Guitar Newbie

[fruitbat]

Right

Just got myself a basic acoustic and am wanting a bit of advice on learning etc.

Currently looking at tabs4acoustic.com which is quite good and got a basic tutoring dvd but it aint great.

Anyone know any really simple to understand sites for a complete noobie!

Any help and tips greatly appreciated

Frooty

[Dr. Nick Riviera]

there is a guitar thread somewhere, but never mind.

(i'm assuming you know nothing about this so sorry if it's patronising)

you'll probably want to start with some theory, work on the notes up the fretboard, it's boring but useful.

i didn't learn this until later on and it would have been so much easier to do as a beginner, there's probably an abundance of stuff on google for this.

then you will probably want to learn how to read tablature (tabs), it's pretty easy but some people struggle, i personally use www.ultimate-guitar.com, who also have ok forums as i recently discovered.

you'll then want/need to know about chords, so read up on chords, and don't be thrown off by how complex some of them may seem, it's easy when you know how.

so find a basic website explaining the basic chords A E and D are good ones to start with, C G F and B are a bit more complicated, although you'll probably have them down in a week if you practice. then you'll move on to barre chords, but it's best to learn normal (open ones) first.

don't be too eager to play a song otherwise you'll cut corners and miss out on important things, although you'll find that with a few basics done, you'll be able to do loads.

if you get stuck, msn me or something, failing that, there are quite a few others on here who probably know a bit more about teaching than i do.

good luck.

[Muel]

Think of a sog that sounds really easy to play, then put it in google with "tabs" at the end.

It makes it more fun I've found, just pissing about is much mor efun than going through a book.

[fruitbat]

there is a guitar thread somewhere, but never mind.

(i'm assuming you know nothing about this so sorry if it's patronising)

you'll probably want to start with some theory, work on the notes up the fretboard, it's boring but useful.

i didn't learn this until later on and it would have been so much easier to do as a beginner, there's probably an abundance of stuff on google for this.

then you will probably want to learn how to read tablature (tabs), it's pretty easy but some people struggle, i personally use www.ultimate-guitar.com, who also have ok forums as i recently discovered.

you'll then want/need to know about chords, so read up on chords, and don't be thrown off by how complex some of them may seem, it's easy when you know how.

so find a basic website explaining the basic chords A E and D are good ones to start with, C G F and B are a bit more complicated, although you'll probably have them down in a week if you practice. then you'll move on to barre chords, but it's best to learn normal (open ones) first.

don't be too eager to play a song otherwise you'll cut corners and miss out on important things, although you'll find that with a few basics done, you'll be able to do loads.

if you get stuck, msn me or something, failing that, there are quite a few others on here who probably know a bit more about teaching than i do.

good luck.

Cheers bud, been looking at tablature, sort of understanding them and trying to understand chords and get them sorted but once I learn one, move onto another i feel i have forgot the one i learnt before. I know it'll take time but wanted tips from those who been there and done it.

I saw the Guitar Thread but it seemed to be for the people who knew what was what, so wanted to go direct and get advice as per this thread. Will certainly get you on MSN sometime though!

Think of a sog that sounds really easy to play, then put it in google with "tabs" at the end.

It makes it more fun I've found, just pissing about is much mor efun than going through a book.

Thats the way I looked at it first, dive right it and get playing but I would rather learn the 'key' basics first and move on from there, might make it bit easier to learn songs then

[paolo]

I'd personaly tell you just to mess around learning how to tune, place your fingers, use a pick and easy songs, don't get into theory just yet as 1) you won't be able to use it 2) it will be boring and guitar will probably be quite hard already, making music is about having fun, after all...

When you do start learning theory, don't just skim things, what actually makes a major chord ? and physically what happens when you make chords ? when you use distortion, what happens to your guitar signal ? It may seem very geeky to look at the physical side of music but I find I understand theory much better now that I have started doing so.

So yeah start by tunning the guitar, learning how to pluck single strings, learn a few riffs say Seven nation army and smoke on the water then you might want to learn a few easy chords then some harder riff blablablabla...