I just found the site and decided to join. I am amazed at all of the experts here who are willing to help all of us "newbies" out.
Here's my story. I am a 24 year-old male who is in his first year of medical school. I had surgery for a detached retina a week ago, and will be out of school for a month and a half recuperating and getting the vision restored in my eye. I will be bumming around the house with not a lot to do, so I decided that now is a great time to start a new hobby. Playing guitar immediately came to mind, as it is something that I've always wanted to do. I realize that I won't be able to learn too much over the next month and a half, but all of the free time I'll have will at least give me a chance to get off to a good start. I don't know a thing about guitars, or playing music for that matter. I have just been a listener up to this point.
My question is, where do I start? I have a book called "Guitar for Dummies" that seems okay, but I don't have anything to compare it with. I have an old guitar that my grandfather had that I will be using, and several guitar picks, but I have no idea how to even tune the guitar (it's probably crappy, but will hopefully be okay for me to learn with). Learning to play acoustic seems fine for now, although I might like to try electric one day. So what books/courses can I purchase that will help me learn the basics? Many of the stuff I've seen online sounds so complicated, and seems to overpromise when it comes to results. I assume that it will help if I learn to read music while I'm learning to play guitar. Please point me in the right direction. I need books/audio/DVD's to help me at this point, since lessons are too expensive and not realistic for me at this point.
Thanks in advance for the replies. I am really excited for someone to point me in the right direction so that I can get started!
I haven't read the Dummies book - I'm surprised it doesn't talk about how to tune.
Invest $15-20 in an electronic tuner. It's far more accurate than a beginner's ear. You're right about learning to read being easier if you start from the beginning - I use the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Method for most beginners. It's 7 volumes, each 48 pages, and pretty inexpensive. Book 1 should be more than enough material for 6 weeks.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Guitar for Dummies is ok.
Mel Bay has a good beginner book with CD and available DVD.
I would invest in an electronic tuner (about 20 bucks)
There is a section here on this site about tuning your guitar and if memory serves there are sound files for each string.
Try some of the beginner lessons here.
Get as much as you can done and don't be dissapointed with what might seem like slow progress, thats normal.
When and if you can take lessons, do it. even if it is only once a month.
As you progress and have specific questions the fine people here are always happy to answer.
Best of luck.
EDIT: hehe I was typing my reply same time as Noteboat
Pretty much everyone is confused an overwelmed when starting out. It looks so very complex and hard to understand at first, but then you look back and laugh at how easy it really was.
I've seen that dummies book you mentioned but didn't check between the covers, so I can't say. But this page is a good place to start:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=78
Memorize those chords and practice changing between them.
You're going to need a few things, too. A new set of strings, more picks (they're easy to lose), and an electronic tuner. Check the yellow pages and find a local shop, they can set you up with those items. You also might wanna take your guitar down there so you can get the right size strings. And ask of the guys there to show you how to restring and tune it.
Overall most people here will agree that accoustic is a good way to start out. They have thicker strings that build up calouses on your fingertips and build up hand strength/endurance faster. Plus, you don't have the temptation to use distortion with can hide sloppy playing. An accoustic is going to be less forgiving as far as proper technique goes.
It's adviseable to have a basic knowlege of reading music. But most times mainly online, nearly all music transcribed for guitar is in TAB so you can skirt by without it, but you should learn standard anyway. Don't totally rely on TAB, but learn both. You can read about TAB here:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/tab_faq.php
And search google, you'll find lots of pages about reading standard music notation.
And I think, overall, you'll find this site to be as good a refrence and learning tool as any book. Poke around in the lessons, ask questions in these forums, ect.
Welcome to the musically insane!
-Metaellihead
DrJDS
I can totally relate. I started guitar to fill time when i split with my partner, again it was something i really wanted to do but had never got round to it.
A few things.
1. Don't aim too high in the first 3 months. Get familiar with a handful of basic chords, maybe G, D, C, Em, E, Am, A, and practice them. Realise that your hands will take time to i) build calluses on your fingertips (vital) and ii) get used to forming these shapes.
2. If your books don't inspire you, have a look at this site's easy songs for beginners section. The lessons by David Hodge are methodical, well laid out and will have you playing recognisable songs in no time at all.
3. Consider getting a teacher - one that is in "tune" with what you want to achieve, what music you want to play. There is plenty of advice on here about teachers, put it in the search if you're interested
4. Don't be hard on yourself. Be happy to learn a little at a time. You will find that if you look back at yourself a week on, you will have learned a lot!
5. Decide now if you want to be a fireside strummer, or a musician. If you want to be the latter, start getting familiar with a LITTLE theory, chord theory would be good place to start.
And most of all, and this is the biggy.........ENJOY IT!
Oh, and yeah get an electronic tuner as the guys above have said. It makes the whole job simple.
Wishing you luck
Matt
hi there,
when you take your guitar to the music store, ask the guitar tech if the guitar is playable. if not, see if he thinks getting a guitar "set up" will make a difference.
i would suggest learning the chords G, C, and D first. practice forming and changing them slowly. give your fingers a chance to get used to the strings, frets, fretboard and chords.
your hands and fingers will adjust eventually to the new positions that are being called upon. if you have a pal who plays guitar, see if he/she will give you pointers in person. you can meet lots of guitarists at local "open mikes" - and learn lots by watching, asking questions and listening. what type of music/style will you be playing?
see if your local library has a beginner guitar video on VHS. take learning one day at a time. i'm teaching myself and i'm happy i didn't give up in my beginning months of guitar. read through the thread on the beginner forum about what others have learned about the guitar in their early stages. i think it's the first thread at the top.
Welcome to Guitarnoise and don't be shy about asking questions - especially when you need inspiration.
cheers,
:D
Hey,
Being a newbie as well here is what I have done.. (before I found this site) I bought an electronic tuner on ebay (about 12 bucks for a QwikTune QT-11) which as they say you will need one. I also found the "Guitar for Dummies" on DVD/VHS so if you want to be able to hear what the book describes this is a great video. It does go through tuning.. but until your ear is trained you may find it hard to follow. I was also fortunate enough to still have all the material I accumulated 15 years ago when I first attempted to play but as you will read you will want to either invest in lessons in the future to see if those help.. or find a friend that plays to help.. it gets pretty boring playing alone and it is always good to have constructive critisism once in awhile as well.
Andy
I wanna Rock N Roll all night... Ahh who am I kidding I'll be in bed at 9 pm....
Go to our freebies section and look at the top post.
In that post are several free things to download from the net, one of which is the AP guitar tuner. Play your guitar in front of your computer mic and it will show you if the guitar is in tune and which way to tune to get it there.
