I have this deeper in the thread, but I'll repeat myself:
go take a good look at <a href="http://justinguitar.com/" rel="nofollow">http://justinguitar.com/</a>
He offers beginners [1] and intermediate course [2], technical stuff, jazz staff and much more. There you will also find recommendations on <i>how</i> to learn, what and how to practice.
Justin has been teaching guitar for a long time so he knows what's important, what people struggle with and what to pay attention to. You will also find some songbooks for purchase and some free video lessons to accompany them. Highly recommended.
No affiliation :)<p>[1] <a href="http://justinguitar.com/en/BC-000-BeginnersCourse.php" rel="nofollow">http://justinguitar.com/en/BC-000-BeginnersCourse.php</a>
[2] <a href="http://justinguitar.com/en/IM-000-IntermediateMethod.php" rel="nofollow">http://justinguitar.com/en/IM-000-IntermediateMethod.php</a>
Applicable for many here on HN: for analytical, curious thinkers learning any instrument, I recommend the following approach in combination with other resources:<p>Learn and play simple chords (e.g. take a-minor on a guitar), and then identify the individual notes that are played by using any fretboard diagram or guitar chord finder app.<p>Obviously chords are not magic but consist mainly of a root note, a third and a fifth (look up "minor chords" and "major chords" if needed). You can find other occurences of the relevant notes all over the fretboard and make your own chords or at least understand what you are doing.<p>Example: For example, check out "Drive" from Incubus. What the heck is the guitarist playing at the beginning and how did he ever come up with that?
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwsuhOUAkk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpwsuhOUAkk</a><p>You can check out what he plays here and identify the names of the first notes:
<a href="http://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/incubus-drive-tab-s327t0" rel="nofollow">http://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/incubus-drive-tab-s327t0</a><p>It's just another way to play e-minor!<p>The intros to Stairway to heaven, Nothing else matters, Bach <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6haO4rO7rk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6haO4rO7rk</a>? That's all just chord notes played one by one. Don't hesitate, compose a legendary rock ballad intro TODAY!<p>I'm writing that because most teachers and students feel that this is too theoretical and complicated, and the classicaly trained musicians I know read their sheet music, but don't usually identify nor instantly recognize the chord that they're in while playing Vivaldi either.<p>I found it really helpful to understand that all that wonderful music is made of basic bulding blocks that I can understand and play, and it's a nice excercise that you can do while your hands recover from those little beginner muscular cramps or pain in the finger tips cut by steel strings.<p>Then however switch it all off and just play :-)
Which guitar model would the community recommend to a beginner who is used only to computer keyboards ;-). Can we start with an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar will work better for learning.
I recognize him from an incredible blues trio I saw in this tiny bar in Harvard Square last fall.<p>The guy's got some serious chops. Had no idea he also taught across the river. Check out his YouTube channel: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/thaddeushogarth" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/user/thaddeushogarth</a><p>This class should be very interesting...
I have been playing the guitar for some time now, and wanted to offer my advice for people looking to get a beginner guitar.<p>I would recommend a solid body electric guitar that has either a Tune-o-matic or hipshot bridge (non floating bridge). The Ibanez RGA121 is an example of a great beginner guitar: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/dyjybwa" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/dyjybwa</a> and they go for fairly cheap on ebay.<p>This is for a number of reasons.<p>#1 Lighter string gauges and lower action makes it easier to fret notes, bend strings, make chords.<p>#2 16 inch neck radius really helps with getting a comfortable feel and starting to understand vibrato and legato techniques.<p>#3 Easy to tune / change strings / set up.<p>Unlike an acoustic guitar that uses thicker strings, with higher action, and has limited access to frets you can get started fairly easily with an electric, and you can pretty much play any style with it.
Ignore all the advice about what books and what model of guitar to buy. Get a guitar, whatever you can, then play as much as possible. Play with other people if you can and often. I'm at my happiest when jamming with other good musicians, I'm pretty sure, once you've got the muscle stuff down, you'll feel the same.<p>A guitar is just a convenient way to express music. It's the music that you make and the enjoyment that you derive from it that truly matters.
