Any Tips For A Beginner??

Earlier today i blagged a guitar off my bro (he owns about 6) with the intent of learning to play.

First impression is that it's ****ing hard!!!!!

So, has anyone got any tips for an absolute beginner? I have visited a few sites to get some tabs but there doesn't seem to be any for the complete noob like myself.

Does anyone know of any good tab sites that have really easy songs i can practise with?

Thanks

what kind of thing are ya looking to end up doing? improvising riffs etc and just jamming, or playing songs that you already know? or both?

I started at 12 yrs old and it took about 6 months to get anywhere near reasonable. My eldest boy started at 9 yrs and took about 6 weeks to get to the same point. Apart from being 9? Practice, practice, practice. A beginner's book might be easier to learn from. Learn scales & chords and build up your skill/ finger strength. Oh, and learn how to tune your guitar!

Originally Posted by rancido64

what kind of thing are ya looking to end up doing? improvising riffs etc and just jamming, or playing songs that you already know? or both?

I am looking to just play songs that i like at the moment, although the tabs for Metallica are way out of my league.

I have been attempting Wake Me When September Ends by Green Day this evening which my bro advised was a good place to start.

Originally Posted by Friggertool

I started at 12 yrs old and it took about 6 months to get anywhere near reasonable. My eldest boy started at 9 yrs and took about 6 weeks to get to the same point. Apart from being 9? Practice, practice, practice. A beginner's book might be easier to learn from. Learn scales & chords and build up your skill/ finger strength. Oh, and learn how to tune your guitar!

Yer, a book might be a good idea. The tuning is taken care of by an electronic thingy that plugs into the guitar. Sounds like your lad is a natural at it. My bro is pretty good, but then he has been playing for a few years now and every time i go round there he is playing something so i think he must practice a lot.

yeah, Green Day are a good starting point, simple songs (generally) that'll incorporate different strumming, and when there is a solo it's a simple enough one..

Like friggertool said, learn a few scales to get the dexterity in your fingers improving

are you using a acoustic/electric with steel/nylon strings?

This is the beast.

Not sure what type the strings are but they hurt my little fingers.

steel hence the pain lol

you'll get used to it and have hard pads on the end of your fingers
you chose a beaut to be starting with anyway.. and a nice modest size amp

Yer 25w amp but can't take the volume above 2. Not sure it would be a good idea at the moment anyway the noises i'm making.

it'll get better

I'll suggest this to you, I was thinking about it a few weeks ago and wish that i had done it so i could hear how far i'd come:

-record say.. a 15 min session of yourself playing anything that you can (with or without the tabs there)
-in a year or so listen to the old one, and see the difference

I wish i'd thought of that back when i started playing

That's a very nice guitar! (Epiphone SG copy?) I wish I had a brother like that. Carful you don't annoy the neighbours

I agree that a book might be a good place to start, at least for chords/theory side of things. Tabs on the net can be unreliable to say the least. Hope it goes well

Originally Posted by Alfaspeed

Earlier today i blagged a guitar off my bro (he owns about 6) with the intent of learning to play.

First impression is that it's ****ing hard!!!!!

So, has anyone got any tips for an absolute beginner? I have visited a few sites to get some tabs but there doesn't seem to be any for the complete noob like myself.

Does anyone know of any good tab sites that have really easy songs i can practise with?

Thanks

I think the best advise I can give you is ...... Get Some Lessons

I've just started having some after faddlin' about by my self for two years. Having someone show you how to play properly at a basic level is very helpfull.


learn a few basic chords E, A, B7th ... try some some simple blues riffs... you'd be amazed at the variety of stuff you can play just with 3 chords.


and most important of all..... keep the faith

Originally Posted by Friggertool

That's a very nice guitar! (Epiphone SG copy?) I wish I had a brother like that. Carful you don't annoy the neighbours

Yes, well spotted. It was my bro's first guitar. Since buying this a few years back he now has about 6 and has spent in excess of £4000 on them.

Thanks for all the input guys. I hope i can get to grips with it.

Originally Posted by Lookin' 4 Ferdi

I think the best advise I can give you is ...... Get Some Lessons

not necesserily (sp?)

I've been playing 6+ years now (on & off.. didn't always have a guitar of my own during that time), and I've never had a lesson once.
I'm pretty competent at jamming along to any music that's on using blues scales, and I know enough proper songs to keep me entertained for hours..

imo it's all about how you like to learn...
I don't like to be told how to do things, and I don't do well in a "structured" learning environment.. I'm more an "order out of chaos" type

Originally Posted by rancido64

imo it's all about how you like to learn...
I don't like to be told how to do things, and I don't do well in a "structured" learning environment.. I'm more an "order out of chaos" type

I'm quite fortunate that the fella I have lessons with is a friend so its very informal... more like a glorified jam session really.

We're doing basic chords (all within the first frets) - I'm a 'hands on' sort of learner so not brilliant at picking stuff up from books. It helps having someone say 'hang on - try this' then show me once or twice (and somethimes thrice) then I can generally pick stuff up



its a good feeling when you get to squeeze a tune out that you can recognise... and even better when everyone recognise's it too

If it is hurting your fingers - they will toughen up in time - but a common mistake is finger positioning on the fretboard.....resulting in having to press too hard to make the chord/note, if you can learn some simple chords as others have said and learn to play them correctly getting the fingering right...you shouldn't have to be putting too much pressure down..

But having lessons should be something you should strongly consider...