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What's Your Single Biggest Question About Learning Guitar?


andy.anderson

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Hey! I'm new to this forum. I'm actually developing a product that has to do with

learning the guitar quickly and easily. I want to make sure I cover all the biggest questions for

beginners. Who here wants a free copy of the product? All you have to do is give me your questions about learning to play

guitar and I'll give you my product when it comes out. No strings attached.

 

Simply go here: http://www.guitarsecretsfornewbies.com/biggestguitarquestion.html

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i get asked about investing in an instrument: people seem to be ashamed to buy "too good" a guitar when just starting out. "i'll buy a good one when i learn to play." :)

 

i always say get the best instrument that you can reasonably afford. i also recommend electric, but that is just because i find them easier on the fingers, and therefore less frustrating at first.

 

my 2c.

 

Don

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Actually I did a piece for a website about Duane V's perfect response to the biggest beginner question I've come across. It's also the biggest question for folks who've laid off playing for years and years.

 

The solution is partly a quality guitar, but a beginner doesn't know what constitutes quality and frankly, you can get a $6,000 Gibson set up for heavy strings and a relatively high action for a certain kind of playing that will kill the interest of today's average beginner.

 

So... regardless, I'd say the question should be couched along the lines of "How do I get an affordable guitar that won't hurt my fingers so much like everybody tells me will happen."

 

There are many possible answers to that which probably are equally valid. Some I'd probably agree with, some I probably wouldn't - and the same holds true for others with some experience teaching beginners in various styles.

 

A guitar teacher can help, literally with a trip to a large guitar store where many instruments may be held and tried along with a true lesson on the different types and how they may be played. A not so good case is a trip to a large guitar store and discussion with a sales person who seems knowledgeable and "nice" and willing to help so he/she will have a customer for other stuff next month. A good and truly caring sales person will help keep things on budget and offer several attractive options within that - plus ensuring there's a good setup.

 

As to beginning practice on any guitar, I prefer variations of "gentle playing, relatively low action and light strings with no session lasting longer than 15 minutes and not resuming until fingertip tingling quits; then longer and longer time periods."

 

The next question is probably "how do I tune my guitar." Again, there is a knowledge fork to follow. Someone with some music experience will know something of tuning to a piano, etc. When I started, I was 18, had been playing music "all my life," and just needed to remember which strings had which names.

 

(That is, of course, the politically incorrect mnemonic, "Every American Daughter Gets Babies Eagerly.")

 

After that point, though, there are a thousand "proper" ways to learn, depending both on the style of playing and music emphasized and the goals of the player. Frankly the guy who just wants to back up his singing for a summer camp probably needs some basic chords, some promotion of the concept of a barre chord, and elementary transposition. The guy who wants to be Segovia has a rather harder road ahead in an entirely different curriculum concept.

 

For me to say, "you gotta be like this" probably will scare him/her off.

 

m

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My question very young was; " Every guy has his girl, if I learn guitar, will I have my pick ? "

 

40 years later, I still have my pick................:unsure: [crying][flapper][confused][scared] .....................](*,) ..........

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