Some days ago a guitar lying around in a corner of my GFs room awoke my attention and I decided to play it. Well, after like 2 minutes her dog (he obviously hates me) started to bark and my GF told me she is going to commit suicide if I would not stop that bullshit. It must have been really awful ... >.<
The kind guy that I am I decided to take the guitar with me and learn to play whenever she is not around. She had no use for it anyway so why not just try it, right?
Geesh, I am so freaking bad! I can't believe it. If you have a little brothter or sister in the age of 3 or something chances are high that he / she is WAAAAY better than me. I mean ... I'm just terrible.
Now the problem is that I enjoy it :/
Imagine you are 62 years old, you have no idea what a mobile phone is and you have never seen a computer before but suddenly you realise that Starcraft is so much fun that it might be worth to spend some time on it. That's how I feel right now.
Now what I'm looking for is a way to improve. I need some sort of guide that tells me (the utmost newbie you've ever seen) how to play a guitar. It has to be for free because I'm not going to invest money in something that might not last that long.
So if you have any expirience, advices or if you know a really good website that guides me trough my first steps I would really appreciate it! It'd be great if it was in a video format!
TL Manpower has no "Guitar" category and using google is such a pain in the ass because all you get are links to expensive DVDs or some advanced lessons to play a specific song. I don't even know how to hold this freaking instrument!
I'm not a very experience guitar player but if you're starting 100% from scratch I'd say get a teacher, learn the basics. Then you can work from there, decide what to focus on etc.
I used this site when I first started to learn guitar 7 or 8 years ago. Shit load of resources. I would even go as far as to say it's the teamliquid of guitars.
Go on youtube and type in something like "beginners guitar tutorial". Then start playing like 30 minutes a day. You'll improve rapidly at first but then it'll start to slow down. Your fingers will hurt, you'll think that "there's no way that I'm ever gonna be able to do that" but with practice all of that will go away...unless you're an amputee or something.
Although you don't really need a teacher, having one can speed up the learning process. By how much, I have no idea.
There are huge amounts of resources on the internet. I think there's a bunch of educational videos on YouTube you could try taking a lot at. I used to be pretty interested in learning to play the guitar a while ago, and just by using the internet as my only resource I quickly learned the basics. Now, I wish I knew exactly what sites I used and all that, but I don't remember D:. But like I said, try YouTube to start out, perhaps you'll find some sites through these videos as well.
Acoustic and Classical both look more wooden and electric is what you see played by metal/rock bands.
The difference between acoustic and classical are both the sizes of the fret board (where you press on the guitar to change the note of each string) and the types of strings. On a classical guitar, you'll have nylon strings, and on an acoustic you'll usually have steel.
Either way, you can learn how to read music tabs (much easier than the actual sheet music for beginners).
that site can teach you how to read the music tabs.
Then you can google a song you want, for instance if you want to learn the song 'MoonLight Sonata by Beethoven' then search "moonlight sonata tabs" and search. and start to play it.
A very good guitarist friend of mine always recommends starting with finger excercises across basic scales just to get the memory muscle down if you can stomach it. Other than that just playplayplayplayplayplayplay :D
On September 14 2010 01:31 Motiva wrote: A very good guitarist friend of mine always recommends starting with finger excercises across basic scales just to get the memory muscle down if you can stomach it. Other than that just playplayplayplayplayplayplay :D
when i first started, i would do 10-hammer ons per note (E to A, A to B, B to C) etc.. all the way up the guitar only shifting your hand twice, so you build strength in all of your fingers. My hands were killing me towards the end. my pinky has never been so sore lol
I used JustinGuitar to learn to play and it´s really good imo. Lots of different excercises to do and there is alot of information about most stuff. Site is easy to browse too and everything is free!
On September 14 2010 01:22 CaucasianAsian wrote: what type of guitar is it?
Acoustic? Electric or Classical?
Acoustic and Classical both look more wooden and electric is what you see played by metal/rock bands.
The difference between acoustic and classical are both the sizes of the fret board (where you press on the guitar to change the note of each string) and the types of strings. On a classical guitar, you'll have nylon strings, and on an acoustic you'll usually have steel.
Either way, you can learn how to read music tabs (much easier than the actual sheet music for beginners).
that site can teach you how to read the music tabs.
Then you can google a song you want, for instance if you want to learn the song 'MoonLight Sonata by Beethoven' then search "moonlight sonata tabs" and search. and start to play it.
