Some help please

[Phil]

I tried learning guitar a few years ago. I bought an Ibanez electric guitar and had about half a dozen lessons. After that i ran out of money and I just started playing Metallica/Pantera songs from Tab. I've resently moved to a different country and couldn't take the guitar with me. Now i'm here and got a job i want to try again, but do it properly this time.
Could anyone tell me if it's best to begin on an electric or should i be looking for an acoustic? I'm into heavy styles of music but if i want to practice at work (i'm a night shift security guard) i won't be able to have an amp with me. :confused:
Also, would i be best looking for a good tutor or do you think lesson sites like this do a good enough job of teaching the necessary skills?

[smfulla]

dude, danelectro will help you out as far as the amp goes =] They have this tiny pedal/amp =] it's like totally portable, and it wouldn't be too loud, sooo i suggest that if you have your heart set on an electric. And I mean you'd still have an awesome amp at home too, just that samll one to practice on while at the job (that is if you're actually allowed to bring a guitar into your work).

[Phil]

Hehe, yeah, i think security is the one job that you can get away with it, you have so many hours to kill they basically let you do what ever you like as long as you patrol regularly.
What i am really needing to know is if there are an advantages/disadvantages to starting on an electric as opposed to an acoustic. When i got my Ibanez electric originally everything i did was power chords, which meant my skill as a guitarist never really got a chance to progress.

[Phil]

OOPS! It's my first time here and i just found the thread where you guys were already talking about the electric vs acoustic stuff, sorry.

[smfulla]

its cool dude, just while you posted on this again, I know you might have only done power chords with ur ibanez, that doesn't mean its the only thing you can do with an electric. You can learn all the same scales, and all the same theory (well almost, with the acception of say the tremolo bar) with an electric that you could with an acoustic. The only differences:
-tone
-different sized necks & strings
-one has a hole
-more/less frets

well those are the more noticable differences.
The ability to learn isn't restricted to the tools you use, you just gotta want to learn more

[55'gibby]

My advise if you want to play electric buy an electric.. if you want to play acoustic buy an acoustic. If you don't like what instrument your playing, your not gunna play it. so buy what you like. I have seen some "walkman" like guitar amps in the music store recently, didn't use one but might be an option.

[Krieselman13]

Ive seen them things in catologs. They have headphones on them and they are small. You could get one of those.


peace.

[Phil]

Thanks for the tips, guys. So do you think a package consisting of something like a squire and one of these small amp/pedal combo's would do the job?

[smfulla]

why not???
atleast just for the moment
I mean the small pedal/amp thing is just to practice on while at work, soooo you can still have the badass amp at home. And before you buy a guitar, play around on them first, see which you feel most comfortable with.

[Phil]

Yep, i sure will. My girlfriend and I are going on a tour of every music shop within an hours drive of our house the next time we both have the same day off :) a whole day of looking at instruments and playing guitar, should be fun! Altho she's a push over for salesmen so i'll be holding ALL the money, lol.

[Phil]

Ok, i kind of took the plung today. I got a squire pack. I played a few of the lest expesive guitars in the shops and that felt the best for the price. It came with a pretty small amp that sounds crap compared to the one i used to play but it's small enough to get in my bag for work, hehe.
So i started having a look at the early lessons on this site and i had a question. I looked at the program "chord finder" and i was wondering if anyone actually uses or even knows all the chords on that thing?

[gck]

I don't think anyone knows all the chords but you can learn how to construct them.. however, if a chord that you don't know is used in a song you want to play, you will learn it and thereby gradually increase your personal amount of chords!

[Phil]

Ok, well that seems resonable enough, and may i say that playing G with finger 2,3 and 4 is driving me up the wall, lol. But i'm going to take Shawn at his word (assuming he wrote that lesson) and believe that it's better that way in the long run.

[gck]

Personally, I assume that you shouldn't take the fingerings toooo compulsory for you! I can't play a G chord smoothly with Shawn's proposed fingering on a classical guitar because of the wider neck, so I play it with index, middle and pinky instead of middle, ring and pinky.

The important part is that you do never "death-gripe" your guitar (that's what everyone calls it), meaning that your knuckles come out white, pressing really hard with the thumb etc... It should feel natural.

So, if you can't get along with a given fingering because of physical restrictions, try another!