Any tips for a new guitar player?

[MakeYourslf2012]

Well I finally saved up enough money (and courage) to get a guitar and lessons. My buddy has been playing for 12 years; we went to Guitar Center last week and pick up one for me. He is currently giving me hour lessons every saturday.

Its a Mitchell guitar - and while we both haven't heard of them, it sounds the best when compared to a couple other Fender's and Yamaha's in my price range. I paid $180 for the guitar and conviced the salesman to throw in a hardcase for free (Luckly, the philosophy at Guitar Center is "We never turn down an offer! We want your buisiness more!")

I've started practicing a couple chords and the C Major scale.

Any tips/suggestions/comments? All are welcome

-MakeYourslf2012

[freakitchen]

Congrats on taking the decision to start playing. That looks like a decent guitar; going for "well known" brands for begginner guitars isn't a better call than going for an unknown - they're probably made at the same factory anyway. The hard case is a good bit of business, in the UK they start at £50.

As far as tips go, your teacher and his style will dictate the way in which you learn. As a self-taught guitarist myself, my suggestion would be to work on your strumming technique and rhythm - it determines how smooth and confident your playing sounds. Learning all the straight forward chords (non fret-barring) would be the next step, get to know them well, then practise changing between them - it's this that will take the time but keep at it. I'd also suggest picking up some "3 chord" songbooks for some acoustic music, the practise you're putting in will feel much more rewarding if you're playing recognisable songs.

Oh, and best of luck!

FK

[MakeYourslf2012]

Thanks

I've been practicing about a half hour a day. I was surprised that I can easily get my fingers into position for the chords and that the hard part was actually strumming - upstrokes especially. It sounds God awful when I try to pick up the tempo.

I guess only practice can make that better.

[rspassey]

A good tip for anyone learning an instrument is to get a metronome (sp?). I sure as heck wished I had one when I started playing the drums a few years back. For a while I didn't even know that my beat would gradually speed up over time when playing complicated fills and stuff. You can probably find one to download and run through your computer speakers at variable speeds, that would work just as well, though there are some really nice ones available with different features.

[jayb1234]

Yup: Remember the old adage "Practice Makes Perfect". You will probably be surprised at how quickly you can pick up the basics, then just keep up the practice on a regular schedule of some sort.

[FLG]

Since your buddy has been playing for 12 years, im sure he will know quite alot and be able to get you started and progressing quite well. One thing i would do, go out and buy every size pick you can find (obviously nothing to thick)..then play with each one and find out what pick works better for the song your playing or just the one that feels the most comfortable.

For example, i started out playing electric guitar using Dunlop .88's...after using many many picks, i found im most comfortable with Dunlop .58's, with acoustic for some songs down to .38's. Depending on the song and the level of comfort you will find what picks or pick works best.

[RazorDX]

I love Dunlop Nylons, especially for acoustic. Great feel, plus it seems to add a new dimension to your sound...


But back on track... you would do best to practice scales with a metronome as well as chord changes and chord patterns.

Since you are having problems strumming, make sure you are holding the pick correctly. You can ask your friend to show you how, and you may also want to do as FLG said and find your perfect pick.

[RevCLB]

Practice leads toward perfection. My Dad played "American" stringed instruments. If you put srings on a bathtub he would tune & play it. He went from guitar to fiddle to upright bass to other stringed instruments. He was never satisfied & always learned more. But he played. Don't worry about perfection. JUST PLAY!! RevCLB