Starting off on guitar

The Actual Sized E · Post by **The Actual Sized E** » 14 Feb 2007 12:26

So I finally decided to start learning to play the guitar. There a very good music school called the Old Town School of Folk Music 10 minutes from my house, and several of my friends have taken private lessons for various instruments there and really liked it. So I'm pretty sure about where I'm going to start taking lessons, but what I'm unsure of is whether to begin learning on an acoustic or electric guitar. I've read through several FAQs online and have a pretty good general idea but I'd love to hear some personal experiences from you guys, maybe things that in hindsight you would have done differently. To start off, I have zero musical experience, so I have a lot to learn on top of the physical mechanics of playing guitar. Currently I'm leaning towards electric guitar. I hear it's a little easier to learn for beginners so it'll probably give more initial satisfaction and have a better chance of keeping my interest, and I live in an apartment with a roommate, so noise is somewhat of a factor. On the flipside, I hear that transitioning from electric to acoustic later on is more difficult, and I'd like to be able to play both eventually. Thanks in advance, I appreciate any advice.

Langstaff · Post by **Langstaff** » 14 Feb 2007 12:53

I think that if you plan on eventually learning both, it would be better to learn the acoustic first. My grasp on guitar music isn't very wide, I play almost entirely drop-D metal, with a ton of tremolo picking, palm muting and hammer-ons. I know for sure that it would be more fun to learn the basic chords and such on an acoustic, and probably more practical depending on what kind of music you're into. Definitely learn the acoustic if you plan on throwing in any vocals or anything, and move onto electric when you feel you're ready for different styles of playing. Everything about the electric is more comfortable I find, so if you get comfortable with the set up of an acoustic, strings, etc, electric should be a breeze. The acoustic is also certainly more "Chill" if you're ever just lounging with family/at a party/whatever. That's my input

guitar is a very satisfying instrument to learn, kudos for getting into it. Good luck!

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 14 Feb 2007 14:08

Break up your paragraphs, both of you dammit!

I am also a newbie guitarist. whee!

Learning is fun. I am learning pretty freestyle though. With tips here and there from helpful friends. So far so good, I can already strum chords and stuff.

brinard · Post by **brinard** » 14 Feb 2007 15:04

i think playing an electric guitar is not only more fun, easier, quieter, and louder all at the same time,

its also the best way to get an alright sound without spending acouple hundred bucks on one piece of equipement (not saying there arent nice cheap acoustics) ...by buying a used electric like an ibanez, and a small amp, you can probably get one with distortion. maybe even echo/reverb.

first off, i went thru some basic training. i did a six week course at a music store after hours. it was really basic, and it was kinda a waste of money. just get a beginner guitar book, and hopefully it will give you some chords, as well as teach you to read simplistic music.

then i joined some friends and jammed. that was where i learned best. improvising,, and having fun.

i also joined the jazzband at school, and that was nice to learn some not so crazy music (like jazz, blues, swing, folk, etc).

i guess start off trying to get some easy stuff down. maybe learn dueling banjos. its a fun one. plus, you get speed, and chords to clean those chops.

find some tabs online of some bands you dont hate (and not mega crazy guitar skills) , some easy stuff is rock, like acdc, metallica, and whoever else was big in the 80s.

(ive been playing guitar now for 7years, and loved it. i just dont have the time to shred it like footbags.

brinard · Post by **brinard** » 14 Feb 2007 15:12

ps, if you spend alittle more money on nicer equip, you will be more satisfied)

crapola guitars end up sounding bad after a while. esp if theyre used.

i would suggest trying to find a fender (or squire-new) strat or telecaster. theyre cheaper than most elec.'s and dont sound bad.

epiphone is about the same, but for a thick sound (strats sound scrawny)

both sound alright for rock, but i think fender sounds worse for clean choppy chords.

my biggest mistake was learning on a crappy acous. i struggled and struggled trying to sound good, but it was my guitar that made it sound bad (to listen to)

anything from brands like

ibanez, fender, jackson, epiphone, esp (ltd), could be fine to start on, and keep for years.

stay away from stuff from jonson, edwards, and anything not from a descent brand. ask people at a music store about quality before buying anything. (or someone with expierence with that brand)--aka, the internet.

Langstaff · Post by **Langstaff** » 14 Feb 2007 15:46

I find Epiphones tres tres nice

Torch · Post by **Torch** » 15 Feb 2007 11:52

I started out on an acoustic and I'm glad that I did. If that is what you decide to do, check out Simon and Patrick or Seagull guitars. Both are owned by the Godin company. For the price you can not get a better sound out of an acoustic guitar. They are made in Canada as opposed to overseas like Epiphone and most other shitty inexpensive guitars. Look up reviews on both and you will find out what I mean.

