I know nearly nothing about guitars but I think it'd be fun to learn to play one at least a few songs even if I do suck. Something to do in my free time.

Anyway, I was wondering why types of guitars maybe to look at for a beginner? Also, considering I know nearly nothing would it be in my best interest to just go to a guitar store and talk to somebody about which type of guitar to get? I'm not looking for anything to much, not that its about the money but encase I just rage and suck and never wanna play again after like 2 months of it.

My buddy who is a novice told me to look at guitars from guitarcenter website.

Thanks for your help/suggestions in advance

Would like to play something like this, not sure if this is simple but it doesn't seem to killer hard to learn if I practice it. (Probably is cake to you guys lol)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Em4fUOrZo&ob=av2e

This post was edited by Trev on Apr 2 2012 11:55pm

either buy something cheap and used for like 100$

or go to a guitar center, and because you dont know how to play, if ur gonna buy something that is 300+ ask the people there to play it for you, im sure they will love to do that, ask them to play as many guitars are in you're price range.


either way its an awesome hobby, and its very difficult to get bored with, but its probably not a good idea if youre the type to give up easily because it is alot of practice...

ive played for basically a year and i still suck... I mean im 100x better than the first week i started, but i do suck compared to the guys that have been playing for 2-3 years.


If you like rock music or other guitar type music, and you have 30+minutes of free time a day, that you can DEDICATE to guitar, then the money you spend on the guitar will be WELL worth it. There are few things that you spend 100-500$ on that will bring as much joy... ofc at first you will probably need internet also to help you get started - most resources you can torrent for free...

Learn and Master Guitar - steve krenz, this is a good beginner book, it will introduce you the more common chords - i.e maj/min/dominant/maj7, scales, and it has some good excersizes for a beginner to get your fingers working, it also explains things you well enough, you dont need the dvd lessons as theyre mostly useless, you just need the book or pdf file.


if you do decide to take up guitar, shoot me a pm, i can help you with some of the easier stuff at the beginning, because its still pretty fresh in my mind

Nice!! Thanks for all this information, yeah, defiantly looking to spend under 200 for the guitar.
What are upsides and downsides to electric vs nonelectric guitars? I'm about as new as you can get to this so wondering which would be better for starter?

beginner's usually start with an acoustic guitar because the gauge on the strings (thickness) is higher than electrics, which help you build finger strength. this is really helpful once you move on to electric (if you choose to) because the strings on an electric is thinner, and thus your fingers will be more than ready to play it after being so used to playing an acoustic. acoustics are also more simplified, since you don't have to worry about guitar gear such as amps, effects, etc, which might be confusing when you start off.

Downside of an acoustic is that some things will take more time to learn, such as barre chords due to the thicker strings. You'll definitely need to have more patience to build finger strength, so don't get discouraged.

Regardless, definitely start with an acoustic guitar. It's much more easy to pick-up and play when starting off, and what you eventually learn to do on an acoustic, you'll have a much more easier time on electric

thats really a matter of choice i think... i mean if you like the sound of acoustic buy one, if you like electric thats fine too..

acoustic will be harder to play at first, but the upside is if you ever switch to electric it wont be as bad as vice versa - also its a more a mellow sound and generally cheaper to just buy an acoustic than buying an electirc + amp + w/e though that stuff can be had a reasonable price too I understand.

either way i hope you stick with it, its a satisfying thing in the long term for sure, I spend alot less time playing video games watching tv w/e, and its sort of like work but not really. anyway you look it at its more fulfulling in the long term learning an instrument and becoming a better musician than watching 10 seasons of gossip girl and playing video games.

/e also, i play a very cheap acoustic guitar, and i have a cheap electric as well, and it doesnt really keep me from playing. BUT, if you do end up buying a really cheap model, i.e anything <100$ used, there is a good chance itll be setup TERRIBLE, so you might want to take it a guitar shop and have them set it up for you, or if you got 15$ to spend more you can do it yourself. This is stuff that will really only be necessary maybe a month after you start, to make it a bit easier like lowering the action etc. My acoustic is maybe 50$ used, and it plays very easy, though it doesnt like an expensive guitar

if your not looking to spend alot the brand names you should probably look into are

washburn
yamaha
takamine
theres others..

most ppl would say its better to spend a good deal of money on them though like 300+$, and there is a much better chance youll stay with the instrument, which makes it worth it, but i think most people who start playing guitar play very cheap ones that come in a box and are bought at some place like wal mart

gl

This post was edited by blunderwonder2 on Apr 3 2012 04:41pm

In my opinion Yamaha and Alvarez has the best guitars for the best price. Look at those 2 brands.

