Learning the guitar?

How long would it take to play something okish if I bought an acoustic guitar and a book/dvd/website course? How easy is learning the guitar? Any hints of what route to take and what to avoid?

Yo Tim

There are some books out there which can teach you the basics...mostly though, you want to familiarise yourself first with the basic major and minor chords. I had some instruction books, and I also learn't songs or bits from songs that I enjoyed listening to.

Learn how to read guitar tab and learn how to tune your guitar, and you will have no problems. Learn how to thold the guitar properly aswell...there'll be some instruction videos on youtube I expect. Holding the guitar the wrong way can make life harder for you, and it can also cause some strain injuries

I say, go for it Learn what you want to learn and when you've learned the basics, you can discover a few things of your own dont get too bogged down on theory at first

[punyXpress]

You're not off to serenade those Germans in the woods, are you?

[fizzwheel]

Depends how much practice you put in and what level / standard you want to get to.

I found I progressed very quickly and then plateau'd for few months after that. I reckon it took me 6 months before I felt comfortable playing in front of other people and that they would also be able to recognise what it was I was playing.

Acoustic guitar IMHO is the best place to start. Search on line for "tabs" of songs you want to play and those will show you where to put your fingers on the fretboard in order to get the right notes etc.

It might not be a bad idea if you are starting out just to get a few lessons, that way you learn good technique right at the start and dont develop sloppy habits which effect your playing later on...

I've been learning since just before Xmas, and right now I can play several chords, a few scales, and parts of a few songs (rhythm guitar bits from Knockin on Heavens Door, Hey Joe, Crazy Little Thing Called Love and the main riff from Daytripper). I practice between 30 mins to an hour most days.

I started having lessons with my mate (who is a guitar teacher) just after the new year and I started to progress so much better than I was doing by trying to learn stuff online.

That said, I found this guy - http://www.justinguitar.com - is really good if you haven't really got the option of having lessons. I learnt a lot of the theory stuff from him and when I went for my first proper lesson my mate was quite impressed with how much I'd actually learnt in just less than 3 weeks using that site. Best of all it works on an honour system - if you can afford to pay him a bit for upkeep of the site etc then do it but if you can't, no worries.

I got a Fender Strat as a leaving gift from the staff at Battersea Dogs home when I left there 7 years ago.

I went for a few lessons, got hit on my my 18 year old guitar teacher and never went back.

Sadly I still cannot play

I would love to learn too so will pay attention to the advice on here too.

The acoustic guitar advice is a good idea, they can be had for cheap money...when you get confident, you can spend a bit more. Not only that, as you get better and your ears become more fine-tuned, you'll hear why an expensive guitar is better aswell as feel it

Saying that though, my first guitar was a strat copy electric, and it was easy to learn with because the strins didnt require alot of force to fret, so my figners didn't get sore. But you can always ask for lighter gauge (thinner) strings to be put on the guitar at first

Oh, and it helps to start "training" your fingers from early on...many people find using their pinky finger difficult, because it moves with the finger next to it and there isnt alot of strength. I found having my hand flat on a table and just lifting each finger one by one while keeping the other fingers flat down helped to develop "finger independance"

Matt

Well, I been playing for 9 years and I still suck.

I don't like playing in public because I make a few mistakes too often. But, when I am on my own "practising" I am OK...

Depends what you are trying to play and how dextrous you are...

Good luck

the first hurdle you will come across is the pain in the wrist when trying to train the left hand (or right if you are a lefty) to reach chord positions, after that its all about dedication and patience. iv been playing for about 16 years and at no where near the level i could be as i only play for recreation so if thats all you want to learn for and you dont want to be the next clapton the best advice i can give is this, if you get frustrated and irritated just put the guitar down and do something else for an hour then come back to it AND if you have passion for the guitar no matter what the circumstance and no matter if you havent played it for 6 months NEVER i repeat NEVER sell your guitar as there will always be a time you will miss it.

as for learning there are a bunch of beginner videos on youtube and any beginner books are usefull

AFTER you master the simple art of understanding TAB http://www.guitartabs.cc/tabfaq.php there are a massive amount of free TAB sites for most songs, my favs are
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/
http://www.guitarmasta.net/

and any music shop will stock TAB books for a majority of the bands and artists

good luck and always keep strummin

Originally Posted by Surfjayce

NEVER sell your guitar as there will always be a time you will miss it.

duely noted.