When I'm not programming or soldering, I attempt the guitar!

[alexanderbrevig]

Here it is:

[alexanderbrevig]

A quick and dirty first recording of my brand new guitar A custom Skervesen Shoggie 8 (as seen in the latest purchase thread).

[WackyGerman]

I was a little confused and thought it was a bassguitar  . Like the design of the guitar  . I played bassguitar several years ago in some bands but I quit 5 years ago of health reason . Damn ringing in the ears 

[alexanderbrevig]

Hehe, it's down to F# so only two half steps above the regular 4string E (easily dropped if needed though  ).

I'm still waiting for it's big brother. A custom 10 string monster!

Sad to hear about the ringing, blame the drummer!

[BradC]

Damn ringing in the ears 

Earplugs FTW. Having said that 2 years ago I had to move from the guitar to bass. Arthritis in the knuckles put paid to my guitar hero career. When I finally can't play bass anymore I'll move to drums.

[Ampera]

Well I'm on keyboard. I play by ear though.

Huh, maybe we're about to form an EEVBlog band.

Lol, Dave could be on drums.

[VK5RC]

When you play the bagpipes (well an advanced learner anyway)  who needs amplication!
(use earplugs ++)

[alexanderbrevig]

My new band is about to release our debut album, and we were just introduced to the world:

[Electro Detective]

Attempting ANYTHING except DJ-ing when not programming or soldering,

gets a BIG thumbs up from me 

[Rick385]

Nice. How did you learn how to play it? On your own or did you enroll to a guitar course? I always wanted to play the guitar but there is no guitar courses in my town, unfortunately.

[alexanderbrevig]

I'm self taught 
Been playing for a long time though, drums since age 2, keyboards since age 8 and guitars since age 10.
I learned the two first from my dad, then when I started the guitar I translated what I knew from the keyboard to the guitar.

These days I'd say youtube is a huge source for learning, and maybe yousician. Good luck! It's never too late!

[BradC]

Nice. How did you learn how to play it? On your own or did you enroll to a guitar course? I always wanted to play the guitar but there is no guitar courses in my town, unfortunately.

Duck on down to the local cashies, buy a cheap guitar, go home, turn on the stereo,and start belting strings until you figure out how it works. Jump on the web, start with a beginners tutorial and have at it.

If you decide it's not for you, flog the guitar. If you decide it's something you might want to give a serious nudge, find a music store and ask about lessons and a usable guitar.

You never, never know if you never, never go.

If that sounds a bit much, pick up a Uke and start there. Cheap, easy and small enough to carry on any flight. What's not to like.

[Electro Detective]

Nice. How did you learn how to play it? On your own or did you enroll to a guitar course?

I always wanted to play the guitar but there is no guitar courses in my town, unfortunately.

Go and see a local band/s playing in your area, and ask them during a break if they teach guitar or know someone locally that does

Sometimes the local council has activities/short courses going, including music lessons

Buy (or hire/borrow) a decent WORKING guitar, be it a nylon or steel accoustic, or electric etc  that isn't too hard on the fingers,
preferably one set up by a guitar tech or experienced DIY musician with thinner strings and LOW action/string height

Buy a few sets of spare strings of the same type,
some different sized hard, soft and medium guitar picks,
a guitar strap,
a visual chords and notes book,
jump on Youtube etc   

an affordable guitar tuner with inputs and built in microphone is a must have item,
especially for a tuning beginner with untrained hearing 

FYI: a decent playing guitar at any price point is easier to sell if you bail or upgrade

There is no reason why you (or anyone) can't be playing basic tunes, melodies and assorted riffage competently in a few days
if you get kickstarted correctly with the right tools   

 
OTOH: if you want to start and stop learning guitar in no time,
label yourself 'un-gifted, no talent, not for me, I'm a gamer not guitar hero.. ' 
then just buy a cheap crappy guitar as most tend to cluelessly ~recommend~ 
then prepare to jump ship as many have done, after fruitless sessions battling with a dud sounding, user unfriendly instrument   

..sporting bonus sore finger tips, stiff wrists and dented ego     

[alexanderbrevig]

Finally my 10 string has arrived (2 years 4 months since I ordered it) so I just HAD to record a simple riff with it.
Excuse me for resurrecting, but did not want to make another thread..

[rhb]

Nice. How did you learn how to play it? On your own or did you enroll to a guitar course? I always wanted to play the guitar but there is no guitar courses in my town, unfortunately.

Duck on down to the local cashies, buy a cheap guitar, go home, turn on the stereo,and start belting strings until you figure out how it works. Jump on the web, start with a beginners tutorial and have at it.

If you decide it's not for you, flog the guitar. If you decide it's something you might want to give a serious nudge, find a music store and ask about lessons and a usable guitar.

You never, never know if you never, never go.

If that sounds a bit much, pick up a Uke and start there. Cheap, easy and small enough to carry on any flight. What's not to like.

That's about as good a recipe for failure as I can come up with.

I've been playing for almost 50 years.  It took about 40 for me to reach the point of playing by ear despite playing harmonica (Chicago style blues and 50's rock and roll) by ear for 45+ years.

The quality of the guitar makes a huge difference as does the setup.  I taught myself, but there weren't any teachers around and I was not so inclined anyway.  After seeing the progress my niece has made in a couple of years, I'd recommend lessons.  We got her a Yamaha FG series which was one up from the base model, and not a dreadnought.  I set it up for her so it plays like butter.  Any Yamaha is a good choice, but *all* guitars need to be setup.  The biggest issue is usually the strings are very high and quickly make the new players fingers sore as they struggle to keep the notes from buzzing.  So they give up.
Go to a reputable music store.  I've never seen a decent guitar in a pawn shop.  I've bought a couple in pawn shops but only for repair and resale.

My first guitar was an early FG-180 which I have owned since 1971.  Now I pretty much play my Eastman AR810CE almost exclusively.

[rrinker]

 Hmm, maybe that was my problem. Many moons ago, I had a friend in college who taught be a couple of chords, I could play those just fine on his guitar. So after I was out in the world at my first real job, I wanted to pick up a guitar and try to learn to play. A coworker played in a band on weekends, so he went with me to a music store and helped me pick out a decent beginner guitar and some good instructional books - but never did any other setup, just used the strings it came with and tuned it, but no adjustments. I was practicing for hours every night after work, got through the first parts of the book and could play any of those examples with no problem, but when it got to more advanced stuff, I just didn't have the strength in my little finger to properly press the required string. Kept at it and kept at in, just couldn;t do it. I'm just not musically inclined (which probably seems odd because it seems music and math seem to go together, and I enjoyed math, and of course am an engineer by degree). I have problems with keyboards as well, I just don;t have good independent control over my little finger, especially on my left (non dominant) hand. I still wish I could play SOMETHING, I enjoy listening to music, particularly skilled instrumentalists, at least keyboard, guitar, and bass. Oh well, I'm mostly content appreciating the talents of others