I also highly recomend learning rhythm and keeping time before learning to do a bunch of fancy soloing.

Torch · Post by **Torch** » 15 Feb 2007 11:53

p.s. Sorry if I offended any Epiphone fans. They make some ok stuff but not in the lower price range. Just my opinion.

mc · Post by mc » 18 Feb 2007 10:02

I agree with ahren. Eric, you should really consider SEAGULL! I recommend that brand to everyone looking for a good guitar for not too much money. As torch said, theyre made in north america, and on top of that, they dont put any money whatsoever into cosmetics on their less expensive guitar. They have solid tops (very important for having a good, crisp sound), good , playable, even action (the distance from string to fretboard) and if you choose to get one with a pickup inside, they have solid electronics.

really a great choice. Get a seagull, get a good case for it, and get to work !!!

cant wait to jam out with you at a tournament some time. guitar is the best.

jrstubs · Post by **jrstubs** » 18 Feb 2007 14:14

I can play guitar a little, I know all the basic chords and power chords and some basic finger picking. But I have a shitty Yamaha .... I was actually planning on getting a new guitar anyways. I learned from books, I don't like to deal with people, its bullshit.

mc · Post by mc » 18 Feb 2007 14:18

"I don't like to deal with people, it's bullshit"

bad / disinterested teacher and / or bad / disinterested student = bullshit.

good, serious, kind teacher + interested, driven student = golden.

jrstubs · Post by **jrstubs** » 18 Feb 2007 15:54

I'm probably just a bad student.

mc · Post by mc » 18 Feb 2007 16:33

hehe, well, andy, don't take it too seriously... i'm not one to talk, I never took guitar lessons. Recently, I had someone walk me through his concept of how one should learn jazz, and that's been about it.

jrstubs · Post by **jrstubs** » 18 Feb 2007 18:31

OK, I thought you were serious

smokefree · Post by **smokefree** » 20 Feb 2007 15:36

jrstubs wrote:I can play guitar a little, I know all the basic chords and power chords and some basic finger picking. But I have a shitty Yamaha .... I was actually planning on getting a new guitar anyways. I learned from books, I don't like to deal with people, its bullshit.

People really come in handy when conveying the specifics that you are unsure of when reading. I have a book on how to play the guitar with thousands of scales, but it still doesn't make me better unless I have someone explain it more elaborately. You really should consider getting some lessons.

shreddaily · Post by **shreddaily** » 20 Feb 2007 16:03

acoustic/electric is based upon wether you want to strum/riff respectivly. Both are cool and if you really get into guitar you'll need both. I started out on electric and thus I'm a solo improver at heart but I'm loving the fingerstyles lately.
As far as gettin good, be prepaired to suck for a while!!! Just like in footbag you gotta pay your dues, but practice pays off. music theory isn't nessicary, but can help. maybe get some keyboard skills under your fingers. Beware of teachers that want to simply teach you to read music! That shit is unessisary unless you wanna play classical. A teacher should transcribe pop songs for you and give example riffs that acompany any scales/chords they show. There are tons of free lesson type things online, but if you are really seriouse you can fly me out to your pad and I can teach you all you want along with throw down some shred stylee

smokefree · Post by **smokefree** » 20 Feb 2007 16:11

How about flyin up to your pad? lol.

ShredEX · Post by **ShredEX** » 26 Feb 2007 13:06

Sadly due to copyright infringement laws all guitar/bass/drum tablature has been taken off the internet. I taught myself how to play bass by using tablature it is by far the easiest way to learn these instruments.
Don't get me wrong I know how to read music and can play a variety of brass instruments its just I dont know how to transpose the notes to a string instrument and have the right fingerings.
As Brinard said electrics are definitely easier to play on, learn on I'm not sure but for playability you don't have to press as hard on electric strings as you do acoustic since the strings are closer to the fretboard on the electric.
Find a friendly skilled teacher or friends you know that play and learn from them. Anyways keep shredding in more way than one.

Zeb Jackson · Post by **Zeb Jackson** » 26 Feb 2007 14:07

ShredEX wrote:Sadly due to copyright infringement laws all guitar/bass/drum tablature has been taken off the internet. I taught myself how to play bass by using tablature it is by far the easiest way to learn these instruments.
Don't get me wrong I know how to read music and can play a variety of brass instruments its just I dont know how to transpose the notes to a string instrument and have the right fingerings.
As Brinard said electrics are definitely easier to play on, learn on I'm not sure but for playability you don't have to press as hard on electric strings as you do acoustic since the strings are closer to the fretboard on the electric.
Find a friendly skilled teacher or friends you know that play and learn from them. Anyways keep shredding in more way than one.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs

ShredEX · Post by **ShredEX** » 26 Feb 2007 14:23

you need to have a program downloaded in order to use that site ^^^