Guitar Lessons - I'm going to do it!

[HotRodZilla]

I'd suggest starting out with the skin flute....then move to piano....then guitar. You'll have much better hand strength.

I don't know if this is funny or just sad: as soon as I saw that you posted up, before I even clicked on it, I started thinking of skin flute jokes. Then what do I see?? Haha...Glad you didn't disappoint.

To the OP...Grab a guitar and go for it. Learning to read music is easy. It's all the finger work that freaks me out. I was once and awesome trumpet player.

 

[El Toro]

David Grier, another gifted player who was a child protegee' of Clarence White, was once asked "If I only have half an hour available to practice after work each day, what should I work on?" David didn't miss a lick. He answered "You should work on changing your job so that you have more time to practice.

On the O-Dot issue of hand strength, a strong grip is the sign of someone who has not progressed yet. Maybe because they've been spending too much time with ODot's favorite instrument.

Novice players tend to play with light or medium picks, which are more forgiving of the grip than heavier picks. When you've managed to get to the point where you actually have control of the pick and the picking forces, you can move on to heavy picks, and these tend to give a more pleasing tone.

The best players have a very light touch with both left and right hand. This is stuff that a good teacher can help you with.

Seriously, it's not just a matter of callous formation. If your wrist angle is poor, you can really mess up your hand.

Andres Segovia said (not to me ) that the thumb is always curious about what his brothers, the fingers are doing, so he tries to sneak around the neck to take a look. You should not let him do this. The thumb should remain on the bottom side.

Admittedly Segovia was playing a classical guitar, and they tend to have flatter, wider necks. But this is generally good advice for any style of guitar, and any neck.

Probably one of the easiest and simplest guitars to play is the Telecaster. It is a Nashville standard. It's very simple to set up. It's very versatile, and in the right hands, it can be used for any style of music.

There is a pretty big difference between acoustic and electric guitar string forces. If you play an electric, you will generally need to have a pretty light touch to get clean true tones.

It is natural for many folks to choose an acoustic since no amplifier is required. But acoustics made from solid woods are more sensitive to humidity and temperature than a solid body guitar, like the Telecaster.

If you've got smaller hands, you might want to consider an Epiphone Les Paul knock off. The Les Paul fretboard is based on the 24 3/4" scale, and so the frets are slightly closer together than the Telecaster's 25 1/2" scale. It's not too big a deal once you get up the neck a bit, but in the first position, the shorter scale is a bit easier for people who don't have large hands.

There was a guy named Tal Farlowe who had such large hands that his nickname was "The Octopus." J. D. Simo's hands remind me of Tal's.

Guitars are fun on many levels. No one is going to collect 20 pianos, if for no other reason than the fact that they take up a lot of space. Many people who fall in love with the guitar end up going through 20 or more guitars. They don't take up too much space, and they're all different.

 

[odot]

You guys are funny. Everyone knows everything and no one's ever wrong. This is the internet. Even though I disagree, Zilla has it right off the bat....just go and get one. They're cheap and fun to play with......like the skin flute. Or you can go off the deep end and spend thousands of clams one one guitar. Well, not far from the tree.....you have an fjr. Should be easy. Have fun and remember....you can use your thumb to hit the low e.............like Hendrix did.

 

[El Toro]

Hendrix took some lessons from Roland Gresham when he was in Middle Tennessee https://www.murfreesboropost.com/every-time-we-say-goodbye-cms-33498.

When Roland would talk about it years later, he'd say "he had a lot of talent, but all he wanted to do was act the fool."

The skin flautists need to remember to suck, although they always do seem to remember.

This is the internet .... and although no one is ever wrong, no one is ever right either. The biggest problem with the internet is that there's no editor. Maybe when the internet gets to Gen 13, things will be better.

And, FWIW, sometimes the thumb is a good option for picking up or muting that 6th string, but if you make a habit of it, it can lead to hand problems. I wouldn't have an AE if this weren't the case.

 

[El Toro]

Probably most folks know that Hendrix was left handed. There are left handed guitars out there, but Hendrix played a right handed guitar, upside down.

https://www.clashmusic.com/feature/12-things-you-never-knew-about-jimi-hendrix

 

[blassoff]

Playing guitar since about 10 years old, still suck. BUT, they're a hellova lota fun. I've got 4 telecasters, two ES335 copies (Ibanez) and a Takamine acoustic. The Tele's are the easiest to play (I use 10-46 strings, so they're easier on the fingers), The 335's use 12-52's and require more pressure to play. The acoustic is actually the hardest on the fingers, a classical guitar would be easier.

