Can anyone help me with the very first step lessons?

Hi All.

I am a total novice to guitar playing, and I openly admit to knowing absolutely NOTHING about playing a guitar. I have just celebrated my 42nd birthday and the very first time I have ever picked up a guitar was last Thursday when I purchased a new Electro Acoustic Guitar + Amp Pack.

If you ask my wife she will tell you I am tone deaf too. Although, I can sing any note to any song ever written. I just cannot sing them in the right order.

So when I go to the videos of Guitar Fundamentals 1 and 2, I am looking at the screen in total bermusement, thinking, "Do What????? Speak English. And speak to me as if I was a 3 year old"

This is the fret?

This is a note?

This is........ GIVE ME A CHANCE!

I understand what the fret is. Its the long bit sticking out of the fat bit. But how much pressure do you put on the string? Because when I strum the metal cable it sounds as if I am pulling on a cats tail.

As for the notes. Yeah right! Thats a starter for 10 that I missed totally. I can't even work out how to strum the metal cables properly to get a note, let alone know if I'm achieving the thing.

So my questions are, where do I start? And what do I do?

The tutors in the videos seem to be under the impression that everyone who views them has got the first idea of what they are talking about. They're sitting there, twanging the cables, and saying, "This is what I mean" WITH A BIG GRIN ON THEIR FACE. And I am looking at them and thinking, "I wish I was standing next to you with some cable cutters in my hand. Then I'd see you return to the very begining of acoustic guitar playing".

Put simply. I want to learn to play the acoustic guitar. NOT the electric guitar. The ACOUSTIC guitar. Thats why I bought an acoustic guitar. And thats why I became a full member of guitartricks.com.

Can ANYONE help?

That's a little harsh :) Pretty much everything you need to learn to be able play is interchangeable between electric guitar & acoustic guitar: Notes and chords are all the same for both.

Ignore the fact that the instructors are using electrics in many of the lessons; it's irrelevant. What they show for notes is the same for acoustic and electric. The Fundamentals courses are shown mostly on electrics, but there are Acoustic lessons under the Lessons Tab as well.

You can use the Advanced Search options to select types of tutorials (1 guitar symbol = easy, 4 = hard). Here's one on Necks & Fretboards...
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=653
It's worth knowing about the types of construction, because your guitar shares some aspects. The wood may be different, but it still has a truss rod, etc.

Here's one on changing strings
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=624
Again, it's electric, but the differences are minimal.

There are more like How to Hold a Guitar, one on selecting a Pick, etc...

This might be handy to review:
http://www.betterguitar.com/instruction/essentials/acoustic_parts.gif

You sound a little frustrated already... Take your time and have [u]patience[/u]. It's not going to come overnight, but you will be amazed at the progress you make each day if you really try. Start with Guitar Fundamentals 1. Do each lesson as many times as it takes until you feel comfortable.

The instructors here are great. Excellent, even. I'm sure everything will be just fine for you! :)

Hey man, just go with the flow there. You have a beautiful instrument there in your hands you just need to learn to understand all the things it can do for you, just give it time.
Back in my early days of playing I didn't even have someone "with a big grin on their face" all I had was books and not much else. These guys are way better than that - give them a chance and make the most of them, you don't know how lucky you are!!

Quote - "I understand what the fret is. Its the long bit sticking out of the fat bit". Erm that's the neck ,by the way.

You really should put the cable cutters away...... and don't grip the neck too hard!

Good luck and happy learning.

we've all been there man, no sweat, if you want to get to the top of the ladder you gotta start on the first rung. Like the above posts state, acoustic and electric are interchangeable and the only basic difference between the unplugged electric and the acoustic is size of the body, natural loudness, gauge and the height of the strings above the fretboard and that is generally it, all the same standard tuning etc, etc, so it all becomes preference. Though you can play both the same, you actually even have an advantage over the beginner electric player since then gauge (thickness, just in case) and action (height of strings above the fretboard) is higher you will develop your fine finger muscles more quickly.

the key is to press the string until the note rings as clearly as it rings open, though this might not happen on all frets because of damage etc. so strum open, then finger the first fret lightly and strum, youll probably hear a buzz since your pressing lightly, this is bad, just keep applying pressure till she rings true, this might seem alot at first, especially since its an acoustic, but so long as your applying just enough and not so much your hand cramps or other problems, eventually it will feel natural when you get your muscles up.

