[Sticky] --> Share things you've learned about guitar

I hear you on "perspective." It changes with every few months of playing guitar. Just think when we will have been playing for 30+ years how we'll look back and have a different perspective on it all. Funny, but I'll still remember my early days and the struggles.

Hey this is great thread for beginners.

I have a few very basic questions.

I am a beginner in learning Guitar.

Just wanted to know what is

a. Guitar Set up?
b. Where do I go for it?
c. How much does it cost?
d. Why would my new guitar need new strings?

Just wanted to know what is

a. Guitar Set up?
b. Where do I go for it?
c. How much does it cost?
d. Why would my new guitar need new strings?

a: adjusting the guitar for optimum playability. The big things are adjusting the action (string height above fretboard) and intonation (fine-tune string length to improve accuracy of fretted notes), as well as other small adjustments and neck adjustments to make the guitar easier/better to play

b: local guitar shop that has a competent repair person. (Ask local players for recommendations, if you know any.)

c: no idea, I do my own (it's not super hard if youre good with tools, and are patient)

d: How long have they been on the guitar since it left the factory? They probably have accumulated some crud in their travels.

Hey kent_eh, thanks for your reply. :D
I have just started my "love affair" with the guitar and am finding it a great experience to be learning a new instument. Can you recommend some effective online tutorials or that sort of thing? That would really be great too! Thanks again.

The last point in your post is ver important. I repeat it here. "Teach someone something on the guitar whenever you can, it really helps you understand it."

Great advice indeed!!!!!!!!!

-diatonick
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* Dont rely on your tuner.

* Wear earplugs, even if its not too loud, invest in a good pair

* Lessons are more important than gear

* Dont be afraid to get out there and get your hands dirty (not in a literal sense, if they do get literally dirty wash them, its bad for your strings), never be afraid to play guitar. So they may think you didnt do so hot, thats motivation for you to think 'I'll show them who sucks'. Youll get better for sure this way.

* Dont be afraid to fail, its like the one before this one. If youre afraid of failing then youre afraid of trying and not trying never got anyone anywhere.

* Get in or start a band

* Dont take months when writing an article for GuitarNoise.com (this one applys to me, know why you havent seen any articles from me yet? This is why)

* Make practice plans. Nearly every teacher (except some of them artsy fartsy ones) makes lessons plans for the week. You're teaching your self right now, arent you (even if you have a teacher you are)? Why should you act any different from a professional teacher? (I really need to do this one)

* Dont laugh at someone whos bad, encourage them to get better.

* Teach someone something on the guitar whenever you can, it really helps you understand it.

* Have fun

I've been playing about a year and a half now, I can't believe how much I've learned and how good I've gotten at guitar (comparatively speaking, of course). I can play lots of strumming songs, and fewer fingerpicking songs, even though I focus mostly on fingerpicking. What can I say, it's harder than strumming! I can play with other people, and recently I've started developing my own songs. I can still remember the first time I picked up my guitar and tried to learn a chord. It felt so strange, so uncomfortable, so alien. Now I feel right at home with a guitar in my hands! I'm still NOWHERE near as good as I want to be, don't know if I ever will be. But I really really love playing the guitar and I'm driven to get better (but mostly driven to have fun playing).

I've been playing about a year and a half now, I can't believe how much I've learned and how good I've gotten at guitar (comparatively speaking, of course). I can play lots of strumming songs, and fewer fingerpicking songs, even though I focus mostly on fingerpicking. What can I say, it's harder than strumming! I can play with other people, and recently I've started developing my own songs. I can still remember the first time I picked up my guitar and tried to learn a chord. It felt so strange, so uncomfortable, so alien. Now I feel right at home with a guitar in my hands! I'm still NOWHERE near as good as I want to be, don't know if I ever will be. But I really really love playing the guitar and I'm driven to get better (but mostly driven to have fun playing).
That's exactly what we beginners need to hear.
That's very encouraging. Thanks for the post.

Back to practice,
Ken

Different strokes for different folks- But I wanted to offer a different perspective to those who say "buy the best equipment you can afford."

I've a complete newb, 6 months since i started (this time) coupla months since I got the electric, and so far pretty happy. I play a locally made folk acoustic (I'm in South America, so though it was handmade, it was 40 bucks.) and a stratocopy that I picked up second hand in a random market stall. Both guitars, plus a 15 watt practice amp, new strings for each, and random odds and ends (a nut, some wrenches, a soldering iron, a selector switch, cables.) have all come in for less than $200. None of it is what you might call "good quality" but it plays pretty sweet, and with each new improvement, it gets better.

It's not for everybody, but I have a few reasons why I'm happier with not having the "best I can afford."

If I'd spent serious money on a guitar, I'd only have one. And I'm really interested in playing both acoustic and electric. By going a little cheaper, I have a chance to explore more of the music that calls me!

If I bought a "good" electric, I'd have been scared to work on it. (You spend all your money on something, you don't want to mess it up.) By starting on a cheap one, I've learned to solder switches, adjust the truss, shim the neck, adjust the action, made a new nut myself. When I eventually upgrade, I'm gonna know how to take care of it! (This works for me. If you're not into tinkering, you probably wouldn't have been happy with my guitar. To each her or his own.)

I'm learning a lot about playing, and about guitars right now. THere's a lot of stuff about how a guitar plays, and what my playing style is like, that I didn't know when I started. It's changed my ideas about what kind of a guitar I want! If I'd spent serious money on a guitar six months ago- I might have got one I wouldn't have been long term happy with. Now I know more, and am more likely to get the "perfect" one.

I happened to have $40, the purchase price of each of my guitars, right there in my pocket, which I could spend without worrying about it. I have other responsibilities, and spending more would have meant saving and planning. If I'd saved up for a $500 guitar, I'd have spent a lot of this year saving. But going cheap, I've spent a lot of this year PLAYING. Much better!

Best,
ande

Hi Corbind,
I'ts been a while. I think you"re one of the origonals from way back.
Glad to see you're still at it.
You left out one important thing. Don't let your callus' get soft. They should be thick to the bone.

WOW, have wondered it you fell off the face of the Earth! Glad to see you back here at GN. :D

allow yourself to backtrack, don't get buried in that new complex song. go back and play some of the older stuff you got, then once youv'e rejuvinated yourself get back to your new song and get that solo down :D

I am a brand new player, just wanted to say this is a great thread. Lot's of good advice.

Type or write up the songs you're currently doing and put it in a folder or binder. You'll go back to it half a year later and have it ready to play again! So many songs I've done I have to go back to because they've been put on the "back burner."

Learning theory early on is the funnest thing to do on the guitar. <--Nerd, but but you also learn a whole bunch of stuff that those pure feeling guys don't even begin to know.
Also, make some friends in band. They are a font of knowledge.

This is all good stuff. Anybody want to put it into a top ten. Then a ten to twenty list for us beginers. We need to start somewhere.