For a beginner I recommend acoustic of course. Especially if you wanna play the kinda music in that video.

An electric guitar setup will got you more for a decent sound. Those $100 electric setups sound like pure crap and almost make me never wanna play again lol

This post was edited by Rushton on Apr 3 2012 04:49pm

Another Yamaha vote on beginner guitars here. The FG700MS is the pick of the litter in my opinion.

A Squire Afinity Strat or Tele is a well playing cheap guitar. If you choose electric, I would suggest this model and spend a few extra dollars on a good sounding amp. Like a Vox VT40+ or a Fender Mustang II.

To decide between electric of acoustic, ask yourself what is motivating you to play. Neil young? Bob Dylan? A campfire and a sing a long. Or Jimi Hendrix? Heavy Guitar riffs? Crazy effects? I would suggest going to the instrument that motivates you to play.

You guys and one of my buddies talked me fully into it, went a little googling and saw the Yamaha Fg700s was a good choice, ordered it for 200$ with a warrenty incase i break or drop it for 25$ lol.
It's coming in from UPS in a few days.
Where should I start, I'm noob as it gets. How do I learn the notes/where to place my fingers, good places online to look?

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1091796
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1090693
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1091788

Hope this helps!

the first things you should do in no particular order, but theyre all important

learn the major scale(its not hard, its just a pattern you will very quickly recognize, but its useful for all sorts of things)
learn the pentatonic scale(its important and it will help you alot when you start with finger strength and physical stuff)
learn the basic open chords A C D E G, and learn 6th string and 5th string barre chords for the rest - then learn the other types of chords, minor, dominant7, sus chords etc.
learn a little bit about intervals and how theyre named, this will relate alot to the major scale and scale degrees and whatnot.

go to these websites, to get an intro to ear training type stuff(you can do these if you get bored, and when your fingers hurt too much to play - THEY WILL HURT AT FIRST) www.trainear.com, www.musictheory.net, www.miles.be
if you need help with how the sites work, pm me and ill tell you how to figure them all out, i SERIOUSLY recommend you start on this as early as possible though, because ear training is one of those things that takes a long time, and alot of working at, and its best to get started early on - first learn how to play a major scale... any of them will work, and for 5-10 minutes a day, just work out stupid melodies like row row row your boat, and christmas carols... it will take more effort than you think, but its better to do it early than later, trust me

learn how to read tablature, its very easy... and probably most of the songs you will want to learn someone will have already tabbed out - this will keep you motivated playings songs you like


when you start playing, youll have all sorts of questions that will seem dumb later on, feel free to ask though i dont mind helping if i can - also... your fingers are going to hurt alot, its normal, and youll get over it.

lots of these thigns are covered in learning gutiar books

i started with "learn and master guitar" its a hal leonard book by steve krenz. You can buy it online, or find a torrent for the pdf file, either way you dont really need the dvd lessons, but it covers alot of stuff, and it has some good exercizes to keep you busy for the first few months


last thing, youve already bought the guitar, so now you have to learn to play but be aware it takes a long time, and it will be frustrating at times, just stick with it and after a month or two, youll be shocked at how far youve gone

/e oh, its also a very good idea to learn the notes on the fretboard, but it takes alot of time, if you read some music in that starting book i said, you will pretty quickly learn to play music thats written for first position, after that you learn the 6th and 5th string notes, because youll be playing bar chords... and the rest of them sort of fall into place with time, so dont be too worried about it - as soon as you start running through scales, and listening to them... youll nail down most of the rest of the notes pretty well

always be patient though, it takes a long time :/ in about a week i will have offically had my guitar for a year, though there was a full month where i dindt play more than hour total because of video games, and another 2-3 weeks where i played almost none because of pure frustration - when this happens, find a new song to learn... dont just stop because your pissed you cant play fast enough or because w/e... play SLOW at first... and gradually speed up, youll figure that out on your own though.

This post was edited by blunderwonder2 on Apr 4 2012 09:14pm