General / Off-Topic Question for guitar players.

[Deleted member 110222]

Hi guys. As some of you know, I'm a huge fan of metal.

Now I think it won't come across as odd at all, to hear that as a big music fan, one cannot help but occasionally think what it would be like to actually be the one playing the music.

Now I'm already making big changes in my life. My diet is going well, and my weight has at least stabilized. I'm going out a lot more, thanks to my close circle of IRL friends.

But I'm still spending most days not doing a lot.

So perhaps, I think to myself, I should start chasing my dreams. I have had a lot of rubbish to deal with growing up, and to say it's stifled my life is, with all due respect, an understatement.

I am not looking for sympathy here; just stating facts.

According to society, stating inside playing video games all day is a waste. I'm actually inclined to agree but I don't know what else to do with my time.

But for some reason, and I say this with a hint of humorous sarcasm, it's downright commendable to stay inside and learn an instrument.

Well, maybe it's time to do that so I can shut up some naysayers.

So going back to the titular question.

Guitarists of the FD community. I love metal. Metal means electric guitars in my case.

What I'm about to say is coming from someone who has next to no practice with any instrument.

Do I start with an electric guitar or should I begin with an acoustic? (To be frank I'm not entirely sure this is the correct terminology)

Listening is great, but I can never help but think, wouldn't it be awesome to be on the other side of the strings?

I'm aware that it would be a long road. But I need to cut down on my screen-time. Thinking logically, an instrument might be the perfect thing for me to learn as I can still stay in the safety of my own home. Indeed, I don't even need to talk to too many people, which is good because I hate situations where people might decide to punch me in the face for existing.

(Based of real experience that last bit)

So, what do you think I should do? Should I continue to mindlessly push buttons for twelve hours a day in video games, or should I try to make something better of myself?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Glock_N_Load]

I've heard a lot of good things about Rocksmith. With Rocksmith, you will need an electric guitar. There are a lot of good reviews about it.

 

[Manticore]

Posting in this thread was a waste of my time..............

 

[Caramel Clown]

Start with whatever you want. Electric, acoustic, nylon classical - those might as well be different instruments, technique will be so different for the most part.
I've started from electric, and stayed with it. Be ready for blistered and bloody fingers if you are ready to give this a serious go There is pain to endure before you develop callouses.

 

[DevilFistX]

When I started playing guitar, I started on an electric guitar. I'm a huge metalhead, and did not care much for the sound of acoustic guitar when I decided to become a guitarist. This was 16 years ago, and I've rarely skipped a day of playing guitar since!
Some facts/tips for a beginner; #1 your fingers wil hurt, #2 playing on an electric guitar involves alot more technique (metal for sure), #3 don't expect to be the next Van Halen after 1 week of starting, #4 learn how to maintain your instrument before you break it, #5 don't get frustrated, #6 never give up!

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

When I started learning, I started on an electric guitar.

As someone mentioned above, rocksmith 2 is pretty good. It has built in lessons and songs for you to practice, but it is also a game, so you will be playing and learning at the same time, but you will need either an electric guitar or a semi-acoustic. You can get a reasonable starter guitar for £100-£200.

I have one of these, which is a very nice budget brand:

Vintage V100 Reissued, Cherry Sunburst at Gear4music

Vintage V100 Reissued, Cherry Sunburst at Gear4music

www.gear4music.com

 

[Sir.Tj]

As Manticore said.

Start with an Acoustic and learn the basics.

And tap your fingertips on hard surfaces.

 

[Hell Razor5543]

Although I have never played a guitar I have been told (by people who DO) that one thing new Players hardly ever hear about is the bleeding fingers. My cousin (who rates Rocksmith highly) did not initially know this, but his elder sister ((who has played acoustic guitars for years) was able to advise him.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Thank you guys. Like I say I basically have no musical experience. Never even played the recorder in primary school.

I have no doubt that it will be a long road. But then again, I really need something long-term to keep me busy for, well ideally, the rest of my life.

Can't really think of a better candidate then learning an instrument, especially considering that I already love listening.

