So I'm learning to play guitar

[demondude]

Self taught. Second hand acoustic, but there's an electric guitar I can borrow. No idea what I'm doing and what I should approach first.

Any advice?

[Slothy]

Believe it or not, guitar for dummies is quite a good book to start with.

[Loony BoB]

I thought the thread title said 'leaving' and I couldn't help but think "That's a weird reason to leave, I wonder what's up?" and then I realised.

[Pheesh]

D chord.

[demondude]

I thought the thread title said 'leaving' and I couldn't help but think "That's a weird reason to leave, I wonder what's up?" and then I realised.

That comes in two months' time when I'm touring the World with my mad skills.

[Pheesh]

Second Option (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5QCs3PnQBc)

[demondude]

Okay first obstacle - tuning. It's ridiculously out of tune. I'm not going to be able to do this myself, am I?

[Rantz]

We can learn together demondude55! I just bought a guitar as well!

[Araciel]

Yeah you will need a 20 dollar battery operated tuner. I started by learning 'last kiss' the Pearl Jam version - easy strumming pattern and it's four non-barre chords (you will find out what this means with about fifteen minutes of google-fu)

[Pheesh]

There's also smartphone apps that are tuners, and they work terrifically.

[Araciel]

I suppose there is that too.. I don't have a fancy smartphone and I work for a cell phone company.. hah

[demondude]

Okay so I have it slightly in-tune and now I'm stuck on chords.

[Old Manus]

There's a fair few dudes on Youtube who do all sorts of guitar tutorials for the absolute beginner. This guy is pretty decent (http://www.youtube.com/user/JustinSandercoeSongs)

[demondude]

That Jason guy is really good.

And, well, yeah. Two strings = snapped. I needed it to be re-tuned properly anyway so we may as well throw a re-stringing on there as well. Balls.

[NorthernChaosGod]

A good place to start is to try and learn simple songs that you like; it should help to keep you interested in learning. Soon enough you can start watching more tutorials on stuff for technique and all that boring jazz. :p

[Rostum]

Well, while you are getting new strings just get the place to re-string it for you if you are not comfortable in doing so yourself. I usually just use a tuning fork to get the first string in tune, and then just use harmonics to get the others in to a standard tuning.

Also, just learn to read tabs and learn the songs you want to play. As you get more comfortable with your fingers, you can then start learning proper techniques, scales, and all that - very important that you do though. However, force yourself to use ALL your fingers on the fretboard! I see so many n00b guitarists just put their pinky finger away.

Be as diverse as you can in your learning material, that way it'll be easier to find your own style of playing.

[demondude]

So now I can play five chords and do the intro for 'everybody hurts' by R.E.M. Should I be buying a capo?

[Old Manus]

Yes.

[Rostum]

Yeah, don't get the dodgy stretchy-material ones. Spend a little extra and get a proper clamp-like one.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Fuck that, get a spider capo.

[Rostum]

I forgot all about spider capos, they are awesome and I always wanted one. XD

[Rocket Edge]

It will be impossible to pick up any melody (as well as sounding like horrible) if you don't have it in proper tune. You can pick up a decent guitar tuner for about £10-15 at any music shop, just ask the the guy at the counter and I'm sure he will tell you how it works.

I thought myself to play the banjo, having never played the guitar, but the dynamics are the same with any string instrument. The best advice I can give, and what has worked for me is just to make sure you don't pick up any bad habits from the start. Make sure you work on your finger placement. The best way for beginners to pick this up is too go along one chord at a time with your fingers and strum along.

What really worked for me also was to insert little stickers under each string so you can quickly learn off the chords. Having a diagram in front of you is very helpful, just draw one out. Anything else you need to know really is here (http://theguitarresource.com/chords/5-guitar-playing-tips-learn-to-play-guitar-chords/).

Best of luck.