Advice on starting out on guitar

[zeta]

So basically I've been pretty inspired lately, have attempted to pick up the guitar at several points over the past few years but never really got into it.

So this time I am definitely committed and want to self-learn the guitar. Any of the guitar players in this forum have any advice, resources, links, tips, that sort of thing, on learning guitar?

[JockMCPlop]

http://guitar.about.com/library/blguita ... rchive.htm

try this...
My advice:
Don't rush yourself. It will take quite a long time just to get the very basics to a reasonable level, and trying to learn too many techniques at a time will eventually put you off because you won't be learning anything properly. Learning one technique at a time until you can do it consistently is better because you will start to pick things up faster and faster as you go along.
Once you have got the basics down and can play some chords, get some tabs, and find someone playing the songs on youtube and play ALOT. At least an hour every day is good.
Just remember to stick at it, because at first it can be very hard, and practice as often as you possibly can.

[Crimsonghost]

Learn your basic major and minor chords first. Usually A, C, D, E, G. Just practice the finger movements between those (or whatever chords you decide to learn) while doing a very basic down stroke on the stings. Once you get more comfortable then you can start to learn about keys/scales/modes.

Don be afraid to ever ask questions. Learning any new instrument can be a pain.

[zeta]

Quick question: is it true that all guitarists keep their fingernails long?

I'm a pianist as well and we keep them short for obvious reasons so this'll be a pain.

[JockMCPlop]

no.
More correctly, if you want to do alot of fingerpicking, it would be easier to have long nails on your right hand, but if you play with a plectrum it doesn't matter at all, so just do that.

[Mad_EP]

Quick question: is it true that all guitarists keep their fingernails long?

As a lifelong professional string musician, I can answer this....

There is NO decent string player with long left hand nails. That is the way it is... it affects the way the finger puts down the string.

Sometimes guitarists keep their right hand fingernails long for picking reasons....

but that is the one exception.


Left-hand fingernails = "loser" for string players.......

[Mazak]

Yeah just learn some chords, jam out with them, find your favorite style of playing (mine is without picks, acoustic), work on your calluses(they're crucial lol) and look up "how to play "x" on guitar" on youtube. "x" being some song you love and one which seems relatively easy to play/learn. It's a process. Don't get discouraged, its a very rewarding journey.

[travis_baker]

guitar hero, but seriously the best thing i ever did was buy a jam man, or looper pedal alows you to record loops and play over them so u can keep in time. makes practice alot more fun and tightens your timing. also you can simultaniously be comming up whith riffs ideas for tunes or what ever. good shit, wouldnt recomend recording with it tho.

[dickman69]

learn barre chords

[Artie_Fufkin]

Learn palm muting. It will help you learn to keep your picking hand steady. Either play exercises to a metronome or just have fun and learn songs or riffs that you want to play. And practice to a metronome or steady beat.
Tuxguitar is awesome and free and it supports power tabs and guitar pro tabs.

[RandoRando]

Learn your chords. Learn alternate picking. Learn alternate picking. Pinch harmonics are fun, they take a while to get perfect everytime though.

[Maxxan]

I think a few of you guys are aiming a little high now. He's saying he just started and you're telling him to learn pinch harmonics and barred chords? Come on.

(Alternate picking is a good habit to pick up from the start though)

Find a style that suits you and just start playing. Some people prefer playing chords, if that's your cup of tea then just look up chords to some songs you like and start playing. It's awkward with the fingering first and it'll sound like shit and pretty generic but just keep at it.

Me, I hated playing chords so I just looked up tabs of simple songs and started playing that. I prefer riffing over chords, I hate the whole 'douchebag with a guitar'-singalong thing. So if you think that's more your style, go for that. A couple Red Hot Chili Peppers songs are pretty easy to play in the beginning and also sound pretty decent, check out By the Way and Otherside for example.

