Guitar

[Ginzburgh]

I just turned 30 yesterday and my wife bought me an acoustic guitar. I've been wanting to learn how to play but never got around to buying one.

So now that I have one, are there any good free internet sites that have tutorials for beginners? I looked around on youtube and there is a lot but I was wondering if there website out there with a good structured program.

The guitar is a Yamaha FG700S.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--YAMFG700S

[Foutty]

Find some songs you like and look up the tabs for them on sites like ultimate-guitar. Most of the White Stripes songs are pretty easy to get the hang of. Don't worry about riffs so much, just focus on playing the chords / rhythm.

[Harrison]

I personally suggest practicing as hard as you can. Not so much length of time but, put in some quality challenging scales etc.

Chords you can learn later. It won't take you long at all once you bang out scales and get some rythm in as he said.

[Tikker]

there was one I was using, and it was pretty good

seriously tho, just learn how to play a pentatonic scale, power/bar chords, and you really don't need anything else to sound pretty decent

well, moreso with electric guitar, but it works just fine on accoustic too

[KaiineTN]

Play what you enjoy. I played for a couple years before I even learned chords. When I started, it was all about learning little video game song melodies from tabs. It held my interest. If you'd rather start with chords and follow a structured program, more power to you. I certainly wouldn't have had the patience for it when I was starting.

If you want to learn some of the fundamentals, I'll write up a bit for you. First off, memorize the strings, EADGBe. Then, using the 5th string (A), count up the notes. there are two frets between every note, except for B to C and E to F, those are one fret each. So, if you're familiar with tabs... each number corresponds to the fret on the string. 0 is an open string.

e)-------------------------------------------------------------------
B)-------------------------------------------------------------------
G)-------------------------------------------------------------------
D)-------------------------------------------------------------------
A)--0 (A)--2 (B)--3 (C)--5 (D)--7 (E)--8 (F)--10 (G)--12 (A)--
E)-------------------------------------------------------------------

Incase that's hard to read:
A)-----0--2--3--5--7--8--10--12---------------------------------

(12th fret starts a new octave, every note on 12th fret is the same as open string)

Likewise, it's the same for every other string, counting up in that pattern, every two frets, except after a B or an E. But of course, each string starts with a different letter, so the actual fret numbers will be different.

When going A to B, if you go up only one fret, you would have an A sharp, or a B flat. Obviously, it's the same sort of thing for any note that has a fret between them. (For example, using the above tab, if you had a 1 on the A string, that's an A sharp/B flat, if you had a 4, it would be a C sharp or a D flat, etc)

Here's a standard scale that goes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, etc... You can practice going up and down this scale. That's typically a good beginner exercise.

e)------------------------------0-1-3------ E,F,G
B)-----------------------0-1-3------------- B,C,D
G)------------------0-2-------------------- G,A
D)-----------0-2-3------------------------ D,E,F
A)----0-2-3------------------------------- A,B,C
E)------------------------------------------

**(pop quiz! what do you add in here to complete the scale? What frets on the 6th string would go E,F,G, in order to lead into the A on the nextstring?)





Chords are named based on their root notes--the lowest sounding string in the chord. For example, an A major chord starts with an open A string:

e)----0------
B)----2------
G)----2------
D)----2------
A)----0------
E)----X------

And here's a C major chord, notice how it starts with the third fret of the 5th string, which is a C:

e)----0-------
B)----1-------
G)----0-------
D)----2-------
A)----3-------
E)----X-------

Here are a few more good chords to start learning:

E major
e)----0------
B)----0------
G)----1------
D)----2------
A)----2------
E)----0------

D major
e)----2------
B)----3------
G)----2------
D)----0------
A)----x------
E)----X------

G major
e)----3------
B)----0------
G)----0------
D)----0------
A)----2------
E)----3------


After some practice, you can get into barre chords. Barre chords work a lot like an E or an A chord (depending on the root string of the chord, if it's the 6th string, it works like an E, if it's the 5th, like an A) Basically, how barre chords work is you simply slide up the chord to the next root note, and the chord becomes that. For example, notice the difference between an E and an F chord. Everything slides up one fret. It is a "barre" chord because your entire index finger (or capo) bars the first fret.

E major >>> F major
e)----0------ ----1----
B)----0------ ----1----
G)----1------ ----2---
D)----2------ ----3----
A)----2------ ----3----
E)----0------ ----1----

Things like minor chords, 7's, etc are just slight variations of the major chords. Learn the majors first and they'll be much easier for you to catch on to. I can try to give you more info if you have something in particular you want to learn (how to strum, proper finger plucking form, whatever), or if I wasn't clear on anything here. This should be plenty to keep you occupied for a while, though.

[Dylan]

I've been wanting a guitar for awhile now, too bad I'm poor

That being said, Target sells a newbie guitar kit for like $130 and the guitar in it is a Fender Starcaster, anyone ever used one of those?

I assume its crappy, but its made by Fender so how bad could it be?

