I really want to learn how to play the guitar. Any tips on sites that may be able to help me out? any other tips, im planing on learning acoustic guitars, im hopefully going to get one this week...any tips on what guitar i should get also
Whether you get a book or take lessons the key is that you practice everyday. It could be just 15 minutes but practice everyday. That's the best tip I have.
Agree ^ here's something to work on your fretting fingers (the ones that hold the notes) *1 = first finger 2=second 3=ring 4=pinky 12 all the way up and back (all six strings forward and then backward, while going backward continue with the 12) 13 all the way up and back 14 all the way up and back 1234 etc then do it in reverse. 21 = etc. follow previous example. it helps strengthen your fingers. especially your pinky. EDIT whatever you try and do start slow. i mean really slow. buy a metronome. or go to http://www.metronomeonline.com/
My first tip is the do away with the accoustic and get an electric with a big *** amp. Guitars are best utilized when playing hard rock and metal. Just kidding. The accoustic will probably help train your fingers better than an electric would. That was a big obstacle for me, just getting my fingers strong and stretched out enough to being playing things. That example that anlgp described is the way I learned to warm up. It seemed to help. I think he is also right to start out really slow and with a metronome. This is something I still struggle with. I start learning a Maiden song and I want to begin with it at warp speed. But its best to go slow with things until you feel comfortable and just gradually build your speed. Overall I'd just say be patient. If you stick with it it will reward you. I've had times where I've been frustrated and didn't know what to do. But I kept working at it and the light eventually went off in my head.
Yeah, patience is the key. I've been playing for not quite a year now. Trust me, if you have never played before, and you're kind of teaching yourself, you will be pretty awful for the first few months, In the beginning, it is important to understand the fundamentals - e.g. exactly what and why you're doing things with your fingers, etc. Once you understand the logic behind it, the sound will start to make sense. I found that I kind of clicked after about two months. All of a sudden, the most basic two chord riffs were coming together so naturally and I was able to pick up thing svery quickly. But you need to keep at it, even when it seems impossible. As for websites, etc, I really taught myself through just listening to music and finding simple tabs online. You can find just about any tab sheet by searching "SONG TITLE tab"...and basically play around with it. Maybe a teacher or what-not can help you with a lot of **** you'd never pick up by yourself, but I like to teach myself. I think you find things within yourself that way, that really help you develop your own sense of awareness. For a guitar, I have a really basic Fender DG-8s. It is like the cheapest Fender you can buy, but it comes with a bunch of stuff - picks, a tuning fork, a carry bag, an instructional dvd, etc...I found that it's a good buy for learning. Here is a link: DG-8S Review | Fender | Reviews @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com
patience & practice. fortunately there is tablature available for most kinds of music you might want to play, which is a lot easier than the limited resources that were available 15+ years ago when i tried. i was thinking about trying again as well, Jt, let me know how it goes. I'm more of a metal-head, so i'd focus on the harder stuff.... i heard that they were working on a guitar hero version that uses a real-style guitar with strings that you plug into the xbox.... so instead of hitting just the green/red/yellow/blue buttons you actually hit the notes on the strings where they would really be. i don't know how they'd work the interface on that, but it sounds intriguing. if i could learn & practice while having fun playing, that would be awesome. what a great idea.
they also make a great little gadget that u can find at any decent instrument store but i can't recall the actual term for the thing. it is a grip thing that fits in your hand and it has 4 spring activated finger buttons that is used to help with flexibility and coordination. it comes in handy say if your somewhere without your guitar u can still work on finger exercises. and they are cheap probly $10 at the most(like everything else that is sold they will have diff. styles ranging diff.prices). good luck and play,play,play.
If you were picking real strings, wouldn't that just be playing the real music anyway That sounds so Xbox....maybe next they'll invent virtual Nikes, in which you go for a run on a virtual treadmill!
I agree with everyone's comments above, the other thing I'd say is if you're not going to take any lessons is to sit down with someone you know plays the guitar and play a little with him/her. That way they can see what you're doing and how you're playing and maybe offer you some tips/pointers. That's what really helped me out, I sat with one of my friends for an hour or so a few weeks after I started and it really helped. But basically it's all in the practice. Playing is hard so it's going to be frustrating the first couple of weeks/months you start to play. Also I wouldn't go too overboard in buying your first guitar, I'd recommend buying one that's somewhat cheap but good (around 200-250 bucks or so) at first. The guitar centers around me usually have some pretty good deals/packages around Christmas time. When I got mine it was around 250 bucks it was an electric Fender Squire with a small amp. Very good start up guitar, but I know you're looking for acoustic. EDIT: Just saw thsi thread was started in September, oops.