 

[Rampant]

Yes, Yes, Yes - if playing guitar appeals to you, then start to learn as soon as you can

No no no. Definitely do not start with an acoustic and certainly not a nylon stringed one.

The biggest difficulty in learning to play guitar - and I mean the BIGGEST factor by some considerable margin - is how to keep your motivation going, because I will warn you now - it is a LONG path - and an easy one to leave at the first crossroads if you don't have a good level of motivation.
However - it is an exceptionally rewarding road to travel, provided that you keep your motivation level high.

If you are a metal fan, then I can tell you with some certainty that practising on an acoustic will be in no way motivational for you. Conversely, plugging in an electric guitar and making some noises will, in all likelihood, be a far, far better motivator.

Tips from when I bought my first instrument and was learning:

1. Buying a guitar is a difficult first step.
Cheap guitars are often more difficult to play, more problematic to keep in tune, and don't sound terribly good (or provide much vocal variety if there are a number of electrical pickups to choose from). One way to guarantee that you waste your money is to buy too cheap, because you'll get demotivated. It is a cruel irony that buying a "starter" guitar is often the single factor that makes people give up.
A guitar that - whenever you lay eyes upon it - makes you want to pick it up and strike some strings - this is the guitar that you will be most likely to keep your motivation level high with. So choose one that you like the look of, but try to avoid the "metal" shapes (x shapes and novelty jagged lightning shapes) because they're not as comfortable to hold.
My first was a Yamaha electric, not the "base" model, but the one just above. A Pacifica 112V, I think it was... if they still make them. It was a great learner instrument... (I've just checked a website and they still sell this guitar - you could do a LOT worse...) Buy the best that you are comfortable to invest in, but don't go wild buying anything "expensive" as a first guitar and amplifier.

2. Your learning environment and schedule.
I was lucky to be recommended a decent teacher that I signed up with for 1hour per week at a regular time slot. He didn't start off teaching music scales or nursery rhymes, but, now that I look back - in a method that appealed to both my musical tastes and my motivation to keep on practicing. It was £90 per month, which seems a fair amount, but this paid dividends for me - because I knew I couldn't "waste" this money, so practiced hard most days in order to master the new song/technique/chords, etc, and move onto something "new" each week.
I can't emphasise the importance of fruitful, targeted practice. It is not enough just to bum about flitting from learning one riff onto another and then another with no clear goal in sight. Bumming around comes only after proper practice.
My motivation to keep practicing was so that I wasn't wasting my significant investment... but every player finds their own motivation. About an hour most days - maybe 5 days per week - will strike a good balance between continued learning, good technique practice, keeping strength up and not fatiguing yourself into poor habits, etc, particularly early on.)

3. Buy a decent arm-less office chair and learn to play sitting down in that comfortable chair. Being uncomfortable will demotivate. (My Yamaha was a lovely contoured shape to sit against your body in your lap and had a nice shaped neck for your fret hand. I have a Les Paul copy now, by Epiphone, that is, by comparison, a fairly uncomfortable hunk of squared off wood. My favourite guitar now is my most comfortable - a PRS student 24.) Buy a cheap music stand and right from the start begin to get familiar with "guitar tab" music notation. You might want to pair your guitar with an electronic amp with built in effects - it is the fun that will keep you motivated.

4. Learn to change strings properly early on. Polish your guitar often and keep it well maintained - hence the importance of a guitar that you cast your eyes across and it automatically makes you smile. Buy a simple tuner, or use an app, and tune your guitar properly at the beginning of each session.


For me, I was lucky with my teacher, I called them sensai.
Straight off the bat, he showed me 3 or 4 basic chords, showed me the strumming pattern, gave me a sheet of hand-written TAB that was a rhythm notation of a decent popular song (I think it was REM - One I Love?!) and sent me away to practice the strumming pattern, the chords and keeping up with the music. For me this was a brilliant way to keep motivated - the change of chords - even only 3 of the most basic chords - was so very very difficult - I mean exceptionally difficult - but at least I was playing alongside the music - from start to finish - again and again, and this proved to be the strength of this style of learning to my learning style and motivation. Next 2 weeks I had 2 new songs, so the repertoire was building quickly, I think they might have been Snow Patrol, Run and U2, One. All decent tunes and all basic, but gently progressively increasing difficulty, both in changing left hand fingers to make the chord shapes and fluid, changing strumming patterns. It was a BRILLIANT way to learn.

