Guitar lessons

[Fuma]

So I pulled the trigger and decided to for acoustic guitar lessons, at 38. Starting today. A little uncomfortable.
A few questions:

1. I have an acoustic guitar I bought from Cash Crusader/Converters 2+ years ago. Some no-name brand. I'm not sure if it is good. What brand should I go for if I have to buy a new one for R2000? Cort, Fender, Yamaha, or Squire?
2. How long should one practice one chord - a day, or a week? (I intend spending at least 30 minutes per day)
3. Which chord should one start with?
4. How long should it take me to play (strum) a beginner chord naturally without even looking at the guitar? (muscle memory). Started playing the D chord and let's just say it was not successful
5. How long did any of you take to learn and play properly? (like switching chords, good strumming, etc)

 

[backstreetboy]

So I pulled the trigger and decided to for acoustic guitar lessons, at 38. Starting today. A little uncomfortable.
A few questions:

1. I have an acoustic guitar I bought from Cash Crusader/Converters 2+ years ago. Some no-name brand. I'm not sure if it is good. What brand should I go for if I have to buy a new one for R2000? Cort, Fender, Yamaha, or Squire?
2. How long should one practice one chord - a day, or a week? (I intend spending at least 30 minutes per day)
3. Which chord should one start with?
4. How long should it take me to play (strum) a beginner chord naturally without even looking at the guitar? (muscle memory). Started playing the D chord and let's just say it was not successful
5. How long did any of you take to learn and play properly? (like switching chords, good strumming, etc)

1. Depends if you have a steel string or Spanish nylon guitar. A nylon guitar will be easier on your fingers. I have a Yamaha (build in tuner) but it'll be much of muchness at that price.
2. Depends on the person
3. The E major chord is easiest else start with A. From the E major chord you can play Zombie by Cranberries (a very easy song) for eg.
4. Depends on the person
5. Not sure.

If I were to start out I'll look at the Hawaiian open D tuning since you can create any chord with one finger by fretting all the strings and you can play almost all songs in that tuning. Some famous people also use that tuning like Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees imo the best group that ever was.

Also get a capo and mess around with it.

 

[Fuma]

Thank you. I forgot about this thread. Did not go to the guitar lessons due to work issues. I will go next week. At least Ill have enough time to do some more reading/practice

 

[Superjakes]

So I pulled the trigger and decided to for acoustic guitar lessons, at 38. Starting today. A little uncomfortable.
A few questions:

1. I have an acoustic guitar I bought from Cash Crusader/Converters 2+ years ago. Some no-name brand. I'm not sure if it is good. What brand should I go for if I have to buy a new one for R2000? Cort, Fender, Yamaha, or Squire?
2. How long should one practice one chord - a day, or a week? (I intend spending at least 30 minutes per day)
3. Which chord should one start with?
4. How long should it take me to play (strum) a beginner chord naturally without even looking at the guitar? (muscle memory). Started playing the D chord and let's just say it was not successful
5. How long did any of you take to learn and play properly? (like switching chords, good strumming, etc)

I wish I went for lessons as a kid. I have been toying with guitars on and off for the last 20 years, and still won't call myself proficient, but I can entertain myself and my one year old thinks I am a rockstar, so it's all good.

You probably have a nylon string Sanchez. They are honestly not great, and also can generally not be set up to be much better. This is a bit of a paradox - don't overinvest, if you change your mind about the hobby you won't have lost too much cash versus getting frustrated because it's not enjoyably to play.

If you decide to play, you will need a steel string - nylons are for ugly girls. If you buy a steel string, 2k would get you a decent-ish Cort. If you look second hand, you can get a better deal, but can also get ripped off into buying something broken or rubbish.

Alternatively, you can buy an electric - they generally have a lower action (distance between strings and frets) than an acoustic and are therefore not so hard on your fingertips in the short run. They are also cooler than acoustic guitars and have tonnes more gear that you can lust after, like amps, pedals, etc. 2k should get you an ok Ibanez, Squier or maybe Epiphone (Cash Crusaders has a sweet little Epiphone Les Paul Junior for R1800, if I remember correctly). You will need to buy an amp to complete the package, though; playing unplugged is not as cool as it seemed in the '90s.

As for the practicing - you should do it until you are comfortable. More important, is switching between chords. Strum a D, followed by a G, for instance. Practicing a single chord for 30 minutes will get old soon and you will lose interest. Find an easy song with 3 or 4 chords, learn those chords and practice playing it. Bad Moon Rising by CCR is one of my go-to's. D, A and G will get you there.

