many people ask the same thing over and over and I got a lot of my questions answered by reading my fellow beginners questions.

3. Find some beginner books. Go to a Book Store, Borders or Barnes and Nobel or whatever. Go to ALL the music stores (the stores that sell instruments, not CD Music) in your area, I guarantee you they have beginner books, also talk with the guys that work there and chances are high, they (the store) can hook you up with a good instructor too.

If your as motivated as I am, you'll end up with a lot of books.. trust me.

3a. Go back to your favorite music store, hang out and start a relationship with them. I'd recommend one of the lil Mom and Pop shops, not someplace big like Guitar Center (GC) (no offense anyone) alot of times the Mom and Pop Music stores have very good musicians working there and they love this stuff more than we do and are more than happy to get someone started down the road and answer your questions and show you stuff. Show you about different guitars, different amps, how to take care of your instruments and even give you a good deal or two now and then. They seem more willing to take the time with you than GC so it seems for me anyway and besides I'd rather support the local lil guys than the big corporate companies. But I do like GC.. its like a Candy Store....hehehe

4. Practice, Practice, PRACTICE: Learn HOW to practice. That may take a few weeks. But you can start out by Taking your new Book <wink> and running throught the first lesson or two or three. Then do it again, then repeat. But you need to learn HOW to practice, that's important. It may get boring after a few weeks. So get ANOTHER BOOK, chances are they have different excersices than your first one. Mix it up a lil.

4a. Read some more. There are great articles online about How to practice Guitar. Learn how to read tab. Find some tabs.. Christmas songs are really easy and surprisingly fun, for me its like hey I can play a song that I know.. this is cool man!

5. Lastly: BE PATIENT! You probably won't understand a lot of stuff early on, but thats cool. Keep with it and it will start to make sense. As my instructor says: "Keep it slow, keep it smooth, keep it steady and you'll get there. "

Ciao for now
Dagwood

Find some songs you'd like to try and find one with very little chord changes and a basic up & down rythm. The songd oesn't have to impress you're friends or anyone else, just a song that you find nice to listen to.

When I began (just under a year ago) I looked around the tab sites for all the songs I liked and found that CCRs 'Have You Ever Seen The Rain' had only two basic chords for the verses. It worked well with just up & down strumming.

What I learned was two chords, how to change between them, simple strumming and the sound the guitar was producing was recognisable.

Then I learnt the chorus which introduced me to some other chords which I learnt.

It can be hard and frustrating but persevere. There nothing worse than giving up and six or fourteen years down the line you think "Damn, all those years I could have been practicing..."

Also, what the other posters have said.

Don't ignore learning the notes on the fret board in favor of chords.
I too have a stack of lesson books and about half of them start you out with learning notes and actually playing songs with the notes you just learned.
I am working my way through Alfred's Basic Guitar Method, Complete edition. I am about half way through and a lesson I worked through at the end of last week had me playing The Entertainer from the movie The Sting. Quite satisfying to be playing something like that considering I have been playing less than 3 months.
At any rate that method teaches you one string at a time and the notes on that string and then gradually introduces chords.
As mentioned above, I do suggest you get a teacher if possible.

Hi and welcome!

I've been playing for a little over a year now. The nice thing is for me is that I was a music teacher for 13 years so basic music concepts, theory, etc. is already there. The actual technique of the instrument was the main thing I had to begin with and I had a few basics from college courses. So a lot of it was by tons and tons of practice, patience, and going sloooooooow. I'm at a point where I need a teacher now to really let my playing blossom and my wife is getting me lessons for Christmas! heehee

Speaking from the educator's view and starting kids on instruments just be patient and ask a ton of questions. Your body and muscles are going to do something new so it takes time.

I try to do guitar like I learned in martial arts.....best way to learn is find someone a lot better than me in whatever I want to do or accomplish.

I'm happy you want to play guitar! There's a lot of us who sure enjoy it!

Bert

If you want to become good, you will have to learn a lot about the guitar including music theory. HOWEVER, initially, play anything that will keep you interested in guitar.

In my case, music theory in the begining would have turned me away, but now that I have played for a bit, I wanna find out what's under the hood.