help

well my electric guitar has arrived but i dont know where to start i know nothing about the electric guitar so any help or useful websitews would help alot

http://guitar.about.com/library/blgu...sonarchive.htm <--- VERY good guide. One day I may actually go through it all

http://www.myguitarsolo.com/ <--- Once you've got the basics, this is great for learning scales, and some "exercises" that stretch your fingers, with speed and accuracy.

I would suggest finding a few simple songs, with simple riffs to start with. My first few songs I learnt were:

Sex Type Thing - Stone Temple Pilots. Its tough at first because of the stretch, but its really quite simple

About a Girl - Nirvana. Once you've got the hang of E, G and power chords it should be easy.

Smells like Teen Spirit - Nirvana. Easy. Just learn power chords

Rape Me - Nirvana. Power Chords again.

Basically, Nirvana are easy as hell to play. I'll post some more song ideas later, for now I have to go

Originally Posted by hunter260859

well my electric guitar has arrived but i dont know where to start i know nothing about the electric guitar so any help or useful websitews would help alot

First things first: Do you have an amplifier? If not, that should be the first thing you should invest in. You can get mini-amps pretty cheap, or even headphone amps. Its very hard to learn anything on electric guitar if you cant actually hear what your playing.

Secondly, as Stalin's ghost has pointed out, you need to learn some simple songs. Best thing to do is to learn something by a band you like, and play along to the record. You can get tablature for pretty much every song ever written from the internet.
Tablature is a simplified way of writing music (for want of a better term) for those who cant actually read sheet music (like me)

The main problem for beginners is frustration. You will find it very difficult to start with, and it will take a while for your hands to develop the dexterity and coordination to actually play anything well, BUT STICK WITH IT, because YOU WILL GET BETTER!
Most people give up on learning guitar within the first 6 months, but if you can get past that, you should be ok.
Just remember: Chicks dig guitarists :wink:


And if you need any help just let us know. It seems there are a fair amount of guitar players at TWC, and I'm sure we can help you out.

ty for the help guys will try out some songs the thing i find strange is that when i hold down a string and pluck it doesnt make a sound is that suppose to happen?

First off, make sure you're pressing down firmly in the centre of the fret (between the lines). Arch your left hand out so that none of the other strings are being touched.
Also, do you have a plectrum? its a little piece of plastic that you use to pluck the strings with (also called a pick).

I'm assuming that you dont have it plugged in to an amplifier, in which case you wont be able to hear it very well anyway, but you should still be able to hear a definite clear note (just very quietly)

I've only been playing for about a month and a half, but hopefully my suggestions will be somewhat useful. The suggestions you've already received are good ones. You should also learn as many chords and scales as you can (well, as many useful ones as you can). Hammer-ons and pull-offs are also very important, for playing solos. It might be a bit frustrating at first (and if you don't have an amp, you probably shouldn't even bother), but you'll get better at it. Bending is something you should also learn, but maybe not right away. It can be really frustrating, I think I still fall a bit short in this area. You might want to get an easy solo (like the one in the Nirvana song "smells like teen spirit," heh) to play, and try to increase your speed in playing it. It's also interesting to learn scales and then play solos which come out of those scales; it gives you a better understanding of the whole concept.

In an effort to consolidate discussion, and to make sure that more guitar enthusiasts see your question, I'm going to merge it with the "Guitar Help" thread, as it's quickly establishing itself as the definitive thread for guitar troubleshooting/suggestions.

Merged into this thread. http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...3&page=4&pp=20