Hoping this gives you some motivation - or not...

All the best

Mark H

PS - fire away with questions if you like

 

[Rampant]

Although I have never played a guitar I have been told (by people who DO) that one thing new Players hardly ever hear about is the bleeding fingers. My cousin (who rates Rocksmith highly) did not initially know this, but his elder sister ((who has played acoustic guitars for years) was able to advise him.

Early practice needs to steer clear of this - but your fingertips gradually become harder more resistant.
Making them bleed early on, will weaken them, so avoid this at all costs

 

[Deleted member 110222]

To those recommending Rocksmith, can use my headset speakers for that?

 

[Shir]

Go for it. If you like metal, start with an electric. Get a used fender squier or Epiphone Les Paul, very cheap and reliable, no problems and they are easy to sell back anytime. Buy a small amp something like a blackstar for metal. Get a teacher if it's possible. Guitar is fun.

 

[The Lawful]

The crucial point in successfully learning guitar is playing what you really want. On an instrument you actually like. Exercises et al. are tedious enough, so better like what you play. It makes no sense to start out on Spanish guitar first for several years - even if learning technique has all the benefits - if all you want to do is to shred away at all settings 11+. I myself was trained in Classical Guitar for years and only bought my first electric when at the uni, for that was what I really wanted. The classic education actually got in my way, that is, for usually, you play with a pick instead of fingers (ok, I play Knopfler style todays, but that's definitely not what I was taught) and have to dampen the strings all the time, among other things. Keep it simple.

In your case, start out with an electric. Find yourself a good music store and they'll show you the way. Take your time to test out equipment and only buy the things you really like. And never forget: buy cheap, buy twice. There is a sweet spot in prices, and famous names add a lot to the price tag.

EDIT: And one of the best sites to learn guitar is Justin Sandercoe's one, ofc. Recommended by Brian May and MK, he has all the stuff you want, for free. A personal guitar teacher would be even better, ofc.

HTH,

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I've just been talking with one of my best friends who happens to be learning the banjo at a music school over in Pompey. They also offer lessons in various instruments including, crucially, the electric guitar. I think you guys are right. I should start from the outset on the instrument I actually want to play. So I am going to do just that.

My friend is gonna' put in a word for me at the school over the other side of the water, and we'll see where it goes from there. They offer hiring for instruments too so I might do that before buying my own guitar.

 

[Rampant]

I've just been talking with one of my best friends who happens to be learning the banjo at a music school over in Pompey. They also offer lessons in various instruments including, crucially, the electric guitar. I think you guys are right. I should start from the outset on the instrument I actually want to play. So I am going to do just that.

My friend is gonna' put in a word for me at the school over the other side of the water, and we'll see where it goes from there. They offer hiring for instruments too so I might do that before buying my own guitar.

Good plan on renting. I should've remember myself - a friend let me borrow one of his guitars for a week just to make sure I'd start to enjoy it prior to me buying my first guitar and starting lessons.

Also - EDIT my above...

My first song to play along with was Oasis, The Importance of Being Idle.
Which I still think was a great way to begin

 

[Alec Turner]

Hiya! A few years back I decided I wanted to teach myself to play guitar. Not being a metal fan (I know - terrible right? ) I went straight for an acoustic and got myself a lovely "entry level" one from Wunjo guitars (great shop for Londoners - staff are fantasic). Anyway - I then did a lot of research about what to do and how to learn and latched on to a guy called Justin Sandercoe. He's a youtuber (among many others things) and has a huge amount of free material and online lessons. You can find his website here:

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

P.S. I seem to recall that he recommends starting acoustic, I could be wrong.

