Help me learn the guitar

So about 5 or 6 years ago, I bought a classical guitar. I had the intent on learning how to play it, but just never did. Life had other plans for me, but now I have a guitar which has been collecting dust in the corner and my daughter (2 and a bit) absolutely loves it. I find myself wanting to learn how to use it.

How, oh wise ones, do I play this thing? What would be a good way for me to learn? Going out for lessons isn't really something I'm interested in, but is there some good instructional DVD's or something along those lines that will help me get the hang of this thing?

I wouldn't call this a cough given that there's a few others threads like it, but here's some that have come before:

Learning to play the guitar

Recommend me a learning to play guitar book/dvd

Recommend me a guitar amp

Help me buy a guitar!

More recently, I know some advice has been bandied about in the discussions on the Squier Strat with regards to Rock Band 3; Justin Guitar usually comes up in those.

On that note, I'll be joining you and others(mostly through Rock Band 3) in learning to play, although it'll be late this year for me.

I know it was mentioned in one of those threads, but this is a great place to start: http://www.justinguitar.com/

It's been too many years for me to remember learning sources, but I can offer this: if you don't already have finger calluses from some other activity try not to get too discouraged before you develop them - they'll come in time/practice.

Rock band 3, Justin guitar, and Hal Leonard method books are keeping me busy. Best thing about rock band is I can see rapid progress and hear music. Bad thing about rock band is that I am not learning to sight read actual sheet music. Love it though.

Make sure you have a schedule ok? Don't just noodle around.

Like if you have 1 hour a day:
20 mins for warming up exercises, practicing or learning scales, speed, all the technical stuff.
20 mins for chords only (Power chords, Barre chords, open chords, then everything else). This helps you learn the fretboard too as long as you try to figure out what's the root of the chord. You'll probably never learn all the possible chords in a guitar by heart, but eventually you can sort of figure out how they go and make "new" ones as you go.
20 mins for learning new songs or practicing old ones or just improvising

Well that's what I do anyway, a really good jazz guy recommended that to me. Of course if you got 3 hours, then you extend it (1 hour for chords, etc).

Also give it at least a year before you call it quits, it gets much easier after the first year, the first 6 months are just crap for most people.

Mex wrote:

Also give it at least a year before you call it quits, it gets much easier after the first year, the first 6 months are just crap for most people.

Ugh, yeah. This is the best advice you will ever get, it took me three months to roughly hack my way through Knockin on Heaven's Door. The early stages are dispiriting because people think that if they had 'talent' they should be able to pick it up and play like Jimi.

MrDeVil909 wrote:
Mex wrote:

Also give it at least a year before you call it quits, it gets much easier after the first year, the first 6 months are just crap for most people.

Ugh, yeah. This is the best advice you will ever get, it took me three months to roughly hack my way through Knockin on Heaven's Door. The early stages are dispiriting because people think that if they had 'talent' they should be able to pick it up and play like Jimi.

Currently suffering from this problem. My ability to air-guitar with the best of them led me to believe that I'd pick up the guitar "for realz" in no time. Hasn't been the case. at. all.

Awesome, thanks guys. Didn't realize there were already so much interest in this. Should have done a search I guess.

Trust me, I'm under no illusion that I have talent and am prepared to be quite crap at this for a while. But the desire to get better is there...

Actually my inspiration came from this:

Posting to mark this thread to hopefully actually get me off my butt to learn. One question for the masses, but is there benefit from taking lessons from someone or are the DVDs and other stuff a better place to start?

Rob Anybody's Help Me Buy a Guitar thread basically became the Catch All, so there's a lot of solid advice there.

BlackSabre wrote:

Trust me, I'm under no illusion that I have talent and am prepared to be quite crap at this for a while. But the desire to get better is there...

That's a healthy attitude. I've always been of the opinion that 'talent' is more the willingness to suffer to develop skill than any inherent ability. Perfect Pitch is one of the few advantages you can be born with, everything else is stubbornness.

MrDeVil909 wrote:
Mex wrote:

Also give it at least a year before you call it quits, it gets much easier after the first year, the first 6 months are just crap for most people.

Ugh, yeah. This is the best advice you will ever get, it took me three months to roughly hack my way through Knockin on Heaven's Door. The early stages are dispiriting because people think that if they had 'talent' they should be able to pick it up and play like Jimi.

+1,no matter what you're trying to learn always keep this chart in mind:
http://buytaert.net/sites/buytaert.net/files/images/drupal/cpu-how-to-be-an-expert.jpg

krev82 wrote:

+1,no matter what you're trying to learn always keep this chart in mind:
http://buytaert.net/sites/buytaert.net/files/images/drupal/cpu-how-to-be-an-expert.jpg

Excellent graphic.

mwdowns wrote:
MrDeVil909 wrote:
Mex wrote:

Also give it at least a year before you call it quits, it gets much easier after the first year, the first 6 months are just crap for most people.

