I'd like to (re)learn the guitar

Perpetual

Dear kind ladies and sultry gents of H/A,

Back in high school I used to have a guitar. I played it on a semi-regular basis. I wasn't super good or anything, and that's mostly because I didn't have much spare time to practice with it. I was also in a band as the rhythm guitarist, and we sucked. It was more drama and theatrics than music.

Regardless, years have passed and I've matured. I've sold my electric guitar along the way, but lately I've been having a desire to get back into it.

Things to consider:

- I'm a 26 year old, right-handed male
- I work full-time (i.e. can afford something decent)
- I like hard rock more than I like classical (going with an electric guitar again, probably)
- I don't know how to read musical notes, but want to learn

My question is: what is the best way to learn?

The first time I was learning it, the Internet was taking its baby steps, so the only real way to learn was to take lessons. Should I do that again, or is there some crazy awesome technology/website out there that can take the place of a real teacher?

What about the guitar? Any brand recommendations? Peripheral devices? Obviously I'm not going to invest in something expensive right away. But I don't want something that's pure shit either.

Thanks in advance. ;-)

proXimity

Taking lessons from a real person is still the best way to learn, by far.

Godfather

The important thing to know is to set aside a practice plan and stick with it. The hardest part of learning to play is at the beginning, because you're starting from nothing and it can me demotivating at times.

Commit to a set amount of lessons (i'd say a month's, so once a week) and practice a little bit each day without fail. Some guitar teachers sell lessons in package deals, others will charge per lesson; either way, throw down the money ahead of schedule so it motivates you to keep at it.

Once you get past that first hurdle and are starting to get some results, it becomes way easier to practice and a lot more fun.

Jimmy King

Yeah, get lessons. The internet can be helpful, especially in pointing out to you what you need to learn, but it can't always tell you if you're doing something wrong.

The hardest part is making yourself practice if you're not really that into it. Even as an adult, there's ALWAYS something that needs done besides practicing. The same problem you had as a younger kid still exists. It's something you need to make time for, even if it's just 15 minutes of running up and down a few scales while waiting for dinner to get done.

As to gear, it depends on your budget. Without a budget in mind, I would start with a 20-30 watt Peavey Vypyr or Roland Cube amp. They are fairly inexpensive and sound great for what you pay. Guitars are both harder and easier. In the entry level $100-$250 range and maybe a bit higher, 99% of them are made in the same factories in China no matter what brand you get and most are hit or miss with the quality control. I personally like the Dean X or XP series (not the XM series, which are cheaper, but both just say X on the truss rod cover) guitars for starting on a budget and started with an ML X.

EggyToast

A good teacher will push you to do things you avoid doing at home. My first double bass teacher taught me how to play the instrument. He then moved away, and I practiced on my own, and on the first day of lessons with my current double bass teacher, he said "OK, so what have you done," and I told him, and he said "OK, we're going to start with two-octave scales and thumb position. We'll take it slow but you need to expand beyond what you can already do."

And it was great because I was doing things I couldn't do before. You don't need a teacher to practice rhythm, timing, and reading chords or key sigs. You need a teacher to expose you to new stuff and how you play it.

Khavall

Also, for reading music, I know I haven't updated my blog in forever, and I even have a reason why I'm not updating, but I cover basics of music theory and history so far in it that might help for general reading.(It's in my sig)




Also, yeah, a teacher is great. Eventually you might be able to get to a point where you can say "I know the rep, I know where I need to go, I know what I need to work on" but.... well, as an example, after 17 years of playing piano, and while working as a professional pianist, I still go to friends who play other instruments when I'm playing anything other than piano and I barely feel comfortable figuring out what I need to work on and how for piano.

The other thing that makes teachers wonderful is that they can tell you when you're doing things wrong that no internet can. Lessons is pretty much always the best way to go.

darqness

Jimmy King wrote: »

Yeah, get lessons. The internet can be helpful, especially in pointing out to you what you need to learn, but it can't always tell you if you're doing something wrong.

As to gear, it depends on your budget. Without a budget in mind, I would start with a 20-30 watt Peavey Vypyr or Roland Cube amp.

Taking lessons from a teach really is the best way. I taught myself from 13 years old, but in that time I could be so much better than what I am now because I didn't have anyone teaching me anything new and was just practicing the same stuff that I already know over and over.

And the Cubes are awesome little amps. They sound good for a small practice amp and have more features than you need.

So yeah, everything Jimmy King said.

Beck

Justin Guitar (google it) is really awesome for an online resource. It's not a great replacement for a personal instructor, but for your first month or two it's not really worth getting lessons because you are so new at the instrument, everyone's going to tell you the same thing. So I would start there and after that first month or two just find a good instructor on craigslist or wherever you bought your guitar.

