New member here with a question

First off. This site is great. I became a full member on day one of reading through this site. I'm 42 yrs old and just got a guitar, through encouragement of my wife, she bought it for me as a Christmas present.:) I've always wanted to play and now that the kids are older I have the time and dedication. I've been practicing every day for at least 45 mins, fingers are killing me, but I heard this will pass. I have some beginners books, plus with this site and I'm taking some lessons starting next week, just to make sure I'm on the right track. My quesiton is this: Is there any order to learning ? IOW, do you start with cords or notes. Every book is different in this area. My preference is Classic Rock, Skinnard, VH, Boston and country. I love the classic rock unplugged, so with that said, I decided on an acoustic guitar and will later move to an electric acoustic. Anyway sorry for rambling on.
Dan

As you said, the pain will pass. Its best to start off with chord shapes and switching from chord to chord.

Welcome to the site, and to the world of guitar!
Yeah, absolute 1st step would be to learn what I (and a few others) call the "cowboy" chords, which is just a nickname for those chords usually found within the 1st 3 frets and also usually using open (unfretted) strings within the chord shape. More simply, the most common easy chords strummed around a campfire. I'd work on those before trying barre chords (those which require spanning multiple strings with one finger), which every beginner will find seemingly impossible at first.

Welcome to the site Logan.

I suggest you look at our absolute beginner section

http://www.guitartricks.com/guide.php

I'm sure you'll find a lot of interesting lessons.

Welcome, welcome. You'll find a lot of help here. Good people who are more than willing to answer any and all questions. I haven't playing all that long either and I found that learning some of the 'cowboy chords' at first really helps. They are relatively easy and it'll give you some confidence to keep going.

BTW, that's cool that your wife encourages you to play. Always good to have a support system in place. Good luck and check out the myriad of lessons found here. I don't think you can come up with a question that these fine folks can't answer for you.

Hunter,
Where are the cowboy cords located ?
Everyone who posted,
Thanks for the encouragement. This makes a huge difference in a site when you can get feedback this quick and good advise on top.
Thanks, looking forward to becomming an active part of this community.
Dan

Originally Posted by: hunter60
BTW, that's cool that your wife encourages you to play.

lol....wished my "ex"-wife would have been that supportive! She used to hate me going out to play!!!

Originally Posted by: Logan826Where are the cowboy cords located?

It's not a strict definition, but they're restricted to the 1st 3 frets. The tutorial in Section 3 (Simple Chords) in the Beginner's section linked to above by Benoit pretty much covers the most important ones for now. Note that the F chord shown there is what I mentioned as a barre chord that is especially tough at first (not that you shouldn't try it though).

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=8776&s_id=102

Here you go! Just so we don't get you confused. Thhe lessons there in that link ar the basic "Cowboy chords, which if you've had books and looked around you should have ran into. :)

Magicninja,
Thanks for the link. I have a few beginners books, but if you don't know where to start your just sort of jumping around. That's why I appreciate you guys/gals giving advise. I have a teacher lined up, but he's pretty busy right now and when I talked with him today he said it could be a little while before he can get me in. He did say that I was on the right path from what I told him and I had a chance to show him a few things I had been working on and he seemed impressed for just picking up a guitar a little over a week ago. I'm going to hold out for him to make an opening, as everyone I've talked with in my area said he's the best around.
As for the wife thing. Yeah, she's pretty cool. She supports several of my interests from Flying to RC modeling, now this. 'Course being togeather for 21 years probably has something to do with it. LOL
Dan

Originally Posted by: Logan826Hunter,
Where are the cowboy cords located ?
Everyone who posted,
Thanks for the encouragement. This makes a huge difference in a site when you can get feedback this quick and good advise on top.
Thanks, looking forward to becomming an active part of this community.
Dan

I don't know of anywhere they list them officially as cowboy chords but they are generally the open chords that most books will teach you right up front. A-D-E-G-C. After you start plinking around with them, you can add a few minors to fill out some sound and you'll have enough to play a bunch of stuff! After a while you can start to play with the barr chords. Those are tough at first-don't expect to get them right away but if you keep after them, one day you'll just be able to do it.

That's exactly how that happened for me. One day, nothing. The next day, boom. Really strange but I bet it happens for you that way too! :)

Originally Posted by: Logan826...'Course being togeather for 21 years probably has something to do with it. LOL
Dan

I'd say her being so supportive prolly has a lot to do with making it to 21 years. That's good to hear nowadays...gives us comparative newlyweds hope! :)

Originally Posted by: halo71lol....wished my "ex"-wife would have been that supportive! She used to hate me going out to play!!!

Oh man, the only thing my ex supported was my leaving the house! :eek:

Oh man, the only thing my ex supported was my leaving the house!
ROTFL, Yeah hunter, I had one of those too. Lucky for me it happened just as fast as it ended.
Shackleferd, With out a doubt your right. She put up with a lot of crap our first several years together. I was a wild one, that she loved to death and was going to tame me or kill me. Glad she picked the tame route. ;)
Dan

Welcome,
A great song to start with is Skynyrd's "Simple Man". It's basically just an Open C chord (Major), Open G chord (Major) and an Open Am chord (minor) with a simple picking technique. The song begins with an open A string (fifth string up from the bottom, or high e string) then up 2 frets (B note) on the same string (use your middle finger), then up one more fret (the third fret) (C note) on the same string (use your ring finger and then form the open C chord and pick the notes). Playing These single notes are often referred to as "Bass notes" and are commonly used in many songs.
Whether you prefer fingerpicking or using a pick (both techniques have advantages) I would recommend learning and playing both ways early on to adapt your skills equally. Both take skill and a lot of practice to master.
When it comes to fingerpicking, study a technique called "Travis picking" If the song "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas, for instance, floats your boat.

Thanks, yes I'm into both Skynard and Kansas. I'll have to get a tab for both of these.
Thanks