Learning electric guitar

[Re Alexis]

Hey guys,hope you are all doing well...
So, I 've wanted to learn how to play electric guitar..
Is there a way to do that without joining a course or music school (as I am a student and the fees would be an extra expense)..If yes what would you recommend as the best way to do it (apps,computer software,manuals,books etc)?
Thanks in advance...

[motion denied]

GuitarPro, look it up.

[Tenka]

I've been learning off and on for about 6 years mostly by myself and I suck but anyway here's how to do a basic "power chord": forefinger in the thickest string, third finger two frets higher on the second-thickest. It might hurt, but you'll get used to playing these if they're the extent of your abilities for long enough.

Other than that I can only recommend using google and hoping you're not as naturally inclined to suck as I am.

[Sam_b]

There's no point trying to teach the guy power chords when he doesn't seem to know any of the basics.

Tuition doesn't need to be expensive if you put ads up. Regardless it's expensive anyway - the cost of equipment can be huge and if you're playing electric don't cut corners and buy crappy stuff. I am assuming you don't know how to play guitar, so don't start with electric anyway - start with classical/acoustic, get the basics and work your way up. To be quite honest I don't think there's substitution for tuition if you're serious about it.

[Yuppie Grinder]

yo guitar player here i got some tips for ya
1. buy a book of scales and chords and use these to develop a musical vocabulary, practice them and try to write little thangs with them to get a feel for how songwriting works
2. play a shit ton (duh)
i know people who've been playing for years, even longer than me, who blow because they can't get it through their head that even if the music they like is simple it takes effort to play
be self critical and play all the time, challenging yourself to be more precise and to do things that are hard for you
just jamming for fun is part of getting good
3. play along to records you like WITHOUT TABS
tabs do nothing to make you a good guitar player really
playing along to a variety of records can help you understand your instrument better and make you better at working with others
4. strive to be precise and be able to play with a lot of energy for as long as you want
a lot of weenie guitar players can't even do steady down strokes as fast as the ramones
use your wrist for picking, not your whole arm
if you can't play passionately without fucking up or getting tired for more than 30 seconds you need more work
5. have fun $_$

[Yuppie Grinder]

lol classical and acoustic guitars are not as a rule more or less expensive than electric and their's nothing wrong with shitty equipment
there's nothing worse than a musician who thinks he needs a les paul special, a marshall stack, and 20 effects pedals to play right
it's not what ya got, it's how ya use it
start with a little 100 dollar squier like everyone and their mom if you want to play electric
lessons will not make you good and are not necessarily necessary
work ethic is the only thing necessary

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

No, I don't play, but I would suggest Youtube? Helped me learn more piano stuffs.

PS, equipment? I still play a shitty ass Yamaha keyboard with one faulty speaker circa 1990s of which I talked someone down from 30 to 10 usd at yard sale; keep it real and keep it good.

[reb]

Learn how to read guitar tab. It's like sheet music for guitar except instead of notes, it tells you which strings and which frets to play. Find a couple of easy songs, then play along until you get the hang of reading it. You can find a lot at ultimate-guitar.com. There is a program you can download called Powertab that plays midi music along with the notation so you can play along to. From there you can work your way up to learning scales and shit.

You also need to know where the notes are on the guitar fret board and a couple of chords but this just takes practice until your fingers remember where to go.

[Geiseric]

Two words: led zeppelin. You learn every artist that they ripped off by learning their songs.

[A Psychological Symphony]

There's a game called rocksmith that actually teaches the basics pretty well. you pick a song (the selection is pretty meh) and it teaches you to play the song initially with a small percentage of the actual notes and then progressively the difficulty will increase based on what it judges your skill to be. It also has an entire video lesson section that can be pretty handy. This is all of course assuming you can handle the slightly over-enthusiastic and very fucking annoying narrator.

Its on the xbox, playstation, or PC I believe.

[Yuppie Grinder]

awww don't learn guitar with a video game that's so lame

[Tenka]

There's no point trying to teach the guy power chords when he doesn't seem to know any of the basics.

Is this a taunt or what? Surely you know that it doesn't get much more basic than a power chord. It's one simple shape moved up and down the fretboard, with a root either on the sixth or fifth string...



use your wrist for picking, not your whole arm


I have to use my whole arm for fast alternate picking. I am a scrub.

[xxxxxx666666]

I think maybe this "Fender Getting Started On Electric Guitar DVD" or some other dvd lessons may help:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/books-sheet-music-media/fender-getting-started-on-electric-guitar-dvd

Haven't tried it but you may want to look around the internet for other electric guitar lessons.

Good luck!:)

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Step one: Get somebody to show you a few basic things (palm muting, two or three strumming patterns, power chords).
Step two: Start a (low/no-expectations) punk band.

For real though, I took two or three lessons when I first picked up guitar, and everything else has come from fucking around with bands, either trying to figure out covers or writing originals.

[A Psychological Symphony]

awww don't learn guitar with a video game that's so lame

Hey, he didn't ask for the coolest way to learn he asked for an effective way! If you want to go gnar then teach yourself to play like Jimi did.

[Sam_b]

Is this a taunt or what? Surely you know that it doesn't get much more basic than a power chord. It's one simple shape moved up and down the fretboard, with a root either on the sixth or fifth string...

With every instrument I've learned I've started with notes and learning how to read music/tab and so forth. Wouldn't go anywhere near chords until I got the basic notes and how to construct simple open chords. The fact you're having to say "thickest string" "second thickest" rather than E and A would suggest it's not the most basic thing you should start to do.

[Art Vandelay]

I'm going to echo vox and say youtube. I don't understand why people pay for lessons when there are quality teachers on youtube giving them for free. I don't really have any tips though, been playing for 7/8 years or so and it probably took me 4 years to get to a point where I felt like I didn't suck. Every so often I still get a lingering feeling like I can't play, which is something I've heard many guitar players say. Just learn some chords/pentatonic scales and you'll have a decent enough grasp on the basics. Then just jam with some buddies, music should be about having fun, not being the best guitar player.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Lessons are better than youtube imo. You need an actual human being there to critique you and be able to see physically what your problems playing are, and then help you. You don't necessarily need to pay someone, you could just ask a friend who is good at guitar to jam.