advice for someone learning acoustic guitar?

[Stardrowned]

i just picked up guitar the other day and i was wondering if anyone here plays what good sites there are, or videos, or books, or or just general advice on how to hold, play, etc... (some may have noticed my going vegetarian thread too.. i'm taking on a lot this month.

[AmazeO XD]

Honestly, practice makes perfect. Depending on how good you wanna be how soon, you can pay for professional lessons, but I taught myself how to play. I picked up guitar about 4 months ago, and I'm actually pretty good now. I can't pull of any insane guitar solos (I prefer relaxing acoustic anyhow), but I can put together a song on my own. So practice practice practice. Also, you'll need to form calluses on your fingers. You can either get em from practicing all the time, or if you want, run your fingers up the high E string to cut em, and then put them in rubbing alcohol. It hurts, but it's quicker. Also, don't bother with trying to play popular songs yet. Just learn easy stuff (like Blink 182, or Greenday) that use basic and easy power chords. Once you learn those, and get comfortable, you can start throwing in more complicated chords to get the placement of your fingers right. Tl;dr, Practice.

[Lëzen]

Don't be afraid to use guitar tablature to help you. A lot of assholes say "durr ur not real muzishun if u cant do it by ear hurr hurr hurr", but learning to replicate songs by ear is a skill that has to be trained over time. Don't feel like you're obligated to jump right into it, it just leads to a lot of frustration. After you get to a comfortable playing level, then start to learn things by ear.

[Bayside]

Do your best to learn as many different songs as you can when starting out, I find that helped me. It helped me learn different styles, different feelings and different ways of playing the guitar. Everytime I learn a new song, I take away something from it that develops its way into my own playing, so I find it really helps to just learn as many different songs as you can. Just do your best to get over the beginning hump that some people like myself find if you don't have a teacher, there were a lot of questions I had that could have been easily answered by a teacher but took me a little while to figure out on my own and it was rather frustrating at the start. Just don't give up if you feel stuck, keep on practicing, keep on researching or doing whatever you have to to keep moving. Ultimate-guitar.com will be your best friend. It has all the tabs/chords you could ever need, and thousands of really useful lessons and columns that can help you in your journey to master the guitar. If you have a problem finding strumming patterns, you could also download something called Guitar Pro, and there are a bunch of Guitar Pro files on Ultimate-guitar.com that you can download that will show you what notes to play, and how they are played. It can be an invaluable tool, I absolutely love it. Start off learning some really simple stuff, theres a few songs I'll recommend to you for a few reasons. First off, is called "Your Call" by Secondhand Serenade. It's a very simple song, very slow paced, but still very beautiful sounding. It was one of the first songs, if not the first song, that I learned. This song is great for getting down the basics, and for dealing with picking, because there aren't really any chords strummed if I recall correctly, so you won't have to worry about chord switching yet. Next, I recommend "Emily" by From First to Last. This song is good to learn because it teaches you how to move between strings that aren't right next to each other, which sounds really simple, but it can be difficult for beginners, but is very good to know. It's also very simple, a little bit more fast paced, and there's even a very small guitar solo in there if you wish to learn it, it's very simple as well, only took me about ten minutes to get down. Third, I recommend something like "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson. I recommend this song because it uses barre chords. You most likely won't be able to play these very well at first, and it may take a hell of a lot of practice before you get them down, but keep at it, and eventually your hand and fingers will be strong enough to barre down the frets. You don't necessarily have to learn these songs in particular of course, they're just songs that all have unique feels to them that can each teach you something very valuable, and some good basics to guitar to get you moving. If I think of anything else I'll be back, and if you have any other specific questions let me know and I'd be glad to help, as I'm sure many other people on this site would be.

[CRAZY BONE]

I am also a beginning guitarist learning on my electric, all the advice has been great in this thread, thank-you. I have just one question: When you read from tabs, how do you know the finger placement? For instance, if the note is on the 11th fret of E, what finger am I supposed to use to hold it down, and how would I know that? Is there some set way that makes it easier, or can I use any finger? This applies for every fret of every string, how do I know which finger to use?

