I’ve recently decided that I’d like to learn how to play guitar, and am looking for suggestions. For background, I played drums for about 10 years (although not the last 5 or so) and played several years of piano as a kid. My music interests tend toward metal/rock/progressive. I messed around with the guitar lessons in the latest GarageBand and thought they were pretty cool, but am now looking for advice:
What’s the best way to learn from ground up? I would like to learn music theory applied to guitar rather than just reading tab, if possible. I can still read note charts pretty well from my piano days. But what is the best method these days? Teacher at my local music store? Interactive guitar lessons online? Videos? I have no idea what’s the best way to do things in the Internet era.
What would you recommend for an affordable starter guitar & amp? Should I look for deals on eBay/Craiglist? Is starting with acoustic a smarter idea?
Any other considerations for starting this venture?
I got the Metal Method DVD set shown here and it’s been invaluable. I still go through the pile of books I’ve accumulated, but more for example riffs than actual lessons. It’s just superb.
I got an Ibanez as a gift, so I can’t speak to guitars. I picked up a Roland Cube mini amp. It doesn’t have a lot in the power or distortion department, but it’s small and lets me practice with headphones when necessary. For anything “exotic”, I’ll hook up a Line6 PodXT. I can record from that too, according to Admiral Sockpuppet, whose threadis one of the most info-packed on Qt3.
Practice, practice, practice. I love playing and I make time for it (30-60 minutes) every, every day.
I would recommend Craigslist as a good place to get a first guitar. Do try to do your research a little, though, because people unload tons of no name crappy guitars that they bought at Walmart along with the good quality inexpensive guitars.
Check out Harmony Central for instrument and amp reviews. If you do decide to buy new, Musician’s Friend is almost certainly going to be a better deal than something like Guitar Center, although you might want to take it somewhere to have it “set up” (which is basically just making small adjustments to make it sound better and be easier to play – how far off the fretboard the strings are, for example).
edit: If you’re interested in metal, an Ibanez guitar with a Line6 amp would probably be a good choice. Budget is the big decision, though.
I bought a guitar for my son for Christmas and it was actually cheaper in guitar center then it was at musicians friend. I actually had it picked out on musicians friend, then went to guitar center just so I could see it first, and ended up buying it there.
I highly recommended getting ‘The Guitar Handbook’. It is a great resource for new guitar players and covers everything from guitar theory to physical maintenance.
Thanks for the tips so far. As far as budget, I’m thinking sub-$200 for now. I was also considering picking up a guitar only and playing it through GarageBand to start.
I think you will find an amp (no matter how small and wimpy) is more satisfying than what you have in mind. Maybe that’s just me, though.
There are always going to be “beginner guitar packages” for a $200 price point that include the guitar, amp, chord, strap, and usually a book or 2. There are occasionally people on Craigslist who are dumping said packages because their kid got tired of it after a week. I would say you should probably just order this and be done with it. $10 shipping, possibly no tax, $199 price point and it includes everything you need.