It will take a ton of practice, but you can get there! Good luck!
Oh yeah. Forgot to mention, must be an acoustic guitar (wooden and steel strings). I tuned it by using an "automatic" tuner. All strings sound similar to the one you provided. Gonna check out all the links now
On September 14 2010 01:22 CaucasianAsian wrote: what type of guitar is it?
Acoustic? Electric or Classical?
Acoustic and Classical both look more wooden and electric is what you see played by metal/rock bands.
The difference between acoustic and classical are both the sizes of the fret board (where you press on the guitar to change the note of each string) and the types of strings. On a classical guitar, you'll have nylon strings, and on an acoustic you'll usually have steel.
Either way, you can learn how to read music tabs (much easier than the actual sheet music for beginners).
that site can teach you how to read the music tabs.
Then you can google a song you want, for instance if you want to learn the song 'MoonLight Sonata by Beethoven' then search "moonlight sonata tabs" and search. and start to play it.
It will take a ton of practice, but you can get there! Good luck!
Oh yeah. Forgot to mention, must be an acoustic guitar (wooden and steel strings). I tuned it by using an "automatic" tuner. All strings sound similar to the one you provided. Gonna check out all the links now
God, my fingers are hurting. Do i need a pick?
It depends on your personal preference. Classical guitarists usually play with a finger style However, that style can be applied to every other type of guitar and style of music. Some people don't even use picks, look at andy in the proguitarshop demos on youtube. I would recommend learning how to play with a pick as well as learning finger style as they both have their own uses.
Just make sure you read up on proper technique.. I taught myself (im pretty good now) and i have a shitload of bad habits to shed because of it. Once you get pretty good its the best thing ever though!
guitarists usually end up mingling and meeting a lot of other guitar players. make friends and there is a guarantee some of them will know proper technique. u can also learn proper technique with free videos.
paying lessons, especially beginner lessons, are a thing of the past, at least in my wallet's opinion.
i kind of feel the same way about basketball, cz i learned myself, and had a nack, but i never did formal training to learn proper techniques. so i wouldn't be completely against paying for guitar lessons, but do note that u can get a lot of the same resources with internet resources.
There are intricacies to using picks or fingers (or finger picks!). I recommend using a pick at first (until you have the scales down, see below) because it's easier to get a crisp sound.
Basically, start off doing scales for about 20 minutes a day. Just scales. Up and down. E standard, first position, until you can do it fluidly. Then repeat for second position, and all the way up to 5th. Then do all of them fluidly. IE:
Once you have those down, you can learn the Blues Scales really quickly, as well as other scales (like G major, which is just E standard but 2 frets lower).
Pick up a pick & practice a lot. Start out with some simple tunes like Beatles-Daybreaker or Nirvana- Come as you are and practice some other easy songs where you will just strum chords.
Some of you guys are expecting way too much prerequisite info >_<.
Oh he's supposed to practice scales?
How do the fingers go on the left hand? How does he hold the guitar? How hard must he push? Where should he place his left hand? Does he look at the guitar? Same questions for the right hand plus others.
He should practice chord changes? Which ones are most important? Is there a good way to learn changes? He's having trouble getting the chords on time, what should he do? Some notes arent ringing out , etc etc.
This guy like JUST STARTED.It's kind of like that Carl Sagan thing "To bake an apple pie, you must first invent the universe"
What? That's exactly how I learned. I didn't have anyone holding my hand telling me "no, no move your left hand just a little bit this way" or whatever. I picked up a guitar, decided I wanted to play, and looked up the scales. Then I played them. They sounded like shit at first, but I kept playing. I figured out how to hold the guitar, pick, and my fretting hand placements on my own to get the sound out properly, and I'm the better for it.
On September 14 2010 04:01 tofucake wrote: What? That's exactly how I learned. I didn't have anyone holding my hand telling me "no, no move your left hand just a little bit this way" or whatever. I picked up a guitar, decided I wanted to play, and looked up the scales. Then I played them. They sounded like shit at first, but I kept playing. I figured out how to hold the guitar, pick, and my fretting hand placements on my own to get the sound out properly, and I'm the better for it.
I think that people finding their own way out is really the best, but I think enlightening them to core principles of the instrument gives them a chance to at least accept or refuse them instead of just going on without knowing them.
People have different goals, and not knowing his, I'd give him the most straightforward and general ideas of guitar playing so he at least has something to refer to and strive towards.
