Easy way to learn guitar?

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VocalBoothToGo

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I am a pianist and vocalist, and I like to make high quality recordings at home, whenever the spirit moves me.

Lately, I've been getting an itch that can only be scratched with an ax. In other words, I want to teach myself how to play the guitar.

What is the easiest way to get started? Is there anything out there easier than tablature? Any help, hints, or feedback would be much appreciated.
 
Do you have any friends who play guitar? or relations? maybe they can give you lessons. I know you can get guitar lessons, but they are expensive. You should search in google for dvd's. My uncle had a dvd on guitar lessons, that was about 3 year ago and now he can play guitar easily! I'm learning from him at the moment. If you have someone to show you how to, then thats obviously the best option, but dvd's could be the second option if you can't afford a teacher.
 
javierf55 said:
A teacher is always the best recommendation, otherwise as you have background playing other instruments, you can try with some web pages.

I personally use a couple:
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That sounds like exactly what I've been looking for, thanks!
 
seancfc said:
Do you have any friends who play guitar? or relations? maybe they can give you lessons. I know you can get guitar lessons, but they are expensive. You should search in google for dvd's. My uncle had a dvd on guitar lessons, that was about 3 year ago and now he can play guitar easily! I'm learning from him at the moment. If you have someone to show you how to, then thats obviously the best option, but dvd's could be the second option if you can't afford a teacher.
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That might be an option. Dozens of my friends are musicians, a couple are even teachers. I really ought to try to get a few pointers from them before I go and make any purchases I think (not exactly rolling in the dough).

So tabs are more for those who've already been taught basic techniques?
 
+1 at getting a friend to teach.

I've never liked DVDs though. You will always be finding yourself pausing and rewinding the video. I like books that show how to play the chords. (what fingers to use where)
 
Well I'm assuming you can read music, since you play piano. Simply go get a Guitar Method book from a music store and start going through it. That's how I learned, I played trumpet and sax in middle school band so I knew how to read proficiently. I literally went out and got the same edition book we used for the first year of band except for guitar and started learning where the notes are, etc. And it has info about different techniques as well.

And you can always look up stuff for free online, but there's nothing like having one of those books sitting in front of you. If you can read music learning new instruments is easy, you just have to learn where the notes are on the new instrument.

I actually had no clue what tabs were until I had been playing for a couple years and I noticed that the weird little numbers under the staff corresponded the frets I was playing :laughings:. Oh the humor of being self taught :D
 
The best way to learn guitar is to have no friends in junior high...at least that's how I learned, and most of my friends who are any good did too!

um, get a guitar, learn some chords, strum, and see what you want to do from there. There's a lot you can learn on your own. Having someone to show you some stuff once a week (teacher or friend) is ideal...but you can learn a ton from the web.
 
A basic Guitar Method book and dedicated practice time. Once you get the hang of basic chords, start playing along with music you know well. Even though you know piano, learning guitar is, well, a whole 'nother instrument. Different finger muscles. Calluses will come slowly and painfully. Learn on a medium-action acoustic - learning on a low action electric will not enable you to play 'any guitar out there'.
 
There is no "easy" way.. It really depends on what you want to accomplish. Do you want to play in a band, or do you just want to add a little guitar to tunes your recording at home. What kind of music do you want to play? Do you have a guitar now that you want to learn on, or are you thinking about buying one (and what kind, accoustic or electric)?
 
VocalBoothToGo said:
Any help, hints, or feedback would be much appreciated.
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Hi,

You can choose from a variety of different roads but the bottom line is that there's still really only ONE way to learn to play guitar well and that's to put in the hundreds of hours that you need before you get decent control over your fingers (thousands is better). Anybody (via book, friend, DVD, web-site, etc.) can show you where to put your fingers to play this or that chord, or give you tips on how to play the notes for a particular riff or tune, but you won't be able to change from one to another with any sort of speed or accuracy - or any kind of artistic flair - until you've done a lot of hand/eye/ear/brain coordination training. Which can be quite dull if you go about it the wrong way. So your real goal is to find out what method or path might keep you motivated and interested while you put the time in.

What I'm saying is that going for "easy" isn't really the right angle, what you want is "interesting" and "enjoyable". Good luck. A big percentage who start out don't go the distance, so try and work out what hooks or motivations might keep you hanging in there while you get some skills up to speed.
 
Just to screw things up a little bit I'm going to suggest maybe starting out by learning ukulele.They only have four strings,that are nylon and easy on uncalloused fingers and they're much cheaper than a guitar.Plus anything you play on a uke can be transfered directly to guitar.Very small,easy to transport and lots of fun.

Just a crazy alternative suggestion from a guitar player who loves ukes.
 
In case you want to try buying some books, I would like to recommend you the Hal Leonard series....

Try the fast track and then you go on your own pace.

Fast Track Music Instruction - Hal Leonard Online

Perhaps the guitar 1 might be too basic but quite frankly I preffer to start from scratch and skip some parts if you think they are too simple.
 
Hey everybody, thank you so much for all the helpful advice! I'm gonna let you all know how it goes.
 
RIPDimeCFH said:
There is no "easy" way.. It really depends on what you want to accomplish. Do you want to play in a band, or do you just want to add a little guitar to tunes your recording at home. What kind of music do you want to play? Do you have a guitar now that you want to learn on, or are you thinking about buying one (and what kind, accoustic or electric)?
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Just looking to strum some chords while I sing... no Satriani aspirations here. I've got a totally adequate acoustic, and the kind of music I'm looking to play is my own... fairly simple, kind of like Dylan without all the whininess and indignation.
 
most music store have cheap lessons -

Basically just learn and practice chord shapes and pentatonic scales until you can play them backwards and forwards without thinking

practice every day for an hour at least
 
The best way to get better once you learn the fundamentals is to find someone you can jam with on a daily bases.
 
moresound said:
The best way to get better once you learn the fundamentals is to find someone you can jam with on a daily bases.
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+1

Easier said than done, but definitely right on the money. :)

If you can find a compatible playing buddy it can be a huge asset. When I only knew a handful of basic chords, and wasn't even much good at changing between them, a friend invited me to play with a small group of others in his music shop - i.e. jam around in public. :eek: Because he was a good friend I reluctantly went along, really just to prove to him that I wasn't ready. But I had a ball.

We all made a few mistakes, nobody cared about the errors, and we all had an excellent time playing, discussing music, swapping tips and experimenting. We kept it up once a week for a year or so and any of the passing customers who wanted to could have a go. We had all ages join in, from a little kid shaking a juice bottle through to a guy around 80. Instruments on different days included drums, guitars, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, harmonica, and even ones like cello and double bass. The good things that I learned included that you don't have to fill every second with sound; that knowing when to shut up and give other people space is a valuable skill; that having good timing is a more important skill than knowing a stack of scales; that contributing a small amount of thoughtfully chosen and well played notes always sounds better than simply thrashing away; and that the best music is more like a conversation than a pissing contest. :) Joining in on that first day was probably the single best thing I did to move my music along. It changed my thinking from "Geez, this could take forever..." to "Hey, I might not be that good yet, but I can do it! Woohoo!!".

Cheers,

Chris
 
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