I've been a music fan all my life, and I need to find something to do with my time. I've played in band (trumpet and trombone) and sang in chorus, but that was all 20 years ago. I would like to learn to play guitar. I'm not trying to be a guitar god, but just want to train my brain to do something new and have some fun with.
I plan on visiting a couple local music stores to get some basic information about equipment and what I would be getting into.
I don't have a lot of money to invest into this, but I need to do something besides watching tv and wishing I had a talent to have fun with or a hobby that interests me.
Any suggestions of websites to go to, things to avoid?
Thanks!

 

Pretty much the entire family here plays guitar. I got a new Fender for Christmas and it came with a DVD that will teach you how to play. I watched it and I wish there was something like it when I learned how to play. The biggest issue you're going to have is getting skin on yer fingers to harden up. Otherwise, playing guitar is EXTREMELY easy and if more folks knew just how easy, there'd be far more players doing it. These clowns you see on stage playing and singing are not great players and if they can do it and sing, just think how great you could be if you're just playing. But really, if you buy a new Fender, it comes with a DVD that is absolutely great. The only thing I could find wrong with it is that you'll need to know the parts of a guitar like the frets, headboard,etc. I'd also suggest getting a Fender electronic tuner that fits on the head. Makes it too easy to tune a guitar like it supposed to be with zero mistakes. Clip it on, pick a string and it tells you sharp or flat and you can adjust it while the string is still vibrating. Too cool!
If you don't like a Fender or can get a better deal on another brand, the DVD is available at Amazon for either acoustic or electric. It well worth the less than 20 bucks.
Here's the tuner and for about 10 bucks, you can have a perfectly tuned guitar or any other stringed instrument.

 

Just remember...'There's no money above the 5th fret'.



Stick with it. Even when your fingers get blisters and feel like the tips are going to explode, stick with it. Do dexterity exercises (there's actually a contraption to help build dexterity, but I forget the name of it), and stick with it. When you get frustrated, be patient and stick with it. The payoff is years of enjoyment of making music personal.

Good luck!

 

grandma's boyfriend trained himself in a few years. he's pretty good, not gonna lie!

 

I tried to get into playing guitar about 4 years ago with some friends, so I saved up money and ended up with an Ibanez RG350, Fender bass, and a decent amp/pedal setup. I only played for about a year or two and slowly stopped playing, so I am trying to sell it all. If you are looking for a website to order guitars and accessories, check out zZounds, I ordered all of my stuff from there and they had great service along with good prices. Good luck!

 

Id pick up a classical nylon string guitar to learn your basic chords. Easy to play, wide frets. Once you learn basic chord structures and can put them together... move on to a steel string.

 

I'm the same way, and I did something about it. My wife's cousin gave me his guitar when he got a new one two years ago. I had a guitar when I was 8, but just played with it, never got any lessons. The guitar my wife's cousin gave me needed about $300 worth of work to fix some cracks etc, so I just went and bought a new Fender acoustic, and started taking lessons last week. I've only had one lesson, have another tomorrow, but can tell that it's something that I'm going to continue with as long as I can. I've wanted to play since I was a kid, now, I'm finally going to do it!

 

I found an Epiphone Les Paul Special II and a little Marshall practice amp. I've just been strumming and looking online for basic lesson type things. Figured out basic riffs of Smoke on the water, iron man, and your touch by the black keys. Having fun, I'm going to get a little lesson tomorrow, and keep playing around. My left hand fingers sure don't move very good yet!!

 

 

when you get a guitar, if you have ps3 or Xbox, go get the rocksmith game. it is set on the lines of rockband but you use the real guitar. it has a lot of good songs and also has a lot of things for practice.

 

^ never heard of that. That's a new one.

 

That's a nice starter rig! Much nicer than what I started with. I hope you enjoy it. It's worth all the practice, calluses, and frustration. Not only is it personally fulfilling, but chicks dig it!

Which can also be personally fulfilling...

 

Thanks, I am working on just getting good tones from my fret hand, trying to get that hand to do things it hasn't had to do before!