[Bayside]

I am also a beginning guitarist learning on my electric, all the advice has been great in this thread, thank-you. I have just one question: When you read from tabs, how do you know the finger placement? For instance, if the note is on the 11th fret of E, what finger am I supposed to use to hold it down, and how would I know that? Is there some set way that makes it easier, or can I use any finger? This applies for every fret of every string, how do I know which finger to use? You use whatever finger you want to use, it doesn't matter. However, a good habit to get into is something called playing in position. For playing a single note, it doesn't really apply, but for any sort of riffs you're going to play, you generally assign a finger to each fret and move up and down the frets as you have to. This makes your playing faster and cleaner. Generally, people learn scales in box formations of four or five frets, which lets them play that box of the scale without moving their hand much or at all. So, if you're playing say the blues scale pictured here: Then you would assign your first finger to the first fret for all of the strings. Your second finger would be for the second fret for all of the strings, your thir for the third fret of all the strings, and your fourth for the fourth fret on all of the strings. This just allows you to move across the fretboard more easily, and is best to learn when starting out, because it gets harder to correct yourself as you progress and get used to a different way of playing.

[CRAZY BONE]

OK cool, but if what if the song requires you to slide your hand all over the place? Should I just use my first finger and fourth finger to hit all of the notes if my hand is going up and down on the fret board?

[six66picupstyxx]

for tabs/ chords- www.ultimate-guitar.com idk what type of music you're into but if you listen to a lot of 60's acoustic (dylan; peter, paul, mary; johnny cash ect) will help you distinguish between chords and you can use that style to make chord progressions and what not. good luck

[Lëzen]

@Maverick: Well that's kind of the thing with scale patterns. The reason for learning them is to avoid situations that would otherwise require you to basically jerk off the neck of your guitar. Remember, scale patterns continue on and on up the neck, so if you were to play a melody that was, say, an octave higher than the main riff, the best thing (IMO) would be to either move up two frets and play two strings down, or move up six frets and play one string down. It's hard to explain without some sort of visual representation, but I'm at work, so my options are limited. One thing's for sure, do NOT play any sequence of notes with one finger alone, unless they're slides. Not only does it sound like crap, but it's the wimpy way that a lot of amateur bassists play. Hate that shizz.

[I Am the Walrus]

i just picked up guitar the other day and i was wondering if anyone here plays what good sites there are, or videos, or books, or or just general advice on how to hold, play, etc... (some may have noticed my going vegetarian thread too.. i'm taking on a lot this month. Try to learn some theory first Learn all the notes on the fretboard. Try to memorize all the major and minor chords, too. Go here to view free lessons. There are tons. And if you have any questions you can ask there OK cool, but if what if the song requires you to slide your hand all over the place? Should I just use my first finger and fourth finger to hit all of the notes if my hand is going up and down on the fret board? You are thinking waayyy too much about it. I would usually say use the fingers that feel comfortable but since you seem like a beginner try getting used to using your pinky. Not everyone uses the same fingers for the same notes. I am also a beginning guitarist learning on my electric, all the advice has been great in this thread, thank-you. I have just one question: When you read from tabs, how do you know the finger placement? For instance, if the note is on the 11th fret of E, what finger am I supposed to use to hold it down, and how would I know that? Is there some set way that makes it easier, or can I use any finger? This applies for every fret of every string, how do I know which finger to use? Use any finger, but look at the notes after or before it to see what would make it easiest.

[Stardrowned]

you guys are fucking awesome. thank you very much for the great advice, and i'll definitely be using U-G.com alot. i do have a couple off-the-bat stupid newbie questions though. should i start right away with a pick? or learn first just using my thumb? i don't mind using my thumb but it hurts more than my fingers do and i'm already getting a fat ass blister on it. also, is there any way for it to not make the buzzing sound after the lift my fingers from the strings? (not when i strum or pick, it sound clear and fine when i do that, but when i remove my left fingers from the strings after i strum or pick, it'll make that noise)

