Should I learn the guitar?

[montsa007]

Am 24 and not very social, I was thinking if I should take some classes to learn guitar.

How long does one need to learn the basics?

And do we have any guitarists here?

A chap once told me that people who play guitar, if they ten to slap someone it'll be very hard as their hands become hard, true?

 

[jmshub]

Absolutely, you should. I was 23 years old and hanging out at my friend's band practice when they asked me if I wanted to play a song on the keyboard. I had literally never touched a keyboard in my life. I ended up playing keys in local rock bands for the next six or seven years. Even if you don't end up in the same place, playing a music instrument is a very rewarding hobby.

 

[gedzum]

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been meaning to learn guitar for a while. Mainly because I'm tired of air guitar :winktongue: I think you should go for it. I've taken some early steps and studied some music fundamentals such as notes etc since I have no musical background but haven't bought a guitar yet. I think it would be a nice hobby to have.

Also are you referring to calloused hands/fingers? I think that's what it's called. I don't know too much about it but I think if you play using your fingers it can happen after extended periods. Can't say for sure. The people I know who play guitar use picks most of the time.

 

[willied]

I play the ol' guitar. I would definitely recommend anyone who wants to play to go ahead and play! It's a lot of fun for me and I play almost every day. I've been playing for about 6 years now I believe and I still suck, but it's still a lot of fun. I don't take any lessons, though, and when I play I usually just play my own stuff. You can learn the basics pretty quickly. Things like the basic open chords and power chords will allow you to have a lot of fun before you get bored and want to move onto something else.

Are you thinking about acoustic or electric? Electric is easier to play on, but acoustic will make you a better player, and the sound of a good acoustic is just amazing. I recommend having both if you get into it enough.

 

[WPmunkey]

Go for it. I took lessons for several months and found guitar is not my thing. Later in life I have picked up drumming and love it. So take some lessons, lock your self in your room and play, and play pro guitar on Rock Band 3. Music is a wonderful way to express yourself, even if you don't ever intend to play in front of anyone.

 

[squire777]

Wanted to do it when I was younger but I figured I would never be in a band so I didn't go through with it. You should try it out to see if you like it.

 

[walter1832]

Dude, learn the cowbell. It's a chick magnet! You can't have enough cowbell.

 

[montsa007]

I play the ol' guitar. I would definitely recommend anyone who wants to play to go ahead and play! It's a lot of fun for me and I play almost every day. I've been playing for about 6 years now I believe and I still suck, but it's still a lot of fun. I don't take any lessons, though, and when I play I usually just play my own stuff. You can learn the basics pretty quickly. Things like the basic open chords and power chords will allow you to have a lot of fun before you get bored and want to move onto something else.

Are you thinking about acoustic or electric? Electric is easier to play on, but acoustic will make you a better player, and the sound of a good acoustic is just amazing. I recommend having both if you get into it enough.

Well, as for "6 years and still suck", didn't you try to learn something new from what you had been doing daily? I mean thinking out of the box?
I did check a few videos and posts and I feel that I should go for electric because in the acoustic, the gap between the strings & the neck is a bit on the higher side, which means you need to push the strings a bit hard to get the real sound, not so in electric, my physique is not very well built so its better to stay the way I am and opt for electric .
Can't get both, lol.

Go for it. I took lessons for several months and found guitar is not my thing. Later in life I have picked up drumming and love it. So take some lessons, lock your self in your room and play, and play pro guitar on Rock Band 3. Music is a wonderful way to express yourself, even if you don't ever intend to play in front of anyone.

Ok, I have a question for you,
Did you take real or online lessons? (For the guitar)
I'm not looking into drumming or joining an band, its not a very cool concept here, you could play in bars but thats not what am interested in doing anyway.

Wanted to do it when I was younger but I figured I would never be in a band so I didn't go through with it. You should try it out to see if you like it.

Why not learn it for own entertainment?
I mean, you could go on a quiet place and try playing anything, no need to have a crowd cheer you.

Dude, learn the cowbell. It's a chick magnet! You can't have enough cowbell.

