Learning guitar

[marxstudent]

(I'm not sure if this topic should be here or chit chat)

I'm about to learn the guitar and I heard from this one guy that I should start off with the acoustic. Is this true? I think it would be faster getting my question answered here.

[(*]

IMO

When you play a chord incorrectly, it is easier to hear it on an acoustic. It will help you get the feel of playing the chords right.

But it all depends on what style you are going for. Whether you are playing the acoustic or electric, you want to learn what the chords are, and sound like when played properly.

I say, go with the acoustic

[marxstudent]

Well I want to play electric guitar but I hear it's better to start out playing the acoustic and I see you're basically saying the same thing. If playing the acoustic first will really help me before playing electric later on, I'd be willing to start out with acoustic. My sister's got one and she never uses it so hopefully I can borrow it from her.

[synthesis]

I started on electric. As (* stated, it really depends on whether you plan on playing acoustic or electric. If you bought an electric, could you afford an amp as well? If you could, go with an electric and try to teach yourself. Many people started off playing along with the Clash and the Ramones, I started with some of those and also Nirvana.

Personally, if you can afford it, I think the best route to becoming a good guitarist is to buy an electric, an amp, and a tutor. All varying according to your price range. Teaching yourself can lead to some very bad habits that will inhibit your guitar playing immeasurably later on.

[suffianr]

For the sake of being practical, start off with an acoustic guitar. They're cheaper to maintain and easier to carry around.

[Hate Is Art]

an acoustic is easier to play if you get one with plastic strings as it wont kill you fingers so much, if you live in england check out www.theflyingpiguk.com (http://www.theflyingpiguk.com) it has very cheap guitars, i started on acoustic but for a first electric i recomend a squire strat very versatile and pretty cheap as well.

[Soviet power supreme]

what do you mean they are easier to carry around?Acousticguitar has bigger body than electricguitar.

[Hate Is Art]

yeah but they are lighter and you dont need an amp or power supply to play them.

[Soviet power supreme]

There isn't much difference in weights.

[Non-Sectarian Bastard!]

I would suggest that you play both.

[Soviet power supreme]

I would suggest that you play both.

Yeah.Acoustic guitars can be found at low price.My acoustic cost less than 50€(50$).

[Non-Sectarian Bastard!]

Yeah I do the same thing. I want to master the art of both acoustic and electric :)

Mine acoustic was just €80 and I don't have enough money to buy my own electric yet. So I play that at guitarlesson.

How expensive is everyone's guitarlessons? My guitarteacher/moneyslut asks 70 euro for 2 hours of playing per month. it's private lesson tough.

[bush youth]

I've always found electric guitars easier to play because you don't have to pick as hard and they're less bulky
You can also do a lot more with them (slides, pull offs and such)

but if you're going for price, like soviet power supreme said, electric guitars are expensive! Especially because with an electric you have to buy both the guitar and the amp.

but if you're rich, i suggest electric

lol, my lessons are $40/hour.. they charge so much!

[Soviet power supreme]

My guitarteacher/moneyslut asks 70 euro for 2 hours of playing per month. it's private lesson tough.


lol, my lessons are $40/hour.. they charge so much!

Damn , those teachers better be Good.My lessons cost 125€/6 months.1,5hours/week

[Hate Is Art]

mine are £8.00 per half hour, and you can do slides and hammer ons/pull offs on an acoustic just need stronger fingers.

Try finding some fretboard wax it makes sliding much easier .

[Non-Sectarian Bastard!]

Originally posted by Soviet power [email protected] 1 2003, 06:18 PM

My guitarteacher/moneyslut asks 70 euro for 2 hours of playing per month. it's private lesson tough.


lol, my lessons are $40/hour.. they charge so much!

Damn , those teachers better be Good.My lessons cost 125€/6 months.1,5hours/week
:o :o :o and many more of them

Fuckin where do you live?

I checked the local area for guitarlessons, everywhere about the same price.

BTW: my teacher plays 40 years guitar

[Soviet power supreme]

Well we shouldn't compare the prices because we live in different countries.I live in Finland.

[Non-Sectarian Bastard!]

yeah, but I tought that Finland was just as rich as Holland. So the prices should have been at a smilair level.

Make place, I am coming over :) :P

[Mr Mojo Risin]

I would definitely recommend an acoustic for your first guitar. They are cheaper, so if you discover you don't like guitar, you will have wasted less money. Also, it takes more skill to sound good on acoustic, so you will develop better technique, and then when you get an electric you will sound sweet. This is what I'm doing right now.

I take a guitar class from the university at no extra cost. Only problem is that there are 10 others in there with me.

