Guitar lessons for a...

conley · Post by **conley** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:43 pm

Definitely go "righty"..... It's difficult to get your fingers to cooperate either way & if nothing else, you'll be able to choose from an entire wall of right-handed guitars whenever you decide to go shopping for a new one - versus looking at 1 left-handed guitar that's been on the shelf for 2 years.

Dan Bourbonnais · Post by **Dan Bourbonnais** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:56 pm

Hey, if you want to take some time in making your decision, I will loan you one of my guitars and you can experiment until you have a sense of what to buy. Most people start with an acoustic and then buy an electric. I started playing when I was about 45 and I learned using interactive CD instruction materials. You can learn at your own pace, learning basic chords and songs.
My goal is to meet some people to play guitar with , so I can show you some starter stuff for free.

Oliver's Army · Post by **Oliver's Army** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:01 pm

Here's the plan...

I have a decent Yamaha Acoustic starter we already had getting restrung, cleaned and adjusted at B SHARP right now.

*IF* I decide to give up on the righty thing I will have them adjust the nut and restring it lefty with very little investment and I get to try it both ways.

I figure Righty is the best way to go for now.

Thanks for the offer, but I need to learn some fundamentals before playing with anyone.

What were the learning materials you used?

Dan Bourbonnais · Post by **Dan Bourbonnais** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:16 pm

I started with a Yamaha acoustic. My fingers hurt so badly that I nicknamed it "killer." After 6 months I bought an ovation acoustic and I only use "killer" for slide now. Prepare for some pain starting out. I think a lot of people here would agree that it is easier to play chords on an electric guitar.

deek · Post by **deek** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:31 pm

Yup...electric is much easier to chord.

My acoustic was brutal. An old epiphone...paid like $180 new back in '97 or so. All the guys I knew struggled with it and they had been playing years more than me.

Your fingers will hurt, but in about 3 weeks, you'll have some good callouses and the pain will all be but a memory:)

Dan Bourbonnais · Post by **Dan Bourbonnais** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:45 pm

As far as which CD or DVD materials to buy, at the beginner stage they are all the same. I like to use a CD because I can repeat or loop things more easily than DVD. I learned the basic chords and then started learning to play some songs with the Hal Leonard Rock Guitar course and CD (Barnes & Noble or online). I never even finished the first course I started.
There is a really helpful program called the Amazing Slow Downer ( Roni Music) available online. I use it as my CD music player. It will slow down a CD track without affecting the pitch, and it will loop songs over and over for practice playing along.

Garr · Post by **Garr** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:50 pm

I was just researching these today.

SlowGold
http://www.worldwidewoodshed.com/
Tried this. Wouldn't work with my optical drives. Piece of sh*t, IMO. Others have used it more successfully and said they loved it.

Guitar Drum Trainer
http://renegademinds.com/Default.aspx?tabid=46

Riff Master Pro
http://riffmasterpro.com/index.htm?hop=clickbunk

Or a device:
Tascam
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=241255

I've used the Tascam device (actually an older model) and I really liked it. There was some distortion when it slowed down, but not so much that you couldn't still learn a song. The looping feature was a life saver. Then some kid totaled my van and the Tascam was in the back. I didn't ahve $150 to buy a new one. This model is only $100, though. It's nice.