Looking for advice on learning a musical instrument

TheLouaz

Hey guys,
I have always been into singing and have been thinking it's about time I learned how to play an instrument. To be able to play pearl jam songs would amazing and I'm sure having a goal like that would keep me motivated. However, I don't even know where to begin. Guitar seems like an obvious choice but is it the best choice? and if so what type of guitar should I choose. On one hand i live in an apartment so maybe an electric would be better as i can wear head phones, but then again an acoustic is so versatile. I would really appreciate any advice or suggestions you guys have. Thanks, Louise

Spoony C

One thing I've enjoyed about electric guitar (I'm a perennial slightly-better-than-beginner-but-not-quite-good-enough-to-call-myself-intermediate player, as I can't get myself consistently playing enough to progress) is that, in a room by yourself, you can still hear it pretty well even unplugged, as a sort of thin acoustic sound for practice. And most of the moderately-priced ($100 or so) practice amps seem to have audio in jacks for plugging in your phone/iPod to play a track you can play along with, which sounds great through headphones.

Acoustic is more versatile, of course (you pick up a few chords, and you can entertain friends in your backyard), but with thin apartment walls, electric might be the way to go. I have both--an acoustic from when I was a kid and first took lessons, and an electric bought more recently--and generally play the electric with headphones or the amp turned very low, since I tend to play (in the basement) after the kids have gone to bed.

TheLouaz

Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of that.it puts a much clearer picture in my head

dankind

Whatever instrument you choose, you will need to dedicate a minimum of one hour a day to playing. This should not seem like a chore; it should be something you look forward to every day.

webbo

Guitar for sure - join us!!

TheLouaz

I went for electric guitar in the end and I’m loving it.A few months in now. I can’t wait to get home from work everyday to play it. Thanks all 

brianlux

The nest advice I ever got from a guitar teacher I had years ago was "listen widely, learn as much as you can about different styles of playing, and develop your own style of playing".  By that, of course, he didn't mean that I would become a totally unique player but that my playing would have nuances of it own.  Learning to play extremely well and exactly like someone else is much less interesting than developing your own sound.

Princess Bulldozer

TheLouaz said:

I went for electric guitar in the end and I’m loving it.A few months in now. I can’t wait to get home from work everyday to play it. Thanks all 

Glad that you are enjoying it and playing everyday. I started playing acoustic a couple of months ago, and I have an electric guitar coming soon. I start lessons next month as well with a guitar teacher.

What resources are you using to learn? I would appreciate your recommendations. At the moment I am using various YouTube channels, like Andy Guitar, Ryan Lendt and Marty Schwartz, but some of that stuff is too advanced for me.