Lol, I knew I had this response coming but thats not what am looking to do with it, am not a socialite.
If its this, Its not something I'd be interested in playing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVSyXNGqwLU


Ok need some more advise here,
Now, am confused whether to import one from US/UK or get one locally, electrics cost a bomb here 10k upwards (250$+) and am not really sure if they are real of knock off's.
Also should I buy one before I take some real classes or do the classes for a month or so before buying one?
What's the box size of a guitar (LxHxW) as I need that to get a shipping & customs quote.

 

[Ed Boland]

Been playing guitar 30+years myself. Self taught. I have some 50+ videos on YouTube... Mostly cover tunes.. search for Intrepolicious

Or my soundclick page for my original material www.soundclick.com/edro

My advise; find a pawn shop in your area or use Craigslist. Always better to find a guitar locally. You need to find a guitar that's comfortable for you and sounds/feels right... never buy one over the internet without actually holding/touching it in person first.

 

[Ed Boland]

Dude, learn the cowbell. It's a chick magnet! You can't have enough cowbell.

lol

 

[anon(4757114)]

Forget the guitar. Jazz flute!

 

[montsa007]

Been playing guitar 30+years myself. Self taught. I have some 50+ videos on YouTube... Mostly cover tunes.. search for Intrepolicious

Or my soundclick page for my original material SoundClick artist: EDRo - page with MP3 music downloads

My advise; find a pawn shop in your area or use Craigslist. Always better to find a guitar locally. You need to find a guitar that's comfortable for you and sounds/feels right... never buy one over the internet without actually holding/touching it in person first.

Pawn shops are famous in the west not here, even craiglist not that cool (I've seen some crazy dudes posting like used guitar for $300 when you get the same for $200 from a shop!?), will probably visit a local music class close to my place and see where it goes from there.

Forget the guitar. Jazz flute!

I consider it cheap, playing a flute lol.

 

[Coreldan]

As someone with learning to play guitar as an infinity project, don't get the cheapest piece of crap and think you'll start off just fine. It's probably the biggest reason why I can't get myself to practice, a really bad guitar that I own. It's far nicer to play other peoples guitars if they have proper things.

I learned the basics long ago, but havn't really managed to polish them to the point that I could actually play

 

[montsa007]

As someone with learning to play guitar as an infinity project, don't get the cheapest piece of crap and think you'll start off just fine. It's probably the biggest reason why I can't get myself to practice, a really bad guitar that I own. It's far nicer to play other peoples guitars if they have proper things.

I learned the basics long ago, but havn't really managed to polish them to the point that I could actually play

Lol and where on the world would you find that 'other peoples guitar', I mean consider a newbie asking to see your lumia phone, how open would you be to let him/her see it?, and we're talking of a guitar, I'd be quite reluctant to let someone else play up my guitar.

1 thing I understood is that if your guitar is not tuned properly you'll have a hard time playing it, as a newbie I don't know how to tune it.

I agree with not taking the cheapest piece, it'll end up demotivating you even if you are a good player, quality matters.

I think my best bet is to enroll for a music class, learn the basics in person and buy a 'white' guitar locally because thats my fav color.

 

[Coreldan]

I have fairly many musician friends who actually own guitars, but as a most recent example our local congregation has a pretty sweet acoustic Yamaha that is a real joy to play, given, it is also really expensive. Mine costed like 50€ and it does not play well.

You could get one of those guitar tuners, they make tuning really easy. I can't really tune without a proper tuner myself, although there are some "manual ways" of checking that the strings are in tune in relation to each other, but that still requires for the first string to actually be in good tune I personally have an older model of this: Tuner | Guitar Tuner | Bass Tuner | Korg GA-1 Pretty much all smartphones also have guitar tuner apps, but they can be a bit hit or miss, but if you might find a good one for free. The korg shouldnt be much more than 10-20€ and I've found mine as a very good basic tool for tuning, had it for about a decade now.

But yes, I recommend you get some classes first, while many of the worlds top guitarist are self-taught, it's naturally easier to learn at least the basics at a class.

 

[montsa007]

I have fairly many musician friends who actually own guitars, but as a most recent example our local congregation has a pretty sweet acoustic Yamaha that is a real joy to play, given, it is also really expensive. Mine costed like 50€ and it does not play well.

