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Learn Tab
Submitted By: WoodenSpoon ( 243 days, 15 hours and 50 seconds ago )
Learn guitar tablature, go on the internet and start learning to play some of your favorite songs, that should keep you intrested. Also, practice scales, you really need to make you fingers fast and flexible.
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Online Guitar Lessons
Submitted By: DrummerGirl ( 243 days, 15 hours and 18 seconds ago )
I'd say taking weekly lessons with an instructor would be the best, but if you don't have the time or are unable to attend weekly classes, try learning online at http://www.guitartricks.com . You'll be able to learn at your own pace and at any time that is convienient for you.
Submitted By: anon
Do you guys think you need an ear for music? I'm a mostly visual person so I don't know if it would be a lot hard to pickup audio stuff...
Submitted By: goosetherumfoodle
Once you start playing it is important to start listening too. You'll find that once you really get a feel for how the guitar plays you'll be able to hear more in a song. To develop your ear you need to do a lot of listening to the right people. And try to stay on top of basic music theory. www.musictheory.net is a good introductory site. Guitarists who don't know any music theory but can read tab are a dime a dozen, we don't need anymore.
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Practice, Practice, Practice
Submitted By: shinkaide ( 243 days, 8 hours, 20 minutes ago )
Natural talent can only take you so far if you have a good practice ethic, you will go far. 1) Learn about chords. (Basics first, soloing later, ok?) 2) Take a few easy songs that you like, and practice until you can play them. 3) Play along with an audio track. Best way to improve your timing and reflexes. Repeat with more complicated songs, and eventually, your skill will grow along with your repertoire. Slash learned on his own, and he definitely didn't do it just by daydreaming. He practiced like hell!
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One Word...
Submitted By: dirtytricks ( 238 days, 3 hours, 25 minutes ago )
Esteban.
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Lessons
Submitted By: johnnicely ( 243 days, 8 hours, 22 minutes ago )
I think lessons are the only way to do it. I see all these friens of mine that are like, "Well, I don't feel like I need to be told how to play," and I'm just like, "That's bull****, there is ALWAYS room to learn from other people." I HIGHLY recommend checking out any colleges in your area to see if any of the students or teachers teach guitar
Submitted By: johnnicely
whoops, some got cut off. The reason I would look at local schools is that people who teach there have formal training and actually have to have some sort of skill to be able to teach, and teach effectively... The only downside is that they're usually more expensive. A good price to pay is $15
Submitted By: johnnicely
damn thing cutting off my post... sorry. good price = $15
Submitted By: johnnicely
to twenty dollars per half hour... sorry, i'm really not trying to spam, lol. this system's text parse isn't very efficient.
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internet. internet. internet.
Submitted By: J-mo ( 243 days, , 6 minutes ago )
Lessons are wonderful, but only after you have dabbled with tabs and have a basic understanding of playing a guitar. Some good songs to start of with are any traditional songs (such as Amazing Grace, Auld Lang Syne, etc)
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Start with playing Guitar Hero for PS2
Submitted By: Big82s ( 243 days, 12 hours, 31 minutes ago )
Sounds silly, but it helps your timing, reflexes, and helps your fingers become more agile and respond better.
Submitted By: shinkaide
I don't think that's such a good idea. The physics will differ slightly, and the reflexes will still have to adapt once you take to an actual guitar.
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Guitar Lessons
Submitted By: stoney553 ( 243 days, 11 hours, 51 minutes ago )
Personally I learned to play all on my own and im pretty good but I wish I would have started out with guitar lessons first. I looked at guitar tabs on the net at first. If I was you I dont know if there are any good guitar teachers in your area more than likely so but I would get guitar teacher thought they teach you the right way to do things so it will make things easier for you in the future. If your really serious about it though I would highly recommend you go to guitaralliance.com. You have to buy a membership but its cheaper than a music teacher and it teaches you and shows you everything to need to know. It has videos to show u how to do the riffs scales etc. But if your not sure if you are gonna be serious about actually playing the guitar then i suggest searching how to read guitar tabs which is easy and learn a easy guitar song such as nirvana
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Most of the Greats had no formal training...
Submitted By: frickindeal ( 235 days, 11 hours, 46 minutes ago )
As a player myself, I find it important to remember that most of the great (rock) guitarists had no formal training.  This possibly molded their sound; they weren't "taught" a way to play, they figured it out themselves (think Hendrix, Stevie Ray, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Albert King, etc.).

But, if you're interested in simply learning the craft, and you haven't a lot of natural musical talent, one-on-one lessons are the way to go.  The internet isn't going to tell you the things a qualified instructor can.
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Develop a repretoir
Submitted By: NumberSix ( 234 days, 23 hours, 10 minutes ago )
Don't learn bits and pieces of songs. Pick a few (fairly easy) songs you like and learn them all the way through.  Use the interenet and join a guitar forum, I'd recommend Guitarnoise.com. Learn about music theory and how it relates to the guitar fretboard. You don't need an ear for music to start, you can develop one as you go along (google ear training, goodear is an excellent interactive site). It's not hard to learn songs by ear, but it helps to have an mp3 player with a loop repeat setting so you can just play a segment over and over (you can also manipulate parts of songs with something like Audacity (which is free) to slow them down so they're easier to learn). Then you just start hitting notes on the fretboard until you figure out what the first note in the passage is. The rest should be fairly easy after that. Chords are similar, just start with individual notes until you have ones that sound like they're in the chord.