Whatever you decide, get into it, you won't regret it! It's a ton of fun and just imagine...when your not playing you have this really cool artwork hanging around the house. Yes Virginia, a good musical instrument is a work of art (and some science).

First concert, David Bowie 1976...I'm not the oldest fart here. Baz

 

[exskibum]

Hendrix played a right hand guitar lefty, but IIRC, he restrung it so that the bass and treble strings were oriented like a lefty guitar. There are a few lefty guitarists who don't do that and have to learn the chord shapes and scale matrices backwards. Hendrix is also said to have had a guitar strapped on from the time he cooked eggs in the morning until he fell asleep with it - not a mystery why he was so good. Try that with a keyboard.

I'm down to 6 guitars (3 acoustic and 3 electric, including an electric 12 and an acoustic 12 string) from a one time high of 11 or 12. Still need to acquire a used beach/outdoor/utility acoustic to replace the pawnshop Yamaha I gave to a girl who didn't get a Christmas present in 2011. Also have a P bass and lap steel to accompany a digital piano I was given but don't really play.

Truth is that with any proficiency, it's generally easier to modulate keys on guitar than a keyboard - just move the capo or barre (chord) vs. completely different chord and scale fingerings on keyboards. (When the vocalist wants to do the song in a different key, it's the keyboardist who is most likely to be the one glaring.) And if you understand the interplay between C-A-G-E-D chord shapes and the scales they overlay, changing keys for solos falls into place on guitar in a heartbeat, too.

Don't know that musicians or music teachers are any more arrogant than any other group of people, but I suppose your mileage and experience may vary. Just buy a guitar and play around with it. There is no limit to what there is to learn on it, but you don't have to know all that to be able to make music on it. Just have fun with it and you'll find your way.

EDIT TO ADD: Classical nylon string guitars are easy on fingertips but harder to chord with, due to the flat fingerboard and greater reach resulting from a wider neck. Steel string acoustics are hard on fingertips but easier to chord and reach on. Electric are easy to chord on, easy to reach on and relatively easy on the fingertips. 12 strings are tougher on the fingers and require more strength. (Try playing a Bb barre chord on the first fret of my Guild F-412 and you'll quickly agree that relatively strong fretting fingers play a role in playing clean.) A 24.75" scale (e.g., Gibson Les Paul) requires less string tension for the same gauge string to be tuned to the same note than a 25.5" scale guitar (e.g., Fender Tele or Strat), so it is easier on the fingertips and can be bent more easily for legato notes. It also yields a less bright tone than the tighter string tension of the longer scale. I have both scale lengths (there are others, btw) and barely notice the difference in distance between frets, but I suppose some may. Lastly, note that selective muting (with both hands) will play a bigger role than you imagined as you advance (and an amplified electric will generally make muting sins more obvious to you than an acoustic).

Guitar is a great instrument! My virtuoso ex-brother in law keyboardist used to joke about how we guitarists collected beautiful chunks of wood that all sounded different, while his 2 or 3 keyboards were really little more than sterile controllers.

 

[El Toro]

EDIT TO ADD: Classical nylon string guitars are easy on fingertips but harder to chord with, due to the flat fingerboard and greater reach resulting from a wider neck. Steel string acoustics are hard on fingertips but easier to chord and reach on. Electric are easy to chord on, easy to reach on and relatively easy on the fingertips. 12 strings are tougher on the fingers and require more strength. (Try playing a Bb barre chord on the first fret of my Guild F-412 and you'll quickly agree that relatively strong fretting fingers play a role in playing clean.) A 24.75" scale (e.g., Gibson Les Paul) requires less string tension for the same gauge string to be tuned to the same note than a 25.5" scale guitar (e.g., Fender Tele or Strat), so it is easier on the fingertips and can be bent more easily for legato notes. It also yields a less bright tone than the tighter string tension of the longer scale. I have both scale lengths (there are others, btw) and barely notice the difference in distance between frets, but I suppose some may. Lastly, note that selective muting (with both hands) will play a bigger role than you imagined as you advance (and an amplified electric will generally make muting sins more obvious to you than an acoustic).
Guitar is a great instrument! My virtuoso ex-brother in law keyboardist used to joke about how we guitarists collected beautiful chunks of wood that all sounded different, while his 2 or 3 keyboards were really little more than sterile controllers.

