#1939497 - 05/08/08 10:48 PM
Help me start out with acoustic guitar
|
lizadi
Member
Registered: 05/08/08
Posts: 1
|
Offline
|
|
My regards to the community. I already have a taste of music as I played Saxophone for 6 years and sang in choir for 5. I want to have my fingers going on an acoustic guitar. I already own 2. . I was wondering if anyone could tell me a good way to start out. What should I be doing, etc... That kind of stuff. Any advice would be great.
Thanks
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1939500 - 05/08/08 11:24 PM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: lizadi]
|
Bluesape
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 06/13/05
Posts: 8792
Loc: Ottawa
|
|
Offline
|
|
Same as sax - start running scales, arpeggios.....you already know that a chord is an arpeggiation played simultaneously.
Welcome to the forum!
Let us know whose material you like.
_________________________
Never a DUH! moment! Well, almost never. OK, OK! Sometimes never!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1939621 - 05/09/08 06:48 AM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: Bluesape]
|
caprae
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 11/28/04
Posts: 3177
Loc: Athens, Georgia, USA
|
|
Offline
|
|
First have your guitars set up be the best tech/luthier in your area. We have a running list of recommended techs in many places. A very well set up guitar will be infinitely easier to play and thus infinitely easier to learn on.
_________________________
Raise your children and spoil your grandchildren. Spoil your children and raise your grandchildren.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1939639 - 05/09/08 07:01 AM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: lizadi]
|
Greg B.
Platinum Member
Registered: 12/28/04
Posts: 1373
Loc: Tulsa Oklahoma
|
|
Offline
|
|
My regards to the community. I already have a taste of music as I played Saxophone for 6 years and sang in choir for 5. I want to have my fingers going on an acoustic guitar. I already own 2. . I was wondering if anyone could tell me a good way to start out. What should I be doing, etc... That kind of stuff. Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Sell them and get an electric! LOL! Just kidding.  
Seriously, I would definitely agree caprae about making sure that your guitar(s) are set up correctly. It seems like a small thing, but will make a huge difference. A well set up guitar will make you want to play even more.
Edited by Greg B. (05/09/08 07:03 AM)
_________________________
Avoid playing the amplifier at a volume setting high enough to produce a distorted sound through the speaker-Fender Guitar Course-1966 http://www.myspace.com/tentcityallstars1
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1939648 - 05/09/08 07:09 AM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: Greg B.]
|
Dr. Ellwood
10k Club
Registered: 06/07/02
Posts: 16041
Loc: MoTown
|
|
Offline
|
|
Find a excellent guitar instructor that will approach learning guitar in the same way as any other instrument. You already read standard notation, so that will be a advantage. Good luck and welcome to the best Guitar Forum on the internet! Also we have a good theory thread at the top of the opening page, take a look at that while you search for a instructor.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1939692 - 05/09/08 07:51 AM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: Dr. Ellwood]
|
splitting hare
Gold Member
Registered: 05/29/07
Posts: 780
Loc: The 'Nooga
|
|
Offline
|
|
All great advice from everyone! Also find other guitar players to learn from and play with as you begin to learn. This should continue for the rest of your guitar playing days as you can always learn something sitting down with another guitar player. Welcome to the forum! 
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1939880 - 05/09/08 01:17 PM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: splitting hare]
|
Bill@Welcome Home Studios
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 08/23/03
Posts: 7294
|
|
Offline
|
|
I started out by wanting to learn songs. So I'd take a song, write down the words, and write the chords to the song above the words, where the chord occured.
I drew the chord fingering in grids at the bottom of the sheet.
Since I knew how the song went and what sounded right, it was easy to progress. I started out with three chord songs like Louis Louie and Gloria. The Beatles were a great inspiriation, since they used a lot of chords and were a popular act when I was learning. The Stones, too, were helpful.
Now you can buy most song sheets witht he chord forms already in place, or download them.
Bill
_________________________
"...it's easier than hitting the kids, and almost as much fun..."
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1939885 - 05/09/08 01:26 PM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: Bill@Welcome Home Studios]
|
Part-timer
Senior Member
Registered: 05/03/08
Posts: 86
Loc: U,K.
|
|
Offline
|
|
Learn the guitar but don't put the Sax down. There are not enough good Sax plaers around!
_________________________
Been There, Seen That, Done That...
Old? My hemorrhoids have hemorrhoids
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1940011 - 05/09/08 09:20 PM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: Dave da Dude]
|
rw2003
Gold Member
Registered: 11/06/05
Posts: 943
Loc: NY
|
|
Offline
|
|
These days its much easier to get started on the guitar. Of course a real, live guitar teacher giving you lessons once a week is a good way to start. If you choose to go it on your own, there are plenty of instructional books, DVDs, videos, and websites that can help as well.