[Bayside]

you guys are fucking awesome. thank you very much for the great advice, and i'll definitely be using U-G.com alot. i do have a couple off-the-bat stupid newbie questions though. should i start right away with a pick? or learn first just using my thumb? i don't mind using my thumb but it hurts more than my fingers do and i'm already getting a fat ass blister on it. also, is there any way for it to not make the buzzing sound after the lift my fingers from the strings? (not when i strum or pick, it sound clear and fine when i do that, but when i remove my left fingers from the strings after i strum or pick, it'll make that noise) Regarding the use of a pick, really that's your choice. Finger picking allows more elaborate picking patterns, I've seen some people who use all five fingers on their picking hand at once, and it can make some really cool sounds to be able to pick that many strings separately like that. However, you probably won't be playing any songs with crazy finger picking like that, so it really comes down to personal preference. I much prefer the sound of using a plectrum over finger picking, finger picking sounds too soft for me, I like the crispness of using a pick. Regarding the buzzing sound from lifting your fingers from the strings, it depends on how bad it is. When I'm just picking something, it's virtually unnoticeable on either my acoustic or my electric. It's there slightly, but not enough for anyone to pick out besides myself most likely. It's a bit more noticeable when strumming chords, but if you're switching chords fast enough and the like, you won't notice the buzz. As well as this, you could always mute the strings before you lift your finger if you really wanted to, either using one of your fretting fingers or the palm of your picking hand. It shouldn't really be necessary though, I've never really had a problem with any buzz when I'm playing, it's very minimal if noticeable at all. Of course, if the buzz is bad enough, then that could mean that you could have issues with your guitar, like a bad action setup, or the frets might be worn down or not even height, but yours doesn't sound like it's that bad.

[Lëzen]

you guys are fucking awesome. thank you very much for the great advice, and i'll definitely be using U-G.com alot. i do have a couple off-the-bat stupid newbie questions though. should i start right away with a pick? or learn first just using my thumb? i don't mind using my thumb but it hurts more than my fingers do and i'm already getting a fat ass blister on it. also, is there any way for it to not make the buzzing sound after the lift my fingers from the strings? (not when i strum or pick, it sound clear and fine when i do that, but when i remove my left fingers from the strings after i strum or pick, it'll make that noise) Go with a pick for now. Fingerstyle playing is really at its best if you're playing on a classical guitar with nylon strings. If you're playing an ordinary acoustic with steel strings (which is most likely true for you), I agree with Bayside in that the crisp sound of pickstyle playing is a lot brighter and more pleasing to the ears, not to mention a hundred times easier for beginners. As for the buzzing noise, all I can say is make sure the fingers of your fretting hand are placed pretty much directly behind the frets - remember, the frets themselves are the metal bars along the neck, not the spaces in between them...a lot of people mix that up for some reason. Anyway, if you place your fingers too far back from the frets, it buzzes like a bitch. Other than that, just make sure your fretting fingers are placed down firmly (but not too tightly, as that will also cause buzzing), and don't hesitate for too long before removing your fingers from their positions...the action of easing off the frets as you think about jumping to a different chord position can also cause buzzing.

[Stardrowned]

thanks again to both of you. i'll try and get a pick tomorrow. i know i'm gonna want to fingerpick eventually (nick drake is one of my idols) but for now a pick should be good. my only question regarding frets and finger placement is (probably a stupid question but whatever) is what about stuff like A Major chords, where it's impossible to get all 3 fingers directly behind the fret?

[Bayside]

If you mean that you can't get all of your three fingers on the very edge of the fret, that doesn't really matter. As long as it still sounds good, it's fine. Your fingers don't absolutely have to be right on the edge of the fret, it just makes it less likely to get buzz and a clearer sound. You should get your fingers as close to the edge of the fret as possible when you can, but if you can't, don't worry about it. As long as it's not badly effecting your sound, then it's alright. Still, it's good to practice with your fingers being as close to the fret as possible, just to get the best possible sound whenever you can. However, like you've already noticed, it's next to impossible with some chords, so I wouldn't worry about it to much when it comes to that. As long as it still sounds good, you're doing fine. Alternatively, you could barre the chord with one finger, but then you'd also be muting the high E string, which you probably don't want to do.