The other thing in play with the classical guitars is that they are set up with higher action, and so this makes them more difficult to fret too. The typical professional level action on an acoustic guitar that is not used for Bluegrass is going to be in the neighborhood of 1/16" at the 12th fret with the instrument fretted at the first fret (3/64" to 5/64" is light, and some will go to 1/16" to 3/32" ... although this is always based on personal preference and skill). A classical guitar's action at the 12th fret may be set considerably higher and be "normal." If you go to a professional set up shop, like Joe Glaser's, they will ask you to play before they will do the setup. Another issue with the classical guitars is that they do not have adjustable necks, and so this high action is just really an artifact of the need to keep the strings off the frets so that things don't buzz when the weather changes.

Gibson was the first to adopt adjustable necks, and Martin did not follow them for about 50 years. Old Gibsons can be set up to be quite playable without a neck reset oftentimes. Old Martins have nearly all had neck resets. Old in this context is vintage old. Say 50+ years old. I've got some Gibsons that are 80 years old this year ... older than most of us. And yet they are a joy to play. One of them has an old De'Armond Rhythm Chief single coil "monkey on a stick" style pickup, and it sounds great.

Regarding the outdoor "beater" guitar, there are some really nice guitars being made of carbon fiber. They are nearly impervious to weather or environmental factors short of impact. They seem to vary from sample to sample though, so if you're considering one, it's better to play it before buying it so that you know what you're getting. I have a really very nice sounding, and easy playing, Journey carbon fiber guitar, but according to the dealer where I bought it, most of the samples that come through are not as good.

This variability from sample to sample applies to other types of guitars too. The vintage guitar stores are full of custom built perfect bucket list guitars that were built to customer specifications by Gibson, Collings, Martin, and others, but for whatever reason did not satisfy the customer enough for the customer to keep the guitar as an heirloom.

Certainly guitars are a lot of fun. And incredibly versatile as a tool for expressing music.

Because of my proximity to Nashville, I see a lot of small venue shows. I was watching Jack Pearson playing with a touring band at the Ryman last year, and he was playing a Gibson Flying V. He always plays Gibson when he plays with that group because of some contractual agreement with Gibson. But he was really working. I watch him enough that I can tell.

I asked him about it later, and he told me that the guitar had been provided by a collector who wanted to hear it in concert. He said it was an original, in mint condition, and that it had been owned by a really famous guy before hitting the collector's market. That guitar is reportedly appraised for half a million bucks.

But man, it was hard to play compared to many. Some guys think that it's good to have the guitar fight back a bit. I guess this is another of the YMMV situations.

 

[El Toro]

Last comment on the ultimate beach guitar. Clarence White had that 1935 Martin D-28 that Tony Rice rescued later.

But Clarence considered it a beater guitar. He shot the face with a BB gun once. He filled it with sand just to see what it would sound like.

Stories say that there are still bits of sand in the guitar, although I doubt this.

The guitar is the guitar that was used as the model for the Collings and Martin Clarence White commemorative models, and also for the Tony Rice Santa Cruz model.

That 1935 D-28 would be considered priceless in the Bluegrass community. Although anyone who remembers Clarence from his days as a member of the Byrds will think of him on his D-18 or his Telecaster with the B-Bender.

 

[YummYam]

That's great that you are going to live your dream. Interested to hear of your progress.

I always wanted to play drums so had multiple lessons starting age 45. Now fifteen years later I'm still very average but have an acoustic kit and enjoy bedroom playing whenever I want. Chilli Peppers are my fave to play along with.

Pity we are not closer, could've done some jammin'.

Gotta do these things while we can.

 

[rbentnail]

I'd suggest starting out with the skin flute....then move to piano....then guitar. You'll have much better hand strength.

Save some time: skip the skin flute, go right to the hanging organ. It's a lot like a piano only different.

 

[Mad German]

Lots of great info. Thank you very much, everyone! My sister in law gave me a guitar that she bought a while ago but never used. I'll take a look at it tonight and post up what it is. I'm sure it'll need new strings, but for now, it should get me by. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[ionbeam]

A good music instructor will go a long way towards teaching good technique, METERING, mechanics, theory and reading music. A friend of ours teaches guitar (after a rock 'n roll band career), he is one of the good teachers. Learning on your own can lead to bad habits and some confusion on how a guitar should be played.

 

[exskibum]

Gibson was the first to adopt adjustable necks, and Martin did not follow them for about 50 years. Old Gibsons can be set up to be quite playable without a neck reset oftentimes. Old Martins have nearly all had neck resets. Old in this context is vintage old. Say 50+ years old. I've got some Gibsons that are 80 years old this year ... older than most of us. And yet they are a joy to play. One of them has an old De'Armond Rhythm Chief single coil "monkey on a stick" style pickup, and it sounds great.

