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thespian86 · 04-26-2008, 10:35 AM

I teach guitar to make money between jobs; I have about twenty students so I do pretty well. My beginners all begin with the same program. Here's my advice.

If you're serious about it, get an acoustic. Electric's are sexy and appealing but sloppy and you'll learn bad habits fast, and your ability will be sluggish and superficial. I could play well enough on electric within a year or so; it took me about six years of intense practice to be able to say with confidence "I know how to play this instrument" on acoustic... that means not only knowing theory, but UNDERSTANDING it. There is a big difference.

On the other hand if you want to plug it into a cheap 12 watt Marshall practice amp and rock out to The White Strips with the distortion cranked, buy something cheap. A good instrument is a wasted investment if you don't plan to treat it the way it was meant to be treated.

But trust me, acoustic is the beginners best and worst friend. It will build superior strength and conditioning, great dexterity, wonderful finger technique, and the best thing is it encourages your whole body to play; guitar playing isn't all about your left hand (if you're right handed), a musical instrument is meant to be played with your whole body.

If you want any free instruction I'd be happy to send you some of my beginner lessons over the net for free, at least give you a head start, but DON'T try to handle it on your own; guitar is not as easy as it looks (although it can be if you don't play it properly) so I'd advise an instructor who will teach you the important basics to practical and music theory, so you can at least give yourself a hand when needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru

Well, Martian, after a few fits and starts, I've finally taken the proper leap to pick up my guitar again for regular practice. It's been nearly 10 years since I've played regularly. I'm actually pretty grateful because I've maintained and remembered much of what I've already learned. I learned guitar mainly through high school with a couple of courses and a few years of practice. But what I never really learned enough about is scales, etc. I never really moved beyond rhythm and basic licks. I want to learn much more about the instrument, so I figured I'd focus up to an hour a day on practicing, and much of that will be to focus on scales, such as you've recommended here.

But I want to know if there is a good knowledge base I can tap into....preferably a book. I'm going to get Hal Leonard's Guitar Method from the library shortly, and even sooner I will be perusing a couple of books on music theory. I don't think I want to be able to sight read per se, but I do want to know scales, keys, etc, so that when I see music I can at least fake it or improvise. I'm also interested in picking up a good number of styles that I can just jam in. I have a book on the blues, but I need to build a stronger foundation before I get into that, I think. I wouldn't also mind playing rock, R&B, Jazz, classical, and Latin, though I understand that some of the latter genres would benefit from an acoustic guitar. I only own an electric.

Do you have any book recommendations for such encyclopedic knowledge?

EDIT: Oh, and do you recommend "exercises" for finger strength and speed, or do you suggest these things are built naturally through scales practice?

I don't get bored. It's all about learning this stuff and to see myself improving in skill and know-how. If anything, I get tired.

I want to build my knowledge and skills to the point where I'm confident enough to learn entire songs, not just by memorization, but by knowing what's going on in them.

I have basic metronome program on my Macbook, but, yeah, I should get a real one. Timing is probably the issue I'm most concerned about. I don't have a strong musical background.... my family is...uh...not very keen on creativity. I was always the black sheep in that respect. I fully intend on learning to a metronome as much as possible. I want timing to become second nature to me sooner rather than later.

Is there anything I should know about in terms of getting a good metronome?

EDIT: Oh, and I'm sure I'll have much do discuss with aberkok, so assume I've picked or will be picking his brain as well.

Agreed with Martian about everything. You might want to look into picking up a couple of books. For adults I love teaching out of "Guitar For Dummys". It's extremely in depth for those who love to understand every angle. I also teach out of Hal Leonard's Method. I'd say pick up a few different books and dip a toe in each pool. I'd also say if you're interested in playing blues you should pick up an acoustic and start learning basic classical. The music theory itself doesn't really mesh well but I find those with a practical background in Classical adapt well to blues.