You could get one of those guitar tuners, they make tuning really easy. I can't really tune without a proper tuner myself, although there are some "manual ways" of checking that the strings are in tune in relation to each other, but that still requires for the first string to actually be in good tune I personally have an older model of this: Tuner | Guitar Tuner | Bass Tuner | Korg GA-1 Pretty much all smartphones also have guitar tuner apps, but they can be a bit hit or miss, but if you might find a good one for free. The korg shouldnt be much more than 10-20€ and I've found mine as a very good basic tool for tuning, had it for about a decade now.

But yes, I recommend you get some classes first, while many of the worlds top guitarist are self-taught, it's naturally easier to learn at least the basics at a class.

May I ask whats that brand guitar you got for 50 Euros?
I honestly don't know many brands except 3 which I've heard a lot Fender, Gibson and Yamaha
The link you posted, as of now looks like an alien to me, I hope to learn with time.
I'll enquire with the local music class about their class structure and things.
Am not really looking to make a hardcore career out of it, but playing it just for self amusement.

 

[Coreldan]

It's really easy to use, you just put it on, make sure it's set to guitar instead of bass and then pick a string and let it play free. With a brand new guitar/set of strings the risk might be that it think it's some other string and make you tune it according to what it thinks it is, but after you get the guitar even to somewhat of a right ballpark, it will usually figure out which string it is and tell you if it needs to be higher or lower to be in tune.

My acoustic is a "western guitar" by Harley Benton, some no name cheapo manufacturer. It is a sub-company for this german music store called "Thomann" that produces wide range of cheap instruments etc. They arn't all bad and you can get a fairly good product if you're lucky, but for example for me any note on the third fret (the metallic strips going sideways on the fretboard are frets) will resonate somehow terribly and basically anything from that fret is unusable for me lol. Harley Benton HBCG45 - Thomann Suomi I think it looks really nice and it was/is really cheap, if only it actually played decently too

Also, I personally prefer(red) metal strings, but they are a bit harder to learn on than nylon strings. Nylon strings are a bit easier on fingers, but I guess one could argue that they don't quite sound as nice. But for example the Yamah that the congregation owns doesn't hurt me when playing despite having metal strings too, so once again many things contribute.

 

[Long Syntax]

Do it for you, for your own enjoyment.You're probably not going to be a rock star, but who cares if you enjoy playing ;-)

 

[montsa007]

Do it for you, for your own enjoyment.You're probably not going to be a rock star, but who cares if you enjoy playing ;-)

Yep thats what I am looking for, a chap said am learning it to be a chick magnet :/.
I checked my local music class and here's what they said.

13$ - 1 Time admission fee
20$ - Monthly fee, 4 sessions a week every sunday (only) for an hour
the first 6 months will be complete introduction only.

My local currency is not USD, I converted it as its easy to understand for most of you.

What turned me off is that its only once a week, when I come back after a week, I may forget what I learned the past week!?

I'll be getting a guitar this saturday/sunday. I am still not sure about electric or acoustic, some videos said get electric for beginners because its not that hard on fingers. Some said acoustic is better. My main concern is getting a white one . Possibly I may get an electric in white as acoustic in white is a bit hard to find, have seen black, brown, woody but not white. (Am not very keen to get an amp. as I won't be playing it loud, unless I want to make someone's life a living hell)

I'll be learning through online/offline video tutorials at my own pace, and I hope I don't make my neighbors angry .

Will update once am done buying.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been meaning to learn guitar for a while. Mainly because I'm tired of air guitar :winktongue: I think you should go for it. I've taken some early steps and studied some music fundamentals such as notes etc since I have no musical background but haven't bought a guitar yet. I think it would be a nice hobby to have.

Also are you referring to calloused hands/fingers? I think that's what it's called. I don't know too much about it but I think if you play using your fingers it can happen after extended periods. Can't say for sure. The people I know who play guitar use picks most of the time.

The callouses happen on the hand that plays the chords (left hand if you're right-handed). It's from pressing down on the strings.

I'm not a guitarist, but I have friends who are guitarists.