The Best Way To Learn Guitar

[sp1814]

I was given a guitar as a birthday present, and I want to play, but am an absolute 100% beginner.

Can anyone recommend the best way to go about learning? I was thinking of picking up the basics with a book, then going to a tutor for weekly lessons. Does this sound sensible?

If anyone has had any practical experience, or can recommend books, I'd really appreciate it (I've got Guitar For Dummies and Visually Learn Guitar already).

[snapdarlich]

Personally I would recommend you to start with a tutor. I'm a qualified music teacher myself and to be honest, it's much easier to show and teach someone from scratch rather than correct problems and any bad habits they might have picked up.

There are good tutor books out there but there are some real stinkers too. Used in conjuction with a tutor, you'll be in a much strgonger position to learn. And you'll do it quicker too so you won't lose interest that you might do on your own. I'm not much of a guitarist myself. I studied Piano and Double Bass, but I would seriously consider starting with a Tutor. Little things like tuning etc may seem straight forward but you'll come on twice as quick with someone to guide you.

Whatever you decide though, good on you and I hope it brings you half the pleasure it's brought me. Good luck.

[sp1814]

Thanks for both of your answers.

I was actually leaning towards buying a couple of books and trying to teach myself, but now thinking about what snapdarlich wrote, I think the discipline of actually going to a tutor will be better for me.

If I have to pay for something, I'm going to make damn sure I get the benefit from it.

Thank you both. I shall remember to thank you on the sleeve notes of my first album.

[Miss-taken]

Hi

I bought a guitar (acoustic) at the beginning of march and was also a complete beginner - I'd never even picked one up before! I tried to learn from a book initially however after not getting that far started regular lessons. Admittedly they're not with a 'proper' tutor - a friend of mine does them who happens to not only be a fantastic guitar player but extremely patient and I realy can't imagine a professional tutor would be any better as luck would have it!
I would definitely recommend you have lessons of some kind otherwise you'll just get frustrated and the guitar will end up sitting in the corner gathering dust.
As for books - I've also got guitar for dummies but also The New Complete Guitarist by Richard Chapman which is very good as there are loads of pictures which are really useful.
You might also want to consider what songs/type of music you want to learn - most beginners seem to start with Kum By Ya and smoke on the water - I went straight for songs I like and want to play (Take That Patience was the first song I learnt!)
Hope that helps

[Reverandfunk]

Learn the basic chords then go and have lessons

[sp1814]

Miss-taken

So in six months you've got to a position where you can actually play?

I was thinking of putting in about 90 minutes practice each day. How long do you practice for...also, how many times a week does your mate teach you?

I'm just trying to get a feel for the commitment I'd need to 'get good'!

By the way, to compound matters, I can't read music.

[Miss-taken]

Hi again

I can't read music (or not since I at school anyway) either and it really hasn't been a problem so far. I usually have one lesson a week of a couple of hours (although to be fair a lot of that time is spent nattering) and yes after 6 months I can definitely play (I'm not brilliant by any standards but I can play several whole songs!) Once you've learnt the main chords you can basically play a whole load of songs. I often use ultimate-guitar.com which has millions of songs on it as well. I try and practise most days but quite often there just isn't the time! Practice is definitely the key though. I don't know whether its the same with all beginners but its not chords I have the problem with (and believe me Barre chords seem nigh on impossible at first) its the strumming - trying to co-ordinate both hands to do completely different things is more difficult than you would think!
I think the thing for me has been learning to play songs that I not only know well but like - Oasis are always good for learning as their songs aren't too complex.
By the way - be prepared for the pain for the first couple of weeks - I had blisters on my fingertips for what seemed like ages!
Hope this helps