# Learning the Guitar.



## Gary

With the advent of the internet, it's much easier than it was back in the day. There are many resources available only a google away.

The first thing to do is to get a quality guitar, not a POS $100 guitar, and then pull those standard strings off and set it up with something like some D'Addarios. And learn how to tune, then come back.

Here are a couple of vids, and I do it different than they do. I always pull ALL the strings and thats when I clean my guitar.


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## Gary

Tuning. Buy a tuner but even today, I still sometimes get an octave off, so I use the internet.

http://www.howtotuneaguitar.org/

The tuner I own and even that's subjective.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/sear...=1&pS=60&v=g&sB=r&lP=s&question=guitar tuners


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## Gary

Ergonomics, how to hold the guitar, how to hold the pick will vary from the noobs arm length, finger size, way too many variables to try and cover them all here. But the basics are, don't be lazy. Get your chording hand's elbow off your lap and get those fingers perpendicular to the finger board.

Learn G-C-D and A-E-B and get back with us in a few months.

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...chords&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-701


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## JOHNNY QUEST

I just jam. Best lesson there is. I never have known a c from a. D don't know 1 chord from another. Just feel the music and try to play it..... It may slow down my progress. But that how I enjoy it.... No lessons. , no. Schooling , just jammin....


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## Gary

That's all I do to.

Grip it and rip it!


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## reese

*Beginner videos*

OK, now that I have bought an ELECTRIC guitar and Amp ... The electric is definitely easier to learn on because the neck is smaller and you don't have to push down on the strings as hard. I am still learning and have came across these 2 videos that seem to be good to learn by. Maybe they will help someone else also.


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## reese

*Acoustic string question*

OK, I just changed the strings to Martin Lights and it is even harder to play ( on the fingers ) than it was with the old strings on it.

May be a stupid question but I am assuming the lighter the string, the thinner it is which is the case here. Lighter strings will be harder on the fingers and heavier strings will be easier ?

Or am I all jacked up ?


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## Gary

Shouldn't matter once your fingers are in shape.


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## BullyARed

Thanks reese! Do you have links to these two youtube video? I would like to bookmark them.


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## reese

*Links*

Hmmm I can't post the links without the video coming up so here is the headers of the videos. Just search youtube, you can get lost for weeks with what is on there.

*How to Change Chord shapes Quickly *

*Guitar Chords For Beginners *


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## RiverRat1962

Practice and play a lot, enough to wear out a few sets of strings, the callouses on the tips of your fingers will be tough like the bottom of your feet after going barefooted without shoes for a while.. 

The internet makes it easier to learn than books. I learned from my grandfather, he couldn't read any music and didn't know any scales or theory, but he knew about the guitar and the keys, chords and notes. He could play anything from back in the day, country and even had one guitar tuned in open G and played some blues slide with a wine bottle neck. The youtube vids they have nowadays help a lot if you have no teacher.


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## Texican89

Hope to get one soon. Thanks for the info. 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk


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## RiverRat1962

If you want to play lead with a lot of bends and such the lighter strings make it a little easier.. other than that I see no use for lighter gauge strings. 

Some players tune a half step down to help with bends.. Stevie Ray tuned down half step to E flat.. Jimmy Page used the small string from a set of banjo strings for the first string on his guitar and used the 1st from a set of guitar strings for the 2nd and so on and the 6th was not used.. This resulted in easier to bend strings without tuning down.


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## boom!

If an electric guitar just go ask for some 5150 strings and bend and pinch away.


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## Bearwolf34

If you want a quick and easy tuner, give this one a try. You just clip it on and it tunes via sound or string vibration....also get GC to match the price as Mus Friend has it for 9.99$ 

http://www.guitarcenter.com/DeltaLab-DELTALAB-CT10-CLIP-ON-TUNER-106889413-i2334770.gc


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## fedupfisherman

JOHNNY QUEST said:


> I just jam. Best lesson there is. I never have known a c from a. D don't know 1 chord from another. Just feel the music and try to play it..... It may slow down my progress. But that how I enjoy it.... No lessons. , no. Schooling , just jammin....


 WOW!!!! 
Sorry dude but that was horrible. You might want to take Gary's advice and take some lessons.


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## Rawpower

Here is little lesson that is cool and easy to play.


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## fishingcacher

Gary said:


> That's all I do to.
> 
> Grip it and rip it!


I thought that is how to play golf?


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## atcfisherman

fedupfisherman said:


> WOW!!!!
> Sorry dude but that was horrible. You might want to take Gary's advice and take some lessons.


You obviously haven't heard all Johnny's other music. And this is coming from a keyboardist/singer in a band and has a music minor. It's not all about reading music, especially the guitar. Feeling and understanding what key your in and basic music flow. May people don't know it, especially guitarist, but we understand the penatonic scales without realizing it when playing leads.

In Christ Alone I Place My Trust


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## CrazyYak

Recommend the Band Fuse / Rock Smith games for the XBOX or Playstation, chord diagrams, Youtube, lessons, etc. 6 weeks in and I'm surprised at the progress my daughter and I have made.


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## TheRooster

you don't need a tuner, everybody who has a phone and/or cell phone has a tuner, the dial tone on your phone is a true A, so get your A and you can tune your other strings, as for finger tip strength, when I used to teach guitar I always had my students put super glue on the tips of their fingers so it would make a *calloused* tip and would not hurt their fingers and could sustain playing long periods of time, and as someone else said, learn your basic chords, and buy a metronome, metronomes are great for getting your fingers in sync with your strumming, and as for strings, that all depends on what your preferences are, when I played i used jazz 12's which are a very heavy grade string and I could play everything from CCR to Joe satriani, heavier gauge strings are much harder to bend but have a better presence and sustain, whereas lighter gauge strings are easier to bend and in my own opinion easier to ring out those harmonics, you don't need a thousand dollar guitar and a multi thousand dollar amp stack to start off with, those come with time and perseverance 

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk


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## reese

CrazyYak said:


> Recommend the Band Fuse / Rock Smith games for the XBOX or Playstation, chord diagrams, Youtube, lessons, etc. 6 weeks in and I'm surprised at the progress my daughter and I have made.


Hey CrazyYak, can you play other things than the songs that you are being taught at the time on the Rock Smith ? I just watched the demo the other day and it seemed to concentrate on one song at a time.


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