The Guitar...

Didn't know if I should put it here or the creative corner, of it's in the the wrong spot then please move accordingly. Any ways...

Who here plays it and how long have you been playing? I'm looking to learning it, a guy at my school who is pretty damn good at it has offered to teach me every Sunday morning, $10 for 30 min and $20 for an hr. Have always wanted to learn how to play and was wondering how those prices fair with an actual teacher.


He's been playing for 2 years and he did a presentation in class for an assignment and I was def impressed at how well he played.

Well, seeing as how where I live, it costs $75 an hour and you must have your own guitar, I'd say that's a pretty fair price.

How long you been playing? I get to use his guitar and he said he has a bunch of books I can borrow and take home to look over and study. To me it sounds great, but thought I would get others opinions.

I told my parents about it as they are my main source of funding, I think I brought a tear to my mom's eye when I told her I wanted to learn to play an instrument.. :8:

Me, I couldn't play guitar if my life depended on it! :O
*Hoping no one kidnaps me and threatens to blow me up unless I can play Stairway to Heaven on the accustic*
My fingers are just too long, I can't curl them enough to get them to fit the strings right. Now bass, THAT I can play with no problem. ;)
My husband can play though. He's been playing for about 20 years or so.
We were considering putting our son in lessons because my husband is going back to college to study nanotechnology (sp?) and won't have the time to teach him.

I would rather try to hang out with the guy and see what I could learn by watching/asking questions.

I've only been playing for around 4 years.. and since I have no idea how to "teach," when i try to show a friend how to play it becomes a disaster. Not worth $1. Maybe he's Jimi, maybe he can teach well, then it'd be worth it.

If you know absolutely nothing about guitar, you're probably better off getting one (if you dont' already have one) and becoming familiar with it (if you're not already) before you set up appointments with a guy and spend 20 dollars on having him show you a couple of chords. You can do that with chord charts and tabs all over the internet.. for free. Well, this is what I did.

I got a guitar one Christmas & let it sit there until the following summer. One day, I got tired of looking at it so I picked it up and beat on it almost every night. Soon I was playing only intros to my favorite songs, and while it was annoying to my friends, it motivated me to learn more.

I have a guitar. But I'm left handed. This isn't a custom made guitar, so it's kind of hard for me to play. Lefties are just too expensive. I'm not very good, partly because it's very difficult for me to use it. I downloaded GuitarPro and that's how I can play all the songs I play. I've never had a teacher. I think it would be very beneficial though.

My lessons were free, and it was an elective at school. I have bein playing for 2 years. Bein playing the drums for 4.:D

Well I just got back from the local music store and the kid, thats right, some teenager (I'm 22) was the one that asked me if I needed help. Awesome kid, super nice, had no problem showing me different guitars, amps, set-ups. Listened to what I wanted and needed and showed me what was in the price range to do that. I was gonna go for an acoustic guitar cause I have always had the idea electric are extremely expensive. He had a really nice acoustic for $150 that had built in electronics, which really got me going, but as soon as I told him I would really like an electric but cant afford it he laughed and showed me one they have as a special. Amazing looking guitar, to me ne ways, its pretty standard though, with a great finish, a really nice personal amp, a bag to carry it, nice headphones, and a DVD to show ya the beginning stuff, all for $200.00, normally its $289.00 (they marked em down cause they got a new shipment in of new models and want to get rid of the old ones). PLUS, first lesson is free with any guitar purchase. One lady was leaving there after her first lesson and she said she learned a lot, as she didn't know anything about em, and know hows a really goo understanding what "practice" means. Lessons are $20.00 for 30 min, so even if my friend doesn't work out as a good teacher, I can still get lessons pretty cheap. Man I'm so stoked, I'm gonna wait till tomorrow after my lesson with my friend to see if it's something I really wanna mess around with or not, but I am really looking forward to it all. :D :D

I've been playing bass since I was 13 and turned 43 today! Have toured with bands and all that good stuff. Here is the myspace link of my band.
http://www.myspace.com/beggarsday
It's basically me and a guitar player and several session drummers. I sing and play bass.