Ugh, yeah. This is the best advice you will ever get, it took me three months to roughly hack my way through Knockin on Heaven's Door. The early stages are dispiriting because people think that if they had 'talent' they should be able to pick it up and play like Jimi.

Currently suffering from this problem. My ability to air-guitar with the best of them led me to believe that I'd pick up the guitar "for realz" in no time. Hasn't been the case. at. all.

Same here. Being perfectly honest, I gave up after 3 months for the exact reasons listed above. For me, learning guitar was VERY difficult. I don't think I've ever attempted anything that made me feel so inept as trying to learn guitar. I had all the resources listed above, but just got really frustrated. On that chart that Krev posted, I definitely fell in the bottom section. My Fender sits in my closet collecting dust, but I've had many opportunities to sell it, and haven't. Maybe there's another try left in me.

I've been "Learning" guitar since I was 8. I still can't read music (though honestly I never tried and when I was young, I had a pretty good ear, so it was way easier and Lazier to just remember the notes and the fingering my teacher did and figure it out then repeat from memory. I got caught when he brought out new stuff) but I can read tab. As with everybody here has already said, you get out what you put into it. Justin Guitar is a great resource, as is Ultimate Guitar Tab for a ton of guitar tab and Guitar Chords is a fantastic way to hear some funky chord tabs while you play just to make sure it sounds right (or find an alternate fingering if you're having trouble).

I think playing with someone can be helpful, especially starting out. It's always more fun to play with people and learn new things from people but your mileage will depend on the kind of person they are. Some really talented people are TERRIBLE teachers.

I was curious, Blacksabre, what kind of music were you trying to play? I've found that I end up playing the songs I like (my musical tastes are too wide to just play the kinds of music I like or I'd be trying to learn everything) which ranges from Fireflies by Owl City to As by Stevie Wonder, but my ultimate goal (for myself) is to be able to play some of the classical guitar pieces of love so much. Learning to just play songs is one goal, being able to play in a band is another, being able to play lead guitar or classical or flamenco or writing your own neo-soul arrangements, those are all separate goals. I'd suggest as you begin to learn to play and explore the world of guitar, that you keep in mind the kinds of things you'd like to do and try and fit some of the music and lessons into that.

For all you guitar lovers and learners out there, would there be any interest in doing group lessons or jams or anything over Skype? My wife does a photography business class/mentorship over skype with 9 other people and I was curious if there would be any interest in something like that? I'm a pretty poor guitarist myself but I'm always willing to listen and learn!

BlackSabre wrote:

So about 5 or 6 years ago, I bought a classical guitar.

Are you interested in learning to play classical music? Or some other style that is native to that particular type of guitar, such as flamenco?

I know you said you're not interested in lessons, but as a guy who basically hacked his way to some degree of competence on multiple instruments and then received a formal music education, I wish I had taken a few lessons to start out. Especially as a gamer and a person who works at a PC, the risk of developing an RSI from poor technique is significant and can be very debilitating. I've been fighting carpal tunnel on and off for about ten years now, and I strongly believe that a few hours of lessons just to establish things like basic hand position and a warm-up routine might have averted a lot of pain and inconvenience. Just my two cents.

edit: also, what SuperDave said.

I would totally be interested in a skype jam session, even though I still pretty much suck.
I'll re-iterate the lessons thing. I took them for a couple months after I got mine, and boy did it help. I still got frustrated, but I could take that to my teacher and he'd help me through it. It also helped guilt trip me into actually practicing regularly. If I was paying for it, I wanted to make sure I actually got something out of it. I'm not taking lessons any more, because it did get too expensive to continue, but just getting the basics from an instructor has helped me continue on my own. I don't practice as much as I probably should, but when I still pick it up more often than I would if I hadn't gotten the lessons. And I'm enjoying it a lot more now that my fingers are actually doing what I tell them. Mostly.

GASP! PODUNK! Are you...are you offering classical/flamenco guitar lessons via skype??!? Or...am I just getting too excited?

@Bent, that's a pretty awesome idea. I could possibly get behind that.

@BlackSabre, don't knock the importance of private lessons. I could not recommend them higher especially if you're just getting grounded with a new instrument. They won't just give you things to practice. A good teacher will make sure you have the right form when you play, they will teach you how to do things like restringing a guitar right, they give valuable advice on what to look into when purchasing equipment, and if they're really good, they will mix fun assignments of your interest with music theory, learning how to read music, and technical music to practice different intervals. I've taken private lessons for over a decade for various instruments. They really helped my motivation, gave me a great foundation, and turned me into a better player. Don't write them off so soon.

