some advice on guitar please

carlosvan

hi. ive been learning the saxophone for the last year or so and have been learning music reading, its been really tough year, i think im getting somewhere on sax but im finding it really frustrating because its a fairly noisy instrument, and we have a 2 year old and another on the way , i really love just playing music,

so basically ive started thinking maybe i should learn a new instrument that i could dedicate more time to playing, id love to play guitar,

Now i know absolutly nothing about guitar, but i was in shop today and guy was recomending a acoustic guitar that would cost 250, ...money is tight... i love the sound of a mandolin? ok my questions

1. is guitar /mandolin hard to learn? and am i better learning guitar because its bigger (clumsey hands)?

2. how much should i spend on starting out on instrument?

3.in peoples opinion am i better spending a bit more and buying it from local music shop so i can go back picking brains

4. any other things that will help me.

thank you very much for you time :0)

Alanstrainor

It all depends on what you want to play! I wouldn't go recommending one instrument over another, if you want to play guitar go for it!

As for how much to spend. 250/300 is a grand budget, acoustic guitars these days really are great even at a low price range. A yamaha would be a good option (im being a bit vague there;)).

As for how difficult it is, i'd say it's a lot easier to get going compared to a sax! But at the start it'll be tough, getting your fingers used to the strings takes time. But if you're willing to practise I can see you strumming away a few chords in no time.

I think you'll find most of the information you need online, or on here being honest, it's nice to buy in a shop, but if there's a significant price difference compared to online i'd buy online.

I don't know what else to say really, learn an instrument that you want to play, don't learn it for the sake of it! Best of luck man!

carlosvan

thanks for the advice, well wheni took up sax i was pondering on weather to take up sax or guitar , ive realised that you dont need to restrict your life, ill still continue to play sax, its just i do feel any thing like learning a instrument you need to practise every day 30 mins to a hour, by time i get home in evening its bed time for kids, you just cant go blowing it, ive tried the morning but its like a mad house in morning,

ive seen a few guitars in shops for like 100/150, when i was looking to buy sax i did alot of research and people would tell you to stay away from the real cheap ones, i ended up getting a 2nd hand yamaha yas 23 and its been a good choice for me

when i bought sax i was given advice to buy certain books that would help me and to be honest i cant thank them enough, the books helped me no end, is there any books for guitar that would equally help me

thanks again for your time

BrensBenz

I’m not a trained or even literate musician – a tune enters my head and I force it down through my fingers into a mandolin, ukulele or guitar.
Of the three, the mandolin is the least friendly – strings made by Gillette for fingers like knitting needles, it’s tinny and needs accompaniment.
The ukulele is a very under-rated instrument – Nylon strings, it’s gentle and, if you know a few guitar chord shapes, you can use them on the uke, although there is a five semitone difference.
But, for me, guitar is king. It can accommodate a huge range of styles and skill levels, from pub-strumming to rock to classical finger styles. No disrespect to puff’n’blow instruments – I know from friends that they are difficult to master but they have a rather narrow volume range (loud to very loud) and can only manage one note at a time while a guitar (played with a half-decent set of fingernails) can explore multi-note harmonies from a volume range starting at “secret” and going to “stadium rock”.
Why not try a uke first? €100 will get you a good one and, if you like it, you could graduate to a guitar later. You’ll need to say goodbye to the skin on your fingertips for a few weeks.
And yes, Yamaha produce a huge range of quality / good value instruments. I believe they started with musical instruments before moving to products with more discordant outputs.