Learning Guitar - The Best Way to start. And how's this guitar?

Question

I've always been a musical person, after learning piano at grade one, but sadly giving it up due to my teacher leaving the area and none around for miles.

I love music and I love the guitar. I'd love to learn and I've found a starting point. I've found some decent basic lessons on about.com http://guitar.about.com/library/blguitarlessonarchive.htm and I have friends of friends who are guitarists in their own bands, so I can learn off them.

I've seen a pack online for beginners http://www.guitar.co.uk/packages/beginner_electric/979-westfield_e1000_and_johnson_10_watt_amp_electric_guitar_package which is both reasonable and attractive.

I now have a few questions:

When did you start at playing guitar and how?
What do you think of the guitar I showed?

Thanks for your time.

Answer 1

1. I started playing guitar, after seeing Tommy Emmanuel (5 years ago i think) i started on a very old, broken classical guitar. (a friend gave it to me) after about a year, I finally got a good ibanez steel string acoustic. it was so much easier to play and it sounded so much better!

2. i do NOT recommend that guitar!!! it would do for learning the basics, but after a month, you'll wish to have a better one

for guitar lessons, check out this website!!! (beginners course)
http://www.justinguitar.com/
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JustinSandercoe

good luck!

Answer 2

Hi there,

I started playing at age of 15, and started with a VERY bad acoustic guitar. To make things worse, I was into metal music, so playing metal on acoustic guitar didn't work out very well for me. My parents thought that I don't need an electric guitar, so I was stucked for years with a bad instrument, and until I met some friends and joined a band I didn't really made any progress.

That's why you MUST start with a proper instrument. The guitar you asked about seems OK for starters, but it depends on what music style are you into? If you're into rock standards you might go very well with this instrument, but if you plan on playing heavily distorted guitar stuff like metal, you'll want to buy a guitar with humbucker pickups.

Humbuckers are a double coil pickups as opposed to single coil pickups that Westfield guitar has. If you have a humbucker pickup you will have a better distortion tone, longer sustain and less noise.
Single coils are great for clean guitar sound, so you might wanna buy a guitar that has both humbuckers and single coil.

Take a look at this one, it isn't expensive: http://www.zzounds.com/item--IBAGRG170DX

Answer 3

In August 1956, at age 16, a friend from Kentucky drew down 11 chords on a sheet of paper for me. With intermittent help from him in working out rhythm methods, I focused on the standard Country tunes of the times. While in high school I took a year of Vocal and learned how to read and write music--the best thing that ever happened for me to progress.

I purchased a guitar chord book that also had music theory notation fitted for the instrument. Using what materials were available, I soon began to write music, which prompted even more theory study and application.

In essence, I never had a professional lesson from anyone unless I count that old boy from Hazard, Kentucky, and his sheet of 11 chords.

I've been playing and teaching guitar since then--discounting some times while serving in the U.S. Army. I learned on an LG-3 Gibson acoustic, a parlor guitar.

If you have the strong desire to learn to play the guitar, then you will do it. You must live, breathe, and love the guitar to do it.

Answer 4

First off, I started playing guitar several years ago, and just started picking and fingering frets until I got the hang of it.

Lessons will definently help.


And that guitar isn't bad, but if you look off to the side you see an Epiphone Les Paul and a Squier Affinity, and those are both much better for a little more money, so I'd pick one of those.

Answer 5

Westfield isn't a brand I'm familiar with - which isn't to say that it isn't a decent starter instrument - just that its not sold (at least not under that brand name) in the U.S.

My guess is that its probably made in Asia for the British market -- it seems that most of the guitars, banjos and mandolins made for the worldwide beginner market are coming from factories in China and the Pacific Rim -- and at the price range you're looking at (119 pounds, equivalent to about $249 US at today’s exchange rate). I’d expect it to be a playable instrument and amp, at least good enough to get you started off.

I started on acoustic guitar when I was 12 – I’d been asking for a piano for years but we had no room for a piano in our New York City apartment – so they surprised me with an acoustic guitar for my 12th birthday and arranged for me to take lessons from a local teacher. Except that I didn’t especially like the teacher or his teaching style so I got bored, and quit practicing, and after a few months my parents stopped the lessons. The guitar sat in the corner of my bedroom gathering dust for about a year, until I finally got motivated to pick it up again, when I became aware that my cousin, 6 months younger than me, had gotten a guitar and within only a few months, had learned a few chords, and was already trying to figure out songs she’d heard on the radio (this was 1971!). I dusted off my guitar, dragged the guitar instruction book off the shelf and set about teaching myself to play. Aside from a few week-long summer music camps as an adult, I’m otherwise entirely self-taught on guitar, out of books for the first 18 years or so, then eventually I learned to play by ear.

Answer 6

How long it takes to learn guitar depends on how good you want to get and how much practice you put in. How good you can get with 1-2 hours a day for a few months depends on what methods you use to practice. There are effective practice methods that will help you make the best use of your time. This course is one of the best. https://bitly.im/aMTq0 It's not just about how much you play but how effectively you play that will determine how good you will get.

Answer 7

Hi

Being able to understand and reproduce music is such a euphoric feeling...I applaud your interest in this matter. I have played for six years...but I have only given it an earnest effort for the last three. My suggestion would be to get a guitar that is reasonably priced and agrees with your musical taste. If you like artists that use gibsons- (oasis) get an epiphone. Same for Fender(jimi). I would say the guitar on the site doesn't look bad however you need to rationalize your investment. If you are serious about learning and playing frequently, make a bigger investment. And vice versa. As for playing tips-->
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/

gear reviews-->
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/

and general information-->
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/

Nix

Answer 8

I started playing guitar after watching my friends play power chords in their garage(circa 1981)They laughed when i picked up my friends ibanez and tried.I had another friend whom had a cheapy guitar and amp,and we started playing with feedback and note holding(learning which notes would amplify with feedback at certain tones.A cousin whom had started playing in the 70's came by one day and explained the pentatonic scales and the twelve bar blues to me.I practiced everyday and eventually went back to my friends that laughed at me and,the one whom had made fun of me just walked away,the other let me teach him what I knew.After breaking two finger tips on my left hand,I took to slide.Ive been playing on and off since then.My advice on a guitar and equipment,is get something you like and will keep your curiosity and improvisation alive,the rest will come naturally

Answer 9

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