Just be aware that you are picking up an instrument that can do many versatile things and there is alot of stuff out there to learn, which can be overwhelming, but the important thing is to mix practice with fun so you will always remember why your playing, so grab songs you would like to play and learn as much as you can when you can, here is a quick link to my first riff I ever learned, it took me 2 weeks to just get down riffs 1 and 2, so take all the time you need, http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/c/cream/sunshine_of_your_love_tab.htm

whew... It can be tough at first but ask any established musician, jamming with your friends or playing the song youve been working on seemingly forever in front of your loved ones can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

all best in your future endeavors

Thank you.

The links from everyone who has replied to me are great and I truly appreciate them all. It's just finding the videos and learning where to find them on the website is a task in itself.

But I WILL master this, come hell or high water.

It's just a little frusfrating not understanding the way how to strum the strings properly, or the best way to get your fingers to bend around the neck of the guitar without breaking a knuckle, but I know it will come with practise.

And may I make my position clear that at no time do I mean to disrespect ANY of the instructors within this website. I wouldn't have signed up to a full membership otherwise. My frusfration comes from just not understanding what the heck I am doing.

But just watch this space.

Within a couple of months, and with the help of guitartricks.com and their instructors, I'll be playing my first full tune properly.

Thanks again to all for your words of encouragement.

They're truly appreciated.

I just turned 43 and been playing for a little over a year. Don't get caught up being a newbie. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I can play two of my favorite songs ever and never thought I'd be able to. Just remember it is definately not a destination it is a journey. Your fingers will eventually do what you want them to.

Hey amatetotalkto,
The first thing to do is learn the major chords, and I always show beginners a simple boom chick pattern. These guys have been giving you some good advice, and the most important thing is that you want to learn to play. Definitely check out fundamentals 1, it will show you a lot of information about the guitar, and probably the major chords too.

I think you should start with the major chords, and as you work on these positions, try to make the notes sound clean, and clear. This will take some time, but you will get it eventually. In all of these chord positions, we'll have you use only downstrokes with the pick.

For the A major chord, put your fingers in position, and play the 5th string. If that one rings clear, play the 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st. Make sure you really work on the strings that you have your fingers on.

For the D major chord, you will play the 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st. Do the same for this one, and try to make each string (note) ring clear. This is easier to do at a slow pace, that's why I have you playing the strings one at a time.

For the E major chord, you'll play all the strings one at a time starting with the 6th string.

For the G major chord, you will also play all the strings starting with the 6th.

For the C major chord, You'll play from the 5th string down to the 1st.

Work on these, and then we'll tackle B, and F. When your fingers get sore, make sure you take a break from it. Eventually your fingers will build callouses, and practicing will be much easier. You will also notice the notes getting much clearer, and soon you will be ready for a simple strumming pattern. Try not to get frustrated, because it will take some time to get this right. I hope this helps, and let me know if I can do anything else to help you.

Just wanted to chime in and say good luck. I've had a guitar for a few years, tried to play and felt like you do now and stopped. Signed up for GuitarTricks.com a month or so ago and am in the final section of fundamentals 1.

I felt like they do a pretty good job of explaining the parts of the guitar then how to use them in guitar fundamentals 1. Just make sure you watch them all from the beginning and re-watch them if something doesn't make sense. The beauty of having the video is that you can re-watch it! If it still doesn't make sense, Google it. There are tons of resources out there that might fill in the holes for you.

I have been learning how to play for less than a year. I have always liked music and the guitar parts always stick out to me. I am 32, married with 4 kids, full time job and extremely busy. Therefore, I don't get to practice near as much as I should. The one regret that I had from school was that I never took music so I cannot read much music at all. All of this put me at a disadvantaged.

However, I made it a point to learn the major chords and practice those chords, mainly just ringing out clearly. I also had to try some of the riffs just to keep it entertaining (I used tabs for that).

My fingers hurt for awhile, and I had trouble getting some of the chords to ring out clearly. C major took some time for me (I kept touching other strings that were supposed to be open). F major was a virtual impossibility. However, after I practiced on the other ones, I was just able to do the F.

