Guitar Newbie

[Admiral Huddy]

I bought my daughter a guitar a few months back and decided I'd like to give it a go myself!!

So mananged to get a lovely Yamaha Pacifica 112 in natural wood from flea-bay for £55 plus £12.50 P&P - bargain.. and a decent Amp for a tenner..

Anyway, I'm all kitted out and my daughter and I have out first lesson tonight.. horra!!

Don't know really what to expect..

#where do I blow?#

[Belmit]

The Pacifica is probably the best beginner's guitar, so that's the first hurdle done with! My biggest tip would be that you'll no doubt find the first few lessons boring, but stick with it. The teacher will probably introduce the notes on the strings, open chords and stuff like that, and you might not even get to touch the guitar at first. However, the moment you get three chords down you'll be on your way to playing a substantial amount of songs. Oh, and don't worry about learning the notes and stuff off by heart; I've been playing ten years and I can't read sheet music or remember what notes are what unless I stop and think about it.

[Admiral Huddy]

I have no idea what sort of stuff I really wanna play yet.. I've not thought about it really. Some light rock and stuff..

[Desmo]

Huddy.....try not to break it eh?

[Garp]

Originally Posted by Admiral Huddy

I have no idea what sort of stuff I really wanna play yet.. I've not thought about it really. Some light rock and stuff..

Trick I found for making the time go easy was to find some simple songs to play. There are generally some song books in music shops that'll be "learn to play" style ones or the like that have simplified chords for popular songs (Beatles, Oasis, Blur etc.) Ignore the fact you're rough, just play and sing along and enjoy it. The more you play the smoother you get and before you know it you'll be producing sounds that other people might just think bare a passing resemblance to a song they know

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ is a great resource for songs, just be prepared to accept that the chords might not be exactly what was played by the artist (use the *s as a fair estimate of quality.)

As others have said, the Pacifica 112 is a superb choice of guitar, considered by many to be the best guitar in the budget price range (usually retails around £170), it has a gorgeous tone to it, superb action and the classic SSH (Single, Single, Humbucker) configuration covers a good selection of styles, from your Eric Clapton style neck-pickup and tone at 3-4, to a 'ripe for heavy distortion' humbucker & tone at 10.

[Admiral Huddy]

haha I know it has six stings

Just finished an hours lesson.. Have learnt A, A minor, E and E minor and D.. Now for some homework.. Really enjoyed it.


thanks for the tips guys.. Wouldn't mind playing some old REM stuff.. digs out old CDs

garp thanks for the link

[William]

Learn the magical glorious chords of G, C and D. Then you will sound amazing to your mates.

[Admiral Huddy]

I've never had much trouble using my fingers but this is a challange. I was quite amazed at the tunes that could be played with the 3 chords i did learn.. Early days yet

[Garp]

Originally Posted by Admiral Huddy

thanks for the tips guys.. Wouldn't mind playing some old REM stuff.. digs out old CDs

garp thanks for the link

Easy one for ya:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/..._hurts_crd.htm

Every body hurts. Bounces around on just 4 chords, 3 of which you already know!

I'm not going to go into chord theory stuff, but you'll find a good number of songs use what are called 3 chord or 4 chord 'tricks'. Status quo are infamous for writing their songs around 3 chord tricks, like D - G - A. This REM song uses a basic 4 chord trick. Its in the key of D which makes the 4 chords, D, Em, G and A. As you continue on playing guitar you'll find that you'll start spotting 3 chord and 4 chord tricks everywhere, like "Love is all around me" by the Troggs / Wet Wet Wet / REM et al.
http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/ge...all_around.crd

[Admiral Huddy]

mm my fingers certainly hurt.. haha

I've been practising every day, so i'm used to those chords now. I just don't know how i'm ever going to get the fingers moving around quickly to the next chord.

I'd love to be able to play "Message in a bottle" by the Police.. class track and probably "Fields of Gold" by Sting. I love those tracks.