Questions about learning guitar

ThatGuyArlo · April 2020

So this virus doesn't seem to be going anywhere and I need a fucking hobby. I have some more money to spend as well and thought this might be a good time to try learning guitar since I've never picked up an instrument before.

But I have no fucking clue what I'm doing and could use some advice. For those that play, do you have any recommendations to a brand new person as far as what kind of guitar to buy? Price range, brands, etc.

Also, would decent lessons even be possible given the current situation? Should I read up on basic theory? Is there a lesson program that is good to follow or should I try to find an actual teacher and maybe try for virtual lessons?

MetalCoresades · April 2020

My fav guitars are PRS. But everyone is different and has different preferences, also depends on what kind of music you want to play.

For midrange price, you cant go wrong with a Epiphone, or ESP LTD in my opinion. Some PRS SEs are mid range for price too.

Look for something between $300-600. Anything higher is too much before you know you like it, and going too cheap, you'll be fighting the instrument and that could get frustrating.

I would def recommend getting a teacher. But a good place to start would just be learning chords and scales.

ThatGuyArlo · April 2020

Thanks man! That definitely helps.

Any suggestion for a site or resource for learning chords and scales, or would Google provide a good enough starting point?

I'm at a "babbys first music" level here.

Rex_Capone420 · April 2020

I dont know shit, but i suspect there are som good YouTube channels on this.

MetalCoresades · April 2020

ThatGuyArlo said:

Thanks man! That definitely helps.

Any suggestion for a site or resource for learning chords and scales, or would Google provide a good enough starting point?

I'm at a "babbys first music" level here.

I'll gather some stuff together and send you it on Facebook.

Also check websites like Sweetwater and Reverb for instruments. They usually have better deals than like Guitar Center.

Dime2 · April 2020

Check out Fender Play. Go through Fender's website. I have no idea if they're still doing offering it, but a couple weeks ago they were offering three months of free guitar lessons due to the pandemic. I'm still a very novice guitar player and just going through chords and stuff again is helping me. That being said, don't take your guitar pic for granted. Find a good one and get comfortable with it. When I started, I was using very cheap and shitty plastic pics, so I opted not to even use a pic because I hated them which put me at a big disadvantage. Took me months to get used to using a pic again.

ThatGuyArlo · April 2020

Ended up buying a used ESP LTD after reading a good number of reviews on it. It was through guitar center but they had a used one in "Excellent" condition for $220. I know it was below what you recommended MC but they seem to be priced higher than that in other places so I just said 'fuck it' and bought it. Found this awesome series on youtube going over basic theory for guitars as well so I'm watching that now.

I'll definitely look into buying a good set of pics along with some other gear. Thanks for the input y'all!

Jobe_Wan_Kenobi · April 2020

I learned a bunch of bad habits trying to teach myself, like lifting my fingers way too far off the frets making it hard to play with any kind of speed. Took a long time to break. Maybe set up a video session with MC or someone once a week to check your progress and form.

MetalCoresades · April 2020

ThatGuyArlo said:

Ended up buying a used ESP LTD after reading a good number of reviews on it. It was through guitar center but they had a used one in "Excellent" condition for $220. I know it was below what you recommended MC but they seem to be priced higher than that in other places so I just said 'fuck it' and bought it. Found this awesome series on youtube going over basic theory for guitars as well so I'm watching that now.

I'll definitely look into buying a good set of pics along with some other gear. Thanks for the input y'all!

Used for $220 is still probably a good deal. ESP LTDs are pretty solid. I've been looking at an 8 string one myself.

ThatGuyArlo · April 2020

Jobe_Wan_Kenobi said:

I learned a bunch of bad habits trying to teach myself, like lifting my fingers way too far off the frets making it hard to play with any kind of speed. Took a long time to break. Maybe set up a video session with MC or someone once a week to check your progress and form.

Oh yeah I'm definitely planning on getting some kind of personal tutoring. I'm just using youtube to get some lessons on basic theory cause I'm going into this without even knowing the music alphabet. I'll be sure to check around and look in to get some tutoring though once I feel like I have a good enough understanding to play a few notes/chords.

MetalCoresades said:

ThatGuyArlo said:

Ended up buying a used ESP LTD after reading a good number of reviews on it. It was through guitar center but they had a used one in "Excellent" condition for $220. I know it was below what you recommended MC but they seem to be priced higher than that in other places so I just said 'fuck it' and bought it. Found this awesome series on youtube going over basic theory for guitars as well so I'm watching that now.

I'll definitely look into buying a good set of pics along with some other gear. Thanks for the input y'all!

Used for $220 is still probably a good deal. ESP LTDs are pretty solid. I've been looking at an 8 string one myself.

Alright, sweet. Yeah people seem to like it, thanks for the recommendation!

ThatGuyArlo · April 2020

MetalCoresades · April 2020

Now you have a floyd rose bridge on there. What that does is it kind of acts like a string lock to help keep strings intonated when using a wammy bar and stuff. But it makes restringing and general tuning a little more finnicky.

Make sure to read up on that a bit so you understand how to properly tune it.

ThatGuyArlo · April 2020

Well, I did have to look up the definition of 'intonated', so not a great start for me lol But yeah I'll definitely do some research on that tonight. I noticed a lot of people referencing it in reviews, thanks for the heads up.