Benticore wrote:

GASP! PODUNK! Are you...are you offering classical/flamenco guitar lessons via skype??!? Or...am I just getting too excited?

I definitely wouldn't want to inflict my crappy classical/flamenco skills on a student. I'm stressed out enough just trying to play in that style, much less trying to teach.

Podunk wrote:
Benticore wrote:

GASP! PODUNK! Are you...are you offering classical/flamenco guitar lessons via skype??!? Or...am I just getting too excited?

I definitely wouldn't want to inflict my crappy classical/flamenco skills on a student. I'm stressed out enough just trying to play in that style, much less trying to teach. ;)

Well, any tips for lovers of the style? Where should I start? OR is this something that isn't recommended to just try and learn yourself? Note that I dont have a classical guitar (just an acoustic/electric epiphone I just got for my birthday which I love) so perhaps playing on a regular acoustic guitar might be problematic?

If you have a classical guitar and are interested in playing classical guitar, I would absolutely recommend taking lessons, at least for 3-6 months. There are a lot of peculiarities to playing classical guitar with respect to body and hand/arm position, and having a teacher to help guide you will help enormously. The other half of the benefit to taking lessons is that it forces you to practice, unless you want to embarrass yourself every week. It's a lot like the workout buddy system - having someone else to play with and motivate you is a big big help, especially when you're just starting.

I plan on taking lessons this summer, but I was gonna go general guitar since I also need to learn how to read music and could definitely get my technique broken down and rebuilt (playing by yourself can lead to some VERY bad habits) before I take on classical guitar and I think I'd still need an actual Classical Guitar... =0(

Boudreaux wrote:

If you have a classical guitar and are interested in playing classical guitar, I would absolutely recommend taking lessons, at least for 3-6 months. There are a lot of peculiarities to playing classical guitar with respect to body and hand/arm position, and having a teacher to help guide you will help enormously. The other half of the benefit to taking lessons is that it forces you to practice, unless you want to embarrass yourself every week. It's a lot like the workout buddy system - having someone else to play with and motivate you is a big big help, especially when you're just starting.

WHOA...wait a minute. Boudreaux you are in ST. LOUIS and play guitar?? Do I smell a mini Goodjer Guitar MeetUp in the future?!?

If there were such thing as "guitar heat" Benticore is in the middle of "that time of the month".

SuperDave wrote:

If there were such thing as "guitar heat" Benticore is in the middle of "that time of the month".

You ain't lying, SuperDave...I've been playing a lot more guitar in the past few weeks as it calms my 7month old down, I can do it outside in the evenings, and its one of the few stress relievers I have left. I'm working on learning to play Birdhouse In Your Soul by They Might Be Giants at the moment...

Benticore wrote:

WHOA...wait a minute. Boudreaux you are in ST. LOUIS and play guitar?? Do I smell a mini Goodjer Guitar MeetUp in the future?!?

Well, yes, but...uhh....

WHAT IN THE WORLD CAN THAT BE??!!!

[runs]

*dons Pepe Le Pew outfit* You can run mon sherie, but you cannot 'ide!

...I promise there won't be kissing...much...

Heh. j/k

Benticore wrote:

I plan on taking lessons this summer, but I was gonna go general guitar since I also need to learn how to read music and could definitely get my technique broken down and rebuilt (playing by yourself can lead to some VERY bad habits) before I take on classical guitar and I think I'd still need an actual Classical Guitar... =0(

I took classical guitar lessons for about 6 months last year. Really enjoyed it, but the expense was just too much. I did learn quite a bit in 6 months, and I try to keep up with the skills. However, I was borrowing a classical guitar, so now all I have is my steel-string acoustic. Let me tell you, the string spacing on a classical guitar makes a BIG difference. Playing classical pieces on my acoustic is...difficult.

However, classical is GREAT for learning to read music and sight-read pieces. I already knew how to read music, so it was mostly training mind/muscle connection for the fingerings. The majority of beginner classical guitar is written with a lot of open chord shapes, with only occasional forays up the fretboard.

So, should I learn how to site read before taking classical lessons? (And get a damn classical geetar too)?

Benticore wrote:

So, should I learn how to site read before taking classical lessons? (And get a damn classical geetar too)?

First question: good lord no. After a decade of playing the saxophone, I was still practicing sight reading. It's a very very tough thing to do, so don't hold back lessons to do that. Remember, you need to learn how to play your instrument before you can hone your sight-reading skills.

Second question: it all depends. Do you want to finger-pick or pick normally? How do you want it to sound? How are you going to hold the guitar? What position are you going to be in while playing the guitar?