[Sheff]

just find songs you like that arent too complex and get the tabs from them and slowly learn them, just start of with 16 bars at a time playing the notes really slow until you get comfortable enough to speed it up and play fluently

thats how i started when i was 14 and now picking up a guitar feels like second nature.
i think the hardest part when starting is getting your fingers used to moving properly and fluently.

i started off learning hundreds of songs, then eventually just got to learning more theory and scales and such.

its a hard thing to start but its fun and really rewarding when you get good

[dickman69]

I think a few of you guys are aiming a little high now. He's saying he just started and you're telling him to learn pinch harmonics and barred chords? Come on.

(Alternate picking is a good habit to pick up from the start though)

Find a style that suits you and just start playing. Some people prefer playing chords, if that's your cup of tea then just look up chords to some songs you like and start playing. It's awkward with the fingering first and it'll sound like shit and pretty generic but just keep at it.

Me, I hated playing chords so I just looked up tabs of simple songs and started playing that. I prefer riffing over chords, I hate the whole 'douchebag with a guitar'-singalong thing. So if you think that's more your style, go for that. A couple Red Hot Chili Peppers songs are pretty easy to play in the beginning and also sound pretty decent, check out By the Way and Otherside for example.

if u start out playing barre chords... then youll know how to play barre chords

[Augment]

When I started playing a few years ago, I learned almost every blink-182 song by myself. Looked up the tabs on ultimate-guitar.com and tried playing until I got it right.

[overture]

Like others have said alternate picking is something you really should learn from the start, I got into the habit of just down picking and now trying to alternate pick is slowing me down so it's good to learn it from day one. If you have an acoustic you can get your hands on then I recommend learning the basics on that as the strings are usually thicker and harder to press down which will give you an advantage when playing an electric. Try looking up tabs for punk songs (Blink 182, Greenday, Offspring) These use alot of powerchords which are really easy to play and will help you get used to strumming and moving your left hand up and down the fretboard fluidly. Nirvana songs are also good for helping you learn to transition through basic chords (A, C, D, E etc) as they use a lot of simple major chords. But the best advice would be to just practise for maybe an hour everyday, progress will be slow to start but you will start getting more and more comfortable.

Have fun!

[sketchyderek]

I just couldn't practice, so I put my guitar down and picked up some technics 1210 mk5s.

[Synkopate]

Try learning some basic major and minor chords, or teach your self songs here http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

[alphacat]

This sounds like a no-brainer, but remember to breathe while you're playing. Newbies often hold their breath when they do chord transitions or whatnot. Keep breathing and relax.

Also, make sure the back of your hand is as straight as possible in tandem with your wrist; i.e., don't do the "crab claw" unless you want to get carpal tunnel.

[__________]

just find songs you like that arent too complex and get the tabs from them and slowly learn them, just start of with 16 bars at a time playing the notes really slow until you get comfortable enough to speed it up and play fluently

thats how i started when i was 14 and now picking up a guitar feels like second nature.
i think the hardest part when starting is getting your fingers used to moving properly and fluently.

i started off learning hundreds of songs, then eventually just got to learning more theory and scales and such.

its a hard thing to start but its fun and really rewarding when you get good

^ This is the best advice so far.
Pick a few simple tunes or riffs to learn and just keep practicing. It doesn't really matter if you play the same tune over and over and over again - all practice is good practice at the start!

Unless you already have a good ear for figuring tunes out on piano or something by yourself, the first thing you should do after getting a guitar is learn tab (guitar tablature).
It tells you how to play shit if you can't read music. It's very simple, like this says play a C chord then a D chord

(e)-----0----------2---------- <-- this is the highest, thinnest string
(b)-----1----------3----------
(g)-----0----------2----------
(d)-----2----------0----------
(a)-----3---------------------
(e)-----3--------------------- <-- this is the lowest, thickest string

^ number = the fret number you play the string at. each fret = one semitone

I'm sure there's better explanations out there but learn it! Good luck!!