what kind of guitar would be the best to learn first?

dmajor100

dmajor100

Active member
still into learning piano but i don't wanna consume so much time on it and i wanna start learn a guitar or bass now. Ive heard a lot of people say that once you have learn the basic skill of piano that learning a guitar is very simple and I'm very much hoping for that to be try. A lot of my beats lack bass and i have a very hard time composing a bass around my tracks even on a keyboard with plug ins but kinda know how it should should but i just can never find the groove on the keys. Bass would be the first choice but i also wanna learn a jazz electric or acoustic guitar but not sure which would be a smart move as far as learning or skill needed. I actually have a goal of learning either a bass or acoustic in 1 year and play as a moderate to expert player,is this very possible?


p.s. recommendations of guitars are welcome and my price for either would be 400 to 500 for a nice sounding guitar.
 
You definitely wanna start out by playing an acoustic guitar, bass guitar would be dumb to me to learn first because its the easiest and if you learn acoustic or electric first, you will know how to play bass its just a bigger string version and takes less precision, plus the notes are the same. I dont know what kind of tracks your making, but learning real bass I don't think will help with making your bass line in your beats. Just follow the lowest frequency melody if you can't come up with nothing piano/brass roll. Which these need to match anyway if their frequencies are low enough.

Guitar center . com (I can't post links yets) Just choose your price range can't really go wrong with 400 on a guitar.
 
I've been playing for 17 years off and on, and learned on electric. The main difference is that on acoustic you have to use lighter gauge strings if you're used to electric. I'm not sure if that helped or not, but knowing music theory from piano should be enough. I'm doing the reverse from guitar>piano, and having very little difficulty.

Also, Ibanez electrics are pretty good for the price.
 
I thought you wanted to learn EDM music?

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Oh, and good luck getting to "moderate to expert" in one year, LOL. I've been playing guitar and learning jazz guitar for going on 4 years and only started making progress---and that's after practicing 2 hours daily. You got to have focus to even get to an intermediate level with any instrument.
 
^^^ Hes right only way your gonna get good that fast is if you spend all of your time during the day practicing from the time you wake up till the time you go to sleep, and while your at it if its something you really want you might as well invest your time getting lessons somehow...
 
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I've learned that practicing all day is sometimes a waste and will tire your hands down and not be able to play well. if I've done hand exercise were i train them hard with different exercises ill take a day or off to let me heal and feel recharged and very flexible and coordinated more when i get back on. Also learning different types of music is my business and i only ask for tips not for people to keep questioning me as if i don't know what I'm doing,pump thrust. intermediate is the goal of 1 solid year with playing nothing major as whole songs but short loops 4 to 8 bars at most and learn decent progressions. I've been on and off of piano for 2 years but i think if i would have been on it with proper instruction and exercise that i know now i would have progressed much faster.

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potcorn said:
I've been playing for 17 years off and on, and learned on electric. The main difference is that on acoustic you have to use lighter gauge strings if you're used to electric. I'm not sure if that helped or not, but knowing music theory from piano should be enough. I'm doing the reverse from guitar>piano, and having very little difficulty.

Also, Ibanez electrics are pretty good for the price.
Click to expand...


here is a killer exercise that has really opened my hands and finger coordination
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RUrHr-9NiE&list=FLNTOtzvkfeC_0S7XDECvZ2A&index=2
 
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@brownsville:
Bass is not easiest: it requires an intricate knowledge of scales, chords and arpeggios not normally found in chord based guitar playing/learning.
Yes if you learn how to play chords on guitar, then you will know the positions of some notes on the bass.
If you learn to play riffs where you actually know the names of the notes you are playing, then you know even more notes on the bass,
The bass and the guitar are not derived from the same family nor the same line of thinking.
The guitarron is nearest relative to a bass guitar after the double bass; bass playing is derived first and foremost from jazz double bass playing and then from the guitar family.

@potcorn: working with different gauge strings on different guitars is part and parcel of learning to play. I actively encourage my students to use their acoustic guitars to practice parts before returning to their electrics; it helps to build hand and finger strength and allows them to develop the stamina needed to play 45 minute sets without cramping or otherwise fatiguing

Now for some insight taken from 35+ years of playing and teaching the guitar
1) you can achieve any level you want if you set your mind to it and you put in focused practice every day - 1 year to a strong intermediate level is quite possible, but expect to spend up to 5 years getting to an advanced level
2) start with an acoustic guitar, preferably a 3/4 size nylon string. It has a similar neck size to an electric and steel string acoustic, but is a shorter scale. You will progress faster and be able to move across to the other types with minimal change in your hand positioning
3) bass is a different approach to playing. Again if you insist on learning the bass, get yourself a short-scale bass to begin.
4) whatever you do, work with a teacher that will make you read notation as well as tabs and who will take you through a method from start to finish with additional material they generate themselves
 
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Pumpthrust said:
Well, you do have a track record, just askin'. Did you get your money back from the school yet?
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I think we know that aint gonna happened and I'm concern was about getting it back but rather let them know it was a disappointment. Guess what i even got the enrollment conseler who enrolled me to say the school was bullshit and thats why he left the studio to work with a teacher that i had that also left to do there own program course. I don't have a track record in nothing except asking questions and for tips so instead of being a stalker of my posts you should give your knowledge to people instead of pointless comments that don't help.

