Hey guys I'm picking up the guitar as a hobby. Wondering if you guys know some sort of home study I can do. Can't really afford to go to classes because life is going to get hectic in a month. So I'm thinking of a book or maybe a video set. Video might be best!

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Fox

Hey man,

When I first started out I just utilized the internet like crazy.

www.cyberfret.com

That is a pretty good resource as far as basics, and even some advanced stuff.

If you can remain dedicated to practice and not giving up, lessons are not even necessary.

Hope that helps.

You can MAYBE learn it on your own if you are musically talented. You will be able to play some basic songs and stuff.

The chances that you can learn to solo or play an amazing song on your own is about 1:10,000,000.

Teach yourself and it will probably be enough to impress girls. Follow Riott's advice though. Don't spend a lot on your first guitar though just in case you don't like it.

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If you are not a PUA, you are a noob.

Ive been playing guitar for 20+ years and obviously very advanced, but my advice to you, is that you need to be honest with yourself on how serious you are to learn. Soooo many people pick up the guitar and a few weeks later they hardly ever pick it up or never play again, because it takes too much effort for them.

If you just want to learn to play so you can impress chicks, then download a few guiar tabs off the net of your favorite songs and learn, you dont really need any experience at all for this.

If you are really serious and want to get professional, you do not need to take classes (not at least for a while) as there are a lot of great books with cd's and plenty of good vids.

let me know how serious you are and i can recommend some to you.

regards.

Thanks for the links man.
J. Jay I never do something for the purpose of getting girls. I'm doing this for me because I want to learn. And well I have a purpose: I made a promise to my best friend who has passed on that one day we'd play together. That never happened. So I want to learn and honor my friend's memory one day by performing a song in memory of him. It's not going to be my career. I just want to be as good as I can be. I already have a career . And well the ladies will come

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Fox

Fox,

My advice to you is get a book on beginning guitar but just 1 book, and see how you go. Also download a few guitar tabs of your favorite songs to learn. If you complete this book from beginning to end and practise everyday, then you may have what it takes to see it through. Also, get together with some other guys and jam from time to time. It doesnst matter how bad you might sound, but it will keep you motivated.

Being a pro guitar player is a far different ball game to being a hobbiest guitarist, thats why i needed to know where your real interest level is.

Just be aware that learning guitar can at times be unbelievably frustrating and challenging, there were times where I didnt pick up the guitar for a few years.

Thanks man. Heavy story behind it huh? I know it'll be tough but I'll keep on pushing. I'll look into it. I've been reading about Learn and Master the Guitar. It's a dvd set. If I like it I'll think about buying it or something. You guys know if it's any good?

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Fox

Basically any books or dvd's that covers;

technique
chords
chord progressions
scales
arpeggios
theory

and has some backing tracks to practise along to should be good.

Cool man thanks heaps.

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Fox

I've been self taught and been playing for 11 years. I can safely say that learning the instrument on your own is not impossible, and it all depends on your drive. Don't learn the guitar to impress chicks. Impress yourself. Many guys I've taught have all said stuff like ' a guitar is an easy way to get a chick' or 'I want to learn it cuz chicks dig it'. And these are the very guys who can never really impress anyone with the strings, mainly because they learnt it for someone else.

Go to ultimate-guitar.com, and start learning from there. Pick up a cheap acoustic, learn how to read tabs, and practice finger exercises. If you really do it to please yourself, you will end up pleasing many more along the way.

Been playing e-guitar for 5 years now.
I recommend you to take lessons in the beginning even if its just one lesson per month and only for 6 months.
Why?
Correct hand position and efficient fretting is almost never done correcly by self-taught guitar players. It keep you from progressing after a while. Its like having bad body language and talking in a monotone voice in PU. It can be corrected in a couple of weeks if someone tells you how or you may have trouble with it all your life.
Once you get the basics continue on your own or decide that the lessons are actually worth it.
Alternative: socialise in music stores and get to know good guitar players.
teach em PU for giving you guitar lessons? how about that?
Actually not alternative.
Get to know other guitar players.
They'll know where to get the strings cheaper and fix your guitar for a low price.

I used to buy beginner videos... they suck... at most get those that teach you songs you wanna learn.

Rock on
6string

oh and learn your notes. Get books with tabs and notes.

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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.
Jim Morrison

To be honest, getting 'alright' in playing the guitar is really easy. I started this year, granted I already play the piano but still, and I can play almost every song. Chords and stuff, that's all simple. It's the solo's and riffs that are hard.

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"To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say. "
René Descartes

Yeah I'm a self taught guitarist myself, and I've been playing for six years. I've been in bands and played many many times in front of people and have a very technical taste in music. So my point is it's very easy to teach yourself guitar to a high level of technicality. As others have recommended, ultimate-guitar.com is a fantastic place to start and once you learn a few simple chords and learn to read tabs you should really start to get somewhere with it. It will take a while to get good at first but I have taught several students and once they push past the first hurdle of learning simple chords and riffs, they really start to enjoy it and get good quickly.

If you have any friends who are anyway good it would definitely help you if you got them to show you just a few simple chords to start you off and after that you should fly it!

As you can see, there are way too many guitarists in the world.

Learn how to play bass or drums.

Lol Chief your crazy man. Never enough guitar players. Well if you are learning it starts even before you pick up the guitar. What is your inspiration? To have fun and rock out, play your favorite songs or just pick up HB's? Now I would hate to say it but, don't pick up a guitar if you just want to pick up chicks. It never works. You have to love whatever you play and it will love you back. The guys who pick up girls with guitar love guitar more than maybe even their marriages. Now that said on to a schedule. Learn music theory first. It helps so much damn more if you can spell and make out as chord then searching it on some e-book or graph. It will help you learn what notes to play behind a chord. How to make killer solo. Even make your own renditions of your favorite songs. Then you can get into some fretboard work techniques like sweeped arpeggios, Tapping, and legato etc. o use those advanced techniques require music theory, to know what is the four chord of the progression, or relative minor etc. For a good starting guitar you can get a Ibanez jump start package. Or an Epiphone one. I started with Fender Squier and still play the damn thing it's so much fun. Acoustics sound realtively the same around prices just different names. If your buying a 300 dollar classical guitar, it's all the same just name. When you get close to a thousand then it's different. When you pick the guitar pick the one that feels good to your hands and imagine playing it for hours. That gives you a good indication if the neck is too thick or not, or if you should get thinner gauge strings or the action tuned down or up. Have fun and shred!

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Lets get together, make some bad decisions.