Completley Absolute Beginner

tabs
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:48 pm

hello everyone ,,

am very interested in playing guitar , ( but not the electric = ROCK ) ,

all that i know is :
1- classic guitar : contains 3 steel and 3 nylon strings ,
2- Acoustic guitar : contain 6 steel strings ..

any help on starting up will be gr8 n appreciated ,,

by the way i bought a classic guitar ,, with 3 nylon strings and 3 steel strings ,

thanx
tabs


Chasplaya
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:31 pm

Just to clarify things for you, A classical guitar actually has 6 nylon strings the Bass strings are nylon core with metal windings, classical and flamenco guitars are similar although classical generally have a slightly wider fingerboard. Just in case you replace the Bass strings with all steel ones, that would ruin your guitar. Acoustic guitars is a generic name for non electric so you can actually get acoustic nylon or steel string guitars, then to confuse things even more you can get an Acoutic-Electric. Guitars with steel strings are constructed differently than nylon string guitars to withstand the tension steel strings places on the neck.

It is important to understand this difference as incorrect strings can ruin your investment.

To get started find a good teacher , check a few out before starting, get someone you are comfortable with, check out music stores to see who they recommend. You can learn a lot here at TG but you can't beat the face to face lesson.


tabs
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:39 pm

thnx for the reply ,,
so as for me ,, i actually not thinking in getting a teacher coz am just lookin to learn a bit of songs to sing along ,,

so wts the best thing to start with ? for example i like Colbie Caillat songs ,
and would that be steel strings acoustic guitar ?

i wonder wts the difference between nylon and steel string ? i mean what type of song i can play n so on ?

sorry about the questions ,, but am completely new and barely understand in guitars !

thnx again


Chasplaya
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:47 pm

I don't really know Colbies music that well, I do know her father produced Fleetwood Mac though, so I guess she is talented, Her genre I understand is Folk Rock, general pop. So I guess If it were me I'd lean towards a steel string acoustic.

However, a lot of teachers advise you to start with a nylon string guitar as it is easier on the fingers, which is not bad advice as I know of a few friends who started with steel strings and couldn't handle the sore fingers. Plus most nylon guitars wider fingerboards help you get used to stretching your fingers.

If you are not going to get a teacher search out tabs, this site has a few pointers there to find good ones. Also find a place that teaches you how to use tabs, that definitely helps, if you have a good ear that also helps, also get videos of the playing and try and see what she does, if you can slow the video down that can help.


tabs
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:53 pm

thnx again ,,

may i ask what do we mean by tabs ?
i actually dont know anything at all ,,, sorry


Chasplaya
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:58 pm

tabs wrote:
thnx again ,,

may i ask what do we mean by tabs ?
i actually dont know anything at all ,,, sorry
Tabs or tablature to give it its full name is a method of writing down music specifically for stringed instruments, you don't need to understand full music theory or learn what all the notes mean. Check out one of Neils videos that has a pdf file of the tab and you will see an example. The tab is like a picture of the fretboard looking down on it and it shows you the strings it then has numbers on each string representing the fret you place your finger to get the right note.


tabs
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:01 pm

thnx again ,,

may u tell me what should i know about the guitar ?
i mean i know frets , strings ..
how about A,B,E ... etc ? i dont know anything about them


Chasplaya
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:39 pm

I think if you are serious you need to at least buy a book from any good music store, that can explain alot.

Naming the strings if you are a right handed player you hold the guitar with the guitar neck facing the left, looking down on the neck the strings are tuned/named from top to bottom thickest to thinnest E A D G B E, you will need a tuner to do tune them. You may need to get someone to actually show you this at a music shop. If you are a left handed player someone else will need to help you as things can be set up differently.


tabs
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Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:38 pm

am right handed ,,
i'll try to find out more about that
thnx


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