new player

[renoman1]

i am new at guitar I just got my guitar back from being set up and boy what a differance it has made. its easier to play and sounds way better. My questions is this .is pischasing self teach books a DVD,s a good idea or should i take lessons and if so does anyone recomend and good books Or DVD,s Thanks Renoman1

[Riffster]

I would recommend a good DVD to start, you can watch it over and over and you can learn a lot from it.

 

After you can move your fingers and know basic stuff you can take lessons and make the best of them.

 

The first DVD i bought was this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Presents-Getting-Electric-Beginners/dp/B0000639G7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297009280&sr=8-1

[Mark]

Try

 

Arlen Roth

 

under Lessons right here. Its free and full of great technique

 

Welcome to the forum

[krock]

I did a basic and intermediate course with my local music shop (they have a music practise room upstairs) and learnt nothing from it. I think dvd are better. Or even just watch youtube video's. Thats how I learnt tricked such as pinched harmonix.

[krock]

This thread I made a few days back may also be of some help to you as it contains tips and tricks from many of the very experienced people from the gibson forum.

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/62853-list-your-best-tips-for-anything-music-related/

[Mr. Natural]

Assuming you find a GOOD teacher, I think lessons would be invaluable. I took lessons for a while from a local "guitar guy" who has played professionally for over forty years, since he was in high school. I learned a lot just sitting and chatting with the guy even during a session where I might not hit a lick. Sometimes it's hard to beat good one-on-one/student-teacher interaction.

 

DVD stuff would be good, too, and has some obvious advantages over "live' lessons. I would avoid the CD-only courses; sometimes you just need to see what the instructor's fingers are doing.

 

Research some good local teachers and some good DVD courses. Then, start hittin' it hard. Practice, practice, practice....

[Shnate McDuanus]

The things that have gotten me farthest are:

 

1) A great teacher who I took lessons with for about two years. The best thing a teacher can do for you is get you on track towards having good technique. It's harder to learn technique from a book or a video, but a person sitting with you, watching you play and playing with you, will help you tremendously as long as it is a private, one-on-one lesson. A group lesson will not do any good for you--you need someone watching your fingers. A good teacher will also give you enough theoretical and technical information to aid in your development without overwhelming you. Later on down the road, a teacher you develop a good relationship with may even find you a job if he likes you enough. He will also hopefully get your ear on the right track, and help you out with training your ear to be able to play without reading staff or tab--although it's also great if your teacher gets you started with staff notation.

 

2) Playing with my dad helped me tremendously, especially after a year and a half of lessons. Find someone who plays music that is similar to what you're interested in, but who has been at it longer. Don't worry too much about broadening your taste horizons yet--worry about that after you have the fundamentals down. What you need to do now is learn how others do it, so it is imperative that you gain some understanding of how harmony, rhythm, articulation and phrasing work within the context of music.

 

3) A great series of books, the Troy Stetina books on metal guitar playing, helped me out very much in focusing my style as well as broadening and strengthening my abilities. What a book will do for you, especially a book that teaches in a style that relies heavily on diverse and technically-demanding instrumentation, is teach you what exactly can be done on guitar, and it will do it in a way that progresses from simpler to more difficult material. It's hard for me to recommend a book to you specifically since I don't know what kind of music you like, but the Hal Leonard publications are excellent in general. If you're into metal or heavier rock then the Troy Stetina books would be excellent for you. If you're more into blues or jazz then the Hal Leonard Blues Guitar book is excellent, and from what I've heard, Al DiMeola's jazz books and Mickey Baker's Jazz Guitar course are both great. For things like country or alternative, I really have no idea, but I'm sure there are books out there. If you're going to play jazz, though, you really ought to know standard notation IMHO.

 

4) DVDs are excellent. Paul Gilbert's Intense Rock DVDs are great for metal and hard rock lead guitar, and Robben Ford's DVDs are great for more jazz/fusion-oriented styles.

 

5) Online videos. Usually less comprehensive, these are best when used as supplements to the other resources. Arlen Roth is great, although usually I've found that his videos require repeat viewings to really "get."

 

Also:

-Invest in a metronome. This will be indispensable if you really want your rhythmic skills to be top-notch. Start practicing with a metronome and don't stop.

-If you're playing electric, get an amp that you really love. This will help you stay interested in playing.

-Don't be afraid to buy tickets to small club shows, and don't be afraid to watch the guitarists' hands specifically. I have learned a lot from buying cheap tickets to open-seating shows and watching guitarists from bands I've never heard of.

-Play every single day. If you miss one day, make sure you don't miss the next one.

[milod]

I dunno...

 

When I started, "folk" was the big deal for a lot of "us," and I'm convinced to this day that the simplest stuff that has been around for ages is the best way to get a handle on the guitar, how root chords and some basic barre chords work, and how they all fit together. A two or three chord song is easy to make it work.

 

Then, after some of that basic stuff, branch out to a style you wanna be able to play for money.

 

It's not so much getting a folkie "bum-sush" flatpick rhythm (or fingerpicking such as many old blues guys and Mark Knopfler did), but rather to understand how the chords fit together in rhythms and what you can do for some variations in making chord changes.

 

Then you can also start thinking of other stuff.

 

One of the real sharp 1950s pickers in the jazz scene, a great picker named Mundell Lowe, made the comment on a tv jazz show that there's really not a single way of teaching guitar, nor of playing various notes and chords. Different teachers have different styles of teaching and often they're going toward what a person said he wants. But I'm still convinced the best is to keep it simple, get rhythms and timing for chord changes down. If you can do "She'll be comin' around the mountain," you can handle blues or country or rock or - even classical - with just a bit of wiggling.

 

m

[Goldenone]

I started playing seven months ago using a set of dvds I got from guitarjamz.com. I picked a blues set with the teacher Marty Schwartz. I love the dvds over taking lessons because I can review them over and over. If I kept asking a teacher the same question over and over I think he would get pissed. On these dvds Marty teaches and then jams so you can play along, I really like that part! And no screwing around playing Mary Had A LIttle Lamb, he gets going with some power cords so you can make music right away.

 

Here is the best part about the dvds. I can take a lesson when ever I want.

 

David