Answers to Everyday Questions : Beginning to learn to play an acoustic guitar, need some learning recommendations?

Beginning to learn to play an acoustic guitar, need some learning recommendations?

4 Responses to “Beginning to learn to play an acoustic guitar, need some learning recommendations?”

1. Left-T ... said :
   October 23rd, 2010 at 10:30 am

   Go to this site.

   http://www.abclearnguitar.com/free-guitar-lesson.html

   http://www.howtotuneaguitar.org/lessons/

   http://www.freeguitarvideos.com/lessons.html

   Out of these 3 sites, something should fit the bill pretty well…
2. Am I A king Pin Or A Pauper? said :
   October 23rd, 2010 at 10:35 am

   alot of people i see here post things such as ”i taught myself piano its easy”
   let me say any instrument is easy, but to properly play it & understand what the heck your doing (this helps your creative process when writing your own stuff) is another different matter.
   i could be taught to recite out 10 basic piano tunes, but give me the likes of Mozarts music & ask me to use certain techniques that are heard on piano. i would fail (as would all the people claiming ”its easy”)

   the problem with teaching yourself guitar (or any instrument) is that alot of people give up they get frustrated. (supposedly 90% of self taught musicians quit)
   also alot of people can ”play” guitar, ie bang out a few songs & intros eg starirway to heaven.
   guitarists are a dime a dozen, everybody plays guitar (heck i play guitar) however a decent guitarist is hard to find this is where you can benifit from lessons.

   Lessons are definitely a great idea, a teacher can show you techniques & correct you. i still get corrected over things i do at my lessons.
   alot of the internet resources aren’t that great, again it is alot of amateurs with bad technique or looking to make a quick buck.

   every music autobiography i have read (& i read quite a fair bit of them) the guitarist/any instrument, has gotten lessons at some point.
   there are a rare few virtuoso (ie talented) people who didn’t get lessons but even at that they start practicing with other people who have got lessons & learn off them.
   As somebody said those ”guitar for dummies” are great, however that is as a side tool to reference to. not to just teach yourself, at a glance you learn the basics but when you study those books they can get quite complicated & a teacher can clear any questions you have.
   a teacher also encourages you to practice & gives you set goals.

   PS try not to ask people to give you the chords to a song, its better if you can work them out yourself it creates an ear for certain notes. however make sure what you are playing is correct.
3. SweetChild said :
   October 23rd, 2010 at 11:23 am

   Hi,
   I’m pretty new to guitar, but I can share with you what I’ve learned thus far. 🙂

   CHORDS –

   Okay, so first of all, it’s important to get the basics down. I’d suggest you start by learning the chords C, A, G, E, and D, which you can find here: http://www.chordbook.com/guitarchords.php. This is a great site for beginners, and not only where chords are concerned. But whilst we’re on the subject of chords, you can find all the chords you’ll need at this stage on Chordbook, see the fingerings, and hear what they’re supposed to sound like. Select ‘maj’ (major) and begin by learning the chords I suggested above. Learning one or two a day works for me as it gives me a chance to run through each chord until I can play it without a hitch. Learning two allows you to practise switching between chords – I’d recommend A and E as your first two as these are pretty easy to switch between in my humble opinion. 🙂

   SCALES –

   Learning scales is a massive bonus. Scales are basically fretting patterns on which most music is based. I recommend learning pentatonic (major and minor) to begin with in as many keys as you can stomach as these are the scales I found most helpful at the start. These will help greatly with your speed and accuracy when fingering, and also make a MASSIVE difference to your improvising (in a good way, of course). Depending on what type/s of music you plan on playing, you have the choice of a large number of different scales (blues, harmonic, etc.) Back to Chordbook; you can find them here: http://www.chordbook.com/guitarscales.php.

   TABLATURE –

   You mentioned being able to read music, but most guitar songs are written in the form of tablature, or tabs, which is a graphic representation of the guitar’s strings and the frets you need to hold down. A lot of guitar songs can also be found in standard sheet music as well, but it’s helpful to learn tablature also as it’s easier to translate tabs to your hands and then to the guitar than it is with sheet music. I suggest checking out this lesson: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/for_beginners/reading_guitar_tablature_ii.html.

   SONGS –

   I definitely suggest learning the songs which appeal to you the most rather than the songs which are described as ‘easy’. If you learn ‘easy’ songs, you’ll find yourself getting bored and giving up, but if you learn songs you love, your determination and satisfaction will partially or completely cancel out any thoughts of giving up. That’s not to say you should start learning Petrucci straight off the bat, but don’t learn ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ because although it’s considered easy, it will bore you (unless you’re a huge fan of nursery rhymes).

   LESSONS –

   I HIGHLY recommend checking out Justic Sandercoe. He’s a fantastic guitar teacher and his website and Beginner’s Course covers just about EVERYTHING you need to know. Here’s a link to his site: http://www.justinguitar.com/
   …and the Beginner’s Course: http://www.justinguitar.com/en/BC-000-BeginnersCourse.php.

   I’ve provided a bunch of links you might find helpful below. 🙂

   Good luck and happy learning (and succeeding!) 😀

   SweetChild.
4. hexv said :
   October 23rd, 2010 at 11:24 am

   PluckandPlayGuitar has free video based lessons for absolute beginners and assume you know nothing or close to nothing.

   It takes you step by step through the basic guitar chords one by one. There’s also lesson on guitar scales, techniques and some easy songs to play.

   http://www.pluckandplayguitar.com/
5. Anitra said :
   February 26th, 2014 at 10:24 pm

   Your’s is the intiglelent approach to this issue.