Gonna try to learn guitar!

[Rackem]

I've been interested in starting up playing the guitar. My friend has a crappy old guitar (I just thought I'd borrow one to see if I was going to like it or not before I invested large amounts of money into a nice one). Anyways, I was wondering if anybody out in AnandTech world gets off the Internet long enough to do something like play guitar (lol). If so, is this going to be something I can easily teach myself? My friend has a copy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Guitar". Suggest anything better? Thanks in advance!

 

[GT578]

Most people will tell you that they picked it up by reading books, watching videos, etc. I tried both and didn't learn much......so I'm taking lessons.... It all depends on the person....some people can pick it up naturally....some can't.

 

[ShallowHal]

I tried the do-it-yourself method and it doesn't work very well. Start yourself off with some lessons to get the basics down and then you can download music from OLGA which is a great source of music. Take lessons if you really want to learn.

 

[TheShiz]

take lessons for a while, that way you will learn the correct technique, which is hard to learn from a book. I took lessons for a year and after that learned more on my own. I hear it is hard to be able to play really well if you don't learn how to play correctly when you first start.

Tim

 

[Eli]

Learning yourself is great, if you can keep yourself from getting bored.

 

[Siva]

I started taking lessons about 6 months ago. I tried to teach myself for a month or two before, but i got absolutely nowhere whereas I've learned a whole lot in lessons over 6 months. Enough to play the rudimentary parts of my favorite songs, though I can't really play an entire song well. I'm taking music theory next year, I'm really into it. If you get a guitar for yourself don't go spending a fortune, a mexican strat or telecaster runs for about $300 new (if you know how to talk em down) and you can get a practice amp for $50. If you decide to quit you can always sell your guitar, but you will appreciate not having to play on a POS. And always bring a friend who knows guitar with you when you buy, so they can play it and make sure its ok.

oh, and have fun!

 

[silverpig]

I started off playing by ear, and then moved on to tablature. Learned a few chords and scales, and now I can play most songs if I work at them a bit. I got bored right quick with power chord songs, and I've been concentrating on blues/rock lately. SRV is my latest project.

 

[Rackem]

The guitar I'm borrowing from my friend is in kinda bad shape. It's also extremely small. It almost looks like a toy guitar, but it's not. Anyways, I'm thinking of going to a pawn shop and looking for a cheap, basic acoustic guitar. What would one of those cost me?

 

[silverpig]

You could prolly find one for $75 without too much trouble. Try going to a music store though. Usually, they'll rent out instruments for a few years, then sell them after a while. You can usually get good deals on these. My brother got an old Epi acoustic for $90 cdn that he had for a year (until I stole it for a few years). He gave that up, and I bought my electric...

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

advice: learn acoustic first.

nik

 

[Skibby9]

I'd say the most important thing is practice. Keep at it, and listen to yourself. Jam with other people to learn from them. As for buying a guitar, like others have said, have an experienced player check it out, and you'd better believe you can talk 'em down on the price. Remember, tho-- you get what you pay for, for the most part.

 

[axelfox]

this is cool