All if this is to mainly say that, although you cannot see progress as fast as you would like, it does happen and then you can look back and see how much you have improved.

Doug

Congrads on your purchase, and welcome to the wonderful world of guitar.

Lesson 1 - It's not as easy as everyone would want it to be but it is most rewarding.

Now that I have that out of the way...

Not all beginners are created equal. Some need to learn the parts of the guitar. What is a fret, neck, nut, bridge. What is a note, what is a chord, what is a time signature, how do we keep a beat, a quarter note, an eighth note, a measure.

Some beginners want to add music theory to the learning some couldn't care less about theory. There are great guitar players that admit that they don't understand theory at all. When I started with guitar I knew how to play piano, so when it came to theory I found it easy to think about white and black keys, and not strings and frets.

Why am I saying all of this because everyone comes to guitar with different knowledge and experiences, combined with different goals. So lessons labeled as beginner might still be advanced for some.

First you should learn the parts of your guitar. Then you should learn the string names, its not hard, 6 strings, two of them are the same. Then you should learn how to tune your guitar. Tune your guitar every time you pick it up. Use an electronic tuner. I recommend a Korg GA-30 if you don't already have one. Listen when you tune, listen to what is flat or sharp, or "in tune". Then go through the Guitar Fundamentals 1 and 2. These are the basic bedrock courses.

Don't be concerned that they use an electric in the video. The NOTEs are the same! The note at the first fret first string is an F on an electric and on an acoustic guitar, the note at the third fret first string is a G on both guitars as well.

Work on Finger Strength. You will hear a lot about callouses and developing them. They make playing easier.

How hard do you press on a string. Hard enough to make the note ring clear. No thunks or thuds.

Come back and ask questions. Guitarists are the most giving of all communities in their knowledge and opinions and help.

This is a great site, but there are also others that you can use and visit.
Some I like are
www.GuitarForBeginnersAndBeyond.com
www.GuitarNoise.com

Remember that while this site and others have lessons for beginners they also have lessons for those beyond.. so you have to dig a bit for the lesson that is right for your level of personal development but they're not hard to find.

My suggestion is to go over to http://www.learnandmaster.com/guitar/ and spend $149 for a course that will take you from the most basic introduction to the guitar through to fairly accomplished playing. You will get 20 instructional DVD's, 5 jam-along CD's featuring a supporting group with which you can play featured songs and a couple of lesson books of about 100 and 180 pages respectively full of focused exercises to develop your skills. The good people at this site offer a 60 day money-back, "no questions asked", satisfaction guarantee that I would be very surprised to hear about you exercising.

When I purchased this course last year I wanted something STRUCTURED that would steadily and consistently take me from knowing nothing about the guitar to knowing a LOT about the guitar and how to be a guitar musician. Its been over a year and I am currently in session 8 of 20. You may be able to sieze the material and move faster than that or you may take more time. Either way I believe it to be the best approach short of a full-time personal guitar teacher and much much less expensive per practice hour. I believe you will be better equipped to gain and process the specific knowledge available here at Guitar Tricks that you need and want when it becomes dessert to your guitar playing meal rather than bread and butter.

This is a great site to learn from but is not for the absolute beginner. If you want to learn the basics to play the acoustic guitar, the best teacher I have found is at nextlevelguitar.com. Thank goodness this is where I started, or I would not be playing today.

Originally Posted by: jordan00This is a great site to learn from but is not for the absolute beginner....

Now *that* I'd have to strongly disagree with. See "Guitar Fundamentals 1",
http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=1

This thread is from 2009. Not sure how/why it got resurrected.

But Jon, I like vampire threads!! :)

Besides, they can be more relevant than those posts written without reading a thread's previous posts or other threads on the same subject.

On the other hand, there's those zombie threads that just won't die, e.g., "Delete My Account." But I digress... :D

Go to where do I start
Course: Guitar Fundamentals 1
Go through each lesson - download them , replay them
print out the instructions

Only move to the next lesson when 100% comfortable - I am 44 and new to guitar - i will not be a Jimi Hendrix ever and not in three weeks

All the Guitar tricks Lessons are excellent - but if you don't practice and understand what you are doing you will fail

Slow it down, take your time

Good luck and have fun