Guitar playing SZ Members??

[Ricey]

I have just spent £200 on a guitar as a show piece and I have an acoustic guitar which I have never got round to learning to play. What I am asking is, is it easy to learn?? Can I teach myself? What ways of self tutoring would you suggest??

Thanks

:D

 

[Cricko]

Sufc-Al is the Man/Chick to talk to mate.

 

[Irish_Shrimper]

When i started out learning the guitar - i found the finger positions for the basic chords (C, D, E, A etc.) on the internet and was told by a mate that once i could play and remember the positioning of each chord comfortably with no ill sound effects coming from the strings - to then try a very basic song on my own. If you try knockin on heavens door by bob dylan - that goes G - D - Am, G - D - C, and over again the same chords for the whole song. Once was ok with that - you can go off and look for tabs online and look for beginner chords to get you going. It always helps to know someone that plays guitar to show you first hand what you might be doing wrong as it can be frustrating at times on your own doing it. But once you have the main chords down like i listed above - thats half the battle won.

I've been playing for 2 years now and that was the way i learned - im sure there are some on here more experienced and might have better ways - but hope it may be of some help ;)

 

[RobM]

There's no substitute for doing it properly - get lessons from a good teacher and learn to read music. Listen to and watch as many different styles as you can. Practice every day, even if only for 15 minutes or so, it's amazing how quickly those silky fingers turn into sausages!
Has the guitar been set up propery? No buzzes? Good!
Are the strings to your liking? Not to light or heavy? New ones sound so much brighter than dull old ones.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ricey]

How much am I looking to pay for lessons?? I was thinking about taking lessons as it would probably be less frustrating than trying to teach myself.

Also is it hard to cross over from acoustic to electric??

 

[SUFC_Al]

In my book you only need to go to a teacher if you're real serious about playing as they can be pretty expensive but I suppose there's no harm in going for a few lessons just to get you going.

It is possible to teach yourself, as Irish Shrimper mentioned, learning basic chord shapes and learning to change between them comfortably. There's loads of stuff to be found on the Internet detailing chords etc. It's not just chords either, learning strumming rhythms and how to hold the plectrum (pick) is pretty important too, that's where i went wrong for quite a while when I was learning. I held the pick with 2 fingers and my thumb but when i changed to 1 finger and thumb the change was really noticeable.

One thing I feel I should mention though is this; when you get to 18 your finger bones fuse together and people who start playing guitar before they're 18 generally have better finger dexterity than someone who starts over 18. It doesn't mean you won't be able to play because with practice you'll be able to do some all right stuff but those sweeping arpeggios might be a little tough!

Good luck though mate! If you want/need any help then I'll be glad to help you out.

 

[SUFC_Al]

How much am I looking to pay for lessons?? I was thinking about taking lessons as it would probably be less frustrating than trying to teach myself.

Also is it hard to cross over from acoustic to electric??

it varies but at least £20 an hour I would have thought.

It's not necessarily hard to change but it can be a little weird, especially if your acoustic has a wide neck, as most electric guitars have quite thin necks. What guitars do you have?

 

[Tilly hates yellow boots]

Get your self a bass guitar :)

I believe it's easier to teach yourself, and i perfer the sound :)

Bass over guitar for me :)

 

[Ricey]

I have a cheap acoustic I bought from Argos about 3 years ago which is in the loft and I will get down later on. Just bought a Washburn Lyon Les Paul which I am not sure I want to use as its signed by Joe from Fall Out Boy. More of a showpiece.

 

[SUFC_Al]

I have a cheap acoustic I bought from Argos about 3 years ago which is in the loft and I will get down later on. Just bought a Washburn Lyon Les Paul which I am not sure I want to use as its signed by Joe from Fall Out Boy. More of a showpiece.

I think I know the one you mean, it has quite a wide neck and nylon strings?

 

[Ricey]

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Also buy a book called Guitar Man.
Not so much a teaching manual but it's a very amusing true-story about a 30something's attempt to learn guitar & play a gig in 6 months!

 

[sufcintheprem]

I completely taught myself a few years back. You need a bit of spare time over at least a year. Personally, I think you can learn a hell of a lot from online sources.

Haven't actually played my guitar for a fair amount of time. One good way to get some commitment is to get together with some mates and play together (wahey) cos that always sounds much better, particularly when you're learning.

 

[Slipperduke]

Just get your basics, learn how to play three or four simple songs all the way through and then start going to parties where you know guitars are stashed somewhere in the house.

At around 2am, they always come out and the people who know what they're doing always try and play really complicated stuff, inevitably getting it wrong and then having to start again.

Rich is the man who grabs the guitar from his more skilled friends and rattles out Hard Day's Night. No word of a lie, I can put four or five shags down to this policy.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Why not join a local evangelical christian organization?

They might not let you have a go on the guitar straight away (it will probably be handclaps first and then onto the tambourine ) but after a while you will be knocking out Kum by ya, Michael rowed the boat ashore etc. and making judgemental comments about single mums/homosexuals.

 

[grayhound]

I have just spent £200 on a guitar as a show piece and I have an acoustic guitar which I have never got round to learning to play. What I am asking is, is it easy to learn?? Can I teach myself? What ways of self tutoring would you suggest??

Thanks

:D

Im in the same boat. Has someone has already mentioned you can manage to get most tabs of the internet anyway. I can play the basic chords and i find that once you learn one song that say is 3 chords then you move on to another one thats 4 chords etc it gets easier. It took me a while and is very frustrating at times. Im trying to learn fret chords but im finding it very hard at the moment.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Oh, the other thing is that repetition is the only way you're likely to learn some songs. If you spend two weeks learning a really complicated solo, a lot of the time, the dexterity will allow you to pick something else up much more quickly.

It might (will probably) sound crap at first but if you can pick the tune from what you're playing then you can work from there.

 

[Ricey]

Thanks everyone for the tips once I get back from Teeside on 14th of December I will get seriously on the learning. And might even take a few lessons to get the basics.