First you need to get the fundamentals down... how to properly hold the guitar - standing or sitting; how to hold the pick; how to fret the strings correctly; etc. Figure out how to properly tune the guitar.
Next would be to practice some simple single string fretting. Maybe some easy warm-up type fingerings played at a very slow and even pace (metronome will help).
Practice your picking... simple downstrokes on a muted string; maybe some alternate (up and downstrokes) picking;
Then learn some first postion (open) chords such as A, D, E and C, F, G. Maybe even some minor or 7ths as well.
Learn the same chords but as movable barre chords.
Figure out that much of blues and rock music is based on a I, IV, V chord progression.
Learn how to play the pentatonic (major and minor) scales. And then figure out how to use them to solo over those I, IV, V changes.
http://www.fretjam.com/index.html
http://chrisjuergensen.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/lessons.htm
Edited by rw2003 (05/09/08 09:35 PM)
_________________________
"Spend all day doing nothing But we sure do it well" - Huck Johns from 'Oh Yeah' Click to Listen to Oh yeah
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1940026 - 05/09/08 10:11 PM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: lizadi]
|
carlos.009
Member
Registered: 05/09/08
Posts: 1
|
|
Offline
|
|
If you want to learn acoustic guitar I think that the best going would be to get an online source.
This is our new fast-track beginner course without notes. In 30 daily lessons you’ll learn the most important chords to accompany various styles. You’ll learn the different styles such as easy ballad, folkpop ballad, groove pop, pop ballad, and more, by playing together with the band. Direct downloadable to your pc.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1940076 - 05/10/08 05:24 AM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: carlos.009]
|
Chad
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 05/15/01
Posts: 3098
Loc: Pittston, Maine, USA
|
|
Offline
|
|
If you want to learn acoustic guitar I think that the best going would be to get an online source. This is our new fast-track beginner course without notes. In 30 daily lessons you’ll learn the most important chords to accompany various styles. You’ll learn the different styles such as easy ballad, folkpop ballad, groove pop, pop ballad, and more, by playing together with the band. Direct downloadable to your pc.
Welcome, lizadi! Where in the world are you?
I'm going to differ from my esteemed brethren a bit. Everything that's been said about lessons, etc., is great if you are wanting to achieve a high degree of technical proficiency as a guitar instrumentalist. For some people, though (me), that kind of well-defined structure just sucks the joy out of it. IF you are that kind of person, you might want to follow the path I did. I never took formal lessons; instead, I sought out the specific information that I wanted on my own. Much like Bill@WelcomHomeStudios, I bought sheet music for songs with the chord diagrams shown, and I learned them that way. If all you want to do is strum a guitar and sing along, it's very possible to learn that on your own. Also, unlike when I started playing, there are billions of sources of information, printed and online, for learning guitar.
Not to say that you shouldn't take lessons! Just that you don't have to if you don't want to.
_________________________
"Gear snobs can shampoo my crotch, for all I care." - dcr
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1940344 - 05/10/08 04:39 PM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: Chad]
|
rw2003
Gold Member
Registered: 11/06/05
Posts: 943
Loc: NY
|
|
Offline
|
|
A book that I always keep around is Complete Acoustic Guitar by Arlen Roth. While this book is aimed at beginners it does assume that you have a little bit of playing experience. It covers a wide range of topics from acoustic flatpicking in the country/folk and blues styles; acoustic fingerpicking; lead acoustic rock guitar; jazz; slide; turnarounds; etc.
_________________________
"Spend all day doing nothing But we sure do it well" - Huck Johns from 'Oh Yeah' Click to Listen to Oh yeah
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#1940395 - 05/10/08 07:32 PM
Re: Help me start out with acoustic guitar
[Re: lizadi]
|
mdrs
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 06/15/06
Posts: 9231
Loc: rural PA
|
|
Offline
|
|
Hey liz......Welcome to our forum.
As with Chad, I never had a lesson. I learned by obtaining a very basic book of guitar chords, and learned the major, minor, and 7th's. Then I learned the chords to simple songs, and played them.
If I had to do it over, I'd take lessons and learn to read. As a sax player, you already read. So, do the fun stuff, but get lessons also.
Most importantly, play for the fun and joy of it. That makes all the work of learning well worth the effort.
Let us know what you do, and how you progress.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
Moderator: myles_rose, A String, Bluesape
|
|
|
