quote:

Originally posted by showpro:
I started trying to learn using my son's Yamaha guitar. Nothing expensive, but I don't think it's junk, either. Yet, I found the fretboard painful. My fingers aren't very long, but I do play piano just fine and can reach more than an octave, there.

So, is the Yamaha a bad guitar? I think we probably payed a couple hundred bucks for it at Guitar Center.

I too have pretty small hands, but on a Yamaha, that shouldn't be an issue; they have relatively thin necks. Finger tips will hurt for a while, no matter what you do. It could be in need of a string change. Strings do become brittle and harder to finger as they get older, or it could need an action job...lowering the strings. For the $50 or so for an action job/string change, it'd probably be worth it. As I mentioned earlier, I'd go with light gauge strings, though another poster here disagrees with that. Yamaha is not a bad guitar.

Tabs are nice for beginning players to get them up and running with a few popular songs. However, don't trust online tablature sites. Contributions by tin-ears are frustrating.

Definitely get a proper set up on your guitar. It sounds like the action is too high.

I learned as a kid. Played Rock 'n Roll in the bars, schools and parks through high school in Wisconsin.

I put it away when I joined the Navy and didn't pick it back up until 10 years ago. I put it away 5 years ago and sold most of my gear. I still have an very nice hollow body that is 50 years old, a Les Paul Jr. that is 53 years old and a ES-335 knock-off that is 15 years old.

I picked up a ukulele for a Hawaiian cruise 5 years ago and really enjoyed it. They are super easy for a guitar player.

The point - do it while it's fun. You never know when you'll have the chance to noodle around with the boys...or girls.

Mike

Well, this thread inspired me to pick up the guitar again. I turned 50 a few months ago, and I've always wanted to learn. I bought a guitar 3 years ago, played around with it for 4 months, and lost interest. But this time....this time for sure! But crikey! my fingertips hurt!

Learning to play on a cheap guitar is akin to learning to shoot with a cheap gun. If it is set up well, you might be fine...

I highly recommend starting with an electric. They are just easier to play.

I 100% recommend GuitarSmith for the gaming system of your choice. It is like Guitar Hero only you actually learn to play something. I bought it for my son before he lost interest in playing. I have been playing for 20 years and there is still quite a bit that I get out of the "game".

Nothing replaces playing with others. Start with lessons, then find some guys to jam with. Jam sessions are a great way to learn. My experience is that guys that know how to play are excited to share what they know. Kind of like a day at the range. If you ask someone for assistance, they are usually eager to help.

As far as your budget goes for the guitar, I recommend buying the best guitar you can justify spending the money on. When my son was 13 he said he wanted to learn to play guitar. We went shopping. We found a used 2008 Gibson Melody Maker for about $350. Add in a $100 Marshall amp, some picks, an instrument cord and I was out the door for about $500. It was an expensive birthday for him but it was well worth it. He actually quit playing but I still use the gear. That Gibson is one of the best playing and sounding guitars I have played.

Good Luck. The calluses mean you are doing something right.

quote:

Originally posted by DBabsJr:
I recommend checking out www.justinguitar.com. He's got a ton of free material including a basic course categorized along with a ton of categorized songs. It might keep you motivated if you can play a few songs that you actually like along the way.

I agree he also has an APP called 4 chords that lets you play along with popular songs in all genres.

I agree learn to read music. I played piano for 8 years then switches to bass. I only went by tablature because I didnt want to learn the notes. (I was mostly a memorizer anyway). But i regretted it the whole way. Sold my bass and got a tuger mkiii hunter

I know for me, who started learning guitar reading notes, if I had continued with that method, I'd have given it up. Not saying it doesn't work for many, but it didn't work for me. At 53, I knew I wasn't going to be a classical guitar player. I wanted to play folk/rock/pop songs and learning to read music isn't required for what I'm playing. YMMV

Just a historical note on the "music" vs Tab controversy:
It is actually a myth that Tablature isn't "music".
It is "music", just in a different notation system.
It predates modern musical notation and has been used by some of the greatest Classical guitar players in history.
Even to day, I am shocked to learn that Tommy Emmanuel (google him if you don't recognize) never learned to read music.
Of course, for professionals, being able to read "music" facilitates communication wit other musicians. But it is not really necessary for guitar playing at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Crom:
Just a historical note on the "music" vs Tab controversy:
It is actually a myth that Tablature isn't "music".
It is "music", just in a different notation system.
It predates modern musical notation and has been used by some of the greatest Classical guitar players in history.
Even to day, I am shocked to learn that Tommy Emmanuel (google him if you don't recognize) never learned to read music.
Of course, for professionals, being able to read "music" facilitates communication wit other musicians. But it is not really necessary for guitar playing at all.

For sure crom, plenty of people cant read any type and just copy by sound. My point was regretting not learning the notes on a guitar as the majority of music, at least when i was learning, was in music form. Of course i had alot of old piano stuff lying around i wanted to play.

Learn to read the beat of the notes at least. It gets used in tab.

if you cant play it slow, you'll never play it fast. Start slow and practice until you you get it!!! enjoy, I wish I had more time to play myself.

one other thing!!! always play a well tuned guitar!!!