On September 14 2010 04:01 tofucake wrote: What? That's exactly how I learned. I didn't have anyone holding my hand telling me "no, no move your left hand just a little bit this way" or whatever. I picked up a guitar, decided I wanted to play, and looked up the scales. Then I played them. They sounded like shit at first, but I kept playing. I figured out how to hold the guitar, pick, and my fretting hand placements on my own to get the sound out properly, and I'm the better for it.
I think that people finding their own way out is really the best, but I think enlightening them to core principles of the instrument gives them a chance to at least accept or refuse them instead of just going on without knowing them.
People have different goals, and not knowing his, I'd give him the most straightforward and general ideas of guitar playing so he at least has something to refer to and strive towards.
I'm not going to give him tips that are really hard to convey in text form. That's just counter-productive. The way you hold a guitar is so complex it's mind boggling. It's best to get some basics down and adjust later.
you can try learning scales if you want, but it'll be tremendously difficult at a truly beginner level and won't really benefit you much yet. start like the rest of us by using ultimageguitar, justinguitar, or youtube to learn a few chords every day and practicing them until you have a fair amount memorized.
My advice would be to buy Guitar hero (any version is ok) and pratice on the plastic guitar first. Then once you're able to play the hardest songs decently you can switch to real guitars easily even if they sound worse imo.
It's best to get some basics down and adjust later.
It's what I think too, but I think offering some direction can help loads.
To each his own I guess. Are you a very good player or teacher?
I'm...adept. I'm a natural teacher-y person though. I can play just about any song, but solos still really mess me up still. I'm also out of practice, which probably doesn't help anybody.
On September 14 2010 04:14 gds wrote: My advice would be to buy Guitar hero (any version is ok) and pratice on the plastic guitar first. Then once you're able to play the hardest songs decently you can switch to real guitars easily even if they sound worse imo.
On September 14 2010 04:14 gds wrote: My advice would be to buy Guitar hero (any version is ok) and pratice on the plastic guitar first. Then once you're able to play the hardest songs decently you can switch to real guitars easily even if they sound worse imo.
When I was 10 I started playing guitar by looking up the chords to my favorite songs online. I suggest you do the same. Don't worry about scales and all that for now, you'll be much happier if you just learn the chords to a song and practice the hell out of it because the strumming pattern and rhythm is way more important than being able to play a minor pentatonic at your stage. Fuck scales until you get to the point where you're like "okay now I want to be able to improvise a solo" because they'll seriously discourage you and they're not useful for a beginner. Learn all of your natural chords and learn your major/minor barre chords on the E and A strings. Practice the hell out of them by playing songs you like. I suggest stuff like "When I come around" by Green Day or almost anything by Jack Johnson or something similar with 4-6 simple barre chords.
Take it slow, you've got the rest of your life to tweak out on a guitar so just have fun with it .
If you're into metal and stuff you could play some metallica songs, they aren't really hard (cept some solos) that's what I did when I started. I just wanted to play metallica and practiced Seek & Destroy for like 2 weeks or so and suddenly I could play most of it.
Though, I still know pretty much no theory at all. Bruteforcing your way through sucks in the long run. But if you just want to learn to play a few songs the easiest way is probably just to practice them mindlessly.
Oh yeah, as for theory some things to note are a complete lack of B#/Cb and E#/Fb (hence the gap between open/3rd and 9/12). Uhh.....? That's probably the most obvious one that has much impact on a newbie.
A few guitar lessons early on will help you get into good habits - particularly in how to hold the instrument etc.
What you should do after that really depends on what you are aiming for. I think learning basic chords and strumming/picking is the fastest route to being able to make decent music. Learning scales is eventually helpful, but it is quite a long road till you can play anything anyone would want to hear, whereas with a few chords you can get a sing along going, or at least sound ok.
So basically what the wise Zerg_Russian said, except don't play Jack Johnson
I've never had a teacher before, and I'm going to assume you won't either in this post. My advice for you is to learn terminology and some open chords first. Get some basic chords down. Learn what scales, barres, etc Once you've done with that, go on to barre chords/power chords depending on your music preference. Don't focus on lead guitar/showing off too much since it's better to get the fundamentals down first. Once you've gotten good enough, try to work out a personal schedule.
