Learning An Instrument/The Guitar

[dazza]

Hi Everyone,

I am seeking advice from any musicians on the forum.

For Christmas, my brother brought me 'The Complete Absolute Beginners Guitar Course' book and DVD, the problem is, I haven't got a guitar!

I barely have any musical knowledge and haven't played any instruments since the recorder and keyboard at school. I am a complete novice, however I have been thinking about learning an instrument for a few months so this is probably an ideal opportunity.

Now the problem I have is that I don't even know where to begin looking for a guitar, or the sort of things that I should be looking for when buying one, I know of no music shops locally so it probably means buying online, any help is much appreciated.

Dazza

[roger]

Hi Dazza,

OMG, what a question!

If you have never handled a guitar before, my first advice would be not to spend any more money than is absolutely necessary. Over the years, I have owned nine guitars and the first one cost just £36. Admittedly, that was in about 1970! The dearest was £199 but that came many years later. The cheapest on the market should be perfectly adequate on which to learn the basics. You can always upgrade later.

In very general terms, there are five basic types of guitar: classical, folk, jumbo, 12-string and electric. To begin with, I would only look at the first three.

The most obvious difference between a classical and any of the others is that it has nylon strings and is therefore physically easier to play - not so much pressure on the fingers. The others all have steel strings which make the fingertips very sore and will cause blisters until you get used to it!

One main difference between the folk and jumbo guitars is, funnily enough, their respective sizes! The jumbo has a larger sound box and will therefore project a greater volume more easily, it *might* have a better tone but that doesn't necessarily follow but, at first, it may come down to which feels more comfortable.

Regardless of the type of guitar you choose, you should be aware of two things. The gauge of the strings and the *action*; that is, the height between the strings and the fretboard. Both determine the amount of pressure needed to *stop* the strings with the fingers of the left hand. Both affect tone, and might be determined by the style you wish to play but, for a beginner, physical comfort is more important.

Don't be put off by the term "classical guitar" - it is not limited to classical music. A beginner would quite happily play any kind of music on any guitar.

Apart from a guitar, I would recommend two small accessories. If you don't have access to another instrument, you will neeed something to tune it to. A tuning fork or pitch pipes would be fine. The other thing is a capo; that clever little gadget that clips around the fretboard to raise the pitch without altering the chord shapes you are playing. The latter can also make the action a little easier.

If you wished to learn the basics of musical theory, I would not discourage it but it is not essential. The book and DVD should cover enough to enable you to sound reasonably proficient in a relatively short time, even if you are limited to six songs in the same key!

What you require more than anything is time and the dedication to practise daily. Unless you are absolutely determined to play well, that dedication may not be easy.

Good luck!

Roger

[Gene]

Hi Dazza,
Guitars and I go back some years. I learned to love the instrument at a very young age. I own various guitars and each one is different, with its own personality. For years now, I've been doing all of my own setups, adjustments and minor repairs. Are you looking for an acoustic? An electric? An acoustic-electric? A nylon-string or a steel-string?

I think that one of the most important things for you as a beginner is that your first guitar should be fairly easy to play. Otherwise you may get discouraged too quickly. By their very nature, guitars are not the easiest instruments to learn. But once you get past the beginner stage, things improve rapidly.

If you plan to purchase the instrument on the Internet, you probably will not be able to play it prior to purchase. The "action" or string height needs to be low, unless you plan to do a lot of hard strumming. Action can be adjusted in a number of ways including at the nut, at the bridge and by adjusting the neck. I keep the action on all of my guitars very low, as I play a soft, finger-style jazz. Setups should also always include proper "intonation", which is set by adjusting string length at the bridge. You should ask any seller how the instrument is "setup". Also, if you purchase a "shorter-scale" guitar (less frets), the frets will be closer together and therefore the instrument will be easier to play. There will also be less tension on the strings, so they will be easier to press down. All of my electric, acoustic and classical guitars are set up so that they are very easy to play.

I would not pay a lot of money for your first guitar, but I would not purchase anything cheap either. In most cases, you get what you pay for. It's unfortunate that you don't have a music store nearby. That's the best way to explore the instrument.

Consider going on YouTube and looking up players such as Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, Joe Pass, Doyle Dykes and so many other talented performers. Their videos may help you to decide what type of playing style is best for you. A search on Ebay for guitars will give you a lot of information also.

I could talk for hours about the guitar, but let me know if you have specific questions and please keep me updated on your search for the ideal instrument. I'll help in any way that I can.

Best of luck, Gene

[Gene]

Hi Roger,
Brilliant minds think alike!
Happy Holidays!
Gene

[roger]

Hi Gene,

Not only do brilliant minds think alike but you and I can do it too!

Happy holidays to you too!

Roger

[dazza]

Hi Roger and Gene,

Thank you for your information and advice which I will no doubt find invaluable when I come to purchasing my first guitar.

It might not be for a month or so yet as I will probably nedd to save up.

I also plan on taking a few lessons, as I don't want to be put off early on by not knowing what I am doing.

The only thing that I know for sure is that I probably don't wan't an electric guitar, despite years of playing the air guitar I don't think it's my style! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Thanks again,

Dazza

[James]

Hi Dazza,

As you’ve said you don’t want an electric guitar, that cuts down the options and makes it a much easier choice. Effectively that leaves you with a choice of either a “classical” guitar or a steel strung acoustic/electro-acoustic. I wouldn’t advise a 12-string as a beginner as it is more tricky to tune, more difficult to play and repertoire is more limited.

Personally, I think you have to play any guitar before you decide what to buy. You can browse the internet and check prices, but it’s personal preference that counts (similar to say buying clothes) so you can see what you like the feel and sound of.

