I want to learn to play the guitar

leo79

I've got a few free hours every other day and I've always wanted to learn to play the guitar.

I've got an old but perfectly good Yamaha guitar which I've just fitted some new strings to.

I have no experience whatsoever and I realise it's a long learning process. A couple of my mates play and they say that they are always learning but also wanting to learn and practice.

At the moment I could give 2 hours a day, 3 times a week but I don't know where to start. There are loads of tuition vids on youtube, guitarlessons.com, guitartricks.com etc but I was hoping someone on here might be able to point me in the right direction.

Many thanks

Axl

Go and say hello in this thread, plenty of help and knowledge, a great community The learning to play for real thread

leo79

who'd have thought it. A guitar thread in the xbox section. Thanks, I'll have a look.

hyperfish

Justin's site is as good a place as any and where many start. It's free too.

JustinGuitar Site Map And Guitar Lesson Structure

Christian 71

Yep, can’t beat Justin for starting out.

Really it’s never been a better time to learn it’s a case of what works for you, everyone is different.

I’d suggest checking out the fender site as they are really trying hard to become the go to place for beginners. Free trial on their website and they have an app now.

https://www.fender.com/play

Backspace

I've played guitar since the 60s but I quit playing years ago. All songs are chord based so learn what you can about chords. You'll get your notes, scales from them and they are grouped in keys.

C major is a common key and that has no sharps nor flats in its notes. All keys have the same intervals and that's why the key of G have an F# as its note. D major have C# and F# in it. It's all in the intervals.

The relative minor of C major is A minor. Why? Same notes but with different tonics (roots). The C major starts with C and the A minor starts with an A. Playing in C major gives a happy feeling while playing in A minor gives the blues feeling.

From bright to dark would be C - G - D - A - E - B - F for the major scales. The minor scales also are what relative to this order. Then there are modes for each key. This is where it gets a little deep.

I'll leave it at that.

jonathanrace

Allow me to play devil's advocate here and tell you to avoid any "guitar basics 101" guides. Sure you need to know a handful of chords and how to make those shapes but... The main thing is it has to be related to what you want to do. If you are learning songs from your favourite artists and doing what you love the most then you are much more likely to stick to it and keep improving. So... don't put this off for too long! learn what you need to do get the wheels moving and then get stuck in to rockin' out to your faves!

Backspace

Most artists knows no theory. It's all by ear and that's quite a talent. Some are taught in music theory like at Berkeley.

Panavision

Seek out a decent guitar teacher and get some lessons first. Working with someone face-to-face rather than using YouTube will probably get you to an acceptable standard very quickly because you are being monitored; less likely to pick up bad habits. Also, I think you will get to grips with the theory more efficiently as well. After some basic lessons, then use YouTube.

I speak from experience.

Backspace

That will depend on the teacher. Some are good and some that think they are.