I found his pace and ethos and general method of teaching to be perfect for me and over the course of the next year or so I got to a level which I was pretty happy with. I could pick up the guitar, run through all sorts of practice exercises, play a bunch of songs I'd learned and teach myself new ones and even did a couple of (in retrospect fairly terrible open mic spots). I absolutely adored learning the guitar - it really occupies you in a very engaging way (as long as you don't expect miracles from day 1 - a bit like mastering Elite it's a "journey" of discovery) and is widely acknowleged as one of the best ways to exercise your brain.

Alas what then happened is Elite came along to fill my spare time and the guitar is now gathering dust ... but that's another story.

Anyway, to close this (and with apologies for what my wife calls my "guitar face" - concentration seems to make me appear a lot more stressed than I actually was, probably shouldn't chew gum while playing!), here's the sort of level I managed to get to over the course of a couple of years (really got into finger picking towards the end).

Spoiler

Source: https://youtu.be/_IW3arYQhvI

Good luck - it really is a wonderful hobby!

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Yes, Yes, Yes - if playing guitar appeals to you, then start to learn as soon as you can

No no no. Definitely do not start with an acoustic and certainly not a nylon stringed one.

The biggest difficulty in learning to play guitar - and I mean the BIGGEST factor by some considerable margin - is how to keep your motivation going, because I will warn you now - it is a LONG path - and an easy one to leave at the first crossroads if you don't have a good level of motivation.
However - it is an exceptionally rewarding road to travel, provided that you keep your motivation level high.

If you are a metal fan, then I can tell you with some certainty that practising on an acoustic will be in no way motivational for you. Conversely, plugging in an electric guitar and making some noises will, in all likelihood, be a far, far better motivator.

Tips from when I bought my first instrument and was learning:

1. Buying a guitar is a difficult first step.
Cheap guitars are often more difficult to play, more problematic to keep in tune, and don't sound terribly good (or provide much vocal variety if there are a number of electrical pickups to choose from). One way to guarantee that you waste your money is to buy too cheap, because you'll get demotivated. It is a cruel irony that buying a "starter" guitar is often the single factor that makes people give up.
A guitar that - whenever you lay eyes upon it - makes you want to pick it up and strike some strings - this is the guitar that you will be most likely to keep your motivation level high with. So choose one that you like the look of, but try to avoid the "metal" shapes (x shapes and novelty jagged lightning shapes) because they're not as comfortable to hold.
My first was a Yamaha electric, not the "base" model, but the one just above. A Pacifica 112V, I think it was... if they still make them. It was a great learner instrument... (I've just checked a website and they still sell this guitar - you could do a LOT worse...) Buy the best that you are comfortable to invest in, but don't go wild buying anything "expensive" as a first guitar and amplifier.

2. Your learning environment and schedule.
I was lucky to be recommended a decent teacher that I signed up with for 1hour per week at a regular time slot. He didn't start off teaching music scales or nursery rhymes, but, now that I look back - in a method that appealed to both my musical tastes and my motivation to keep on practicing. It was £90 per month, which seems a fair amount, but this paid dividends for me - because I knew I couldn't "waste" this money, so practiced hard most days in order to master the new song/technique/chords, etc, and move onto something "new" each week.
I can't emphasise the importance of fruitful, targeted practice. It is not enough just to bum about flitting from learning one riff onto another and then another with no clear goal in sight. Bumming around comes only after proper practice.
My motivation to keep practicing was so that I wasn't wasting my significant investment... but every player finds their own motivation. About an hour most days - maybe 5 days per week - will strike a good balance between continued learning, good technique practice, keeping strength up and not fatiguing yourself into poor habits, etc, particularly early on.)

