I really want to learn guitar

[the Left™]

Should i take lessons, try to learn myself, find videos and shit online? Where should i start? Should i learn acoustic or electric

[Yuppie Grinder]

If you know how to play an acoustic guitar you can play electric and vice versa. You should start by buying a cheap acoustic at a pawn shop. Very inexpensive.
Lessons are mostly bullshit. I have a good guitar teacher right now who just helps me do the weird, tricky shit I want to do. Most teachers are wankers who either think how fast you can play scales up and down (shredding) determines how good of a guitar player you are, or nerdy old white dudes massacring blues and jazz.
Unless you know a really cool teacher, it's probably better just to buy yourself a book of chords and scales and practice that shit like crazy.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I would take a couple classes just so you can have somewhere to start out, they'll probably teach you a couple chords and some scales. Then just buy some books with all the chords and scales and practice them. Get some songbooks or just look up tabs on the Internet. And don't be discouraged when you suck at first and can't stretch your fingers across five frets.

[#FF0000]

Learning guitar is p. easy imo. I'm not great at guitar but you can become competent enough on your own.

There's really not much a difference between learning on an acoustic or an electric. That's pretty much up to you, and you can find affordable guitars either way you go. Yamaha makes a lot of reliable and cheap acoustic guitars. A friend of mine also raved about this (http://www.amazon.com/Rogue-RA-090-Dreadnought-Acoustic-Sunburst/dp/B005PFPNWA%3FSubscriptionId%3D19BAZMZQFZJ6G2QYGCG2 %26tag%3Dsquid1507506-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165 953%26creativeASIN%3DB005PFPNWA) dirt cheap one from Rogue (which I will be picking up to re-learn guitar myself).

If you want an electric, I know Fender/Squier sells very affordable electric guitar kits that come with a 22 fret Squier Stratocaster guitar, a small practice amp, and a few other good things to have. I think those are around $150. That's what i started with.

From there it's pretty easy to learn, I think. Teach yourself a bunch of chords (especially barre chords -- those are really helpful to learn), teach yourself some scales and exercises, and learn how to read tablature so you can learn to play songs.

For exercises and scales I'd recommend the Guitar Grimioire series.

So yeah.

[#FF0000]

Also if someone is like "LOL UR NOT A GITARIST TILL UR FINGERS BLEED" don't listen to them because they are a stupid person who probably thinks yngwie malmsteem is a great musician

[helot]

Learning to play an instrument is pretty damn easy, it's just a matter of getting used to it. Focussing on scales and chords before learning tabs for songs you like is the best option as the otherway round you're prone to having highly inefficient hand positions.





Most teachers are wankers who either think how fast you can play scales up and down (shredding) determines how good of a guitar player you are

I play bass but i do find that playing a couple of scales and then making a simple bass line from it while trying to constantly increase the tempo really helps me practice but then that's probably down to me not practicing enough so i do that as a way to stave off getting rusty and becoming unfamiliar with my instrument.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Of course you should practice scales. I'm just saying shredding is wanky.

[Jesus Saves Gretzky Scores]

Lessons are generally a great starting point.

[helot]

Of course you should practice scales. I'm just saying shredding is wanky.


Oh yes, i agree with that.

[zoot_allures]

It depends on how serious you are about it, and what exactly you're looking for.

There's at least one excellent reason why it's good for anyone to see an instructor: if you play a guitar even somewhat regularly, there are mistakes you can make that can lead to quite serious health problems in the future (RSI, carpal tunnel, etc). You'll never know if you're making these mistakes unless there's a well-trained eye looking at exactly how you're playing. So it's worth seeing an instructor - and a well-qualified instructor, not just one of your mates who knows a few songs - for a little while, just to make sure you avoid these problems.

This is the case for many instruments, by the way.

[Yuppie Grinder]

It depends on how serious you are about it, and what exactly you're looking for.

