learning guitar
Discussion
If you are looking to start by playing chords in order to accompany singing (or humming or whatever) then I suggest you start with an acoustic. You will probably need to spend £100 at least to get something decent, twice that would start to open a range of possibilities. Get it fitted with a set of light gauge strings and make sure it's been adjusted to give a reasonably low action.
You can get all the lessons you want from YouTube but the best way forward is a guitar teacher.
You can get all the lessons you want from YouTube but the best way forward is a guitar teacher.
Completely disagree. Motivation to play is the #1 factor in learning and if you don't want to play acoustic music, that'd be a terrible choice.
So go electric (Yamaha Pacifica with HSS pickups and something like the THR5 to start) and play the stuff you're actually interested in (not the Bert Weedon strumalonga stuff). Ideally find someone local who's a bit better than you to play along with.
Good luck!
So go electric (Yamaha Pacifica with HSS pickups and something like the THR5 to start) and play the stuff you're actually interested in (not the Bert Weedon strumalonga stuff). Ideally find someone local who's a bit better than you to play along with.
Good luck!
Yeah, buy which ever suits the music you want to play.
I bought a cheap £100 acoustic to see if I liked playing guitar, and decided if I did, I'd buy myself a good electric.
I went on to learn a few songs and treated myself to a PRS electric, it's turned out to be a very expensive piece of wall art
I think I've used it twice. I play the acoustic all the time.
Acoustic is harder, but makes electric easier.
I bought a cheap £100 acoustic to see if I liked playing guitar, and decided if I did, I'd buy myself a good electric.
I went on to learn a few songs and treated myself to a PRS electric, it's turned out to be a very expensive piece of wall art
I think I've used it twice. I play the acoustic all the time. Acoustic is harder, but makes electric easier.
I'd go electric. The action alone on a cheap acoustic is going to make sure you never pick a guitar up again.
Up the budget a bit and look at a Squier or Epiphone, you'll always get good money for it if it's not for you and you choose to sell or upgrade.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epiphone-Les-Paul-Standa...
Perfect for a bit of blues rock.
Up the budget a bit and look at a Squier or Epiphone, you'll always get good money for it if it's not for you and you choose to sell or upgrade.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epiphone-Les-Paul-Standa...
Perfect for a bit of blues rock.
EskimoArapaho said:
Completely disagree. Motivation to play is the #1 factor in learning and if you don't want to play acoustic music, that'd be a terrible choice.
So go electric (Yamaha Pacifica with HSS pickups and something like the THR5 to start) and play the stuff you're actually interested in (not the Bert Weedon strumalonga stuff). Ideally find someone local who's a bit better than you to play along with.
Good luck!
This, with added thissage. Get an electric first, then an acoustic if you find you are the reincarnation of Blind Blake.So go electric (Yamaha Pacifica with HSS pickups and something like the THR5 to start) and play the stuff you're actually interested in (not the Bert Weedon strumalonga stuff). Ideally find someone local who's a bit better than you to play along with.
Good luck!
singlecoil said:
If you are looking to start by playing chords in order to accompany singing (or humming or whatever) then I suggest you start with an acoustic. You will probably need to spend £100 at least to get something decent, twice that would start to open a range of possibilities. Get it fitted with a set of light gauge strings and make sure it's been adjusted to give a reasonably low action.
You can get all the lessons you want from YouTube but the best way forward is a guitar teacher.
You can get all the lessons you want from YouTube but the best way forward is a guitar teacher.
If you are serious about it, find a good local tutor and go from there.
The learning curve is pretty much vertical from a stand still and many fall by the wayside. Its takes time and a LOTS of practise...
Not trying to put you off, but its not usually an immediately satisfying thing to do.
The learning curve is pretty much vertical from a stand still and many fall by the wayside. Its takes time and a LOTS of practise...
Not trying to put you off, but its not usually an immediately satisfying thing to do.
The great thing about liking classic rock is that it's pretty easy to learn sufficient chords to get you through a lot of songs, including some all-time classics. Once you've got the basic chords nailed you can start to fit in some of the riffs, then learn how the solo breaks fit around the chord progressions, and at last twig about the various inversions used to make the song sound the way it does on the record.
So right from day one you aren't just learning how to play a guitar, you are learning how to play the songs you want to play.
So right from day one you aren't just learning how to play a guitar, you are learning how to play the songs you want to play.
I would go with the guitar that suits what you want to do. An A major chord is an a major chord on any guitar, right?
The subtleties of technique that are on display in songs only come from experience & if you really, really want to learn Bad Company, those power chords are just not going to cut it on an acoustic.
The subtleties of technique that are on display in songs only come from experience & if you really, really want to learn Bad Company, those power chords are just not going to cut it on an acoustic.
B17NNS said:
Indeed. You can spend years just trying to get to grips with the basics of a good gurn face.
Don't get me started on the one foot on the monitor stance technique.
One thing I've never been able to master is being able to play with the guitar dangling down around my bDon't get me started on the one foot on the monitor stance technique.
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