3. Buy a decent arm-less office chair and learn to play sitting down in that comfortable chair. Being uncomfortable will demotivate. (My Yamaha was a lovely contoured shape to sit against your body in your lap and had a nice shaped neck for your fret hand. I have a Les Paul copy now, by Epiphone, that is, by comparison, a fairly uncomfortable hunk of squared off wood. My favourite guitar now is my most comfortable - a PRS student 24.) Buy a cheap music stand and right from the start begin to get familiar with "guitar tab" music notation. You might want to pair your guitar with an electronic amp with built in effects - it is the fun that will keep you motivated.

4. Learn to change strings properly early on. Polish your guitar often and keep it well maintained - hence the importance of a guitar that you cast your eyes across and it automatically makes you smile. Buy a simple tuner, or use an app, and tune your guitar properly at the beginning of each session.


For me, I was lucky with my teacher, I called them sensai.
Straight off the bat, he showed me 3 or 4 basic chords, showed me the strumming pattern, gave me a sheet of hand-written TAB that was a rhythm notation of a decent popular song (I think it was REM - One I Love?!) and sent me away to practice the strumming pattern, the chords and keeping up with the music. For me this was a brilliant way to keep motivated - the change of chords - even only 3 of the most basic chords - was so very very difficult - I mean exceptionally difficult - but at least I was playing alongside the music - from start to finish - again and again, and this proved to be the strength of this style of learning to my learning style and motivation. Next 2 weeks I had 2 new songs, so the repertoire was building quickly, I think they might have been Snow Patrol, Run and U2, One. All decent tunes and all basic, but gently progressively increasing difficulty, both in changing left hand fingers to make the chord shapes and fluid, changing strumming patterns. It was a BRILLIANT way to learn.

Hoping this gives you some motivation - or not...

All the best

Mark H

PS - fire away with questions if you like

Thanks for all the advice.

I'm at my desktop now, so I can type out a more detailed response.

Now, I'm well aware of the "buy cheap, buy twice rule". With that in mind, how much should I be looking at for a decent model that should last? While I will most likely rent at first, it's important for me to ask this now so I can start to put the money aside, now, for the future, should I decide to pursue it. I have no idea what the costs are. I certainly wouldn't be looking for anything fancy; just something that works.

Secondly, and again I cannot stress enough that I'm asking this as a total outsider to the world of playing, when, if ever, is a pick actually used for playing a guitar? I see some posts on the web saying you should, some saying you shouldn't and some saying it "depends". What should I know about this?

Finally, given that it's electric I'm interested in, can I plug in a headphone to the amp? I have neighbours and have a particularly problematic neighbour who already complains frequently about what is perfectly acceptable noise levels. (To be frank she's a bit of a witch and is in general, just trying to find an excuse to cause trouble) With this in mind, if it's possible to use headphones on an amp, that would be great. Would make home practice much, much easier.

As ever, thanks for any advice.

 

[EUS]

Best instrument to learn music by (reading music, dexterity, both hands working at separate melodies, etc) would be piano/keyboard. Keyboard with distortion pedal for 'harder' sound.
Guitar is great too, agree with those that say electric guitar over acoustic. Neck is thinner, action is easier on fingers, wrists, forearms, & more fun. Expect bleeding fingers, then calluses (don't pick them off!), no big deal.

 

[The Lawful]

1. For an electric guitar, anything below 350-400 EUR is likely a waste of money. You can get decent small amps for around 100 EUR though. Todays, they include headphones and USB for recording your stuff. Check out a local gear store and let them show you some options.

2. About 99% of rock and 100% metal guitar players use a pick. Picks are really dead cheap, buy some and find out yourself.

3. All practice amps have that option todays. But it's not the same. Electric guitar is a loud animal by design. For reference, I currently have a Gallien Krueger 100W amp I bought 25 years ago, a 10W Fender Super Champ (tubes), a Black Star Fly (~5 W) and a Yamaha THR 10. All of them are too loud for our neighbours and always were (when I was a student, we cranked up the Gallien-Krueger during summer break '93 once and the neighbours called the police, no kidding). The Fender has the best sound, but it's loud too, the fly is mobile and most of the times, I play the Yamaha (which has a really great stereo sound). It's ok for practicing, but the electric guitar only shines when cranked up.

O7,