There's at least one excellent reason why it's good for anyone to see an instructor: if you play a guitar even somewhat regularly, there are mistakes you can make that can lead to quite serious health problems in the future (RSI, carpal tunnel, etc). You'll never know if you're making these mistakes unless there's a well-trained eye looking at exactly how you're playing. So it's worth seeing an instructor - and a well-qualified instructor, not just one of your mates who knows a few songs - for a little while, just to make sure you avoid these problems.

This is the case for many instruments, by the way.
All of the guitar teachers I've had besides the one I have now taught me incorrect technique, the sort that leads to the problems your talking about.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

I have been playing guitar since 5 years now, never took guitar lessons. My first guitar was a 15 Euro ebay acoustic guitar which i got because i was inspired by Bob Dylan. I learned probably every song of Bob Dylan by heart by going online to look at the chord progression and lyrics of various songs. I recommend getting a chord book which would have saved me a lot of time if i had done it earlier. Only play the songs you are motivated to play. If you ever lack motivation (this counts for everything) you lack will. So i recommend doing what i do, setting up constructs that will make you invest as much mental energy into the endeavor. I for instance got quite a few CDs of acoustic artists i liked, looked at youtube videos and contacted other people at the guitar store who played guitar; all this serves as a construct that will increase motivation and will to play, which imo Will is the key to success. I only recommend gettingan electric guitar once you have accomplished a certain understanding of the guitar.

[zoot_allures]

All of the guitar teachers I've had besides the one I have now taught me incorrect technique, the sort that leads to the problems your talking about.
Hence why I said "and a well-qualified instructor, not just one of your mates who knows a few songs" - although of course that's no guarantee that they'll be right; there's always some risk involved. The fact is though, the chance of developing a potentially harmful technique is higher if you just go it alone than if you see a proper instructor.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Just start a band. Best way to learn.
Before I joined this band (http://archive.org/details/EvictionParty-Demo2012) I'd never touched a bass.

[maskerade]

check out justinguitar.com, he's put a bunch of free lessons on youtube and if you follow what he teaches you'll be a decent guitarist in no time at all.

i'd get an acoustic guitar first, buy it second hand and replace the strings. electric guitars tend to be quite expensive and if you skip the acoustic part somethings might be more difficult later on whereas things will only be easier on an electric once you've played enough on an acoustic

[hatzel]

As an acoustic guitarist myself I may be a little biased here, but I'd always advise starting on an acoustic rather than an electric. Obviously it's much more fun having something you can take anywhere you want, without having to worry about plugging everything in, but I also find that it's better suited to learning good technique. Electric guitars (particularly the cheaper/beginner ones) tend to 'level' the tone somewhat, which can help to mask poor technique. Of course this might sound great for beginner, but needless to say you'll regret it before long; a playing technique which sounds good on an acoustic will probably* sound good on an electric, whilst a playing technique that sounds good on an electric may well sound pretty messy on an acoustic - you want to make sure you're playing properly from the start.

On a related note, I notice that novice electric guitarists tend to create different sounds by simply flicking switches and turning knobs, which of course allows a lot of tonal variety without any effort. An acoustic guitarist obviously can't do this, so we have to learn to make use of different playing techniques to vary the sound, and I feel that learning on an acoustic forces people to learn a wider variety of techniques without taking shortcuts, and a good guitarist should always seek to maximise their range.

The main advantage of an electric guitar is obviously the greater versatility of sounds through the use of pedals and all that stuff - and mastering sound setups is certainly a skill in its own right, - but I don't think that's quite so important for somebody learning to play guitar.

* I say 'probably' because it isn't always the case; I tend to play the flamenco guitar, and use the associated techniques. If I attempt to replicate these on an electric guitar, I notice that some of them (for example fast arpeggios and rasgueado) often sound a little muddy, or the tonal nuances are lost. Of course I would twist this into another plus-point for the acoustic - it lets you play clean rasgueado ffs! :lol: - but many people may not consider that particularly important...