All my guitars are players with truss rods, even the student classical. Neck resets are not only required for guitars without truss rods - humidity issues and warped tops (esp. on jumbos) account for a large share, too. And conversely, many Martins w/o truss rods required fretboard removal and replaning the neck as part or all of the operation to make it playable again. Taylor's bolt on neck system obviates expensive reset operations.

Regarding the outdoor "beater" guitar, there are some really nice guitars being made of carbon fiber. They are nearly impervious to weather or environmental factors short of impact. They seem to vary from sample to sample though, so if you're considering one, it's better to play it before buying it so that you know what you're getting. I have a really very nice sounding, and easy playing, Journey carbon fiber guitar, but according to the dealer where I bought it, most of the samples that come through are not as good.

For my money, Yamaha makes one of the the best beater/beach guitar in its FG700 series solid top steel string acoustics. Heck, it's a really good "only" guitar if that's your budget. Under $200 new, sounds good (gotta play to find the good ones) and a fret dressing away from stock to being a really fine player. My "beater guitar" issue isn't humidity susceptibility, but an unwillingness to take a Taylor 814ce where damage or loss is a risk. Carbon fiber guitars are almost certainly improving, but are considerably more expensive (DQed for my purpose right there) and I haven't been impressed by their sound compared to a solid wood acoustic (esp. for the price). That's not to say good ones can't be found, but likely not on my budget. The Yamaha I had was the lesser of two I found in a pawn shop and was perfect for my needs, but I just haven't come across another in similar orphaned circumstances since.

Play on, sir!

 

[El Toro]

Well, the problem with the old guitars was the use of hide glue, which loses it's grip around 120 F or so.

An hour in a parked vehicle, and a neck reset has been ordered, regardless of truss rod or no.

I love guitars. I hang out with the Gruhn guys. Carter too. And Cotten. I have a regular circuit. It's fun to play through the guitars and think great musical thoughts. Joe Glaser once offered me bench space. It's just another of the fun activities associated with being in this area.

There are great old guitars, and there are great new guitars, just as there are crummy new guitars, and crummy old guitars.

FWIW, the Journey carbon fiber travel guitar is around $1200, so it's not terribly expensive. Still, they tell me that mine is unique. Might be true. I like it. I told my wife the other day that, when we went to the nursing home, that guitar would be coming along too.

Check out https://www.prewargibsonl-5.com for some pretty old archtops. Mother Maybelle played a 1927 or 28 L-5 if I remember it right.

That's one of my guitars featured on the link from home page.

 

[El Toro]

All my guitars are players with truss rods, even the student classical. Neck resets are not only required for guitars without truss rods - humidity issues and warped tops (esp. on jumbos) account for a large share, too. And conversely, many Martins w/o truss rods required fretboard removal and replaning the neck as part or all of the operation to make it playable again. Taylor's bolt on neck system obviates expensive reset operations.

Try to trade a Taylor and see what it's worth. They take an incredible beating once they're used. If you want a Taylor, you should buy it second hand and let the other guy take the hit.

 

[exskibum]

All my guitars are players with truss rods, even the student classical. Neck resets are not only required for guitars without truss rods - humidity issues and warped tops (esp. on jumbos) account for a large share, too. And conversely, many Martins w/o truss rods required fretboard removal and replaning the neck as part or all of the operation to make it playable again. Taylor's bolt on neck system obviates expensive reset operations.

Try to trade a Taylor and see what it's worth. They take an incredible beating once they're used. If you want a Taylor, you should buy it second hand and let the other guy take the hit.

No interest in selling it. I'm not a collector - I have (for my talent, or lack thereof) quality players that cover what I do with them. I'm getting older, got the Taylor new for $1,900 in 1999 and don't envision spending much more on guitars, guns or motorcycles. I know players far better than me getting it done on lesser instruments than I have. Besides, skiing and golf eat enough of my fixed income. I simply like this Taylor's tone and note articulation, and a beater Yamaha dreadnaught would be the perfect complement, whether to take to the river or to keep in an alternate tuning around the house when it isn't beachcombing. From the looks of that L5 and your comment on the price of the cf acoustic as a beater, very differently priced guitars float our happy boats.

 

[El Toro]

No interest in selling it. I'm not a collector - I have (for my talent, or lack thereof) quality players that cover what I do with them. I'm getting older, got the Taylor new for $1,900 in 1999 and don't envision spending much more on guitars, guns or motorcycles.

