I will be learning guitar. Shall I choose acoustic/spanish or electric guitar? If electric then shall I go for telecaster or gibson which Keith uses



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-03-16 14:01 by bv.

I would suggest choosing the guitar you're most interested in learning to play. Motivation is key.

Like all our heroes, start with a cheap acoustic, learn the basics. Then move on to better guitars if you are still interested.

If you start with a spanish guitar you can try yourself out and decide in which direction you want to develope your playing, so this would be my choice.

I would suggest a steel string acoustic to begin with. You'll need to learn basic chords and develop your right hand technique (strumming with a plectrum, possibly finger picking). That in itself can be a lifelong journey. Start off in standard tuning. If you decide to move to electric you'll have a better technique from having learned on acoustic. Don't be diverted by open tunings, slide guitar, etc., until you have mastered the basics. There really is no avoiding the hard work, but it will be worth it in the end. Don't just buy the cheapest guitar you can find. It will be harder to play, won't have good volume or tone and will be harder to keep in tune. It's important to get an instrument that you'll enjoy playing. Go to a decent guitar shop if you can and ideally take a guitar playing friend with you. There are plenty good guitars at a reasonable price out there.

Of course, a mid-range acoustic is best to start with. What is very important is the adjustment of the strings, generally the discouragement comes from the gap between the neck and the strings.

Put off the 6th string and turn the rest to G D g h d.

Now only with your right hand pluck the lowest three strings to some cowbell groove

Thank me later

Buy one that plays easily. Many have given up because they bought a cheap guitar that was hard to play.

Wise words by Keith (around 2:40):

video: [www.youtube.com]

You got to know acoustic before you got to know electric stuff.
They just put a microphone in.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-03-16 14:33 by Roadster32.

Buy one you think you will play everyday. I started on electric because I wanted to learn Stones, and Johnny Winter's licks on Hard Again.

Concerning cheap guitars: there are no bad guitars anymore. The cheapest Squire brand made in China can be taken to the enormodromes of this world these days.

I would buy a guitar that's as fuzz free as possible, and I think that's the Telecaster. And they look the meanest of course.

Mathijs

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Roadster32
Wise words by Keith (around 2:40):

video: [www.youtube.com]

You got to know acoustic before you got to know electric stuff.
They just put a microphone in.

He said phone as in “telephone.” A classic Keith-ism. The unexpectedly insightful one-liner.

My other favorite is “Money is a funny thing. If you think about it too much, there’s never enough. But if you don’t think about it all … there’s never enough.”

The first song I ever learned was the Ya Ya’s version of Sympathy for the Devil. Basically 3 chords (E,D, A) and then that B7 on the ‘pleased to meet you’ - but a good basis to get started.
Agree with something easy to play - there’s no short cut to toughening up those finger tips, which can be painful at first. I’d say start with an acoustic. Will be easier to eventually try an electric, as opposed to the other way around.

If you want to "bang" buy an electric. If Angie or WH are your thing buy an acoustic.
Learning to play a musical instrument is - unless you have a natural talent - a very slow humbling and frustrating process.

Then one day you discover you can play easily licks you could not play a few months before. This is a magic moment that will give you intense satisfaction.

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pftw04
I will be learning guitar. Shall I choose acoustic/spanish or electric guitar? If electric then shall I go for telecaster or gibson which Keith uses

I myself would never buy a guitar brand because my (guitar) hero plays it. Neither did Keith. Guitars are like "girls", or "men" when you are a female. "I make them all sound the same"-Keith Richards-. I started with a Spanish acoustic, and also practised everything on it that I wanted to play on my electric. It does miracles for your feeling and technical skills.

Foremost: Have fun.

You have to work, persist with commitment and the prize will arrive little by little. Many give up because they are impatient and want results right away. That does not exist. Fingers need some time to stop failing.
Starting with an acoustic guitar seems like the best option for a beginner, and also because it's easier to pick up and practice several times a day, but... there are no rules.
Try not to buy too cheap because too much lack of quality doesn't help.

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dcba
If you want to "bang" buy an electric. If Angie or WH are your thing buy an acoustic.
Learning to play a musical instrument is - unless you have a natural talent - a very slow humbling and frustrating process.

Then one day you discover you can play easily licks you could not play a few months before. This is a magic moment that will give you intense satisfaction.

