Any advice on learning to play the guitar

ive recently decided that i want to lern to play guitar. Start with acoustic and maybe progress onto electric?

could anyone give and advice as to wear the best place to learn is ect? the best kind of guitar. i was gonna get one of those kits from argos but i think there prob a rip off??

any advice much apreciated.

Visit your local guitar shop and they will give you the best advice. I personally found learning to read guitar tab was the best way rather than a chord book or if you can afford it, a good teacher. There are loads that advertise on this forum.

Cheers.

I learnt by copying three chord shapes off a tab on the sleeve of a Damned LP and faking everything with them. Works for punk and basic rock, but I guess whether it would work for you depends what style you want to play, really. Good luck and enjoy!

Does depend on what you want to play, as Ebonybranch says. I teach, but I've also been on the same side of the fence as the people that say you don't need lessons, at least until I heard something I couldn't figure out on my own. There is so much more info available to people starting to play now compared to when I started, so by all means make use of it.But, be aware that a lot of it is written by people just like you and me, so do not take anything as set in stone unless you find it on a few places, not just one. You are much better off developing your own ears and working stuff out for yourself, if you can. A good teacher can help you with techniques and exercises to help you find your way around the instrument so it's not just this scary expanse of fretboard that is unexplored territory. Get one ,they're great fun!!

are tabs a good way to start? or is it better to just learn the chords and go from there? (:

Learn some chords first. Tab shows you where to put your fingers, but very little else. At least with a few chords you should be able to play something you like reasonably quickly (whether anyone else does or not you'll have to see).Once you've learnt a few scales and what you can do with em, working out other people's stuff won't be as scary, cos you'll have played all the notes before when you were practising your scales so you'll recognise little bits of things and be able to take it from there. Also, if you're gonna learn something by ear don't immediately grab a guitar and go for it : really listen to it and get it in your head first. If it was summat difficult I was working out for a student I'd sometimes listen to something for at least a week so I could play it in my head before trying to play it properly.

Worked for me anyway

Don't just buy a cheap guitar, or you may find you need fingers of steel to hold down the strings.

playing a guitar is really easy..........playing it well takes lots of time and practise!

I think most people start by learning Open Chords, but that seemed really difficult to me, and so looking for an easyer way, I started by learning Bar Chords, thats where you keep your fingers in one position and just move them up and down the neck. It was good for the music I wanted to play then; Grunge/Punk. The E shape and A shape Bar Chords give you a great range for starters.

Then I picked up the Open Chords as I became better, now I see them as all the same.

When I've tought friends to play I start them off like that.

Good luck.

James

I think most people start by learning Open Chords, but that seemed really difficult to me, and so looking for an easyer way, I started by learning Bar Chords, thats where you keep your fingers in one position and just move them up and down the neck. It was good for the music I wanted to play then; Grunge/Punk. The E shape and A shape Bar Chords give you a great range for starters.

Then I picked up the Open Chords as I became better, now I see them as all the same.

 

When I've tought friends to play I start them off like that.

 

Good luck.

James

I learnt open chords first & then moved onto barre chords.I found that the far easier method of learning.

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I learnt open chords first & then moved onto barre chords.I found that the far easier method of learning.

Different people find different things easyer. Finding what you want to learn is excellent start. But the pure novice needs to know what the guitar parts are called, how to tune up, place fingers ect. follow the links on volvos post. It looks like a good start for me to consider pickin up an instrument.