Any one have any advice for me, wanting to teach myself to play the guitar?

I am willing to start with most types of music and learn more as i (hopefully) get better. A few things i want to know are what kind of guitar should i start with? (type, model and cost) i would also like to know if there are any books, websites out there that can help to get me started. any advice you have would be great.Any one have any advice for me, wanting to teach myself to play the guitar?
Buying a guitar: I would suggest deciding on how much you are willing to spend. Many guitars on the lower end of the spectrum ($140-180) are still made very well due to the quality of today's manufacturing processes. I would suggest going to a music shop and ask them for some recommendations for a beginner guitar. Do not get the $90 starter kits and you won't need anything over $200ish. To keep costs down, you could go with an acoustic. But your choice will depend on what type of music you want to play. An electric guitar with an amp will allow you to play around with different effects. My starter electric guitar was an ESP - LTD EC50 for about $170 CA. The amp I got was a Line 6 - Spider III - 15 Watts (which is enough to annoy many a neighbor). I don't remember what I paid, but my guess is you could get it for about $75-$100 now. It has a number of effects on it too that would allow you to play various styles. Check the sources section for a review on the Amp.





Getting started is the hardest part. Where to get started? I would suggest getting a software or DVD course. This provides you with professional lessons (minus the feedback from a real teacher). Who has the time and money these days for real lessons? The quality you can get in some of these programs is unparralleled to what used to be coming out. I own two courses, 1) Jamorama and 2) Learn and Master guitar. Jamorama is a downloadable course for $40 and will provide you with excellent beginner, intermediate and advanced material. L%26amp;M guitar runs in the $150-200 range because it is a DVD course. Both are excellent courses and use text/video lessons/jam tracks. I would recommend getting either course.





The great thing about the courses is that you can progress at your own pace. And if you dislike the course... there is a full refund guarantee for I think 60 days. I think they have some free lessons to check out and a newsletter. http://www.stampproject.com/guitar.htm





There are some good articles at http://www.stampproject.com/guitar_artic鈥?/a> to help with learning how to practice, strumming, what type of guitar to get etc.





Best of luck with learning guitar. Just remember it is going to be getting started that will be the hardest. It can be really frustrating learning your first few chords and not be able to actually play anything. Stick with it and you'll be playing some great songs before you know it. My first song I learned was Pearl Jam - Last Kiss with a chord progression of G - Em - C - D and a strum pattern of DDUUDU. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5rgnFAAF鈥?/a>





PS. Youtube is also a great resource for 'how to play' your fav songs.Any one have any advice for me, wanting to teach myself to play the guitar?
About one month ago I decided to teach myself the guitar at home too. i got an amp + a strat and bought some Hal Leonard Books .. which I've been working with. I also use a lot of my keyboard / piano music books, I order music books from http://www.sheetmusicplus.com


I go to http://www.youtube.com for video lessons. Also, don't forget to get Berklee Guitar books too..they're pretty good along with Hal Leonard.





Now you may want to just go with the acousitic guitar so you don't have the expence of an amp....


My first thing to do was not use my books at all. I just repeatedly fingered the board and must strum the guitar with a lot of focus on the thicker strings with all of my fingers; especially, 3rd %26amp; 4th fingers. I wanted to toughen them up so they will not hurt as much when I press on the strings and I can play the F chord better / properly.


I got a finger exerciser too...so I can build the muscles and strengthen the fingers.


About 8 days later I started to use the actual books and began with the basics that I did not know... i knew much from my keyboard study ( about one year).