Playing any instrument is a great way to relax, have fun and express yourself.
Have fun and :rockon:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by westcoastjungle

I've been playing bass since I was 13 and turned 43 today! Have toured with bands and all that good stuff. Here is the myspace link of my band.
http://www.myspace.com/beggarsday
It's basically me and a guitar player and several session drummers. I sing and play bass.

Playing any instrument is a great way to relax, have fun and express yourself.
Have fun and :rockon:

---

Thanks man!


anyone have any good tips or websites to help teach how to read music?

I've been getting bass lessons with a formal teacher for the last year at $15/half hour. So $10/half hour is pretty good.

Well spoke with my friend some more at the party he was throwing tonight and he showed me his many guitars and his keyboards and other cool studio gadgets. He said he wants to cover the basics on a piano as its easier to learn it on that, then just apply it to the guitar. Also showed me a bunch of his music books hes gonna let me borrow to read and go through. Also said a cool thing to do is once you start thinking your getting the hang of it, hes got some really cool recording software and equipment, he wants to record me playing and just put it on a MP3 so we can play it back and I can hear how it actually sounds, not just how I THINK it sounds when I am playing it. All in all I'm hella stoked!

That sounds cool- my friend has a bunch of MIDI stuff (she records and arranges music for a living!).

I've been playing for a few years, and I'm always amazed at how easy popular music is to play. When I started, Nirvana was cool! It depends on what kind of music you like- country music is usually just 3 chords (especially the older stuff), and it's tons of fun to play.

Around here, you're looking at $20-30 per hour for professional lessons, so I would say that's fair... but again, it's about what you want to do with your playing. Do you just want to be able to show off at some parties, or actually learn the theory part and be able to play jazz or something more improvisational? All my brother does is learn the chorus and maybe a solo for whatever is out, then plays it for his friends. :)

I also have an acoustic (classical style) and I sort of mess around with classical music. It's also fun to learn some of the unplugged versions of popular songs.

well, went and got it all. Also got a 10% discount just for being a Full Sail student. What you all think? Got everything for $207, the stand was $15.00 and the combo pack was $200.00:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=101_59321.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=101_59331.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=101_59371.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=101_59341.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=101_59351.jpg

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...=101_59361.jpg

I started playign in '93. No formal triaing. Just a friends help and a lot a tab. Used to play a lot of Metallica. Love hard rock and metal stuff but I like some accoustic. Haven't been able to really play much lately though. I am more than slightly rusty.

i'm 18 and i've been playing for 11 years.
those prices you listed were pretty awesome in my opinion.

think im gonna take lessons from the store. first one is free and after that is $20 a half hour, but I have a feeling i would learn a lot more with them then with the guy from school.

:rockon: with your bad self! Sounds like you are ready to rip it up! Have fun and keep on rocking! Music is Life :sunny:

Looks like you're ready to rock! Just remember to keep trying, take it slow and make reasonable goals for yourself so you can attain them and get satisfaction to keep going...and keep practicing! I found setting a regular schedule when I was actively playing* helped force me to stay on it.

*While I did take a couple guitar and piano lessions in there, I took private flute lessons for 8 years growing up and played in the high school band and orchestra. I now own three different flutes; a piccolo, a flute and an alto flute, I think my favorite of the three. =) I drag it out and play occasionally but I've lost my chops and breath control, hehe.

As with any musical instrument and the practice thereof, remember the "sonic" feelings of your friends, family and neighbors; playing loudly, late, excessively during times of the day or week that makes them grumpy will diminish their support for you, hehe. =)

do what i did:
Teach yourself

I only fiddle with it in the afternoon or early evening, if its late I just don't plug it into the amp. If I'm not even using the amp my room mate can't hear it even if he stands outside my door.