I want to learn the guitar

I taught myself, but I probably picked up some bad habits along the way, but it was fun learning all the techniques by yourself, figuring them out by accident and whatnot, but I'd figure a techer helping you in the beginning would help out tremendously to give you a good base to start from.

Find the best teacher that will teach you a combination of what you want to play, and good technique, and reading charts.

There is really no other way to go about it if you want to become a good guitarist.

Do not try to teach yourself, you will acquire bad habits and technique. Find a quality instructor and start at from the beginning.

Been playing since "64" and I still suck. But I have a ton of experience. Get a teacher, everyone is correct but get someone you can relate to. That is very important. My first teacher was only teaching me Big Band comping when I wanted to learn Yardbirds,Beatles etc.. I guess "Pennies from Heaven" was good for my Big Band Years! Finally got teachers that understood what I wanted and taught me correctly. Really helps to learn to read also. You can get some good info from discs though but you get better faster with a good teacher. Are you in Southern Cal., OC? Some good teachers at Guitar Shop in Laguna. If you don't like one they have a ton to choose from.

Find a teacher that likes what you do that's the best way to start. Nothing like taking lessons from Yngwie.[youtube1:k3fdckvs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLa6iW7dRf4[/youtube1:k3fdckvs]

Whatever method you choose, start on an acoustic.

[quote="leakypipe23":3m0vfnu0]Whatever method you choose, start on an acoustic.[/quote:3m0vfnu0]

Lets not get into this again.

A guitar is a guitar. Start on whichever one you are more comfortable with. If you want to play electric, start on electric. If acoustic is all you want to play, then start with that.

The idea that you have to start with one over the other is silly. You need to start with whatever is going to make you want to pick up the guitar and play. THAT is the most important thing.

one four five man, then 5 note pentatonic scale for improvisation then move it down three frets for relative major. Pretty soon, Jimi's songs are actually doable.

If you love the blues, go to as many jam sessions as possible. Before you know it, you'll develop your own style. If soloing, work on your vibrato.

Well I use this guy as a way of learning from time to time.

http://justinguitar.com/

He also teaches full songs as well.

http://youtube.com/user/JustinSandercoeSongs

Buy a book of Beatle songs or Stones songs, whatever you like. They all show you how to form the basic chords. Do that before you hire a teacher.

[quote="kdx man":2ujo92fy][quote="leakypipe23":2ujo92fy]Whatever method you choose, start on an acoustic.[/quote:2ujo92fy]

Lets not get into this again.

A guitar is a guitar. Start on whichever one you are more comfortable with. If you want to play electric, start on electric. If acoustic is all you want to play, then start with that.

The idea that you have to start with one over the other is silly. You need to start with whatever is going to make you want to pick up the guitar and play. THAT is the most important thing.[/quote:2ujo92fy]

Yeah, we just did this recently. Just be aware that EVERYTHING will be a lot easier on an electric. Chord voicings, fingering, bar chords, etc. I am about 5 months into my first steel string accoustic and it still kills my fingers after 30 minutes. I played classical guitar as a teen plus know keyboards and theory, so I had a big advantage over a beginner but still it just takes time for your fingers to develop strength and calluses. ( Yes, I've lowered the action and gone over the frets to make things easier. )

At this point I have decent calluses on my finger tips and am able to handle the more difficult jazz voicings. If you are determined it won't matter but I would def vote for starting out on an electric for the ease of playing. You can always go from electric to accoustic later. Plus on an electric you will be able to practice single note string bends. While you can do some bending on an accoustic, it's far more limited, especially with a wound G string.

There is a TON of free instruction on the net. Just pick a song and search Youtube. You will find plenty of basement guitar heroes, some good, some bad. Some hilariously bad. But mixed in you will also find videos done in an instruction format. You should also teach yourself how to read both music regular notation as well as tabs. ( I laughed at tabs when I first saw them, but then realized they are needed for guitar music as there are so many different ways to voice any given chord on a guitar. Not to mention, they are the only way to put something like Eddie's 'Eruption' solo on paper. Just don't try learning that stuff till later. )

At some point we should start a long term thread for all the pickers to trade tabs and such. Anyone got a decent "Goddbye Pork Pie Hat" tab? ( The original not the Jeff Beck version. )

It's tough to say what the best way is for everyone. I suppose it depends what your goals are with it. So many players, good ones, started by just playing along to records that inspired them. You already have sounds that you want to achieve or emulate from your favorite songs and artists, that is a good place to start. One you get "your sound" there, its easy to progress from there with your own practice exercises which are tailored to the type of playing you do.

If you want to be a studio guy, classical or serious jazz, then you want to get into more of the discipline with sight reading and music theory, and then start off with the typical practice regimen that you can find in many instructional sources.

Get alot of weed and quit working.

[quote="brent26wood":1kf5g66f]Get alot of weed and quit working.[/quote:1kf5g66f]

Need a good flask of your preferred whiskey too.

I find acoustic and electric guitars to be pretty different instruments, I don't really play the same things on them. On acoustic I do alot more things with open strings, and on electric I play alot more bar chords and do alot more muting. I love them both though.

As for how to learn, I would recommend a couple lessons just to get started on the right foot. After that though I think you need to find someone to play with or at least get a way to record yourself and record over your own playing. If you go the lessons route, try and find a teacher who is into the same kinda music that you are, in my experience teachers will do a better job teaching something they like.

Find a good teacher and take lessons. It's by far the best way to learn.

The way I learned was printed guitar tabs from the internet from songs I was familiar with and liked and learned that way. It made it fun and the tabs are so easy to read and then you get your fingers used to the strings and used to moving quickly between frets. The first song I learned was Wish you were here and I thought I was a musical genious. ha. Guitar tabs are all over the internet and once you play your very first song then you feel like you accomplished something. I love just messing with power chords now and coming up with my own shit. Electric guitar was the way to go for me but everyone's different. Seriously, print out some guitar tabs and just start playing.

[quote="Ivan":3sigv44u]Buy a book of Beatle songs or Stones songs, whatever you like. They all show you how to form the basic chords. Do that before you hire a teacher.[/quote:3sigv44u]

Good advice, right there.

Learning to play songs you like will make it more fun.

More fun = More time playing.