Where to Begin? Lisa McCormick?

I'm an old man of 83, not yet retired, not yet dead (but anytime now I suppose). Lifelong love of all music, but never until now had the energy to play, other than the radio, jews harp, and kazoo. I just put my foot into it, bought an acoustic Fender Starcaster (for 29 bucks), a Korg tuner, a Peavey amp and a sound hole pickup (in case I want to go that way). My kids run a resort here in the Ozarks, rental cabins with a small outdoor theater in the woods. My fantasy is to get proficient enough to entertain our guests on that stage. I have always had excellent pitch, and I'm in command of a pleasant singing voice, for which I have undergone some training. My preference for material is varied. Certainly acoustic, for folk, classic rock, some traditional country, and show tunes (Ain't Misbehavin', Blowing in the Wind, Let the Rest of The World Go by, You'll never know, the Boxer, etc.). Problem is, I'm really so ignorant that I don't know where to begin on This site. Am I talking about fingerpicking, strumming, or what? Which lesson(s) first? Which instructor? I sent this to the general website address and got a response from a fellow named Todd. The response was too general to be of use to me, other than recommending Lisa's lessons. I looked there, but quite nearly as confused as before. Maybe Lisa or someone could jump in here and educate this ol' duffer?
Namaste,
Richie

Welcome!

As long as you're still breathing and in control of your motor skills and mental faculties(grin), it's never too late to learn something new - especially guitar.

The first thing you need to do is figure out what play style you want to learn. There's really only two - fingerpicking, and using a pick. Strumming is merely a technique used to play chords. Do you want to learn how to fingerpick, use a pick, or both?

Once you figure that out, if you're not feeling too pressed for time before God summons you home (wink), you may want to spend the first week or so conditioning your hands. Just as athletes need to condition their bodies, guitarists need to condition their hands. Your hands need to be able to work together in order to create some semblance of music. Otherwise, you'll likely grow pretty frustrated rather quickly. When I started taking Classical guitar lessons in 2003, my teacher had me spend the first week of practice doing nothing but finger stretching exercises for 30 minutes every day while fingerpicking the strings. After that, I made those same exercises part of my regular routine for the first 15 minutes of every practice session. I was surprised to learn that GuitarTricks doesn't have any lessons on the subject - at least, I didn't see any. Thankfully, there are a number of videos on YouTube, but I recommend this one, as the teacher explains why they're so important. In fact, the chromatic exercise he demonstrates is one of the first exercises I was taught:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmR_MIOCF9k&feature=related

I also recommend watching this video on the best way to practice guitar. It offers extremely useful advice on how to avoid getting into bad habits so you can play more comfortably and sound better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYIAkKUxcOI&feature=relmfu

As for which lessons to begin with here on GuitarTricks, based on what you described about your familiarity with guitar, I recommend starting with the Guitar Fundamentals. The concepts may seem rather drab, but they'll give you the foundation you'll need to learn how to play your favorite songs. Ever seen "The Karate Kid"? Think "wax on, wax off", and you'll get the idea. ;)

first sign up for full access..

then go through the fundamentals..

then Lisa McCormicks lessons

Welcome to GuitarTrick
Good luck and have fun

I suggest you start with learning the D chord. It seems to be easy for most people to learn. It can be strumed or picked and the shape can be moved up the neck. D is played with your pointer finger in the 2nd fret, move your pointer up to the 5th then 7th frets.

Just using that one chord or shape in those 3 places moving from one spot to another will open your ears to just the beginning of what a guitar can bring out of you. Mix struming and picking as you move. You will start to impress yourself with what you can do in a short amount of time, then see the bigger picture.

This is only one chord or shape, what can I do with the rest of them.

Once you get to that point check out Lisa's lessions again. You will have enough back ground to understand what she is saying and doing. Other instructors also have great lessions, but for what it sounds like you are trying to learn, Lisa's lessions would be a Gold Mine to you.

Thank you all for the replies. I have started on the Core Lessons.

Richie