I got an acoustic guitar for Christmas and I want to learn how to play it well.
I have my own tuner so I figured that out.
How would I go about learning cords and how to strum and stuff? Online tutorials work best, especially videos. Thanks!
You need to know what you need to know and then watch YouTube Videos. You just need some direction on what videos to watch.
I wanna learn the guitar and be able to do most chords. I am 13 years old and I want to know how long it might take to learn them. My brother started when he was 17 years old and about less than a year later he learned most of the chords. How long will it take me do u think?? Cuz I heard that the younger u are when u start a sport or instrument, the faster you’ll learn. Thanks!
That depends on you – your ability, desire to learn, application/attitude to practice and opportunity to play. If you want to learn then you will.
I am thinking of starting to learn bass guitar for a band I might start with some friends in the future and for a 7th/8th grade school Jazz Band. I need to be halfway decent by next school year. I think I should play bass from the start. My brother, the guitar player with 2 guitars, a Gibson and an Acoustic, thinks I should learn all the chords on guitar, then switch to bass. Who’s right?
Yay, I’m right, but more importantly, my brother is wrong!
He mainly thinks I should start with the guitar because we have two.
no just learn bass if that is what you want to play.Your brother is wrong.
I heard that some of them and they are great. But how do I learn on my own like them?
What did they do to learn guitar
and is there a website that gives free electric guitar lessons that are for first time guitar players to advanced that is free?
or does anybody want to take their time to upload videos on youtube and send me an email and teach me until I get better?
Those guys have something very unique, which is a very good ear! Maybe you heard people saying that those guys aren’t really pros at theory. They see music on a different level. When they hear something, they are able to play them immediately, they don’t really care of which scale is in, that they’re using the 5th, 9th, 7th etc. in a lick. I don’t say they know nothing about theory, but they learn faster and play with a lot of soul.
The way that they learnt, they listened to records and tried to emulate that sound. That’s why they have a great ear! Their ears got used of listening to notes, so they can figure out where the notes are naturally!
Those ones you listed, they’re blues artists. One important thing that you have to know about blues, is that it’s a music that requires FEELING to play it. Not anybody can play the blues with feeling. Of course, everybody can learn a lick or two, but to play it properly requires a great vibrato, which is the most touching technique a guitar could ever have. It’s said many times that if you play series of thousands of notes, but with no feeling, and then you play a lick of only 5 notes, but with feeling, people will enjoy that 5 notes lick better than those pulls of thousands notes!
Now, to talk about you, if you want to learn to play the guitar, the best method is the one that works for you! Because those greats learnt that way, and you can learn another way, don’t be afraid to pursue another way of learning. If you can learn by listening to your favourite artists, and emulate the sound, that’s great! If you enjoy reading tabs or musical notation to learn better, again, great!
I’m learning guitar next weeek and i just want to know a couple things:
1) how long does it take to learn
2) when will i be able to play actual songs like (one more girl- i can love anyone)
3) any extra tips would be helpful too
thanks 
There is no definite answer because it all depends on your practice habits. For the average person it takes a week of practicing 1 to 2 hours day to play "Mary had a little lamb".
Be prepared for your fingers to hurt like hell for the first month or so too.
Invest in a good metronome too.
I have no experience in playing guitar or other instruments and would really like to learn bass. Could i learn bass without first learning guitar, or is it necessary to learn guitar first. I dont want crits just telling me to go play guitar please.
Except for the manner in which they are played (changing pitches by moving your fingers and strumming strings) and how they are tuned (with tuning pegs) they are not very similar instruments. The Bass Guitar is in bass clef and usually plays a more melodic line. The Guitar is played in treble clef and usually plays chords. Bass has usually only four or five strings and the Guitar has six (or sometimes twelve).
You can definitely learn Bass Guitar without learning the Guitar first, you should have no problem with it.
I want to teach myself the guitar. A friend of mine let me borrow an acoustic guitar of his and I used it to get familiar with the instrument, but he asked for it back. I have a family member who has an old classical guitar I could borrow, but I’ve heard that it’s difficult to learn on this type of guitar.
The difficulty depends on a number of things such as your hand size for instance. If you are a teenager who is learning, then your hands may be a bit small for a classical guitar since the neck is much wider than most standard steel string guitars.
The reason that a classical guitar has such a wide neck is because it is designed for finger picking. This allows for more space between each string. That’s not to say you can’t strum a classical guitar, it’s just not really meant for that.
Also, you do not use a pick with a classical guitar, unless you want to break a lot of strings. This means that while you will be able to learn how to make chords and such, you will not be learning how to use a pick, or at least use one properly. This is another drawback to learning on a classical guitar.
Typically, I would recommend a beginner not trying to learn on a classical because statistically speaking, the most common reason that people stop playing guitar early into their learning experience is because they have a hard time playing. The easier the instrument is for you to play, the more likely you will stick with it. However, if you have true determination, then you may be OK with it. You’ll have to decide for yourself.
Don’t listen to people’s discouraging comment about how hard it is to teach yourself an instrument. This just means that they have not succeeded at it. Many people are self taught on many instrument, including me. I would, however, like to suggest having someone guide you a bit. Just to make sure that what you are teaching yourself is really correct and to also give you pointers on what aspects of the instrument you should concentrate on and which aspects aren’t as important.
Learning guitar isn’t just about learning how to make a few chords and strumming. You need to learn everything from proper tuning and string replacement to scales and different variations of each chord. Once you have learned this you can concentrate on more advanced aspects such as chord theory.
