What are the first steps of learning how to play the electric guitar?
Thanks for the A2A!Step 0: Plug the guitar into the amp. At this point, don’t use any effects and keep the volume low. That lets you hear when you’re playing notes cleanly and when you need to correct your fingering to get the best tone.Step 1: Learn to tune it. Start without an electronic tuner so you learn how the pitch of one string relates to the next. Then use the electronic tuner.Step 2: On each string in turn, learn to fret a note without buzzing or excess pressure.Step 3: Learn a few chords. Learn how to finger them and practice getting clean notes across the fingerboard. Start with G major, C major, and D major. Next add A major, E minor, A minor, D minor.Step 4: Learn to hold the pick if you’re going to use one. Not everyone does. The point of the pick should be like an extension of your index finger. Hold it between your thumb and index finger. Loosen your grip until the pick falls out of your hand when plucking a string, then tighten your grip a tiny bit. That’s how hard you want to hold it.Step 5: Learn a few scales, again practicing picking cleanly. Use the same keys as in Step 3.Step 6: Practice switching from one chord to another until you can do it in time to the song. Start with a good two chord song. I recommend Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya”. Try it in the key of G using the G major and D major, then in the key of C using C major and G major.Be patient. Play along with recordings. Use a metronome to ensure you can play with good timing. Recording yourself on your computer, tablet or smartphone and listening back will give you valuable insight into your timing and the cleanliness of your fretting and picking. Don’t be discouraged if you sound awful at first - everyone does!At some point you can start learning about the other half of your instrument - the signal chain. Experiment with the tone controls on your guitar and your amp to see how they change the clean sound. Explore one effect at a time. (I’d go for EQ, chorus, tremolo, delay and reverb first, then overdrive, fuzz, and distortion, then phasing or flanging. Lastly, compression.) Then try them in combination. This journey of discovery will never end.Three things that will keep you progressing: Have the guitar handy so you can pick it up and play in idle moments. Find others to play with who are just a bit better at it than you are. And HAVE FUN!
Is learning to play an electric guitar hard?
It all depends on you. If you got what it takes to put in an hour every day for weeks or months on end you'll be able to play those Daft Punk songs with ease. I suggest starting by learning songs, that's how I did it. It's easier to practice something as cool as a cover song as apposed to as mundane as a scale. Lots of guitarists start by learning how to read guitar tab and jumping right into some simple songs. Good places for guitar tab are www.ultimate-guitar.com and www.fuzzymonkeytabs.com But learning technique is important too, once you know you're going to be playing guitar for a long time, you should start learning proper ways of playing. Good luck man, playing guitar is awesome, it feels good and it entertains people.
Is learning and playing electric guitar fun?
I am a professional drummer of 16 years. I always wanted to learn guitar but just never got around to it. I finally picked one up and for the first month or so I was pretty sure I'd end up quiting. It is so freakin' hard and frustrating at first. A lot is going to depend on how you learn. The wrong instructor or online/DVD learning system will make you want to quit. I was really overwhelmed at first trying to learn all of the chords and scales. Finally I just said, okay I'm going to make this simple. I forgot about all the other crap and just concentrated on 3 chords, G, C and D, and started practicing those 3 chords over and over. This helped me to actually play a couple songs which was exactly the motivation I needed. Now I'm of course working on other open chords, no barre chords for now and working on a couple scales and some bending exercises. Just take it slow and don't get too frustrated if the way you are learning isn't working for you. Here are the DVD's that really worked for me. You just can't beat this deal. You could learn from these 3 DVD's for years and years to come. http://books-videos-music.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rock-House-Learn-Rock-Guitar-Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced-Package?sku=942719
How best to start learning electric guitar?
Books and websites are all very well, but the thing is that a teacher can answer YOUR questions, and also watch YOUR technique and help you see mistakes you're making and correct them. It is possible to self-teach - many great guitarists did - but it takes dedication and discipline. You don't need to already have knowledge of music theory before you start, you can pick that up as you go along. For a teacher, ask at your local music stores. Most of them have in-house teachers. If that doesn't work, post on craiglist under community: musicians. Make sure you get a resume and references on anyone who replies on craigslist. If that doesn't pan out, get the Hal Leonard books and start working through them. http://www.halleonard.com/index.jsp?subs... The Guitar Method 1 book will start you on the basic basics; it will have you playing hot cross buns or whatever at first, but you should be able to push through that pretty rapidly. Then you can pick up a book on rock guitar methods and start getting into the stuff you really want to play, like this one... http://www.halleonard.com/viewcloserlook... Youtube teachers can help but be cautious, some of them are flakes who don't really know what they're talking about. Check them out and see if their lessons actually help, but don't obsess about doing things a certain way just because some guy on youtube says you should.
Is it worth learning the electric guitar?
I've learned the flute and partly the piano, so I can read music. Anyway, I'm thinking about learning the Electric guitar, is it worth it? Is it easy? Cheers.
Could I learn to play the electric guitar at age 16 if I've never played an instrument before?
No doubt about it. Go for it. I started at 13 and became a professional musician. I've toured the globe and worked with some of the biggest artists in the world. It's never too late and regardless whether or not you choose to do it for a living, the benefit to your life and simple joy of playing an instrument can't be measured in words.I routinely look for new challenges so I can go back to that starting point and feel the wonder all over again. Recently I started messing around on drums and I'm terrible. But it's so much fun! I'm also a terrible slide guitar player but I've started trying to learn that as well. It's kind of a hit to my ego as a musician but I like being humbled. The incremental feeling of getting better little by little is so satisfying to me.I also like to cook and I was terrible at that at first. Now I'm pretty good after 20 years of making mistakes and learning. Keep the joy and spirit in the journey itself and don't look at the end goal. Then every once in awhile you can look back and see how far you've come. I truly believe this is the fountain of youth.Always be at the beginning of something!I wish you the best with your musical journey.