You don't have to have an expensive guitar to play. There are plenty of expensive guitars that suck. The sound is nearly 100% in the hands and the heart, not in the guitar.

Jack Pearson has a whole collection of $99 Squire Bullets that he's tweaked a bit, and he plays them in his shows. People ask about his guitars, and he'll say "This one was made in Malaysia and shipped directly to the pawn shop for me."

It's not the guitar that makes the sound.

But on the Taylor, a corollary of the idea that you should buy one used is that, if you've already got one, keep it. No sense in selling it.

I bought an early Taylor 810 25 years ago, but it has not increased in value. I had a 614, and a couple of the Doyle Dykes models at one time too. And a T5. As I said, I was a fan at one time. I bought low, and so I was able to get out of them without loss.

Its fun to trade. Motorcycles, guns, and guitars ... aged bourbon, and good cigars.... there's a line for your next country music song.

 

[Bounce]

All my guitars are players with truss rods, even the student classical. Neck resets are not only required for guitars without truss rods - humidity issues and warped tops (esp. on jumbos) account for a large share, too. And conversely, many Martins w/o truss rods required fretboard removal and replaning the neck as part or all of the operation to make it playable again. Taylor's bolt on neck system obviates expensive reset operations.

Try to trade a Taylor and see what it's worth. They take an incredible beating once they're used. If you want a Taylor, you should buy it second hand and let the other guy take the hit.

I actually went looking for a Taylor when I replaced my Martin D-15. When I looked at what they brought to the table in the price range I was looking ($1200 is a lot of money), Taylor was laminated wood and made in Mexico. Martins were solid wood and made in America. The GPCPA4 Rosewood was head and shoulders nicer sounding than the "on sale" Taylor in the same price range with the above caveats.

I walked out with the Martin and have been really happy with it. I was actually disappointed in what I was expecting from Taylor (price, construction and sound). I couldn't afford a Taylor made the way I wanted I really had my heart set on one before walking into the shop.

 

[exskibum]

All my guitars are players with truss rods, even the student classical. Neck resets are not only required for guitars without truss rods - humidity issues and warped tops (esp. on jumbos) account for a large share, too. And conversely, many Martins w/o truss rods required fretboard removal and replaning the neck as part or all of the operation to make it playable again. Taylor's bolt on neck system obviates expensive reset operations.

Try to trade a Taylor and see what it's worth. They take an incredible beating once they're used. If you want a Taylor, you should buy it second hand and let the other guy take the hit.

I actually went looking for a Taylor when I replaced my Martin D-15. When I looked at what they brought to the table in the price range I was looking ($1200 is a lot of money), Taylor was laminated wood and made in Mexico. Martins were solid wood and made in America. The GPCPA4 Rosewood was head and shoulders nicer sounding than the "on sale" Taylor in the same price range with the above caveats.

I walked out with the Martin and have been really happy with it. I was actually disappointed in what I was expecting from Taylor (price, construction and sound). I couldn't afford a Taylor made the way I wanted I really had my heart set on one before walking into the shop.

Well that isn't in the same universe as what I've got, and I wouldn't pay that either for what you described. But that made me take a look, and . . .

Holy shi-ite! Just looked at the Taylor site and what you are talking about must be in either the 100 or 200 series, judging by price. And there are maybe 20 times as many models as when I bought mine. And Holy price inflation, batman! My 814ce is the last model year before the new neck system was introduced - a 1998 or 1999 (too lazy to find the paperwork and too senile to remember). And today, the msrp for an 814ce is $4,500 !?!? Huh?

Also looked at the Martin website -- another wow at model proliferation and quality reduction at the lower end. (And the prices those command would buy a lot of guitar 15 years ago.) WTF?

Years pass and prices inflate quickly I guess - I've been out of the market for at least a dozen years. Maybe I should check what my '93 reissue 1963 Rickenbacker 12 string or '74 Guild or '93 Hamer USAs are worth now. With anything close to that kind of price inflation, I imagine they'd be impossible for me to replace. Or the '77 Fender SFDR amp? Not that I'd sell any of them.

I've played McCollums (until he died 6 or 7 years ago, Lance lived and built guitars 8 miles away), Collings, a Santa Cruz Tony Rice (maybe the best guitar I've played), etc. and didn't feel cheated with my $1,900 Taylor. But if that's what has happened to prices for well built models, maybe I need to be be embarrassed to own guitars so far out of the price range my talent deserves. Like I said, that Yamaha, used and under $150, would be just about perfect as my last guitar purchase.