I would not suggest to try any alternative tunings on the guitar at this stage, simply because most material assumes the standard EADGBE tuning.

If you have specific questions, please feel free to PM me, I will be more than happy to help as far as I can.

 

[schuits]

Yay I'm not the only one! I've been playing guitar for a while, even had lessons too, but I barely classify myself as a intermediary.

I'd advise acoustic, for the simple reason it's simple. You don't need to get the amp out and muck around with extras. Unless of course you can just leave your kit out, then it's fine I guess.
My acoustic is a yamaha and I'm very pleased with it. Don't remember how much I payed though.

 

[Nibiru]

Acoustic first then move to electric. Acoustic teaches you the fundamentals of tone and the premise of vibration and sound.

 

[KantSnyer]

Late starter here too, got myself an acoustic steel string with a pickup and using Rocksmith to learn the basics. If you're pressed for time can highly recommend Rocksmith.

 

[NBC]

Here is something (attached, I think) that might help a bit. Chord chart I put together MANY moons ago. Focus on the 3 columns on the left for now and forget the rest. They show you which chords go together (eg A E and D, D G and A).

And as mentioned, nylon strings are easier on the fingers and a lot cheaper. Steel is harder and more expensive. One thing to remember though, you can put nylon string on a steel string guitar, but not the other way around. There are also ways to harden your fingertips should you choose steel strings.

Definately accoustic before electric.

 

[bin3]

Look at RockSmith,

I started last year, now practice over 2 hours every day, and built my own (kit) guitar this year

I tried acoustic, tried classical, electric just works so so much better ...

I wish I actually did RockSmith 4 years ago

Yes, it is a game, but it teaches you real guitar skills ...

 

[Fuma]

Thank you. The guitar I have is steel, not nylon. I haven't been able to attend any classes yet. My teacher is a full time musician so he's been really busy. Hopefully we'll try again next week. Otherwise I'll have to look elsewhere. I'll check out Rocksmith

 

[Mars]

Thank you. The guitar I have is steel, not nylon. I haven't been able to attend any classes yet. My teacher is a full time musician so he's been really busy. Hopefully we'll try again next week. Otherwise I'll have to look elsewhere. I'll check out Rocksmith

If your Guitar has a pickup you can play Rocksmith with it. I play rocksmith with my steelstring acoustic. My experience with rocksmith is that it progresses a little fast. So I'll be able to play along with the song without a problem, it bumps it up a notch and then I cant keep up at all, so I would recommend it more for practice than for actual learning.

As for your teacher. You need to find someone else. No offence to your current one, but you need clockwork lessons once a week.

Ive done about a year of lessons a couple of years ago and I can play some basic songs. I'm still a beginner but its a lot of fun. I'm kinda sorry I didn't learn the piano instead tho, its so much easier since all the notes are laid out in a row, and you dont need to be able to twist your fingers in knots to get the chords lol.

 

[backstreetboy]

If your Guitar has a pickup you can play Rocksmith with it. I play rocksmith with my steelstring acoustic. My experience with rocksmith is that it progresses a little fast. So I'll be able to play along with the song without a problem, it bumps it up a notch and then I cant keep up at all, so I would recommend it more for practice than for actual learning.

As for your teacher. You need to find someone else. No offence to your current one, but you need clockwork lessons once a week.

Ive done about a year of lessons a couple of years ago and I can play some basic songs. I'm still a beginner but its a lot of fun. I'm kinda sorry I didn't learn the piano instead tho, its so much easier since all the notes are laid out in a row, and you dont need to be able to twist your fingers in knots to get the chords lol.

Likewise with a guitar just use the open D tuning...

 

[SauRoNZA]

If your Guitar has a pickup you can play Rocksmith with it. I play rocksmith with my steelstring acoustic. My experience with rocksmith is that it progresses a little fast. So I'll be able to play along with the song without a problem, it bumps it up a notch and then I cant keep up at all, so I would recommend it more for practice than for actual learning.

As for your teacher. You need to find someone else. No offence to your current one, but you need clockwork lessons once a week.

Ive done about a year of lessons a couple of years ago and I can play some basic songs. I'm still a beginner but its a lot of fun. I'm kinda sorry I didn't learn the piano instead tho, its so much easier since all the notes are laid out in a row, and you dont need to be able to twist your fingers in knots to get the chords lol.

I’ve discovered this sadly isn’t universally true for all acoustics.

You need the pickup that lives directly under the strings and isn’t just built in, otherwise it doesn’t work properly.

A proper electric acoustic will do, otherwise you’ll need to fit a proper pickup.