Educate me- adult beginner acoustic guitar

[tpepper70]

As Shane said earlier, Ultimate Guitar Tabs. Subscribe for about $40 a year, thousands of songs, app for phone, tablet or on your computer. I literally have thousands of songs saved in diffetent playlists. I only use the chord charts and a very cool feature, if you Subscribe, is there is an autoscroll and listen feature. The listen feature is a video link to the song and, hitting the autoscroll, you can jam along to the original song. Your very own private jam session.
I'm only 3 years in, but didn't have any real progress until about 6-7 months. Don't watch you hand form the chords, let your ear tell you if the chord is right. I was focusing too hard to get the perfect chords and it really slowed me down. Once I quit watching, chord transitions became much quicker. Also, practice, practice, practice. You're doing good leaving it out so you can grab it anytime, even if just to run through the chords a few times. I can play descent enough to now play in our church praise band and am having a blast. Keep at it and enjoy every minute of it. I highly recommend Ultimate Guitar tabs. It helped me more than anything. Good luck and God bless.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Shane]

I brought my GS-mini to a guitar tech today in a Guitar Center. He replaced the Elexir 13-56 strings with Elixer 13-53 and lowered the action by filing the nut and bridge.

Wow! What an incredible difference not having to press down the strings as hard to form chords. I was able to do some bar chords, can finally play a ‘real’ F chord!

I should have done it a while ago, and sure recommend it for any other beginners.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh man, Bill! If you've been playing all this time and making all this progress before getting your guitar set up right, you're gonna LOVE playing it now that the action is more playable.

13s are pretty heavy, especially on a shorter scale guitar. You might try 11s or even 10s on that guitar. That would make it even easier to play as well.

[Bill]

Until I watched the tech installing the strings, I didn’t realize it was easy to do and a set of new strings only cost $16.00.


I’ve read a bunch today about guitar strings- even the Elixir/ WL Gore patent describing the fundamentals of guitar string physics, sound quality, and how it degrades (corrosion and crud from your fingers getting between the windings and core).

Fun to learn about.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tpepper70]

Oh man, Bill! If you've been playing all this time and making all this progress before getting your guitar set up right, you're gonna LOVE playing it now that the action is more playable.



13s are pretty heavy, especially on a shorter scale guitar. You might try 11s or even 10s on that guitar. That would make it even easier to play as well.

This is SO true. I have a handful of guitars, but my goto's are an Ibanez AC240 OPN, an Ibanez AC340 OPN and a Seagull S6. I don't play anything heavier than 12's on the Seagull and play 11's on the Ibanez's. I also have the action about as low as I can get with out buzz. So much more fun, and easier to play. Learn how to set up your guitars. There are a lot of YT videos to teach you and it really is pretty easy. Once you get a guitar set up the way you like it, nothing better.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Clark]

Glad it’s going well for you, Bill.
It feels like I’ve hit a plateau with my progress.
I’ll keep pushing.
Hearing of others success is inspiring, thanks for the update!

[Bill]

What seems to be the problem?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[3ChordTruth]

Great news Bill, a good setup can make a real difference. Did you get to play your guitar at the brewery last month? How did that go?

[Bill]

No, not yet. It looked looks like in September if I back-up my 2 friends. We’ll see.

I’m hoping progress to be much faster based on the last 2 practice sessions and how much easier it is the form chords.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bluesman]

I've been using these with good results = very little loss in tone and a great set-up.

https://www.amazon.com/Martin-Strings-Acoustic-Guitar-41Y18MA170/dp/B07GTS1MD1/ref=sr_1_5?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI14zh5ZWM9wIVBRPUAR0HyAgxEAAYAyAAEgJFlfD_BwE&hvadid=178333155525&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9027614&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7190145740562590513&hvtargid=kwd-25934516510&hydadcr=29681_10190933&keywords=martin%2Bextra%2Blight%2Bacoustic%2Bstrings&qid=1649685635&sr=8-5&th=1

[Bill]

Thanks. Good to know.

I saw those particular strings on the amazon link were $4.99, most Martin (and others) are $15-$17. In reading/ educating myself about guitar strings the other night I read some articles how prevalent Chinese counterfeit guitar strings are on the market. I wonder if the inexpensive ones are ‘real’?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shane]

Regular ol' acoustic strings at $5/set is normal if you order online. At least it was before all the inflation recently. I'm sure they'll go up some too. Buying in a store is usually more expensive.

I prefer phosphor bronze instead of 80/20, but that's just personal preference on minor tonal differences. PB doesn't corrode quite as fast as 80/20 also, but if you like the tone of 80/20 that doesn't really matter. I don't personally like coated strings. The tone is different. They last longer but cost more, so cost is about a wash. So I use what sounds best to my ear.

For acoustics, I use custom light or medium/light sets that are a blend of lighter gauge strings on the treble side and mediums on the bass side. Again, just personal preference for playability and tone. You should change your strings about once a month. Try a different type and gauge of string every time for a while until you figure out what you like best. And there's no need to pay someone to change them for you. It's super easy.

[Ætheling]

I would skip the acoustic unless you want to stay on acoustic. If you want an electric for the long run then buy an electric. A good guitar will hold its value much more so than a "beginner" so just buy a decent electric that you like and go with it. What that is for you who know. So many good guitars out there. It will sound and play much better than a "beginner" which will motivate you to play more. I would recommend a Line 6 amp with lots of built-in effects and drum beats. This will further the motivation to play as you can jam band by yourself. If you end up not liking it all that will sell back for a pretty penny.

[Bill]

Educate me- adult beginner acoustic guitar

Shane- Good information, thanks.

AE- thanks. My plan was to learn and stay on acoustic guitar. But that’s interesting to know. While I was at the Guitar Center waiting for tech with another customer I took a few electric guitars off the rack and strummed some chords. I was amazed how much lighter the strings were to play.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rapper]

Yamaha has a great starter that's pretty cheap.

[austinRecurve]

I got a nice, used Gibson Les Paul from the Gibson Demo Shop on Reverb. Gibson refurbishes demo guitars and sells them there.