Yes, my aha moment was when I could half-ass play the "Rebel, Rebel" lick.


Also, the barre chords to the end section of Free Bird G - Bb - C - C

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pftw04
I will be learning guitar. Shall I choose acoustic/spanish or electric guitar? If electric then shall I go for telecaster or gibson which Keith uses

Start with an accoustic guitar with nylon strings. The skin of the fingertips of your left hand has to grow a horny part. This happens naturaly by playing and pressing your fingertips on the string. Metalstrings are sharp and you will hurt yourself and probably be frustrated.
An accoustic will bring its sound direct to you and you can feel it in your body. This helps because you will be able to listen to the sound better.
You can play it on the beach or wherever you want.
Try to play what you like. Buy a guitar learning book. Watch tutorials on youtube. Very important is to practice. You don't have to play for hours but regular. In the best case half an hour or one hour every day.
The most important thing is have fun, enjoy, let it happen.
After a while you will be able to play some songs or tunes. This is the point from which you can go further and further.
One more important point is how to tune your guitar. Of course you can use tuning apps or devices. And there is that old method, using a tuning fork. This means you use one tone, which you have to listen to and then you have to listen to the a string of your guitar. After that you have to listen to the other strings one after one. Then you'l have to compare the strings again and maybe play some chords. All this means you have to learn to listen to what you're playing. And this is nothing less than starting to play on your guitar.
Playing music gives you the chance of joy for your whole lifetime!



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 2024-03-20 15:49 by micha063.

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downagain
I would suggest choosing the guitar you're most interested in learning to play. Motivation is key.

Wise words.

For all but the most outrageously talented, learning guitar is difficult at first.

Many give up before they've really got going.

Whatever your talent level...it's all about how much you want to do it.

What I would say. and whatever type of guitar you start with, get it from a good source or have a player check that it's reasonably well set up and playable.

Even the cheapest guitars these days should be very playable.

[How Keith mastered Chuck Berry with that awful Guyatone is a miracle !]

If you want a very-reasonably priced electric, you cannot go too far wrong with the Squire 'Classic Vibe' line: essentially, budget-reissues of the great 60's and 70's Fenders. I have a '60's Custom Esquire' from this line. Admittedly, I don't play it very much - I prefer my acoustic for casual noodling -, but it looks lovely on it's stand. They're terrific guitars for the money, in my opinion; and a far better bet than the cheapy-cheap Squires

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Big Al
If you want a very-reasonably priced electric, you cannot go too far wrong with the Squire 'Classic Vibe' line: essentially, budget-reissues of the great 60's and 70's Fenders. I have a '60's Custom Esquire' from this line. Admittedly, I don't play it very much - I prefer my acoustic for casual noodling -, but it looks lovely on it's stand. They're terrific guitars for the money, in my opinion; and a far better bet than the cheapy-cheap Squires

Mike Rutherford played a Squire for some songs on the '21 Genesis tour!

Apparently he was stuck in a foreign country longer than expected due to covid, wanted to purchase a guitar to play around with to kill time, found a Squire and said it was really a nice guitar, so much so he decided to take it on tour.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-03-20 16:29 by kovach.

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kovach

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Big Al
If you want a very-reasonably priced electric, you cannot go too far wrong with the Squire 'Classic Vibe' line: essentially, budget-reissues of the great 60's and 70's Fenders. I have a '60's Custom Esquire' from this line. Admittedly, I don't play it very much - I prefer my acoustic for casual noodling -, but it looks lovely on it's stand. They're terrific guitars for the money, in my opinion; and a far better bet than the cheapy-cheap Squires

Mike Rutherford played a Squire for some songs on the '21 Genesis tour!

Apparently he was stuck in a foreign country longer than expected due to covid, wanted to purchase a guitar to play around with to kill time, found a Squire and said it was really a nice guitar, so much so he decided to take it on tour.

He was stuck in South Africa, I think. Yep, in fact, it was a 'Bullet Squire Stratocaster', the very-cheapest model. It just goes to show, doesn't it?

Here's a few places to check out regarding learning to play - Justin Guitar and Marty Schwartz on utoob. Regarding a guitar to learn on, a decent acoustic is the way to start. Go to a local guitar shop and see what they have used and new, hold the guitar and see how your fretting hand feels on the neck. You can also see what a used guitar might/should cost by checking out reverb.com.