My routine is 1) Warm-ups (5-10 Minutes) - Just do some finger exercises. Anything to get your fingers loose. Think of it like the first 2 min of a sc game
2) Triads/Scales (10-15 Minutes) - I highly recommend this step. Trust me. Scales are essential later on in advanced guitar.Highly tedious, yet rewarding.
3) Technique (10-20) - Sweep picking? Shredding? All here
4) Jam (Varies) -Play any favorite songs or what you want. Fun stuff :D
Woosh, thanks for the input guys. I even received a PM from a guitar teacher who offerd me a lesson via skype and webcam. TL never disappoints
I found Justinguitar.com to be the most appealing website so far and I try to do the beginners course.
I've got a few questions though:
a) My fingers hurt so much. Woah, I may sound like an idiot but I get grooves and it's basicly impossible to play any longer than like 10 minutes. I can't even imagine how you can play a guitar for more than 30 minutes. Is this because the guitar has not been used for 2 years or is this because the strings are too thick (are there even thin strings?) or is it just because I'm not used to it?
b) Chords: Okay, following the guide mentioned before I have to learn D, E an A Chord. What I don't get is why it is so important that my fingers are placed exactly like described in the chord charts. What happens if it's easier for me to place my fingers slightly different? Is there really only one way to play a chord correctly? Will this be an issue later because you have to jump between chords?
c) Do you guys know a song that can be played by using only these 3 Chords (D, E and A)?
In case you don't already know:
This kid is so insane. What does he have on his right thumb?
On September 14 2010 18:17 Toolshed wrote: a) My fingers hurt so much. Woah, I may sound like an idiot but I get grooves and it's basicly impossible to play any longer than like 10 minutes. I can't even imagine how you can play a guitar for more than 30 minutes. Is this because the guitar has not been used for 2 years or is this because the strings are too thick (are there even thin strings?) or is it just because I'm not used to it?
b) Chords: Okay, following the guide mentioned before I have to learn D, E an A Chord. What I don't get is why it is so important that my fingers are placed exactly like described in the chord charts. What happens if it's easier for me to place my fingers slightly different? Is there really only one way to play a chord correctly? Will this be an issue later because you have to jump between chords?
c) Do you guys know a song that can be played by using only these 3 Chords (D, E and A)?
A: You're not used to pressing down tensioned strings with your fingertips. After playing enough, you will develop calluses and you'll also just get used to doing it, using your fingers to press down just enough and not more and so on...
B: Play chords however is easiest for you. Learn the chords and then practice changing between them smoothly. It makes really good practice just to switch between the chords you know, playing each one as clear as you can and then moving on to the next.
C: I'd look up some of your favorite songs and the chords that go with them.
Video: A lot of young guitar players like that are popular for a while and then drop off of the map, never to be seen again. I haven't found too many that do much more than rehash some Van Halen on YouTube. He's got a thumb pick. They're handy if you can't be bothered to grow your thumb nail out long enough to play the guitar.
On September 14 2010 18:17 Toolshed wrote: Woosh, thanks for the input guys. I even received a PM from a guitar teacher who offerd me a lesson via skype and webcam. TL never disappoints
I found Justinguitar.com to be the most appealing website so far and I try to do the beginners course.
I've got a few questions though:
a) My fingers hurt so much. Woah, I may sound like an idiot but I get grooves and it's basicly impossible to play any longer than like 10 minutes. I can't even imagine how you can play a guitar for more than 30 minutes. Is this because the guitar has not been used for 2 years or is this because the strings are too thick (are there even thin strings?) or is it just because I'm not used to it?
b) Chords: Okay, following the guide mentioned before I have to learn D, E an A Chord. What I don't get is why it is so important that my fingers are placed exactly like described in the chord charts. What happens if it's easier for me to place my fingers slightly different? Is there really only one way to play a chord correctly? Will this be an issue later because you have to jump between chords?
c) Do you guys know a song that can be played by using only these 3 Chords (D, E and A)?
This kid is so insane. What does he have on his right thumb?
A) Calluses (as said above) B) Wonderwall by Oasis only uses a few chords, but I don't remember which off the top of my head. Anyway, the recommended finger positions is the easiest way to quickly switch between chords. Also, they are sort of important later for bar chords, as your index finger will be barring multiple strings. C) Finger picks. They are most common among banjo players, but definitely not unseen in other types of guitaring (eh?). Using them is tricky, as you'll be independently picking with multiple fingers.
Sungha Jung is what some people would call "a fucking baller little kid". He's amazing.
EPT
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