Guitar-in-a-nutshell.com

I'd say that the more sources you use to learn to play guitar the better. We've got lessons by the shedload on this site, they're all FREE, and if there's anything you don't understand you can talk to the author about it direct or any number of other musicians; so they're always our starting point for recommendations.

Any tuition method needs to get you playing "something" on day one, otherwise it's a complete waste of money.

My students' lessons cover three areas; melody - the note by note, string by string bit; rhythm; and harmony - chords, so you can play your favorite songs. If Guitar-in-a-nutshell does that for you then good.

My students all learn to read music - the note by note, string by string, bit. If you put a piece of sheet music for another instrument in front of one of my students, they could make a fairly good attempt at playing it. If Guitar-in-a-nutshell does that for you then good - nobody ever got fired because they could read music.

Strangely enough, if we were talking about any other instrument, we wouldn't even be having this conversation; if I wanted to play the piano, or the sax, or even if I attached a mouthpiece and a plastic funnel to a piece of garden hose and called it a horn, I'd be sitting down with a human being learning it note by note. The moment we come to the guitar, everybody promises to get you playing everything you ever wanted to play by this time tomorrow.

There's a 30-day money-back guarantee at guitar-in-a-nutshell. Give it a try - just make sure you know how to get your money back and make sure you do it if you don't get what you think you ought to out of it; especially if it doesn't motivate you to practise.

A :-)

Strangely enough, if we were talking about any other instrument, we wouldn't even be having this conversation; if I wanted to play the piano, or the sax, or even if I attached a mouthpiece and a plastic funnel to a piece of garden hose and called it a horn, I'd be sitting down with a human being learning it note by note. The moment we come to the guitar, everybody promises to get you playing everything you ever wanted to play by this time tomorrow.

A :-)
That was kind of my thoughts, but since most everything is written in tab form for guitars and even if it's not it can be transposed into chords... One of the later lessons touches on music theory, chord compositions, etc so I will at least get a layman's feel for those subjects. I think I'll try it out and see where it gets me, like you said, it's 30days satisfaction guaranteed.
Thanks for the quick reply, this forum rocks!

Yes! It's great! Anything to get you playing guitar quickly. This is what it's best for. :mrgreen:

That was kind of my thoughts, but since most everything is written in tab form for guitars and even if it's not it can be transposed into chords

Not necessarily. There are over 5,000 pages of music for solo guitar in my study, and not a single Tab among them - I wouldn't like to try and rewrite any of it into chords because semi-quaver (16th note) runs over long bass notes don't really translate. I've also got some 6 years' Total Guitar magazines, which have Notation and Tab for the songs they carry and I wouldn't really recommend rewriting riffs into chord names either.
One of the later lessons touches on music theory, chord compositions, etc so I will at least get a layman's feel for those subjects

Don't ignore the theory - the idea that "one of the later lessons touches on theory" doesn't suggest you'll get to learn very much. I'd recommend getting something like "The Right Way to read Music," published by Elliot Right Way Books and I'm disgusted to note that the price has gone up to a still dirt cheap GBP 5.99 - it'll teach you bucketloads. Use it together with guitar-in-a-nutshell if you decide to learn with them; or any other site. Even this one.

Clickety click

http://www.constablerobinson.com/?section=books&book=the_right_way_to_read_music_9780716022008_paperback&imprint=&author=harry_and_michael_baxter&order_by=book_publication_date%20desc&start=0

I've been recommending this book since 2003. It's about time the publishers started talking about paying me a commission.

Let us know if you start using guitar-in-a-nutshell. We can always use a review of the site and its material - if you send it to David (userID: dhodge) we can even put it in the newsletter that his cat Charley writes for us

A :-)

Figured I'd give an update as I've been using this site for awhile now...
It certainly delivers on getting you up and playing fairly quickly and the instructor does seem to have a genuine interest in helping you over the beginner hurdles. The biggest help to me is identifying and practicing chord 'connectors' (ex.- Am-->F-->C index finger doesn't have to move). It really helps get the muscles used to forming certain patterns.
There is a HUGE songbook with chord sheets, tabs, and video instruction, in between lessons I'm trying to learn Runaway Train by Soul Asylum, it's going pretty well (I can play all the way through, but the rhythm is a little jerky in some spots lol. Need to clean that up).
I don't know that it is necessarily any better than any of the other online learn-to-play sites, but if you are stuck with someone else he is certainly worth a look.

Man! after reading few pages of threads, I'm overwhelmed with information.
Too many sites to choose... too much content... too many tips... too many songs...
Need to digest slowly... :)

That's the thing, you might want to just do this:

Pick a song you really like. See if it's easy to play. Just has a few chords. Then learn it. Learn it really well.

Repeat.

Learning guitar doesn't have to be complicated. You just need to play the stuff you like, and start out with the easiest stuff first. Then repeat the process until you have boatloads of songs under your belt. Forget all the crap out there, those huge learn guitar courses, and stuff. It's ridiculous. That's waaaay too much stuff for someone to learn, and they know it. The companies are mostly out to make a buck and satisfy the desire of beginners to get as much info as possible. The truth is: You need as little info as possible. You need to learn the basics WELL. Then you can use all the advanced stuff. But the basics aren't much. It's mastering them that's the hard part.

Personally I'm not a fan of for-pay instructional sites. There are too many free sites that give far better instructions than I've seen in the previews of for-pay sites. This site (GN) has great articles. It unfortunate there is a problem with the tabs, but it is what it is. Other free sites include Justinsandercoe, Marty Schwartz (martyzsongs), SaskStrum (he took down the site but his videos are still on YT), Yourguitarsage, and a host of others. Gold and diamonds don't just float to the Earth's surface, you have to mine for them. :wink:

anything new abt guitar-in-a-nutshell.com? am a 63-year-old guitar newbie.
most of the online sites seem to be overkill, and paul perry seems to be reasonable.
can anyone verify that he is legit, since i am a paranoid american. it would also
be useful if anyone could comment on how good his course is.

I've used this site and Justinguitar.com (Justin Sandercoe) and like both alot. Both are free also. Check out the lessons on both.

as per my knowledge Justinguitar.com is also good.

I like jgutiar.com

Everything you want to know, and that which you can't find, you can find it here. In this site there is a real good lesson on color. Read it, you will learn alot from it. I'm still learning guitar but I think you are trying to do to much to fast. I think if you study the pentatonic notes first (minors probably first) you will get a far better grasp than trying to use multiple pieces of information from multiple sources.

I didn't even start looking into our sources untill I had the pentatonics down. Plus I've said this before, learn the tonics then start improvising with backings, you will shock yourself with what you have learned.

Good Luck, guitar is fun and addicting, especially the more you learn