Ive been wanting to get a guitar for a long time and my wife bought me one for Christmas...My grandad and dad can both play so i figured i want to do it too. Any tips or tricks to share would be awesome! I know nothing....

 

Nice! What kind did you get?

If you're serious about learning, you'll need a good teacher. And don't just learn chords and solos or just a few of your favorite songs. If you want to do it right, learn the instrument and learn about what music is and how it works. A good teacher will be able to show you all of this.

Im 25 and have played guitar since 3rd grade, was in state band in high school and played bass clarinet for a total of 11 years, and this last summer I picked up the banjo. The banjo is the most fun instrument I've ever played by far...wish I'd done it 15 years ago.

Good luck and keep on pickin'!

 

Stick to practicing, if ur fingers hurt, GOOD!!! I used to lay in bed in the dark and practice the fingerings of chords to get my fingers calused. Also, buy a chord reference book and use sites like www.ultimate-guitar.com they have chords and tabs for thousands of songs and great lessons. Dont get discouraged 99.999% of people are not August Rush. What kind of guitar are you getting?? pictures if possible?

 

She did a little research and found that the Fender DG-8s was a good starter guitar. Theres a store here in KC that she went to and told the guy what it was for. I played like two years in band back in the 5th and 6th grade, but it was the trumpet....Totally different then the guitar. It really has a nice echo to it for being a cheaper guitar. I havent even looked at songs either. I was going to learn the chords really good first and then try lessons. I dont really want to go pay for lessons without knowing anything at all. The banjo is awesome. My grandad could rock anything with strings including the"fiddle" ...kinda makes me sick watching him and others...im 24 just starting so i guess im a little behind!! O well i got nothin but time.

 

Do you remember your scales from playing trumpet way back when? If so, great! If you don't want to get into lessons with zero experience... try this.

Learn every note on the fretboard. Simple thing, really. Big thick string (E), play it open. Next, put your finger on the first fret. That will be F. Work your way up the fretboard and memorize each note. Switch fingers as you do this, to build up your calluses. Move to the next string (A) and repeat.

Then, learn 3 basic chords. Find a song with those chords and learn to play that song. Learn a couple of other chords, find a song...

Don't focus on trying to be Eddie Van Halen. You will fail miserably. Learn the basics and build from your successes.

<> background <>
My Grandpa handed me a guitar when I was eleven and said "Learn how to play it and you can have it." The guitar came with an instruction book with songs like "My Darling Clementine" and "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain". I learned to play it, and 22 years later, I still have that guitar... along with a few others.

 

What kind of music to you listen to and/or want to play?

 

Congrats on getting a guitar! You don't always NEED a teacher, my brother nor I had one and we can both wail. In fact, that is kind of a motto of ours:
"Be so tight with your guitar that if you are called upon to rock, you can do so in the mightiest of fashions."
You will need a TON of patience, though, it gets frustrating when your fingers just don't do what you want them to do. Just remember, one day, you will be able to play, it kind of makes it all worth it.

 

I have a DG-8! It wa smy secong guitar! Man i took that thing just about every where.

 

Sorry so late in the replies...this isnt the "hott" thread.haha. Yah it came with an instructional cd. It starts by showing the open chords E5 A5 etc.....I struggle with the G and C majors and C7 chords. My fingers arent as flexible as they need to be to move like that! As for the hard fingers.....Wished i would have taken it a little easier, dang did they hurt. I played for like 2 hours as soon as i got it and ill just say i couldnt touch em... As far as remembering the trumpet stuff, not so much...i mean i can recognize the sounds of notes.. I think that helps. Anyway thanks fellers!

 

Oh I listen to about anything really. Gospel country rock, not much into the rap, but some of it i like because of the beat. Some of them guys are a little crazy. I think my favorite is like CCR type of music..kinda lazy rock and country mixture music if that makes any sense at all...

 

Big Smokey,

20+ years ago I was a keyboard player in a rock band that toured all over the place. I literally lived out of a suitcase for several years.

Today, you have the luxury of having "YOUTUBE" as a free teacher.
You can find just about any lesson teaching you how to play any song you could possibly want.

I wish it was available back in the 80's, it would've saved me a chitload of time learning new songs from my hotel room.

Anyway, congrats on getting into it, it can be a very rewarding experience, and a great hobby to boot.

I have many great memories and experiences from my time on the road.

When I was playing, we shared a rehearsal spot with a little known band back then called The Tragically Hip. That was well before they were signed; as a matter of fact, they had a sax player in those days.

I remember waiting for them to finish band practice while we waited patiently on the loading dock....making fun of them the entire time, haha, we used to call them The Tragically Sick (all in good fun of course)

When I finished college, I got a job as a prison guard at Millhaven Maximum Penitentiary....I remember when the Hip put out their first album, I was sitting up in one of the guard towers when the song came on titled "38 Years Old".

The first line in the song mentions Millhaven... I don't know, hearing it that day while I was up in the tower made it kind of special to me.

Here's a link to the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsj9f...eature=related

It's always been my favourite.

You guys wanna see something funny?
Here's me back in my musician days:

 

Thats awesome.. See thats the sound that i like. Im 24 right now so im gonna say a lot of musicians have a jump on me. Im not trying to make a career out of it, but its fun for me. Thanks, great photo by the way!!

 

Since you are sharing some bands that ive never heard of you should check out a buddy of mine. Bryant Carter....he has only been playing for a short time and right now he is recording for a cd which its pretty cool to see someone you know doing that....heres a link of one he wrote. Theres a myspace for him too, but he took his songs down to get the record guy to fine tune them since he had previously done it in his basement. heres the link.....pretty good i think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii6Il6_vxdo

 

apparently noone really likes what progressive drummers have to offer.... I'm forced to play by meself in my basement till I die

 

Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed his performance.
Your friend is really good, I love his sound.