For musicians who can read music and have to spend time organizing their sheet music etc, check out <a href="http://woodshed.e7mac.com" rel="nofollow">http://woodshed.e7mac.com</a> - a tool I built for myself that has saved me a tremendous amount of time. The goal was to put everything you need for a practice session i.e.metronome, sheet music, spotify play for original - on a single page.
If you're not an absolute beginner, you should check out all the REH/HotLicks videos. Some really amazing lessons there - Petrucci's Rock Discipline, Paul Gilbert's Intense Rock/Terrifying Guitar Trip etc.. lots of advanced jazz stuff too. (Scott Henderson, Joe Pass, John Scofield's videos come to mind)<p>I doubt they're still available to buy online though. You should be able to find them on youtube or torrent them.<p>If you're looking for a good book, check out Guthrie Govan's Creative Guitar series[1]. They're wonderful!<p>[1] <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Guitar-Cutting-Edge-Tech/dp/1860744621" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Guitar-Cutting-Edge-Tech/dp/1...</a>
I'm interested in what people think of this type of course vs. some of the interactive guitar learning software out there?<p>Rocksmith - <a href="http://rocksmith.ubi.com" rel="nofollow">http://rocksmith.ubi.com</a><p>Rock Prodigy - <a href="http://rockprodigy.com" rel="nofollow">http://rockprodigy.com</a><p>Ovelin - <a href="http://ovelin.com" rel="nofollow">http://ovelin.com</a><p>Jamstar - <a href="http://jamstar.co" rel="nofollow">http://jamstar.co</a><p>Miso Media - <a href="http://misomedia.com" rel="nofollow">http://misomedia.com</a><p>Instinct - <a href="http://getinstinct.com" rel="nofollow">http://getinstinct.com</a><p>Disclaimer, I'm a cofounder at Instinct.
Take this with a pinch of salt but this is my ideal way of starting to play guitar.<p>You'll need:<p>A starter Eletric guitar & Amplifer - Cheapest way is to buy a combined Guitar/Amp package from the likes of Fender sold under their Squier range. Now others may hate them but for the beginner they are ideal. At worst if you hate it, stick on ebay or craigslist or if you handy with a soldering iron, upgrade the pickups. Also makes sure the amplifer has a headphone socket and use headphones for late night jams.<p>An electronic tuner - Guitars go out of tune. It will get you consistant results sound wise. There is nothing more off putting for a beginner for a guitar that is out of tune.<p>Now this is optional - get your guitar setup at your local guitar shop. It will help sound wise and playability.<p>Buy strings - Don't worry about breaking strings. They are cheap. Easy to replace. If you can upgrade the ram in your PC, you are competant enough to change a guitar string. It's easy, nothing to be afraid of.<p>For instant results, learn how to play the intro riff to the Deep Purple song, Smoke on the Water. It is easy and will give you an instant results. Then learn "Power Chords". Will get you results that will please your ears.<p>There are tons of youtube tutorials on how to play the guitar. Start easy, don't worry about not getting it right. Just take your time, relax and enjoy it. The chords, scales will come in time. The main thing is to practise rhythum.<p>An electric will give you results quickly compared to Acoustic and Classical, which due to the way they are setup. Are harder to learn on. If you are not sure, try them in your local guitar shop.<p>Some may hate what I suggest but I believe for a beginner, simple results will encourage you further and make it enjoyable so when you do the course above, it is not as scary.<p>A course like the above would be great and I believe if you add it in with what I suggest, you'll be happy.<p>Remember nothing is set in stone. You can learn acoustic, electric and classical at anytime in your life. Just have fun and enjoy it.<p>One last thing, /r/guitar sub Reddit is great if you have questions or your local music shop. Don't be afraid of asking questions. That is how we learn.
There's a reason why this can be more effective than many other online free guitar courses: it requires you to put 6 to 8 hours every week, which is actually a reasonable time to effectively learn to play an instrument.<p>When you spend only a couple of hours a week practicing, the progress is often glacial or non-existent, which can be demotivating.
I believe this course may give just a brief outline of what exactly music is. 6 weeks to master Music is really a short time. He may teach you alphabet, words or even grammar.<p>But you will have to find your own way to write your own novel.