Hi, folks!
I'm interested in learning to play the guitar, so I've spent the last week or so doing research and trying to decide if I really want to spend the money and get into this new hobby. If I do end up purchasing a guitar, it will likely be an electric or an electric/acoustic. I've attempted to play an acoustic in the past and found that my fingers are not quite long enough to play effectively, but I've heard that electric guitars have slimmer necks and lower action, making it easier to play for guys like me with stubby fingers. :lol:
My goal is to play slide guitar. I love the bluesy sound the slide adds to any piece of music. I'm hoping those of you who play slide can advise me: Should I learn to play guitar with the slide, or learn to play guitar first and then incorporate the slide later? I assume that most folks learn to play first, then add a slide when it suits them, but I don't know if that's the only way it's done.
Thanks in advance for your advice, and it's nice to meet you all.
There is no "one way" to do this, but as a guitar teacher I would advice you to learn the basics in standard tuning in addition to the slide stuff. Knowing the standard tuning and basic chords will make you more versatile and only add to your enjoyment of playing the guitar.
You can always practice some slide wile you learn the basic guitar stuff, but learn basic chords including understanding the barre chord system, before specializing on slide (in open tunings). This knowledge will also be very useful when focusing on slide, so I'd recommend learning it. But by all means - get yourself a bottleneck and have fun with it while learning basic standard guitar stuff.
Good luck! 8)
Steinar
