Can you self learn the guitar online or via dvds?

[OneDs]

Just ordered a Yahama Pacifica 012 starter pack hopefully it will arrived between Christmas & new year. I wondered if anyone had a recommendation for an online source or dvd tutorial for complete musical novices. My wife and I want to do something together and this seems a good opportunity to spend some time together doing something creative and also pass on to our 3&4 year olds who are mad on music & instruments.

I've found Jamorama online which looks comprehensive, but the whole thing is packaged in such an over-hyped American way that it smells a bit scammy and cheesy.

Anyway the pacifica I've ordered comes with a DVD so will that be ok for now, my wife will get an acoustic in the new year.

We basically want to be able to learn to play a wide range of stuff from nursery rhymes to GNR knocking heavens door.

Edited by OneDs on Wednesday 22 December 14:14

[dern]

Here you go... http://www.justinguitar.com/

[OneDs]

dern said:

Here you go... http://www.justinguitar.com/

Wow how I did I miss that, thanks

[dern]

OneDs said:

dern said:

Here you go... http://www.justinguitar.com/

Wow how I did I miss that, thanks

You're welcome. Good luck

[Laplace]

There is also Marty Schwartz who has a couple of YouTube channels

http://www.youtube.com/user/martyzsongs
http://www.youtube.com/user/guitarjamzdotcom
http://www.youtube.com/user/youcanlearnguitar

aswell as his premium site www.guitarjamz.com

Marty and Justin are by far the most popular online guitar tutors, I have several of Marty's DVDs and can't praise them enough.

Good luck!

[mrmarcus]

I suggest that the first thing you need to learn is 7 chords C, D, E, F, G, A, B. get them out of any guitar book or Internet and just practice changing between each of them to another until it's smooth and your fingers do what they need to do.

Then learn the minors of these chords and again practice changes so they are smooth between each and every one.

With this you can play over 95% of all songs and just learn any others as you need them when learning a song.

Knocking on heavens door is only G, D, C, & Am.

Edited by mrmarcus on Friday 24th December 01:40

[Driller]

Peter, I learnt the guitar 25 years ago using only this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-Handbook-Ralph-Deny...

I highly recommend it, it really does contain everything you need to know. If you want to keep it simple you be off in no time and if you really want to go deep it explains all the really complicated stuff well too.

[OneDs]

Thanks for all the info so far, I changed my mind and went for a pacifica 112v beautiful sunburst tobacco with a maple neck with a peavey vyper 15w amp pack from guitarbitz a big thumbs up for them, over the cheaper 012 starter pack.

I've also brought the Justin Sandercote Beginners method DVD even though it's all available free online, it suits my learning style and is a much better with the big clear picture on the LCD TV rather than the pc.

I've managed to get open/major (not sure yet) D, A & E chords pretty much sorted and can changed between them okish about 24-26 chords or 12-13 cycles per min, I'm really enjoying it and the guitar sounds amazing especially through the amp. Although my left fingers are screaming by the end of a short amount time.

BTW does anyone have any tips for dealing with fat fingers? I'm having to really take my time on finger placement and skew them in weird contortions to avoid fouling the other strings.

[Laplace]

Dealing with fingers touching other strings is one of the hurdles whilst learning chords for the first time. I wouldn't worry too much about the size of your fingers, just keep at it, practice s..l..o..w..l..y and it will come in time.
Its all about repetition and building up the muscle memory in your fingers that's why it's important to practice slowly otherwise you will train yourself to play sloppy, a tip I wish I had paid more attention to in the beginning.

[Taita]

Very short nails helps apparently too.

[dern]

OneDs said:

BTW does anyone have any tips for dealing with fat fingers? I'm having to really take my time on finger placement and skew them in weird contortions to avoid fouling the other strings.

Perfectly normal to start with. As said, take your time to place your fingers correctly and it'll become natural over time. When playing chords I try to place my fingers on to the fretboard perpendicularly to the fret board to stop string fouling. If you do that at the start you'll build callouses in the right place which will make it easier to apply pressure and will make the ends of your fingers harder which will reduce fouling the other strings as the skin at the ends of your fingers doesn't 'flow' around the string. That's what I found anyway.

[Legacywr]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but do you consider that anyone could learn to play rythem guitar?

[Laplace]

If by rythem you mean rhythm then yes I believe anyone can play rhythm guitar given a certain amount of practice, patience and dedication. The question is how good a player you can be which I think is limited by one's own potential.

[Legacywr]

Laplace said:

If by rythem you mean rhythm then yes I believe anyone can play rhythm guitar given a certain amount of practice, patience and dedication. The question is how good a player you can be which I think is limited by one's own potential.

Ah, I obviously have no rhythm!

[OneDs]

I think if you put enough effort in then yes why not? People will naturally progress at different rates but I'm getting enough out of it each time I play to keep the current momentum up I suppose the real test will be what happens when I hit a stumbling block, finding 15-30mins here or there to do some practise is easy, it's just having the will to find the time.

Last night the D,A & E chords started to come a bit more naturally to the point where I could do a few changes without even looking at the fretboard and still get a true chord, callouses are building on the tips and the strings seem to have bedded in a bit so the pain is not as bad after a longer period of time. Also the muscles and flexibility in my fingers in my left hand are building and I can move them a lot easier than before.

I've got a metronome on my phone and am using that to try and get up to 40 chords per min, but am a little off at the mo, hopefully that will build some rhythm with the strumming and I can increase the bpm to a decent level.

My mantra at the moment is "practise does not make perfect, perfect practise makes perfect" yep its all a bit slow but there's no need to be training in errors.

Edited by OneDs on Wednesday 5th January 09:32