hey, i play classical too..
i have yamaha c40 that 13 year old..
currently focusing on Francisco Tarrega's songs..

Hi everyone.

This is my 1st post here.

Just bought my 1st acoustic as a prelude for my guitar journey.

I honestly knows nothing about guitar.

Absolutely nothing, no chord, no songs, no nothing.

I only know how to tune the guitar. In a very noob way.

So what's the next step u guys suggest me?

Go straight to learning song, or familiarize with the chords first?

I intend to go to lessons, but no budget

By the way the guitar that I bought is T. Burton Foresthill, Jumbo-sized.

youtube + search "guitar tutorials" = ftw

google "online guitar tuners" to help u find out if ur tuning is correct.

learn how to read tabs

learn this song : http://www.classtab.org/anon_romance_de_amor.txt

the youtube for the song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ypx8caI6vk

Harden your fingers

Play as slow as you can

Practice scales and chords like there is no tomorrow

@exsea, romance de amor have to bar 6 string le. Acoustic guitar summore steel string, beginner sure die wan play this song.

This post has been edited by mumeichan: Jun 10 2010, 01:15 AM

buy a guitar chord book to remember the chords.i got 1 small can put in pocket and carry where ever i went.

yeah lol most of my friends cheat n just play the first string.

its one of those songs that he ll put aside and come back again some other day

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Added on June 10, 2010, 1:28 amwhen i first started to learn how to play guitar "properly", my sifu taught me to play

C, Aminor, F and G.

first play each one by one, string by string to make sure each one sounds clear and has no distortion nor muted sound due finger touching adjacent string.

if u learn how to read tabs C is 0302010

Aminor is the easiest 002210 , you only move one finger from C to Aminor

F is a b**** 133211, to cheat use xx3211 instead, if thats too difficult go xx321x (super cheating but tats wat i did long ago)

G is 320003

as stated earlier try each chord alone on its own first. get the sound right release ur fingers n try again. do this till u can get the sound right on each try.

then learn how to switch chords from C-> Am -> F -> G then back to C again and repeat, strum each chord 4 times before switching to the next chord. start the strumming slowly as once u start strumming you are not supposed to stop/pause while switching to the next chord. when u get the hang of it, increase ur strumming speed till u're proud of urself

This post has been edited by exsea: Jun 10 2010, 01:28 AM

Whoa slow down there u fellow sifus.

Just a noob here.

Save the serious stuff later hehe.

list down 5 of ur favourite songs.. google its chords.. n then try if u can strum n sing along it or not..

if its a success, surely will boost ur spirit..

agree!!!hehehe....dats how i start playin....

Will do!

But nao must sleep first.

Tumoro 10am work.

Thanks guys!

play one string only until your fingers movement smooth and your fingertips rock hard..

Wah.. romance de amor? I remember i learned romance de amor after 1 year of basic learning. It's more suitable to play on classical guitar. Most people can play the beginning part only. The rest is more challenging.

It is so easy for expert to say and so difficult for the novice to do. When I started playing the guitar, music schools only teaches you classical guitar and theory. If I were to go through all that technical stuff, I would rather take the piano. I was still keen on the guitar. I figured that if I could just learn to hold down a chord, that should be the first step. In due time I was able to hold any popular chord that you can find in a typical guitar book. So what, I still can play anything. Then I figure the next step is to change chords fast enough. I studied all available combinations for chord change and tried it out. In due time I could do that too, but still cant play a song. So, please give some tips which part of the lyric to strum and what tempo?

This post has been edited by faceless: Jun 10 2010, 11:57 AM

Just a suggestion.
Try strum simple song 1st with simple chords, such as happy birthday song. If you could strum and sing happy birthday, then only try other song. Learn how to walk 1st then only learn how to run.

watever it is, use your force..
wahah!

learn songs from nirvana.

thats how my old school gang learnt the guitar. they eventually "mastered nirvana"

lol

u need to know kind of song do u love to hear, hence make u eager to learn..

try to master the basic chord progression and plucking technique..

gud luck to u..

C, A min, F & G = if i'm not mistaken is the basic technique play guitar..

dude... you need to look for the basic chords 1st, like exsea mentioned (thanks to exsea for the tips). Acoustic guitar yet painful when playing as it has steel strings but be patience with it... try at least 2 to 3 hours min of practice the chords.. and most important you also need to know the notes of each strings for the each tabs...man i guess i'm going too deep already ... hahahaha.. anyway have fun learning guitar and don't care if you finger gets numb just continue -NO PAIN NO GAIN-.

This post has been edited by Kimie: Jun 10 2010, 03:05 PM

try to play one note by another..
play chord..
search for youtube lesson..
play ur desire song...
practice harder..
and good luck..

i recomend start with learning some basic chords(C,Am,F,G). but just by knowing how to press those chords alone probably wont help much in motivation, so learn some songs that uses only C Am F G. it's pretty easy to find especially on oldies.

so, how about starting with

diana - Paul anka
Stand by Me - Ben E. King
Heart and Soul - Hoagy Carmichael
The Thin Ice - Pink Floyd
Earth Angel - The Penguins (in family guy, back to the future etc.)
Donna - Ritchie Valens
Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler
Every Breath You Take - The Police.

those are pretty popular songs, and the tunes are easy to remember with simple strumming styles... for strumming, start with down strokes only if you can't strum like the songs do.

have fun learning.
PS: practice AT LEAST 5-10 minutes a day, and you'll probably be able to play diana in about a week or so. then you realise...you can play the rest of the songs as well...hahaha