I really, really, really, want to learn how to play guitar and read notes too!
What is the best way to do that?
get a good guitar and try to play by ear
I am 15 years old and I play flute and piano. I have a good ear for music. I’ve been playing flute for as long as I can remember and piano for not even a month and I’m already playing Yiruma music. I understand that guitar will be more challenging but I’m looking for an estimate on how long it’ll take for me to learn to play a little guitar, any info would be much appreciated.
Takes time, and depends upon how dedicated you are. To build a decent amount of fingerstrength, you should practise exercises 15-20 mins a day. I did that and i had a decent finger strength after a year and a half.
In my opinion, I wouldn’t consider there a point where you "learn guitar". obviously there is a point where you have learned so much, and you play so well that you can be considered a "master" but i believe that you will continuously get better over time.
A little bit of guitar, as a hobby, if you practise alot, you could be there in about 1 year, seeing as you already have a bit of strength from playing piano. and the fact that you already have a good ear for music is an advantage and it should take about a year if you keep practising, til you’re decent at guitar.
But practise always makes perfect, and the longer you practise and the harder you try, the quicker you’ll become very good.
I want to learn electric guitar but someone told me i should start on acoustic. I shoulda included this in the question i asked a little while ago but i forgot lol. So, acoustic or electric?
If your intention is to play electric guitar, then learn on an electric guitar. For an amp, you can get a Marshall pocket amp, which is only $40. I keep one on my livingroom table when I’m just playing by myself and don’t feel like cranking up the studio.
People who say learn on an accoustic guitar are usually people who play accoustic guitar. They have no clue about electric guitar and shouldn’t even be answering this question. For example, one guy wrote that it’s good to learn on an accoustic because it blisters your fingers – as if that’s a good thing. Let me tell you something : most beginning students on electric guitar make their fingers BLEED. But there is one benefit to all this suffering. Because the strings on an electric guitar are closer together, your fingers will become more nimble and your fretting technique more accurate, but it will take you longer to master than fretting on an accoustic guitar. If you want body-builder hands, then go squeeze a tennis ball. We are PLAYING guitar, not weight-lifting it!!! As for philosophy and music theory, there is no difference. The chords are the same on both types of guitars and playing fast like Yngwie Malmsteen or Michael Angelo Biato is no worse than Paganini busting his chops on violin. Did I forget to mention that wood on an electric guitar colors the tone and is just as important as the wood on an accoustic guitar?
When I started playing guitar, I had a classical guitar and often I went to a friend’s house because his older brothers had a band set-up in their basement. I found electric guitar much more interesting because it is a more expressive instrument. You can’t get amp feedback on an accoustic, you can’t flick off cool-sounding harmonics on an accoustic (well, you can, but no one will hear them ring), you can’t do monstrous fretboard slides or awesome string scrapes (unless you outfit your accoustic with electronic pickups – so you might as well just play an electric guitar), and you sure as heck can’t dive like a madman using a whammy bar (because an accoustic guitar doesn’t have one!) Why would you want to deprive yourself of all these useful and cool features???
But aside from the bling, the REAL reason you want to learn on an electric guitar is because the playing technique is significantly different than an accoustic guitar. The MOST IMPORTANT thing to master on an electric guitar is string muting. This means dampening the strings you are not playing so they don’t vibrate and send harmonics through the amp. You can NEVER master this technique on an accoustic guitar because an accoustic guitar has no electronic pickups. This is why accoustic guitars are mic’d directly on stage. (Yes, there are reasons to put electronic pickups in an accoustic guitar, but it’s not usual and it’s not cheap!)
If you learn on an accoustic guitar, you will find that when you switch to an electric guitar, you will be extremely frustrated because you are not used to string-muting. It is the one thing beginning electric guitar students must master before they can even play a single song. How are you going to feel when you can play really nice licks on an accoustic guitar, but when you pick up an electric, you’re back to square one? Not only that, you will have to untrain your fingers and teach them all over again. I’m telling you from personal experience that is WORSE than having to learn from scratch.
If I had to do my musical training all over again, I would have played electric guitar exclusively and if I wanted my guitar to sound like an accoustic, all I would have to do is put my amp on a clean tone. If I wanted to sing around the campfire or play in an unplugged band, then I would borrow an accoustic guitar. But to learn on one when my desire was to be an awesome rock/metal musician? No thanks,
Let me put it this way: I have never met someone who played electric guitar that couldn’t pick up an accoustic guitar and play well. But I have met many accoustic players who could not play an electric guitar because they couldn’t properly string mute and all this horrible unwanted string feedback came through the amp, which ruined the songs they were trying to play.
The top accoustic guitars are Martin and Ovation and sometimes you can find a good used one for a reasonable price. For electric guitars, Yamaha makes fairly inexpensive guitars which are excellent quality. A friend of mine in Japan plays Yamaha guitars and Cliff Burton played a Yamaha bass guitar. The BC Rich Platinum series is well-made and so is the Fender Mexican-made Stratocaster. Avoid the Fender Squire and the BC Rich Bronze series. Samick is junk, but the Gibson Epiphone series is okay.
But don’t take my word for it. Go to a guitar store that sells both accoustic and electric guitars. Ask the salesman to let you play an accoustic guitar and then have him plug an electric guitar into an amp so you can check it out. Go to another store and do the same thing. Finally, ask your question again at the Guitar Forum on www.harmonycentral.com It’s where the serious guitarists and the pros hang out. There is also a search feature you can use to see if anyone else has asked a similar question.