[KaiineTN]

My guitar is a Fender acoustic, I think in the $100-200 price range (it was a Christmas present from my Mom a long time ago). Nothing fancy. It works fine. I'll get around to buying a nice one someday. (edit: here's the guitar package my Mom bought me way back when http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=510705)

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=513903

That guitar is gorgeous in Sunburst and seems like a good deal. Much better quality than the one I have. I might even pick this thing up...

One thing worth considering is what brands musicians that you like tend to play on. Lots of musicians aren't fans of Fender, but then others use them primarily. Eric Clapton is a big Fender player, I believe.

[Ginzburgh]

Awesome, thanks for the help guys.

[Drem]

I've been wanting a guitar for awhile now, too bad I'm poor

That being said, Target sells a newbie guitar kit for like $130 and the guitar in it is a Fender Starcaster, anyone ever used one of those?

I assume its crappy, but its made by Fender so how bad could it be?

Starcaster?

just go to guitar center and get a mexican made strat for the same price. all of the pieces are the same as an american strat except the pickups afaik

because you don't hit the "real guitar" mark til you're playing something $500+ generally

anyways, ginzburgh, the best thing i can recommend for you, if you actually wanna learn how to play your instrument, is to go pick up A Modern Method for Guitar, which is what they use at Berklee in Boston. that'll do you a lot better than tabs and other crap like that. the most important part of playing an instrument well is learning technique and tabs can't teach you that

[Tikker]

because you don't hit the "real guitar" mark til you're playing something $500+ generally

that's pure garbage

[Drem]

thanks for sharing how you feel. maybe you could post a good, professional guitar that costs less than $500 ?

[Tikker]

there's tons of fender's and gibsons in the sub 500 range

[Drem]

yeah, i even mentioned one. the entry level americans are like 3~400 and that doesn't mean they're good. they're good for people like us that don't know how to play guitar.

my dad's played for 45 years and has like 6 guitars from a gibson jazz and a '60s strat to a PRS like santana plays (~$1400 i think for the low-end)... so not to sound really pretentious or anything but i do actually know a little bit about this

[Tikker]

yeah, i even mentioned one. the entry level americans are like 3~400 and that doesn't mean they're good. they're good for people like us that don't know how to play guitar.

my dad's played for 45 years and has like 6 guitars from a gibson jazz and a '60s strat to a PRS like santana plays (~$1400 i think for the low-end)... so not to sound really pretentious or anything but i do actually know a little bit about this

perhaps very little,but not enough~

[brinstar]

it's like anything really, part of it is about the quality of the instrument, but most of it is about what you DO with it and how it fits into the music YOU want to play

for example, i have an ibanez RG570 that is 15-20 years old and probably cost $1200 new (i got it for $500, quite a steal), but i get more use out of my Squier '51 that cost me $85 new. is it a "lower quality" guitar? sure, but i like the sound more, so who gives a shit?

same with amps: i have a mesa/boogie half stack that sounds amazing with the tubes crankin' but my little 1x12 ampeg superjet gets just as much use

personal preference

[Tikker]

is it a "lower quality" guitar? sure, but i like the sound more, so who gives a shit?

exactly

[Drem]

i don't think comparing an ibanez is very fair... i don't like any ibanez i've ever played. it's exactly like you said.... it's about what sound you like more, and i like the sound of old telecasters and strats. no $85 mexistrat will ever sound like the real deal far as i'm concerned. it's not about money or anything, it's just the ones i like happen to cost a lot. sucks for me

[Tikker]

i don't think comparing an ibanez is very fair... i don't like any ibanez i've ever played. it's exactly like you said.... it's about what sound you like more, and i like the sound of old telecasters and strats. no $85 mexistrat will ever sound like the real deal far as i'm concerned. it's not about money or anything, it's just the ones i like happen to cost a lot. sucks for me

that's a lot different than saying "real guitars start at $500"

[Evermore]

GInz Start with finger excercises and scales along with picking out some songs. It can get very frustrating if you try to grab a note or a chord and you cant cause your hands are not in shape.

btw http://www.vanderbilly.com is a great sight for this. they have guys that layout songs for you note by note.

[Drem]

i don't think comparing an ibanez is very fair... i don't like any ibanez i've ever played. it's exactly like you said.... it's about what sound you like more, and i like the sound of old telecasters and strats. no $85 mexistrat will ever sound like the real deal far as i'm concerned. it's not about money or anything, it's just the ones i like happen to cost a lot. sucks for me

that's a lot different than saying "real guitars start at $500"

my point is: i don't like cheap instruments

[brinstar]

and mine is: if an instrument sounds great who cares about the price tag

[Drem]

ya i understand perfectly

[Ginzburgh]

If my guitar costs a million dollars it still wouldn't sound good in my hands.

[KaiineTN]

Keep on strummin' and it will before you know it~

I actually have more fun playing a crappy $50 ukulele and can get some beautiful sounds out of it.

[Dylan]

The reason I was looking at the Target one was because it comes with a crappy little amp, cables, few picks and a crappy case.

Didn't seem too terrible but I'll check out Guitar Center too.