Originally Posted by: karen_walker_33Hi - Re: Guitar Fundamentals - Beginners - pre-purchase question - raised with support and I was directed to the forums. If anyone can provide informed feedback, it's appreciated :)
[br]1. What guitar type (e.g. electric or acoustic) is used during instruction?[br]2. Teachers involved in instruction e.g. noted Anders & Lisa as two seperate routes. Any significant difference between them, for example one focuses on electric or acoustic[br]3. Considering a student with mid range learning capability practicing 1 hour per day. Roughly how long (ball park) might it take for that student to competently compete the fundamentals (1&2) course? I understand its difficult to be specific, I'm simply looking for a general sense of timing.
4. Holding the guitar, I'd like to try a classical stance i.e the guitar neck angled up. Does the course offer any tips on effectively doing this while standing, sitting and using a strap?
Lots of good advice and I'll just add to it:
1. Either is fine. For the record, electric is easier to learn on. If your eventual goal is to playing music that needs an electric (ie - rock, blues, country, pop etc), might as well consider an electric. Consider your guitar purchase with your end goal in mind. If you are more in to acoustic music, go that way but consider that acoustics tend to be a little harder to learn on and often have heavier guage strings which makes it a little harder (though if you do go acoustic, you might want to consider having the store set up for a lighter guage).
2. Since I've been playing for decades, I never fully looked at fundementals other than a scan through. If I were starting, I would go with Anders as that's the current curriculuum. However, once having done that, it might be worth looking at Lisa's as her's is awesome and you can pick up on things Ander's does not cover.
3. Hot tip from those decades of playing; do not get caught in the trap of how quickly you will progress. It will lead to an enormous amount of frustration. It's a trap. Different people have different apptitudes and physical differences (hand size etc) and that's the wildcard of it all. Your goal is not to complete fundementals (I mean, yes, finish them) but it is to enjoy the process of learning and playing guitar.
To set a baseline for you; you are always learning guitar when you're a guitar player. I started in 1981 and there's always a style or skill that I want to pick up on. That's the point; enjoy learning new things. Basing progress on completing an online lesson is not really speaking to growing musically. As I said, work through fundementals but don't base your progress on it.
4. Use a strap. I've done this since nearly day one and one of the instructors here, Chris, has advised the same as well. Why the strap? It allows you to optimally place the guitar in a position that makes it comfortable for you. As a beginner, trying to manhandle the guitar position, hold the neck and then strum? I make it sound worse than it is but nontheless, you can focus on playing and not fighting the instrument when, which you're new, might seem a bit awkward.
