With CFA checked off the list it’s time to learn something a little more soul fulfilling. I’m thinking either learn to play guitar or learn to cook a decent meal. Thoughts, suggestions? anyone know what kind of committment it takes to be proficient on the guitar?
Ziggy played guitar. If we stick with the stable 250 hours measurement…with 250 hours of practice you’d be over the hard part, which is learning how to get your fingers to make shapes they are not used to and switching between chords. Strumming would be ok too. And you’d be belting out a few songs no problem. Unlike CFA though, the more you do the more you’ll enjoy it.
Like most of America’s youth, I decided to pick up guitar and be a rock star somewhere back in my teens. The first year was horrible and I had to force myself to keep learning. But after you get the basics down, it starts to come a lot faster. Or you could skip the year of sucking and go straight to a guitar teacher. I find that I am a better cook when I am not following a recipe. After many attempts to make dishes, you learn what goes good with what, what spices to use, this and that. Cooking is cool because (if you do it like I do) you will never make the same thing twice.
I spend almost all my free time reading. I just like to have a good knowledge of literature, history, and all that stuff. Partially for the pretense, mostly because I enjoy it. Once the CFA is done (two more levels, hopefully only two more years), I intend to learn French. I’m sure I’ll have different goals by then though.
Why don’t you learn Sanskrit like T. S. Eliot mutha ucka?
The first few weeks will be painful like Superinconsistent said. The internet is full of sites that give you the chords for various songs and Youtube has little instructional videos you can watch if you like. Riffing and solos probably won’t be possible right at the beginning until you get the “feel” of the guitar.
^yea looks like a lot of resources on the web. What’s a good guitar to begin on (for a left-hander)? What price range am I looking at?
Given that you don’t know if you will stick with it, or if it will just collect dust after the novelty wears off, I wouldn’t recommend spending a whole lot on it. For first time guitar I wouldn’t really care too much about the brand - price would be my criteria. 100 - 150 should get you a good starter. Takemine & Tanglewood are two reliable brands though. Left-handers suffer from having a worse choice available to them.
Good thing you are finished you CFA - I am just starting and the guitar is a great tool to use to procrastinate from hitting the books!
^for me it was AF lurking 
Thanks for the advice. I was thinking the same thing around $150, don’t overspend on something I may not stick with.
Super-- Thinking of pulling the trigger on this one. What do you think, good for a beginner? http://cgi.ebay.com/Jasmine-By-Takamine-S33LH-Acoustic-Guitar-Left-Handed_W0QQitemZ360181591984QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item53dc7eefb0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Electric is more fun, I got a $100 junker when I was 17 and was playing solos in a week or two. If you are someone that just picks up stuff and learns quick by yourself it isn’t that hard. A guitar teacher would make me want to scratch my eyes out! If u have a place to crank loud a fender into a Pro Jr amp is a nice starter pack. Make sure to add an annoying distortion pedal like the Big Muff later. I always found acoustic harder, you have to pressed down hard on yur fret hand and it is all about annoying hard to form cords which your hand may find unnatural.
I’ve read good things online about Takemine acoustics. Purealpha is correct in that acoustics hurt more. I have the calluses to prove it! I rarely play my electric. If you’re in your 20’s get an electric and do some shredding. I’m a bit older so I enjoy the acoustic.
god the look on my wife’s face if i brought home an electric guitar would be priceless. no i’m over 30 (read an old fart) so acoustic is probably the only option. anyone play an acoustic electric? is that a ‘middle ground’ option?
I have a Seagull acoustic electric. It is fun to “plug in” to my Fender Acoustasonic-30 amp (has input for vocals mic too). I can tell you’ll be rockin’ Eagles’ songs at open mics in no time.
Acoustic/electrics play pretty much like acoustics. The action (the distance between the strings and the fretboard) is higher on acoustics which is way you have to push harder. The strings on acoustics are thicker as well. Acoustics are also less forgiving in terms of fretting. I started with an acoustic and it made my hands stronger than if I had started on electric. I enjoy playing the electric much more. There are several amps you can buy with headphone jacks so you won’t annoy the wife. You can still hear the strumming of the strings but you won’t get the wail of the amp. VOX makes a cool battery powered amp emulator gadget that plugs right into the amp jack on the guitar that lets you hook up your headphones so you can play anywhere and get the sound of an amp. I personally think a guitar teacher is the way to go. I did it for about 2 years and really enjoyed it. You get to be so much better if you learn to play along with another person. They also keep you focused on what you should be doing. Once you get the basics down, you can cut out the teacher and just learn it on your own.
thanks all for the info. i’m pretty fired up to get started. then again i can’t help but think this reeks of me trying in vein to recapture my youth. ahhh well, i’m good with that.
Go for it man. It’ll change your life! Can’t go too wring with Takemine. A hard shell case is included in the one you posted the link too. That is worth paying a few extra dollars for. And the guys above are right, acoustics hurt your fingers more, they toughen up over time. But probably better training in the long run. Semi acousitcs are great. But you’ll get more out of them when you are more proficient. Let us know how you get on…
How about the piano? Any players out there? Would all this advice apply to the piano as well or is it a harder, easier, or the same level of difficulty as learning the guitar.
jbaldyga Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > god the look on my wife’s face if i brought home > an electric guitar would be priceless. Do it just for that man! May I recommend a Marshall full-stack, blow up the neighborhood. But really drums is where its at bros. There’s nothing like choppin’ some wood on the kit after work, more physical obviously, and loud as hell.