Beginner Looking For Some Guitar Learning Resources!

[ColeHast]

Hey I've been playing guitar for around 3 months and I love doing it, but I am by no means very good. Is there any resources out there (books, websites, articles...) that any one would reccomend that worked well for them when they first started out? I'm hoping to find a teacher in the future, but for right now I'm doing the best I can on my own and YouTube can only teach you so much..... Any advice would be great!

[ColeHast]

Thanks, Tom. You're article was very helpful. It's nice to know someone's looking out for the instrumentally challeneged like me !

[JackHalkabar]

you should check ou justinguitar.com , 500+ free guitar lessons, has a beginner and an intermediet course as well..

[TapperMike]

Barre Chords came easy to me, they were the first thing I learned. I started playing songs my first week. Open chords were the challenge at first. simple things like going from an open D to an open E. No one really showed me anything it was like I'd watch em do it then hours later I tried to re create it. My biggest regret was not taking lessons earlier.

I could play rhythm well. I was the king of rhythm guitar but I couldn't play a lead to save my life and no one wanted me to.

There is a lot of information on the net. Too much information. It's easy to get into this bend where you want to try something beyond your abilities, stumble along and not have it happen so you jump to something else and something else again. And a frustration develops.

The best thing I would advise to anyone who wants to be a better guitarist is to take lessons. I learned more in two months of lessons then three years of stumbling around with books. Not that other material doesn't have it's place. A video or study material won't expect you to have studied what you've learned for a week and be expected to perform it like a teacher will. A video or study material won't be able to look and listen to you and then give you advice like. If you hold your hand this way or relax this or.. lets take this slower and work all the way through it. A video or book won't say to you.....Your not ready for this yet. You need to prepare here are some things we need to work through before you're able. And there are hundreds more scenarios where having a teacher really is better then having internet study material.

So my advise would be this.

1. Take lessons.

2. Develop a set list. Ten songs that you can play one after the other.

3. Try to learn at least one song a week all the way through if not two.

4. Don't be afraid to try your hand at writing music. The more you do it the more comfortable you will be with the process.

5. Although getting the right notes down is important the "feel" meaning the rhythm and accents are just as if not more important.

6. Strive for consistency. Start strong, play strong, finish strong. Some folks start weak and have to work up to keeping in time. Others start strong but then go through the motions without commitment and lose a bit of timing or miss a few beats. And other folks who have a great start and a good middle fizzle out near the end of a song. Be none of those people. If you practice poorly you'll perform poorly.

7. Play out as much as possible. Even if it's to your dog, or a relative. Getting comfortable playing to an audience makes it much easier to play to an audience or record.

[MarcG]

I like riffinteractive, I've bought a few of thier cds. Automated tab, cool.

[timewave]

check out a post by jim in this area (gtr practice site) that might help!

Steve

[Nellington]

Try http://www.ultimate-guitar.com.

More tabs than you can shake a stick at. Very good site indeed.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Nellington

[MusicGuy]

I think you can start with online videos, they are the best :-)

[MusicGuy]

Actually, I wrote some recommendations on my blog if you want to check it out

[Realwarrior]

I realize this is an older post, but the best place I've seen is

http://www.guitarjamz.com

Marty Swartz also has a bunch of videos on Youtube where he teaches you to play specific songs in all genres

Edited September 23, 2012 by Realwarrior

[devotedzak2]

Ultimate-guitar.com is something I reference on a regular basis. Crummy news articles but great lessons and forums to learn from!

[Porcello5]

When I typed guitar playing resources into Google, this page came up: http://tomhess.net/GuitarPlayingResources.aspx There's a ton of info there...Pretty awesome!

[anthemofadam]

I know you mentioned youtube but if you haven't found what you're looking for there, you aren't looking hard enough. Go on youtube and search for something you want to learn. Seriously, just about anything you want to learn will probably be on youtube. Check this out, it's one of mine:

[Rudi]

There are guitar tutorials here on SS too.  

[mark tranter aan]

youtube all the way,
years ago you had to go out and buy a book or dvd or take lessons, these days, you can stream lessons via youtube....
the only downfall is, beware of bad technique, research into whatever style you want to play and make sure you sort out any issues now..... (later on you could pay for it)

but most of all - have fun!!!! post a video, challenge someone online to play a song via youtube or use someones drum video to record over!
the internet is an amazing thing

[macmanmatty]

Get a GOOD book on music theory

Edited August 16, 2013 by macmanmatty

[macmanmatty]

You are correct about the c chord he also breifly refers to it as a Cadd9 chord. Sorry buddy it ain't that one either. There is no 7th (Bb in key of C so a Bb on a 7th C chord). All it is is a Csus2 chord because the only different  note it contains is D which is the second note in the key of C scale.

[macmanmatty]

he him self is most likely a beginner and is using that g shape because it very easy to move from his g to his c

[mark tranter aan]

Theres a lot of theory goimg on here for a guy whos only been playing 3 months....

Always remember there are two types of players.... ones who know theory and want to learn it and ones who dont.... in my experience most people just want to start playing music.... and the inderstanding comes later......i think the technique is more important at this stage of your playing.... so just learn the basics of playing.... remember to have fun.... most people give up in the first few months because they think they cant do something.

Enjoy your playing!