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dmay
Here's a few places to check out regarding learning to play - Justin Guitar and Marty Schwartz on utoob. Regarding a guitar to learn on, a decent acoustic is the way to start. Go to a local guitar shop and see what they have used and new, hold the guitar and see how your fretting hand feels on the neck. You can also see what a used guitar might/should cost by checking out reverb.com.

Yes, that's truth. It's important to hold it in your hands and feel if it fits. Especially the hand on the fretboard is important to be able to reach all strings.

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dmay
Here's a few places to check out regarding learning to play - Justin Guitar and Marty Schwartz on utoob. Regarding a guitar to learn on, a decent acoustic is the way to start. Go to a local guitar shop and see what they have used and new, hold the guitar and see how your fretting hand feels on the neck. You can also see what a used guitar might/should cost by checking out reverb.com.

Marty is a faker and a totally BS money maker. You're a fool to watch his lessons on Youtube. You will become nothing but a parrot watching him. Go find a teacher that gives private lessons where you can ask questions.

Hmmm...regarding Marty being a faker, yeah, he can be a bit much and sends out endless emails asking for moolah, but his videos will provide info regarding playing. Justin is one of the best to learn from, IMHO. There's also a guy name of Eric Blackmon on utoob worth checking out. Blackmon is probably for someone who's learned the basics of the guitar and wants to know a bit more. His tutorial on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" is good.

An Acoustic Guitar with two strings, lots of Ramones albums & Nirvanas Nevermind got me into the hang of playing. I eventually progressed to 6 strings and played 2 finger power chords all on the 6th string for a few months. I just wanted to learn asap and though it’s a very dumb punk rock way of learning and playing it got me playing a lot quicker and with more fun for me than sitting down learning chords to a song I didn’t like with a teacher, I’m pretty sure playing along with those records trained my ear way quicker than if I’d had Tabs or Videos to rely on. I think the only absolute rule with starting to play is learn on an acoustic. There’s a reason everyone says it. It has its own feel and it’s important to get that feeling into your hands.

I've been playing guitar since I was 15 or 16. I have accumulated a ton of great guitar books which are much better today than when I first started out. I don't read music very well but many of the books utilize tabulator for finger placement and also have CDs and/or you can download the music that comes with the book on-line.

With regards to a first guitar, don't allow yourself to cheap out. You can get a good new guitar for anywhere between $300-$600. The quality of Epiphone guitars have improved since I was a kid and you can get a great Gibson knock-off with an Epiphone.

There are a great many free videos on-line to get you started. I have seen Marty's stuff as well as Justin Guitar. I would suggest taking lessons from an experienced guitar teacher face to face where you live.

However, for me one of the best teachers on-line to take lessons from- and advance your game is Brian from Active Melody. He has free videos, but to get into the meat of his lessons, you will have to pay for it, but I think for what he provides as well as his teaching style, the yearly fee is very reasonable and worth it.

[www.activemelody.com]

Also, because I look at lots of monthly guitar publications, for me the single best guitar magazine (when you get more experience under your belt) is Guitar Techniques. Great, great magazine loaded with info!

Good luck!

[masonmusic.com]

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Big Al

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kovach

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Big Al
If you want a very-reasonably priced electric, you cannot go too far wrong with the Squire 'Classic Vibe' line: essentially, budget-reissues of the great 60's and 70's Fenders. I have a '60's Custom Esquire' from this line. Admittedly, I don't play it very much - I prefer my acoustic for casual noodling -, but it looks lovely on it's stand. They're terrific guitars for the money, in my opinion; and a far better bet than the cheapy-cheap Squires

Mike Rutherford played a Squire for some songs on the '21 Genesis tour!

Apparently he was stuck in a foreign country longer than expected due to covid, wanted to purchase a guitar to play around with to kill time, found a Squire and said it was really a nice guitar, so much so he decided to take it on tour.

He was stuck in South Africa, I think. Yep, in fact, it was a 'Bullet Squire Stratocaster', the very-cheapest model. It just goes to show, doesn't it?

I have a Squire that is Keithed- up (humbucker in the neck position, 5-string, etc) and it sounds pretty good.