I'm curious though, you said you don't want to invest in something expensive right away, is this because people told you not to, or because you don't want to spend money? Because depending on your personality it might be a really good idea to get something nice to start with. Lots of people advised me against it, and even though I didn't stick with the guitar I initially chose (a Gibson SG that cost me ~ 2k) I sold the thing to the store I bought it from for about a 300 dollar loss, and I didn't have to put up with shitty tone while I figured out what I really wanted (which ended up being an insanely expensive Jazzmaster I found on Craigslist for far, far less than it was worth). The thing about cheap guitars, is they're cheap. They sound cheap, they feel cheap, and while they don't look cheap, they're pretty shit guitars. But they're totally playable. I would go for a Squire because you'll pay about 300 dollars for one for a Strat and I think that's a good guitar, and that's not a horrible amount of money to sort of throw away. The Squire strats actually sound pretty decent, though.

Danelectro makes some shit-hot guitars around 300 dollars. They're made of Masonite and they have a fantastic tone. But they do fall apart because of the materials, but they're cool especially if you play slide on them.

But yeah, curious as to why you wanted something cheap. It might be worth it to get a nice guitar, especially if the cost isn't a big deal. Cost was a big deal to me, but my ear was already developed and I just couldn't stand the tone of most cheap guitars.

I would stay away from Peavy, Epiphone, those brands, not because of the make, most guitars will hold up, just because of tone. They don't sound great. That's definitely subjective but, you can't go wrong with a Strat.

If you go to a nice store they can help you match an amp to a guitar and that's probably a good idea. I wouldn't pick an amp until you know what guitar you're looking at buying because, like, a shitty orange amp actually sounds pretty awesome with a chunky, meaty SG but it sounds like garbage with my brighter, crunchier Jazzmaster.

spacerobot

I've recently begun taking guitar lessons. They're kind of expensive at $15 per half hour session (once a week) but it's very much worth it. I'm only one month in and can barely play anything, but I'm really enjoying it. I tried learning on my own for maybe a year and had very little luck. One of the advantages of having a teacher is that they give you accountability, which will encourage you to keep practicing.

The hardest part for me, is that I have played the trumpet actively since 1994 until a couple of years ago, and by the time I stopped actively playing trumpet, I could play most stuff put in front of me with little difficulty. It's frustrating now to start over at (almost) square one... playing basic chords and Ode to Joy and stuff.

Demerdar

Perpetual wrote: »

Dear kind ladies and sultry gents of H/A,

Back in high school I used to have a guitar. I played it on a semi-regular basis. I wasn't super good or anything, and that's mostly because I didn't have much spare time to practice with it. I was also in a band as the rhythm guitarist, and we sucked. It was more drama and theatrics than music.

Regardless, years have passed and I've matured. I've sold my electric guitar along the way, but lately I've been having a desire to get back into it.

Things to consider:

- I'm a 26 year old, right-handed male
- I work full-time (i.e. can afford something decent)
- I like hard rock more than I like classical (going with an electric guitar again, probably)
- I don't know how to read musical notes, but want to learn

My question is: what is the best way to learn?

The first time I was learning it, the Internet was taking its baby steps, so the only real way to learn was to take lessons. Should I do that again, or is there some crazy awesome technology/website out there that can take the place of a real teacher?

What about the guitar? Any brand recommendations? Peripheral devices? Obviously I'm not going to invest in something expensive right away. But I don't want something that's pure shit either.

Thanks in advance. ;-)

Pretty much what everyone in the thread is saying is good advice. I'd be wary about learning how to read musical notes on a guitar. While it may seem like it is necessary to play any instrument, for the guitar (especially since you want to play hard-rock) this is an exception to the rule. I guess what I'm saying it don't get too hung up on trying to read sheet music for guitar, stick with tabs.

tehmarken

Unless you're going to become a proffesional or concert guitarist, playing from sheetmusic isn't a neccesary skill.

Like everyone else said, getting lessons one-on-one is the best. Outside of that, play at least a little everyday, learn and practice scales and chords, and get tabs of music you like and want to play.


For a guitar, I'd say set yourself a price range (about $200-$400 is my recommendation) and find somebody who can play to test around in a guitar store. If you're lucky, there might be a privately owned guitar shop where you can trust employees to give you good demos and reccomendations (Guitar Center isn't always the best).

For an amp, a cheap practice amp will probably be around $100. Get the highest quality sound with that $100, not the largest Amps or fanciness.
If you want a particular sound, I'd suggest getting a pedal/stompbox. I've always been a fan of Dan Electro brand.

Alternatively, you could get an all-in-one effects processor like the V-Amp from Behringer or one of the Pods from Line6. You can then use any speaker system or just headphones (personally, I have a Line6 PocketPod plugged into my computer for practicing).