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First guitar at 40
Posted on 3/2/25 at 8:30 pm
Posted on 3/2/25 at 8:30 pm
Always wanted to play. Never got around to it. No time like the present. Bought a fender squire strat. What should I do first?
12
Posted on 3/2/25 at 9:19 pm to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
Try learning a few easy, basic chords like G, A, Ab, C, D, and E. Then play around with them, re-arranging them in various ways to make your own songs. Then play along to some simple, classic songs like "Knockin On Heaven's Door."
Also practice your hand at power chords. There are any number of arrangements you can then make on your own as well as classic songs you can play around with like "Smoke On the Water."
Also practice your hand at power chords. There are any number of arrangements you can then make on your own as well as classic songs you can play around with like "Smoke On the Water."
This post was edited on 3/2/25 at 9:20 pm
Posted on 3/2/25 at 9:31 pm to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
Buy a tuner. Practice everyday. Find someone to sit around and play with who can show you stuff. YouTube is great for guitar lessons.
Posted on 3/3/25 at 5:44 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
Justin guitar beginner course on YouTube.
Justin Guitar Beginner Course
Justin Guitar Beginner Course
This post was edited on 3/3/25 at 5:45 am
Posted on 3/3/25 at 6:34 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
quote:
Bought a fender squire strat. What should I do first?
Get it set up and change the strings to Elixir 09-42 or 09-46's.
Then as others have mentioned, learn the major chord shapes and repeatedly play them.
Start with three chord songs like "Shelia" and figure out the rhythm and play it over and over.
I found Ultimate Guitar to be a great song chord resource. Have fun!
Posted on 3/3/25 at 7:18 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
10 minute rule.
Pick it up everyday for 10 minutes. You’ll find that you noodle around longer than 10 minutes.
Electric guitar is great. Easier to start and fret chords and you CAN unplug it. Spare family the early days when you really stink.
Pick it up everyday for 10 minutes. You’ll find that you noodle around longer than 10 minutes.
Electric guitar is great. Easier to start and fret chords and you CAN unplug it. Spare family the early days when you really stink.
Posted on 3/3/25 at 11:00 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
I got my first guitar about 14 months ago at a few years younger than you. I still suck, but suck way less than when I started. Keep it somewhere that you'll want to pick it up. Don't keep it in a case in a closet, it'll just stay in there.
I follow justing guitar, find some sort of structure or you'll just clunk around and make no progress.
I follow justing guitar, find some sort of structure or you'll just clunk around and make no progress.
Posted on 3/3/25 at 11:23 am to GEAUXLPOST
That's a good point. The more cumbersome your equipment is to set up each time, the less apt you'll be to want to go through the trouble.
Posted on 3/7/25 at 3:13 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
quote:
Always wanted to play. Never got around to it. No time like the present. Bought a fender squire strat. What should I do first?
How is your progress? I recently picked up a used electric to last alongside my teenage son he got a Strat for Christmas so in the same boat as you.
Posted on 3/7/25 at 9:10 pm to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
Learn the G, C & D chords and you’ll instantly know about a bazillion songs. Congrats on pulling the trigger!
Posted on 3/8/25 at 10:01 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
Play until your fingers hurt. Play a little more.
Repeat each day.
Repeat each day.
Posted on 3/8/25 at 10:19 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
quote:
What should I do first?
Have fun. Don’t overcomplicate or over think it.
Go on YouTube and learn some basic A-C-D-E-G chord strumming and just have fun getting used to the strings and the picking. Look up the basic strum pattern to something classic like Knockin on Heavens door.
For power chords learn the intro to smoke on the water.
What kind of music are you into? Pick a song from your favorite artist and watch a YouTube video lesson on it and just slowly learn it.
Something I didn’t learn until years after I started playing: get it professionally set up. It makes a huge difference. I get my guitars reset every year. If you’re in the New Orleans area Todd’s Music Express is an awesome place to get that done. Under $100 and they turn it around in a couple days.
Most importantly just have fun with it.
This post was edited on 3/8/25 at 10:28 am
Posted on 3/9/25 at 2:27 am to martiansgohome
quote:
How is your progress? I recently picked up a used electric to last alongside my teenage son he got a Strat for Christmas so in the same boat as you.
i've been doing ok. i'm more of a visual, hands-on learner so just watching videos isn't for me.
I downloaded an app called GuitarTuna to tune everything before playing and it has lessons and stuff that I think are very helpful. So far I can play a super bastardized version of Horse With No Name lol. I'm really enjoying it so far.
This post was edited on 3/9/25 at 2:28 am
Posted on 3/10/25 at 9:27 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
quote:
Keep it somewhere that you'll want to pick it up. Don't keep it in a case in a closet, it'll just stay in there.
Another thing that has helped me is a headphone Amp. I have the katana go. I play alot through it, and I am the only person that can hear it. It helps me learn out loud, but I never feel like I'm annoying the wife or embarrassing myself. I do all my learning on clean Chanel profiles so I can actually hear every mistake and learn from it. It's also nice that the Justin guitar app plays through the katana go, so I can have his backing tracks in my ear, really helps my time keeping.
Posted on 3/10/25 at 10:18 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
I always love to see posts like this.
I've been trying to learn to play for almost 50 years
There's already been some great advice on here, so I won't add anything except: start trying to memorize the notes on the fretboard and play around with different open tunings now and then.
You can always tune your guitar right back to standard in a few seconds.
Have fun
I've been trying to learn to play for almost 50 years
There's already been some great advice on here, so I won't add anything except: start trying to memorize the notes on the fretboard and play around with different open tunings now and then.
You can always tune your guitar right back to standard in a few seconds.
Have fun
Posted on 3/10/25 at 10:47 am to Zach Lee To Amp Hill
Agreed there is good advice. I would just say that i first learn the 11 or 12 basic chords and then focus on learning entire songs. Learning riffs are great but you really can't do much with them by themselves.
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