HOW TO START PLAYING THE GUITAR?

[MacRua]

If your such a poor serbian earning $300 a month my advice would be to buy a cheap second hand guitar

I'd actually begin with searching among friends, relatives, neighbours. Either somebody has an instrument he doesn't use any more but still suitable for the first approach or there is an active player who could give a lesson or two.
Nobody starts learning violin with acquiring Amati. But who can ram it into hectic neophyte...

[IrishRover]

no luck in Germany.. they had none of the goiven 4 models..

Mick, oi received Thomann hot deals brochure.. they sent it to Serbia via post, and theres stuff oim plannoing to order.. they have great lookin' models of Harley Benton guitars(proices are excellent but oim not sure for quality).. anyway, the choice and proices of music accessories are very good!
thanks once more for info

[Mick Molloy]

The Halrey's are nice to play btw

[IrishRover]

they are???
well, what oi see as their descroiption and the looks of it, it all seems great, but oi was wonderoing oif they're playoing as good as they look, the brand ain't exactly famous, roight?..
some of the models..

HARLEY BENTON HBD120CEBK --------> 88 Euros

Harley Benton HBD120CE BK Acoustic-guitar Dreadnought-Model with cutaway, built-in pick-up system with 4-band EQ, spruce top, bottom and sides Catalpa, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, cremecoloured bindings, die-cast machine heads, , neck 43 mm, colour: black

HARLEY BENTON HBX5TBK ------------> 148 Euros

Harley Benton HBX5TBK Acoustic-guitar with cutaway, quilted-maple top, back and sides mahogany, rosewood fingerboard, built-in pickup system with 4-Band EQ, neck 42 mm, colour: transparent black

BUT for example, they also have sth not so doifferent in proice.. loike thois
Fender:
FENDER CD-60 CE BK -----------------> 166 Euros

Fender CD-60 CE BK Acoustic Steel Guitar, Dreadnought, Cutaway, laminated Spruce Top, Back & sides laminated Mahogani,Neck Nato, Fretboard Sonokeling, Fishman® MiniQ Preamp with Volume and Tone Controls, Scale 643mm, Saddle witdh 43mm, Color Black

[Mick Molloy]

I've played a few when I was starting and then they felt alright. I on't know how they sound when they're amplified and I see the Fender has a fishman and you can't really go wrong there

[IrishRover]

thanks for advoice Mick, oi'll also look in local stores, to see what oi moight foind - maybe theres even some of the stuff we're talking about here.. all in all, oim getting closer to foinal decission

[philipchevron]

thanks for advoice Mick, oi'll also look in local stores, to see what oi moight foind - maybe theres even some of the stuff we're talking about here.. all in all, oim getting closer to foinal decission

There's no real substitute for trying out a guitar in a shop. I have bought a number of electric guitars online without first playing them, and so far I have been very fortunate not to have made too many errors, but I don't think I'd ever buy my "main" guitar without playing it for a while. When I bought my current Martin Dreadnought in 2004, it even took me half an hour to decide between it and a seemingly identical, but to me, quite different, guitar in the same shop.

Ever since I started going into guitar shops, aged about 13, the people selling the guitars have mostly been plonkers, more interested in displaying how well they can play "Smoke On The Water" than accepting me as a genuine customer. Now that I have reached an age when I can additionally be patronised as a middle-aged guy trying to expunge a midlife crisis with a bit of rock n roll when the wife's out at Bingo, my life in guitar shops has not become more pleasant with maturity. It's only when the dozy bastards see my name on the credit or debit card that it dawns on them that they have been uncivil and rude to The Guitarist Out Of The Pogues. That's when the grovelling and scraping and bowing begins, but I never entertain it. See, I'm the guitarist with The Pogues, but they're just the tossers who still think it's cool to intimidate 13 year old boys by playing "Smoke On The Water" in a guitar shop in 2007.

So Oirish, don't be intimidated by these fuckers.

PS: Incidentally, I value GOOD guitar shop people so highly that I credit them in CD booklets, as owners of Trouble Pilgrim will be able to confirm.

[dawson]

Yeah but Irish cant play guitar so the testing before buying thing would be silly. My first guitar cost 30 quid from argos. Buying a guitar is like buying a dog, get a rubbish one first to see if you like them as you can always splash out on a good one later.

[IrishRover]

Great point there Philip!
Here its the same stuff in stores oi guess.. they have that look & attitude and act loike they sucked the entoire musical woisdom the world, jeez its loike they play in God's band or sth and have that facial expression "goive me the money & get out of me store".. so they look at ya loike that or they oignore ya in such obvious way because "their moinds work on a hoigher level, who has toime for such thoing as customer"

Further on, because tis' the 1st guitar oim gonna buy and due to lack of me knowledge.. me adventure of voisiting the local stores in following days doesn't come as pleasant nor they'll treat me noice as a begoinner BUT oim gonna try to oignore the selling tossers and try to see what there is in stores, oi moight wroite down some choices, compare.. at some point oif oi decoide to buy sth, oi'll try to test in some way at least(maybe trying basic chords - oi could wroite or remember basic positions for a few)..

on me way to the stores oi'll have in moind yar message;
even in general terms, its an example - their oignorance and bad attitude towards you, towards best of the best.. it descroibes how low they stand! so oi'll keep meself aware of that fact, they're not worthy!

[Mick Molloy]

That's why I like the really small stores. Alright a guitar will be more expensive but you know the guy's first name, he knows what kind of music you play and he won't screw you

[philipchevron]

Great point there Philip!
Here its the same stuff in stores oi guess.. they have that look & attitude and act loike they sucked the entoire musical woisdom the world, jeez its loike they play in God's band or sth and have that facial expression "goive me the money & get out of me store".. so they look at ya loike that or they oignore ya in such obvious way because "their moinds work on a hoigher level, who has toime for such thoing as customer"

Further on, because tis' the 1st guitar oim gonna buy and due to lack of me knowledge.. me adventure of voisiting the local stores in following days doesn't come as pleasant nor they'll treat me noice as a begoinner BUT oim gonna try to oignore the selling tossers and try to see what there is in stores, oi moight wroite down some choices, compare.. at some point oif oi decoide to buy sth, oi'll try to test in some way at least(maybe trying basic chords - oi could wroite or remember basic positions for a few)..

on me way to the stores oi'll have in moind yar message;
even in general terms, its an example - their oignorance and bad attitude towards you, towards best of the best.. it descroibes how low they stand! so oi'll keep meself aware of that fact, they're not worthy!

Don't be afraid to let them know you're a beginner, but don't be pressurised into buying whatever heap of crap they have on "special offer" this week. Trust the feel of the guitar. Above all, buy nothing on which the strings are not close to and parallel with the fretboard all the way up. And the idea of mastering a couple of basic shapes is an excellent one. Good luck.

[IrishRover]

oi'll follow that advoice, thanks Philip

[Paddy Rolling Clone]

$400 seems an awful lot to be spending on your first guitar. Any of the cheap €120-ish guitars I've played were perfectly fine for beginners. Some of the instructional PC CD-Roms are good too. They are much easier to follow than books.



Good luck.

[dawson]

NO. Buy a crap guitar first to see if you can play it.

[philipchevron]

NO. Buy a crap guitar first to see if you can play it.

Nobody can play a crap guitar.