Absolute Neeewbie

Well, I'd like to pick up the guitar, but I have no idea where to start.

I guess I'm wondering, where do I begin? I have some music history, I used to play clairinet, flute, and drums...so, all I would really need is a little refresher to read sheet music. I guess the question is, should I start with that? or learn tabs instead?

I pretty much will be self teaching, lessons are not in my budget at the moment, but I do have some friends in the family that play guitar that I could go to for advice once a month or so...but they don't know sheet music (just tabs) so they can really only offer playing tips & such.

And can someone explain what a chord is, I'm reading up all I can on the guitar & I'm coming up with all these new terms that are really making me doubt I'll ever be able to play this instrument.

Can you recommend and good self-teaching books?

Anyone have any self-taught success stories?

Sorry for all the questions, I've been trying to research all day & now I think I'm more confused lol. Thanks in advance.

Hey. In simple terms, a chord is basically a bunch of notes played simultaneously.

Nothing wrong with self-teaching! It does help if you pick up a few instructional DVDs though. That way you can pick things up by seeing people play at least. There are some things that are pretty tricky to pick up by a description alone.

Probably the absoulte best written instruction you'll find is in the UK guitar magazine, Guitar Techniques. You can subscribe to it. Otherwise, I recommend Joe Satriani's Guitar Secrets book. Some of it is advanced, but there are plenty of things that are good for beginners as well. The good thing is that you won't outgrow it for years and years.

Eric Johnson has an instructional DVD called Total Electric Guitar, which is also very good. Just don't listen to him when he talks about his picking technique; it's appalling technique, though somehow it works very well for him.

Finally, there is another DVD called Fender Presents: Getting Started on Electric Guitar -- A Guide for Beginners and, although I haven't watched it myself, it's probably quite good to start with.

Have fun!

I pretty much self taught myself for about 4 years then i came to GT and I also took private lessons for a few months to refine some things but it wasn't much. If you haven't done it yet you should take a look at this page. http://www.guitartricks.com/guide.php
If you can muster $5 a month the highbandwidth video lessons here are more than worth it.

Here is where tab is explained. It is easy to understand.

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=3554

If guitar is something you like then go for it. If I can learn to play anyone can.

Thanks for the responses guys :)

About that DVD (total electric guitar - by Eric Johnson) does it apply for acoustic guitar as well? Cuz that's what I plan on playing, sorry I should have mentioned that in my first post.

I read through that guide on tabs, practiced it, and now have a great understanding on bends, hammer ons, ect...but what i don't understand, after looking at some tabs online, is they arn't written in the same format. For example,
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/k/kelly_clarkson/breakaway_crd.htm

Do i just go through the tab and insert the chords? So, for that song, I see 5 chords...those are the only combinations used in that song? Sorry, I hope I'm not confuseing u with my questions. Thanks.

Yeah, for the songs with just the chords you just play the chords over the given lyrics and change when it tells you. Unfortunatly it doesn't give you the rythm to play with it. To learn your chords you can probabvly search for a chord gererator or go down to your local guitar store or even Wal mart and find a poster with all the chords on it. Some of the songs like you have will list how to lay the chords used in the song at the bottom and sometimes the top of the page.

Thanks! Yeah, I just noticed at the top, you can click a box that shows the fingering for the chords. Thanks very much!

Sure thing. What kinda music do you plan on playing? Maybe there's a few songs I could recommend for you to learn.

I'd like to stick mostly to country (either you love it or you hate it! lol). Top artists I like are: Rascal Flatts, Gary Allan, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Miranda Lambert.

I do like some alternative music that I think would sound great on guitar; Metallica "Enter Sandman" & The Eagles "Hotel California"...but I think the majority of my songs will focus on country artists.

I learned a little country. Alan Jackson"s "Livin on Love" is a good one to learn. The classic country is good to learn too like Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried".

im self taught too...ive got a good success story...eric clapton...look at him now...

country is wicked...learning the guitar takes time, patience and dedication...it'll look almost impossible at first...and u wud feel like the dumbest person on earth (i know i did)...but ull get over it...

good luck and have heaps of fun...never hesitate to ask us questions...anything at all and we'll try to help u out

Aren't the Eagles country? cause in that case i know a couple country songs.

talking about the Eagles, Freelicks.net's jacking my hotel california solo lesson. They don't see me jacking any of their lessons. I Hate them!

The Eagles started out as I would say Rockabilly but I wouldn't call it country.

Originally Posted by: hazzard_countyThanks for the responses guys :)

About that DVD (total electric guitar - by Eric Johnson) does it apply for acoustic guitar as well? Cuz that's what I plan on playing, sorry I should have mentioned that in my first post.

Hmm. You know, I can't remember. I own this video, but it won't play on my current machine, so I can't tell you for sure. I'd say that most of the techniques will translate well to both electric and acoustic. It's definitely one of the best instructional videos I've ever seen and I have seen tons of 'em.

Oh, and if you like Metallica and country, check these guys out:

http://www.ironhorsebluegrass.com/sample_songs.htm ;)

Originally Posted by: Mark Pav

Oh, and if you like Metallica and country, check these guys out:

http://www.ironhorsebluegrass.com/sample_songs.htm ;)

Wow, that's cool...never thought you could put a country theme into songs like that, very nice!

That puts my "Ode to Joy" I'm learning to shame LOL. :)

i recently recieved a teach-yourself book and while i was going through the lessons in it I noticed that the tabs had note lengths (whole note, eighth note, etc...) but it mentioned nothing about how long to hold a note.

Please help, it was quite frustrating.

IF It has a tempo notation usually Quarter note=120 (beats per minute) or something similar than you know how fast to go and how long to hold the note.