Can i teach myslef to play the electric guitar?
Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at
11:12 am
im 13 yrs old and tomorrow im gonna go get a Fender Telocaster. woo hoo!!!! my 1st guitar ever! but im already taking paino classes so i cant take guitar lessons. 
my frenn taught herself how to play and my bro said he’d teach me what he knows. but do u think that i can take free online classes? or just teach myself over time?
thx in advance!
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If you have some music background as you say you do then it will be easier to learn guitar. You can get a simple lesson book and learn a scale and play simple songs in the book on your own. You will only go so far on your own, you will benefit from videos at least and certainly lessons after you get rolling. You Tube is a wonderful source of free tutorials,
There are a few things that you will need someone to show you that you just can’t get easily from a book. (hammer ons, palm muting, holding a pick etc) . You can read for hours or get shown in a few minutes, your choice…..
BUY A TUNER!!!! Korg GA-30 Guitar tuner runs around $15. Makes tuning a snap.
I am on the fence about weather or not one should start on an acoustic or electric. Each have there advantages, my recommendation is to start on Acoustic:
1,) its cheaper to buy
2.) no amp is required (contributes to lower cost)
3.) Acoustic strings are harder to press down so you build hand/finger strength. If you can play acoustic chords then electric will be real easy. Your piano playing should already have helped you build finger strength and dexterity.
You can play some simple songs from on-line videos. THere are many free ones JustinGuitar,com is one of my fav’s he has a few tutorials of easy songs. I also found a cheap book "Simply Guitar" and DVD at Barnes & Nobel that was on sale for $10. THe dvd has some finger exercises , chord charts etc and is worth the money. (You will find fingers are labeled differently than Piano. Guitar doesn’t number the thumb and starts with the index finger as #1, piano labels the thumb #1.)
Check out your local community college non-credit courses to see if therre are any music courses. "Bristol Community College here in Massachusetts offers a group Beginner Guitar lesson (non credit) for 1/2 a semester.
Also don’t overlook your local library for books and dvd’s on guitar.
Good choice kid. Good choice. I learned without instruction 25 years ago and no internet. Of course you can. I wish you luck. Just remember the word EVERYDAY. Use the web. It has everything you need. You don’t need an instructor nowadays and I don’t care what anyone says you don’t need one. Learn your chord charts and take it from there. There are a gazillion tutorial sites for learning the art of guitar.
i was 13 too when i got my first and i taught myself to play im 15 now and i didn’t have anyone teach me anything. i learned by reading this book that taught you easy things t start off with and then i would go on to ultimate-guitar.com and they also show you some chords but yes it is possible to teach yourself you just have to be patient and keep playing when your fingers hurt (they get callast) it will go away. you will be able to do it cuz i’ve been playing for only 2 and a half years and im already going to do a demo…you can do it
Free Online Video Guitar Lessons:
http://www.codeshredlessons.com/lessons.html
I agree with the guys that say a guitar teacher is unnecessary these days. There are lots of sites that have free lessons including all the ones mentioned in other answers. If you want more just type "free online guitar lessons" with or without the quote marks, into google. If I had to get shipwrecked on a desert island with only one free guitar lessons website it would be Justinguitar.com