Classical guitars tend to have a wider fingerboard and higher action (strings further from the frets) meaning they are physically more demanding to play and you have to be more precise and stretch your fingers more. However, the nylon strings are easier on the tips of your fingers. A steel-strung acoustic has much lighter gauge (thinner) strings made of steel which can be more painful to play and cause blisters until your fingertips harden up (don’t worry, this happens quickly with regular practice). The fingerboard is narrower and hence you don’t need to stretch as far.

The depth of the neck is also a consideration, some players prefer a flatter neck (like on my Ibanez guitar) others prefer a more rounded shape. Again, you are best to play a few to see what you prefer. I know from meeting you that you are quite a big guy, so you may want a larger fingerboard model.

The next big consideration is the right hand (assuming you are right handed). Classical technique relies predominantly on the thumb and fingers, whereas an acoustic can be played with fingers or more frequently a plectrum (especially for strumming). Again, it’s down to choice what you prefer (but it’s good to develop a range of techniques).

Progress can be slow to get the first few chords but you’ll be surprised how many songs you can play just by learning a few chords. In order to not become disillusioned, you need to be learning songs and pieces you actually want to play and I think that may be what influences your decision. Therefore, consider what songs you want to be playing in say 3-6 months from now, and that should influence the type of guitar.

I’d say you can get a perfectly adequate classical beginner guitar (e.g. Jose Ferrer) for under £50, and reasonable steel stung acoustics for well under £100. The expensive guitars come later! Beginner guitars will not require the time spent setting them up (such as by a professional luthier) as the cost of doing so would be disproportionate to the cost of the guitar. However, although you’ve discounted electric guitars, my Ibanez is by far the easiest and least physically demanding guitar to play.

A word of advice from my own experience, is that classical technique is more precise and more easily transferrable to electric/other guitars, but progress is slower. Acoustic progress will be made more quickly e.g. for strumming songs.

I’d go slightly further than Roger says with the additional items and consider an electronic tuner rather than a tuning fork/pitch pipes as trying to tune using those can be very frustrating and difficult as a beginner (unless you happen to be blessed with an excellent natural sense of pitch like someone to whom this forum frequently refers!).

I’d say that music theory is not essential at the moment, but is a great help as you become more advanced as it opens up a range of sheet music to you and aids in memorising songs (from the chord progressions and musical structures) through to composition and working songs out by ear.

Good luck – you won’t regret investing the time spent learning to play an instrument, and you’ll find the better you get, the more you want to learn and the less you realise you know! The key is frequent practice.

Regards,

James

[roger]

james said:

I’d go slightly further than Roger says with the additional items and consider an electronic tuner rather than a tuning fork/pitch pipes as trying to tune using those can be very frustrating and difficult as a beginner (unless you happen to be blessed with an excellent natural sense of pitch like someone to whom this forum frequently refers!).

Yeah, I wondered about that, James. I don't know what you might have to pay for an electronic tuner these days but the one I bought many years ago cost almost as much as some guitars! If you can afford one, Dazza, they are incredibly easy to use.

Roger

[James]

roger said:

I don't know what you might have to pay for an electronic tuner these days but the one I bought many years ago cost almost as much as some guitars! If you can afford one, Dazza, they are incredibly easy to use.

From memory about £20-£25 should get you a chromatic tuner with in built mic for acoustics. The cheaper ones are not chromatic i.e. will only let you tune to EADGBE and have to be plugged into the guitar.

A worthy investment unless your name is Jimi Hendrix and you can sound great even when you play out of tune!

[roger]

Hi James,

Like many electronic gadgets, they have certainly come down in price since my day. I can't remember exactly what I paid but it was certainly over £50. It had a built in mic but would only tune to EADGBE. If you can get one for £20 or so, Dazza, it might be a very worthwhile investment.

Roger

PS. You might also like to go mad and buy a strap!

[gordon]

Hi Dazza,

Looks like you are getting plenty of good advice here, I play the guitar a little and find an electronic tuner invaluable.

When you do finally decide what sort of guitar to buy and get down to learning to play I can't emphasize enough that you will need to keep up the practise and don't give up when things seem difficult.

Good Luck.

Gordon

[James]

Here's one with all the features for under £15:

Click here

I couldn't find a price for the one I use during my quick search, but here is the Yamaha YT-2200 in all its glory:

Yamaha YT-2200

So you see, electronics have moved on since Roger's playing days!

[Gene]

I propose that we start a rock metal band consisting or Roger, James, Gordon, Dazza and me. Since it is MY idea, I get to distribute all of the millions that we will undoubtedly earn....so I get 90% of the take. Any and all of the VERY TALENTED ladies in this forum are hereby invited to audition for lead vocalist in the "HWI Band". However, be advised that Hayley has also been invited to audition as a back-up vocalist and has accepted...... i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Excellent comments on the tuners from you guys. Like all of you, I find the electrics very easy to use, but I also like the 440 tuning fork. Once I get the "A" string in, I use harmonics for the rest. It's very accurate. Some of my instruments actually have an electric tuner built in, which makes it even easier.

If any of you are interested, you can see a few of my instruments on my Myspace page. The link is:
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=177934370

Can someone please instruct me on how to properly post a link ("here")?
Regards and keep on pickin'!
Gene

[Gene]

roger said:

Hi Gene,
Not only do brilliant minds think alike but you and I can do it too!
Happy holidays to you too!
Roger

LOL Roger!

[Paddy]

gene said:

roger said:

Hi Gene,
Not only do brilliant minds think alike but you and I can do it too!
Happy holidays to you too!
Roger

LOL Roger!

Three cheers

... for wishful thinking!