The Gun Counter

thought about putting this in random, but figured it belonged here.

I've decided that I would like to learn to play the guitar.

for those of you who know what the heck it going on, should I start with an acoustic or electric? Depending on that answer what model of guitar should I consider?

for reference, I like classical Spanish guitar, Metal, and hard rock. I am also on a budget, as college classes are taking up most of my expendable cash.

Everything will be self taught, as I tend to just work that way, and I am spending my excess cash on a machining degree.

I am sure that somewhere along the line this has been discussed and I will be told I am lazy for not looking..... sorry.

Buy a beat-up 6 string... at the second hand store

Acoustic first. Electric once you know you'll stick with it

Yamaha has some acoustics under $200 that are good value for money. I don't know how you plan to proceed, but the Mel Bay chord manual is a good reference for anybody.

Yogimus wrote:Buy a beat-up 6 string... at the second hand store

Buy your first real six string, down at the 5 and dime.

You are old if you get the song reference.

I started with the acoustic, switched to electric and found I learned faster on the electric and that learning transferred back to the acoustic. After a year of actual practice it didn't matter which one was used.

Either will work. You are in college. What does your girlfriend like or in the absence of same, which kind of girls do you prefer, the neo-hippy chicks that dig an acoustic by the bonfire or the darker ennui-filled goth and metal girls that want to feel the bass in their bones?

Take lessons from a good teacher. It really helps. Practice a lot, that helps too.

Caveat: I play guitar passably, and having only really started learning about 6 years ago, I still remember (and frequently experience) frustration in learning chord fingerings or the like.

Any instrument is really self-taught, since your teacher can assign appropriate drills, but unless you practice them yourself, absorption and mastery never occur. Something to 'keep you going' is learning new songs, but it's also one of the worst ways to practice. Get a book of practice drills, and work on them diligently. I taught myself (with some help and encouragement from our team S6 NCO) while I was in Iraq, and to this day I still get better every time I work on practice drills instead of picking up the guitar and 'just playing'.

I have a great book (something like "learn Guitar in 10 minutes a day"), but can't seem to find it right now. I'll ask SWMBO if she's seen it since the last move, and I'll post up the name and ISBN # if I can find it. What was so great about it, was it had a progressive set of 2-minute finger drills, and a grading chart. For example: Play [insert exercise here] for 2 minutes: 15 repetitions is a 'D', 20 is a 'C', 24 is a 'B', and 26 is an 'A'. Move to exercise 2, 3, .. 5 (thus the 10-minutes a day). It gave me quantified goals to track improvement against, and a progression to follow. I'd work until I could do all the exercises in group 1 at the 'A' level, then move to group 2, rinse, repeat.

As for guitars, +1 on the sub-$200 Yamaha offerings.

Bullspit wrote:

Yogimus wrote:Buy a beat-up 6 string... at the second hand store

Buy your first real six string, down at the 5 and dime.

You are old if you get the song reference.

Damn, I guess 34 is old.

Thanks for the info, everyone.
It is just one of those things I have always wanted to do but never actually done. So I figured that if I actually GOT a guitar I could start practicing and learning instead of just thinking about it.

Cobar wrote:

Bullspit wrote:

Yogimus wrote:Buy a beat-up 6 string... at the second hand store

Buy your first real six string, down at the 5 and dime.

You are old if you get the song reference.

Damn, I guess 34 is old.

Thanks for the info, everyone.
It is just one of those things I have always wanted to do but never actually done. So I figured that if I actually GOT a guitar I could start practicing and learning instead of just thinking about it.

Some people do just that. Mostly teens with more time on their hands than an old 34 year old!

I had a guitar all through college (BS degree) and never learned more than how to play three or four chords. It rested in the case for 5 years or so then I got invited to perform in a work-related group. I put those four chords to good use. The guitar went back into the case for another 5 years then when I hit grad school the second time around I was looking for some dissertation avoidance activities. I learned a bit more then and bought an electric. I learned faster on the electric.

A year ago I got some lessons and learned more but don't practice nearly enough to play in public.

So get yourself a guitar and play it 'till your fingers bleed as the song goes!

Not really - I heard it on the radio a coupla days ago.

Course, I listen to Classic Rock all day at work..

DD just started guitar. Researching the topic showed that most guitar experts suggest that it is easier to learn electric.