The guitar hero game (for Playstation 3 or Xbox 360) is a fun way to pretend to be a rock and roll master, but it isn’t real guitar playing. If you have been telling yourself, “I really want to learn to play the guitar” then take the next step and DO IT! There are a few things you need to do to get ready. And if you keep putting it off, you will miss out on the fun of being a guitar player – don’t be a guitar zero!
It isn’t all that heroic to learn an instrument. There are some basics to learn and some things you need to know about buying the right guitar for you. After that, it’s like anything else – to get good at it, you just have to practice, practice, and practice some more. There is nothing more worth the effort though. Being able to play your friends favorites songs can make you the hit of any get together. Or, just hangin’ out and playing guitar for yourself – that is worth it all.
What do you need to get started?
Lots of beginning guitar players start with an acoustic guitar and many start with what is considered a classical guitar. A basic difference between those two types of guitars is the kind of strings – acoustic guitars have steel strings and classical (or folk) guitars have nylon strings. Believe me, the nylon strings are much easier to start out with because they don’t hurt your fingers as much!
Either kind of guitar is great to learn to play with. Some people start with electric guitar, especially if their goal is to play electric guitar in a rock band. For some kinds of music, an acoustic guitar is better, you’ll just have to decide what kind of music you want to play and get the guitar that is best for it.
How expensive should the guitar be?
The expense isn’t as important as certain features that need to be looked at in an acoustic guitar, such as whether there is any damage (if you look at used guitars) or warping of the wood. Also, there should not be deep grooves or wear patterns in the neck. Make sure the wood isn’t cracked on the body, either. If you find a used guitar and don’t know if it would be a good one to buy, try to get a friend who plays guitar to go look at it with you. If someone can play it, they can tell if it has a good tone. They can also check it over for flaws that would make it a bad choice for you.It’s probably not a good idea to buy the lowest priced guitar available. Guitars come in various sizes, so you may want to get one that is the right size for you. Some preferred guitar brands for beginners are: Yamaha, Gibson, Avarez, Epiphone, Martin or Fender. Preferred brands for beginning electric guitar are: Fender, Ibanez, Yamaha and Washburn, which often sell a package that includes an amplifier.
If you are buying a guitar for a child, there are even smaller than average guitars. These are not toy guitars, but real instruments that are made smaller for kids. Yamaha makes a Jr. guitar called the Yamaha JR1 Mini Folk Guitar that is a reduced size to make it easier for smaller hands to be able to use the fret board. Martin guitars make a smaller sized model called the Martin LXM “Little Martin” Acoustic Guitar. The smaller guitars for kids (or even a small adult) are often called 1/2 size or 3/4 scale.
You may want to buy a new set of strings when buying a used guitar. That could be the first lesson you learn with your new guitar – eventually you’ll need to know how to change the strings. You’ll also want to get a case for the guitar. There are soft or hard-shell cases that protect your instrument when you carry it away from home.
Don’t put it off forever, learning to play guitar is one of the most fun things you can ever do. Even if you don’t become a recording star, you can know that you accomplished something that will bring you so much happiness for your whole life!
So, when you get your guitar, check out Gibson’s Learn and Master Guitar – a truly great course with videos on DVD that will inspire and educate guitar players at many levels. I could go on an on about the details of this guitar course for beginners or intermediate students, but click the link below (on the image) and you can go read what the producers of the course have to say – there are videos and lots of pages about it!
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Thanks for explaining the difference between Acoustic Guitar and Classical Guitar……..