Want to Take Up Guitar

alleystar

Hiya,

Firstly I don't know if this is the right place to post this but I'll go ahead anyway

As the title states, I really want to take up the guitar. I bought a guitar when I was younger but never had the time or put in the effort to make a real go of it so I ended up selling it. Now though I'm older and I have a good bit of spare time on my hands atm and I would love to learn to play.

I'm starting from scratch and money's a bit tight so I was wondering (hoping) would I be able to buy a decent guitar for around the 100 euro mark? If so, where?

Also I don't have money for lessons so does anyone have any good recommendations for books/DVDS they bought when they were teaching themselves?

Help/advice is much appreciated!

martinedwards

youtube has a million lessons.

personally I'd suggest you google for the chords of a song you want to play.

say 4 chords?

learn them

then choose another song with the same chords in another order.

then choose a new song with a new chord.

and continue!

as to cost, the best idea is to take a pal who plays and get them to road test the used instruments for you.

you CAN get decent guitar for that price.

just don't expect to get a great guitar for pennies in the first shop you go into.

alleystar

martinedwards wrote: »

youtube has a million lessons.

personally I'd suggest you google for the chords of a song you want to play.

say 4 chords?

learn them

then choose another song with the same chords in another order.

then choose a new song with a new chord.

and continue!

as to cost, the best idea is to take a pal who plays and get them to road test the used instruments for you.

you CAN get decent guitar for that price.

just don't expect to get a great guitar for pennies in the first shop you go into.

Is that the easiest way to learn, by learning the chords of songs? Would it not be difficult since you don't even know where each chord is starting off?

refusetolose

alleystar wrote: »

Is that the easiest way to learn, by learning the chords of songs? Would it not be difficult since you don't even know where each chord is starting off?

just learn ABCDEFG

the try play some songs

Yakult

You will find one for 100 if you go second hand. Adverts would be a good star. I found this in two seconds, a Fender Squier strat with amp and stuff to get you started. He/she is asking 120 but you could probably get it for 100 if you haggle
http://www.adverts.ie/electric-guitars/fender-sqire/2766580

Just one example of many. Personally, I would look for a cheap Squier, for the price they are good guitars to start and dont put you out of pocket much if you decide to give up or move up.

TheUsual

You don't need lessons to start off, I never did or my brother/friends.
Don't worry about trying to be too perfect, most guitarists won't play the song the same way twice.

But you will need some songs that you want to copy.
Here is a good website to get some songs from
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

"Tab" is a way to play/share songs without being able to read music.
0 means open-string with no fingers
2 means the second fret


Easy !

damodai

For online lessons try http://www.justinguitar.com/

Squidgy Black

You don't need lessons to learn some basic songs, all you need to know are the chords which you can easily teach yourself, and just try and get the strumming pattern right. Best way is to just relax your wrist when you're strumming.

alleystar

Thanks for all the replies, advice and website links, appreciate it.

When you say to start off playing basic songs, what would "basic" be? Like is there any examples of songs? Sorry I don't have a clue tbh.

I really love Ben Howard's music, would that be too difficult to start off on though? (for example, Black Flies? ).

I like Hudson Taylor too, would you think their song, Chasing Rubies would be difficult to start off on?

Alanstrainor

alleystar wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies, advice and website links, appreciate it.

When you say to start off playing basic songs, what would "basic" be? Like is there any examples of songs? Sorry I don't have a clue tbh.

I really love Ben Howard's music, would that be too difficult to start off on though? (for example, Black Flies? ).

Just listened to that song, and to be honest with you, the basic chords would be fine. But you simply wont be able to play it as he does on the track. It's rather complex, and would take quite a while to master.

Pretty much any song can be simplified down to a handful of basic chords.

Squidgy Black

Oasis stuff, Coldplay, most charts stuff really. Play what you like though, otherwise it'll become a chore and you won't enjoy it that much.

alleystar

What would ye think of this acoustic guitar?

http://www.adverts.ie/acoustic-guitars/falcon-dreadnought-acoustic-guitar-natural/865545

refusetolose

heart of gold by neil young is easy to play

Alanstrainor

alleystar wrote: »

What would ye think of this acoustic guitar?

http://www.adverts.ie/acoustic-guitars/falcon-dreadnought-acoustic-guitar-natural/865545

Wouldn't even bother looking at it tbh.

Better value to be had in the second hand market for your budget. Yamaha are always a good buy.

rickian325

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Wouldn't even bother looking at it tbh.

Better value to be had in the second hand market for your budget. Yamaha are always a good buy.

Yep, you can't beat yamaha for quality on a budget. Their basic acoustic (310 iirc) comes with a tutorial dvd too, and a tuner, which is a must for your first guitar. The nephew got one at christmas and it was about 150 new I think.

seachto7

I taught myself in the early 90s. I would love to have had the resources that are freely available online now. You are spoilt for choice.

Going Forward

Dont THINK too much about it, do as others have said pick out a few songs you like and just learn them, chords first.

Unfortunately this wont come overnight to you, you have to have a real desire/wish to learn and play. I learned when I was younger and more stupid and would dread the thought of starting from scratch, teaching an old dog etc....

Do try and enjoy what you do with it, if you dont on balance, dont waste your time:)

Rory Gallagher

This a good song to learn for a beginner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yml4V-zcf3A

igorbiscan

+1 on Justinguitar for full beginners course you can follow if your dedicated,or if your like me and tend to get a bit distracted Marty Schwarz has hundreds of youtube videos of very easy and fun songs to play.
Always keep the guitar tuned,otherwise it all sounds s***e!
good luck with it

Rory Gallagher

Justin Sandercoe,Bobby Crispy,Marty Schwartz and StevieSnacks are all great for the 'oul learning.
Or you could just learn by listening to music(Which will take a great deal of motivation and many many many hours of anger)

Lingua Franca

I got a black Fender dreadnought acoustic guitar with some accoutrements (clip on digital tuner, strap, picks) for 140 euro here in the Netherlands last week, so I'm sure you can find it in Ireland for a similar price. It's a very decent beginners guitar which gets great reviews. There's some second hand ones on gumtree for about 90 but I'll leave you to google around for the best price you can get.

il gatto

Yamaha F-310. Bought one about 15 years ago for £130 and have had several people offer me more than it's worth. Budget Yamahas are real guitars. They feel and sound "right" in a way alot of other cheap acoustics don't. They're €125 now and apparently still well made.
Electric wise, it's hard to beat a Squier or Yamaha Pacifica.
I started playing in the 90s. If I had the internet back then, I'd be a far better guitarist now. I hit a plateau after 7-8 years and had no access to lessons. I got bored and barely touched a guitar for 5-6 years. Bought a mandolin and that led to me hitting the guitar again about 18 months back. Couldn't believe how easy it was to learn songs I always wanted to (or re-learn ones I'd transcribed incorrectly). I've learned more songs in the last year or so than I had in the decade and a half before.