# Free Beginner Sites



## ramrod101 (Feb 5, 2015)

Ok so at 50+ I have decided to seriously learn to play the guitar. Been at it for about 3-4 weeks now and my fingers are still not good for more than 30 or so minutes a day, they are tingling right now as I type and its been a good 6 hours since I practiced today……..so enough of the crying. On to the question, I found Andy Guitar on YouTube then went to his web site and that is who I have been following. I like him and don’t want to bounce around but if anyone else is familiar with Andy but has an additional recommendation I would like to hear about it. Going to hunt down another guitar (cheap) to leave at the camp so when I ride the scooter i don’t have to figure out how to strap it on. Having a blast so far, some days I actually sound like I am playing music and then some days it sound like sheet! But i have a good wife who says i am getting better……she is a good lier! Lol anyway going to continue with AndyG but will take a look at anything yall may recommend. Thanks ahead of time for any and all input.


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## PassingThru (Aug 31, 2005)

A few minutes every day is all you need. Eventually, your fingers will adapt. Justin Guitar is a pretty good site for lessons. Go at your own pace. Some lessons seem overly simple but you can speed through those if you like. Worth exploring.









Learn how to play guitar with JustinGuitar.com


The best online guitar lessons are free! Learn to play guitar with fast, fun, and effective courses and song lessons for beginners and up! Community support!




www.justinguitar.com


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## Chunkn' Charlie (Dec 30, 2004)

I started playing late as well. I picked one song that I really wanted to learn and worked on it. I listened to the song over and over to figure out the strumming pattern. GCD over and over until I got to where I liked it. Then I picked another song. I listened, over and over, EAB over and over.....until I liked it. Rinse and repeat.

I liked this way because you can see progress and progress motivates you to keep up and keep learning/

But I have also picked up some stuff from Justin. A lot of Justin's was too advanced for me until I got better with my chord transitions.

Now I am playing at some of the trashier White Trash Bars


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## ramrod101 (Feb 5, 2015)

Awesome thanks for the replies I will check Justin out when I make it home. Just picked up a Yamaha 700 at a price I am happy with so now won’t have to pack back and forth from the camp. Would really love to get good enough to play at some really trashy trashy trashy double ******* bars. Lol


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## dk2429 (Mar 27, 2015)

Been playing since I was 6 years old, and am 21 now. Much younger of course, but I taught myself about 99% just wacthing YouTube videos. My grandma put a guitar in my hands for the very first time and showed me how to play Amazing Grace... Then from there my dad showed me a few chords. Then from there it was all self taught just spending time learning songs off of YouTube. After you learn so many you kinda just understand how the guitar works and can just go from there. Then you'll learn how to read guitar tabs, which once you understand how the guitar works, guitar tabs are SUPER easy to read. They may look complicated to you right now but you'll pick up on the quick

I know you said you don't wanna switch but I HIGHLY recommend you give Marty Music a try.. I was watching this dude years ago when we had 100,000 subs or so. Now hes almost to 3 million. Great teacher on YouTube


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmnlTWVJysjWPFiZhQ5uudg



I'm not sure what kind of guitar you are playing, which it really doesn't matter.. However, I'd also recommend you from experience to make sure your instrument is setup properly. A poorly setup instrument WILL mess with your fingers in ways you are describing. You could look up a YouTube video and try and set it up yourself, but it might be worth just taking it to a guitar shop. Setups are usually pretty cheap.

Also, make sure you have fresh, clean strings. Bad nasty strings will affect you as well.. Having the wrong size strings for your hands will also affect you. Strings are dirt cheap, and you can figure out how to change them easily with a YouTube video.

If you're playing acoustic, I've always played .12-.53 gauge strings. Usually Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 steels (easily the best acoustic strings you can buy) or a Cleartone. 12-53 is your standard acoustic string gauge. You can also drop down to 11-52's.

For electric, I personally play .10-.52 D'Addario XL's. They are bottom of the barrel cheap ($4.99). I play these because they feel good, they're reliable, they sound good, and I change strings before every show we play so I'd rather be throwing away $4.99 strings instead of higher end ones. I play 10-52 simply because most of our songs are in half step down tuning and drop C# tuning. The stand electric size is 10-46, which I used to play up until last year.

However for electric, it kinda sorta depends on what style guitar you're playing. If you're playing a Les Paul style guitar, I'd get the 10-46 strings. If you're playing a Stratocaster style guitar (like the one in my profile pic,) I'd do 9-42. Reason being, Stratocaster style guitars have a longer scale length. To dumb it down a bit, the length of the guitar is a tad bit longer. So smaller strings will be easier on your fingers for that added tension. I still play 10-52 on my Strat, but being a rhythm guitarist/vocals, it really doesn't matter to me. If I was lead guitar player on a Strat, I'd be doing 9-42.
Again, D'Addario XL strings are your best option. The last a decent amount of time depending on how much you play. In my case, they last one show, maybe two, and they're done. Just DON'T bother getting Ernie Ball strings. You'll be changing them everyday with how quick they go dull.

If you want some long lasting electric strings, defintely go Elixir or Cleartone. They're double the price but they WILL last.

If you wanna talk or want any help/advice feel free to contact me! Obviously much younger but I do have years of experience playing guitar, bass, drums, vocals, everything, and these days it's pretty much my livelihood. I have no issues helping anyone out. I've played everything from comtempoary christian, to old and modern country, all the way up to pop punk/alt rock we play today. 

Dalton
713-303-6284


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## ramrod101 (Feb 5, 2015)

Dalton,

Thanks for the reply i will check your link out, I have already pick up new learning techniques from the Justinguitar link, I am learning strictly on acoustic right now a Fender and a Yamaha, just put the extra light Martin strings on the Yamaha i picked up the other day, not sure what you mean by setting the guitar up so i will google/youtube that and see if there is something i am not or could do differently. Really my fingers are only hurting because in between searching job applications i want to practice all the time, thanks for the input and the offer to help!


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