[marxstudent]

Thanks for the replies guys. Some other friends at school also said I should start out as acoustic so I think I'll start out with that. I found lessons for $20 half an hour private. I live in the U.S.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

well good luck with it man. You gotta love it when all the skin on your fingertips peels off in a calluss. the most delicious pain you'll ever get, unless you're a homo and enjoy sodomy..... :huh:

[praxis1966]

Actually, you don't need to buy an amp for an electric to start with. I play bass, and my first was a squire nockoff w/ a plastic fretboard and powered headphones instead of an amp. Those are actually quite usefull if you plan on playing while your parents/neighbors are asleep. Besides, at least in the U$ you should be able to pick up a little 40 watt practice amp for around $100 (about 85 euros). Not only that, but there are several companies that make effects pedals that will get your electric pretty close to the accoustic sound. If there are any pawn shops or used instrument dealers near you, I would suggest checking them before slapping down a hefty sum of cash on a new axe.

[Man in the White Shirt]

Play classical style, like me, your hero. Also lessons are a waste of time, teach yourself, you learn just as fast, plus, you only learn what you want to learn.

[praxis1966]

I had a buddy who used to tell me the same thing. He said a lot of teachers will train your unique style out of you in place of their own.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

theres nothing wrong with getting lessons from a teacher. They give you fundamental techniques that will allow you to become good enough to develop your own intricate style.
I know someone who had to stop playing because he taught himself and his form was bad, and it gave him medical problems with his hands.
Plus, teachers give you guidance. Otherwise, you'll probably just go out there and memorize the tabs of a bunch of blink 182 songs like all the dillholes i see out there.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

not that there's anything wrong with blink 182.
yes there is.

[praxis1966]

I'm self-taught, but the first thing I learned to play was "Canonball" by The Breaders. I'm not sure about guitar, but I know bass can be learned pretty well on one's own. I once solicited lessons from a local jazz basist, but he declined. He told me that he would feel guilty charging me for lessons when I could just as easily go out and pick up a copy of The Evolving Bassist. He seemed to think that would work just as well if I wanted to learn jazz, and he was right. I still can't read music, though. I usually just play by ear.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

there are many intricate bass techniques which take years to master and which define a great bassist's work, but a lot of being a bassplayer revolves around having a feel for the song and how the bass should sound in any situation. It is hard to teach these things except by lots of listening to others, and trial and error.

[praxis1966]

The same could be said for just about any musical instrument. The key to jazz, as every enthusiast knows, is improvisation. The lynchpin there is to stay whithin the key everyone else is in. I'm pretty good at that, though it sometimes irritates guitarists that prefer a more minimalistic approach to bass (who completely annoy me since this attitude stems from a desire to constanly be the center of attention). Others, who find it necessary to play off of me, it throws entirely out of whack. That and the fact I play a 5 string seems to confuse a lot of people, too.

My slap could use a little work, though.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

it is most definitely important for members of an ensemble to play off of each other, this is the true mark of a good jazz player. Improvisation can just be playing random notes at random intervals, but good improvisation is playing freely off of what you both hear and feel, it is even kosher to play in and out of a key (i.e. a flat fifth in blues) as long as it is done according to what the ensemble is doin.

Don't know why a five string would throw someone off, it just adds potential for lower notes, I presume you have the extra string tuned to a low B?

[praxis1966]

What I meant was free use of fills. It seems that most guitarists depend on the rhythm section/me for definition of the melody and rhythm. That is what I meant by "playing off" me. This strange dependance on someone else to define the melody. You're right about jazz, though. All the "pieces" should be able to take cues from one another on the fly. Though this is the ideal situation, it does not often occur unless you're playing with musicians in their 40s.

It's strange. I can easily bond with just about any drummer (maybe it's a rhythm thing) but guitarists seem to be funny animals. Unless you're playing root notes and root notes only, it usually throws them off. I've been told more than once (when involving myself in the usual 4 piece rock set up), "Could you at least try to play the same line in every measure?" Rather silly actually.

BTW, yes I tune to B. That's the stock tuning for a 5 string bass. B-E-A-D-G. Though sometimes I drop to A (the 5 string equivalent of drop-D). The tuning sceme ends up A-D-G-B-E. It's really pretty crunchy, the usual tuning sceme for Korn as a matter of fact. In any case, guitarists usually get freaked out by sounds coming out of the lower octaves.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

i see what you mean. actually, me and rastafari once played a jazz band with a very inexperienced (but developing) drummer, he wasn't too steady to say the least. So it was pretty much llike trying to play to a rhythm section fill through the whole song. Needless to say, very challenging.

I can understand why people would get freaked out by a low A. That's concussion- inducing territory there. a tone to truly tear the roof off the house.

[praxis1966]

Especially when you play through a 300 watt monitor. Hee hee hee. :redstar2000:

[Purple]

sounds funneey.... :)