i'm brand new and quite lost

hi.. i got an electric guitar for my birthday (october) and haven't spent much time trying to play or mess around.. but now i am and i have found that i know just about no terms - but i know some of the basic chords and have some books, but nothing seem to be retaining. anyone have some tips or terms i should know? thanks

shell

You probably should consider getting a guitar teacher.
As for terms... I'm not sure what you mean exactly, so I'm just going to defind somethings until my attention strays away, which prolly won't take that long. Run-on sentences NEVER!

pick- the plasticish thing you use to strum your guitar

guitar tab- the easy-to-read sheet music for guitarrists

pull off- when you make a tone by pulling you finger of the string forcefully

hammer-when you pound your finger down on the string to make a noise

slide- when you slide your finger down a string to make a sound

bend-when you move the string horizontally on the neck back and forth

the neck- long part of guitar that goes out from body

frets- the space in between the lines on the neck of your guitar

ICk, I can't think of anything, but I hope this helps a little.

getting a guitar teacher doesnt help most beggining guitarists because the teacher only teaches them what they know and what they want the student to do. If you self teach yourself, u can do what u want to do and not have anybody giving you orders on how play choruses to stupid songs that u dont want to play. But, if u really want a guitar teacher only get one that will focus on what YOU want to learn.

a VERY good site that you MUST visit is http://www.cyberfret.com

This is really an excellent site for starters. When you first enter the site you should click on "first fret". This will show you your first lessons in the order you should learn them. The (further) lessons are divided in the sections "chords", "scales", "arpeggios", "theory" etc.

Also visit the forum there if you have any questions, it's also a very good one

Do you have any favorite songs? You can start by playing you favorite songs that are basic- that way, you remember your chords without any effort and it becomes natural. I remember the first time I learned the guitar. I was hooked up with the Beatles at that time and I would sit on the pavement for hours trying to master chords their songs. I started out with the most simple song- eleanor rigby which only has C and Em most of the time. After the chords have become natural, I then switched to other songs that uses different chords besides C and Em and practice it until these new chords become natural too. If there is a particular chord that you want to learn about but always forget how to play it, its always good to find a song that revolves around that particular chord. If you can't find a favorite song that uses the chord frequently, then make your own chord progression that involves the chord you want to know about. The Beatles used this technique and I find it really helpful. Hope it helps you too. Keep on rockin!

I'd suggest you learn how to read tablature (tabs) immediately. Look for some simple little riffs you can play to get a feel for primitive lead guitar playing. Also learn all your open chords and get good at switching between them. That oughtta keep ya busy for a month or so.

thanks for all the tips...! i now have a guitar teacher who is letting me learn what i want to learn, but is also teaching me the basics of the instrument. ya'll have been kind, thank ya much.

good luck and hopefully you'll have fun with your new instrument. enjoy!!!