so im learning to play the guitar
 

so i bought a guitar the other day and i borrowed a couple videos from a friend. turns out my VCR likes to eat videos rather than play them. i have another VCR now though. i guess im still classified as a beginner even though i got a little use out of the videos i borrowed. can anyone reccomend any books/videos/web sites to help me start rocking out? that'd be grand.

Well, its not an instructional video or anything, but i just go to Ultimate-guitar.com and find tabs to play. i started a while ago and now im fairly good only from playing tabs. ive never looked at books or videos to learn.

Go take a lesson. What you need when you're just starting out is somebody working with you personally. There are thousands of little things to correct with a beginner guitarist that you'll never see by yourself. It takes somebody with some expertise as a guitar teacher to get you going.

when i was starting out, i took a continuing education class at a local college. it was cheap, and it really helped with the basics. after that, i learned mainly from tabs and playing with friends.

Make sure to ask around when trying to find a teacher. Ask guitarists that you know personally or have seen play. There are a lot of crappy teachers out there. If you have a friend that is at all proficient at guitar, and use him/her as a mentor if you already know the basics. Learn by watching. Most of the greats never had any formal instruction.

i'll eigth the lessons. at the very least, take one lesson. have them help you set a direction to go in to guide your learning. but i would really recommend taking them for at least a month or three. once you've got the basics down, then you should be able to go off on your own without a problem.

what type of music are you interested in playing?

I learned using tabs. I recommend going to taborama.

mainly rock/country

get lessons, learn to read music, and start with aucoustic. Last but not least, PRACTICE.!!! That is the one thing that will make or break a good instrumentalist.

I agree with taking at least a few lessons. What taught me the most though was going to a music store, finding the music books for some of my favorite albums and learning the chords from the little diagrams above the music that show you where to put your fingers on the strings. And then start playing and playing and playing.... before you know it (about 3-6 months) you'll know most of the basic chords and if you enjoy it enough you will get good enough to expand from there. I have been playing guitar for almost 25 years and it has never let me down.

I started off with a basic chord book. Once I learned the most common shapes, I was able to listen to music and play along with it with little problems. If you can, take a lesson. It will give you some structure and goals to work towards. The main thing that will help is LOTS OF PRACTICE. Don't get frustrated and have fun with it. It will come in time.

hurts right now, doesn't it? :D

I learned the vast majority of what I know by myself.

I knew how to read music as I had been in the band in high school so, that wasn't really a problem. I bought a nice acoustic from a pawn shop, a few books, learned how to read tablature and taught myself the basics. I've slowly, but surely been building on that for the last 4 years. I'm no virtuoso, but I know my way around a guitar.

I've never taken lessons per se, but I was lucky. I had a few friends who helped me out and I spent a lot of time at the local guitar shop where I met more than a few folks who were willing to answer questions and took the time to show me a few things.

In my opinion, I'd exhaust all other options before consulting an instructor as there is a lot you can learn on your own. On the other hand, there is a lot of stuff, especially if you want to learn chord progressions, music theory, etc..., that isn't as easy to learn by yourself. If that's the road you want to take, maybe some professional instruction is what your looking for.

If you do decide to seek out professional instruction (it's been said here, but I feel I should mention it again) ask around. There are a lot of schmucks out there willing to take your money.

Good luck

Lessons are definitely a must if you want to formally learn how to play. If all you want to do is play for fun though, just download some tabs and have fun.

Speaking as somone who has 15 years of bad habits under his belt: definitely go with the lessons.

Also, get decent gear. It doesn't have to be great but it should have decent action and sound. And learn how to set one up, either acoustic or electric. Playing with bad intonation and action can really hinder you.

Have fun! If you're like me you'll have to pick up an axe almost every day for the rest of your life! :D

Believe it or not those EMedia guitar teaching CD's aren't too bad. Besides giving you lessons, it also gives you a "jam partner", a tuner, and a metranome. It's pretty basic but a decent start. This guy has some good teaching materials. It's specific to bluegrass but it is still technique that can be applied elsewhere. http://www.jaybuckeymusic.com/guitar.htm

I have an instructor, very useful for music theory. If you want to go into extensive note picking, like blue grass, or classical guitar, you should get instruction.

If you just want to plays some cords, you can just memorize the hand positions with out much trouble, but you will be lacking as a musician.