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bandcoach said:
@brownsville:
Bass is not easiest: it requires an intricate knowledge of scales, chords and arpeggios not normally found in chord based guitar playing/learning.
Yes if you learn how to play chords on guitar, then you will know the positions of some notes on the bass.
If you learn to play riffs where you actually know the names of the notes you are playing, then you know even more notes on the bass,
The bass and the guitar are not derived from the same family nor the same line of thinking.
The guitarron is nearest relative to a bass guitar after the double bass; bass playing is derived first and foremost from jazz double bass playing and then from the guitar family.

@potcorn: working with different gauge strings on different guitars is part and parcel of learning to play. I actively encourage my students to use their acoustic guitars to practice parts before returning to their electrics; it helps to build hand and finger strength and allows them to develop the stamina needed to play 45 minute sets without cramping or otherwise fatiguing

Now for some insight taken from 35+ years of playing and teaching the guitar
1) you can achieve any level you want if you set your mind to it and you put in focused practice every day - 1 year to a strong intermediate level is quite possible, but expect to spend up to 5 years getting to an advanced level
2) start with an acoustic guitar, preferably a 3/4 size nylon string. It has a similar neck size to an electric and steel string acoustic, but is a shorter scale. You will progress faster and be able to move across to the other types with minimal change in your hand positioning
3) bass is a different approach to playing. Again if you insist on learning the bass, get yourself a short-scale bass to begin.
4) whatever you do, work with a teacher that will make you read notation as well as tabs and who will take you through a method from start to finish with additional material they generate themselves
Click to expand...


Thank you indeed , ya see a knowledgable person comes forth with tips to a aspiring producer very eager to learn more of his craft .Thank you sir you have been a help threw my posts and you give what should be given to a student and sure you wish the same was done when you were coming up.
 
It depends on what you want to play, and with who you want to play it. Acoustic isn't any easier or harder, it just takes more finger strength at first, but you are limited to how much of the fretboard you can use well, because of string tension. If you want to do fast lead playing, you probably want an electric. That is not to say nobody plays lead on an acoustic. Electric is probably more fun to learn honestly, you have a million times more options for sound, and rock songs are not very fun acoustic. Acoustic is great for learning chords on and fingerstyle playing. It really depends on what you want to learn, there is no right answer. And anyone who thinks playing bass is easy, is confused between playing an instrument, and playing it well.
 
There's no difference technically, Acoustic i'de say builds your finger muscles faster, If you have electric though just be sure not to practice with insane amount of distortion, because you won't be hearing yourself accurately, so if learning on electric definitely play clean.

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TySmash said:
It depends on what you want to play, and with who you want to play it. Acoustic isn't any easier or harder, it just takes more finger strength at first, but you are limited to how much of the fretboard you can use well, because of string tension. If you want to do fast lead playing, you probably want an electric. That is not to say nobody plays lead on an acoustic. Electric is probably more fun to learn honestly, you have a million times more options for sound, and rock songs are not very fun acoustic. Acoustic is great for learning chords on and fingerstyle playing. It really depends on what you want to learn, there is no right answer. And anyone who thinks playing bass is easy, is confused between playing an instrument, and playing it well.
Click to expand...

Acoustic is good for establishing fundamentals thats why I recommend for the first few months maybe, & Bass is easier than guitar, people who play only bass can't play guitar and people who play guitar can pretty much play bass on a basic level thats what I meant by it.
 
I would recommend getting an acoustic guitar to start with because they are simply more convenient, especially if you plan to attended lessons somewhere.
 
Since wrapping your fingers around a fretboard and holding down strings is a very un-natural movement, it will take time to train your fingers to do this. Due to that fact I urge you to start on an acoustic with thick strings and high action. Thick strings that are high above the fret board are difficult to hold down compared to an electric jazz guitar, which typically would have thinner string, with lower action(closer to the fret board). If you learned on an electric jazz guitar then when you picked up the more physically challening acoustic guitar you'd have to retrain your hand to hold down the strings. Go with the acoustic first, since its the most difficult to learn on, you can easily switch to another style of guitar when you choose to do so.

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Oh I forgot to add, an electric guitar with various fx added will hide the mistakes you make, whereas an acoustic doesn't have any effects so it will be easier to hear your mistakes, thus making the acoustic a more effective learning instrument.
 
Thanks for the advice fellers now will it matter that on what price I go for like will the sound differ that much? Also do yall recommened record threw mics and a jack for best sound?
 
you won't notice much difference in sound at these price levels
$0-$400
$600-$1000
$1200-$2000
$2500+

As for recording: mics are better for acoustics, though you can use both a mic and an inbuilt system if needed to get clarity and low end. A couple of pencil condensors should do the trick......

Mics should be pointed at the lower bout (that is a term meaning the shoulder; where the neck joins the body of the guitar) and the table (top of the guitar soundbox) behind the bridge (where there are no strings)
 
Acoustic recording

A piezo pickup with a quarter inch output is by far the most efficient option, however it will not capure the sound of the room nor will it allow much in terms of versatility. A better way to go is to have a set of two mics, this way you can get a stereo recording, or a recording of the room mixed with the dry sound of the guitar, or a combination of different sweet spots on the guitar and probably anything that you can think of.

A direct injection is easy, but limited options in sound. A set of microphones offers many options but will take a while to learn how to get the sound you want plus even more time just to set the mics up in the right spots.

Since your new to acoustic guitar I suggest go with a direct injection, and when you decide you want mics you can buy some when your ready.
 
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