Learning Guitar

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There are a lot of starter guitars, it depends on what genre you want to start. My brother is into classical guitar, which he has a classic guitar.

Alvarez is really good, but it may be expensive, you may try most stores such as wallmart and other places. And if you are able to play a few songs, you should try an Alvarez, it's really up to you though.

I might get an electric guitar for christmas as well but your getting an aucoustic and I can allready play a drumkit

Dont need to go overboard with your first guitar but do not get a cheapy one!

you will regret it, it can actually put you off learning. My first guitar was bleedin hard to play because the strings were real tough which is ironic cos it was made for kids. I lost interest, it wasn't till i played a guitar at school I realised how nice they can feel.

One brand which is not too expensive but tend to be used by quite a lot guitarist is Takamine, they are pretty good.

The best thing to do is to go to a music shop and test them out. Guitars are very personal objects, you need to feel comfortable with it. Even the most expensive guitar might not feel good to you.

Thanks alot for the help guys, I really appreciate it. I (yet again) was also wondering whether there are different 'types' of Acoustic guitar. I think I heard something about one type being designed to play certain songs and another type for another. What would be recommended for just playing some of the latest songs?

Depends what sort of latest songs?

Heavy? Rock? Pop?

Give us an example

I currently have three different guitars: an acoutic steel string, and acoustic nylon string and an electric.
Generally, the difference between nylon and steel strings is that you have less control over nylon than you have over steel. I feel my fingers slip more on nylon and my bends arent always accurate. Steel string guitars require more force, and it's harder to pick fast because of the resistance. And last but NOT least: sound. If you want to play flamenco like Paco de Lucia, go nylon.
For more standard pop tunes I'd say steel is the best, especially for strumming.
My steel string guitar is an Ibanez and I am very satisfied with it. It lies inbetween the affordable and expensive categories.
Also, the body shape has a lot to say about the sound. If you like to play solos and melodies, go for a cut-away guitar. THey make these for both nylon and steel

Any guitarsists here please add [email protected] to your msn

Don't be scared of the email, it's five years old. I listen to all kinds of music nowadays and will be happy to discuss anything music related, and especially guitar related with you .

Don't buy a cheap piece of crap - the logic being (and I will support this, myself) is that you want a guitar that, when you walk by, you think 'Wow, that looks like a nice guitar, I need to play it'

Buying a piece of junk won't give you that feeling.

As well, screw tabs, learn to read actual music so you can write it after:
"A Modern Method for Guitar" is an excellent book - its helping me

My amp also does different beats, can record, etc. As long as you have fun learning you'll keep coming back to it

Hey, thanks for resurrecting this old topic, because I have more to ask!

Oh, and sorry Scin! I never saw your question and didn't mean to ignore you! Sometimes I sign into WP and for some reason all the topics go white even though I haven't viewed any of them, so I have no idea what is new.

Ok, here's the update. I finally got a guitar and decided to go electric. An Ibanez SZ120 ($365 with a 10w amp, picks, lead, bag, strap, lessons) that was on sale (I scoured the internet for ratings of it and alot of good things were said about it). I'm working on chord progressions, stretching my fingers out to cover that 40 meter long fret board and trying to make the skin on the tips of my fingers to toughen up so the strings don't bite into me. Ouch!

Currently I'm not getting lessons and was wondering when I should? Anything I should know before I book some (like notes and things so as not to waste money doing things I could do just as easily by myself). I'm working through a couple of online lessons, which are pretty good, plus I got a lesson book and DVD. What should I be working on? Keeping in mind that this is my first instrument, so I a musically non-abled.

Any other advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Get a teacher immediaetly. Self-taught players tend to develop bad technique which can be a rut that is hard to break out of.
About what to work on: It depends solely on what kind of music you want to play. If you just want to play chords and rhythm guitar, learning songs is a good way to get started. If you want to play solo guitar(which is a huge task!) you need to practise both technique and phrasing(the way you play the notes).

Get a teacher if you need too, but the best thing to do is to play with any song that comes on the radio. You'll want to be able to improvise and figure our chord progressions with your ear. You should also be able to pick up any song you hear without the help of notes or tabs. This way you'll be able to jam with anyone, and won't be stuck on the sidelines when playing with different people because the good musicians often won't spend the time to "walk" you through a song, they'll expect you to just pick it up and go along.

What are people's opinions on Seagull guitars?

Just remember, this isn't exactly true for every self-taught guitarists, the Beatles themselves have never had lessons (they couldn't afford them anyway), and none of them could even read music, and Paul McCartney could play any instrument you put in his hands, or so they say.

Please note that I wrote "TEND to develop bad habits", so I don't mean that every self-taught musician will develop bad technique.
As for the beatles, the got a great deal of help from this composer whose name I cannot remember. I read it in an article...

The most common "bad habits" are thumb over the neck, elbow picking, and tenseness. Picking should come from the wrist and for lead guitar, the thumb should ALWAYS be behind the neck. For hendrix-style rhythm guitar, a thumb over the neck technique is required to play certain chords but except from this case, always play with thumb behind neck. Elbow picking is a very efficient way to pick ridicupously fast, but you run the risk of developing tendonitis in your elbow and forarm which may run all the way to your shoulder and neck. Rusty cooley has successfully mastered this technique without injury. I wouldn't advise this technique. I myself pick from the wrist which I started doing after noticing warning signs in my elbow from elbow picking.

Right, I realized that. I was just pointing out that, for those who don't have the time and money for lessons like I do, and paralleling with your post, it doesn't work out the same for everyone.

By a reasonably (but not too) cheap acoustic guitar.

My sister has been playing the guitar since December '05. She got one as a christmas present and she's getting goood...and she's 11.

Get a good guitar teacher as well that lives near you.

Good luck with learning how to play as well.