The Expressway to Yr Skull

HOW TO LEARN TO PLAY PROPERLY part one

"Anyone can play guitar
And they won't be a nothing anymore"
Radiohead

The guitar is harder to start playing than any other instrument I can think of, except maybe for woodwinds and brass. But because even simple things sound good when played on a guitar, once you've learnt the basics it's probably the most rewarding instrument, in terms of getting back what you put into it.

Soon, this could be you. Just think. I've been playing for less than a year, but I rarely find songs which I want to play which I find particularly hard to play. This is essentially because most guitarists in good band aren't expert players. It's also because things like guitar solos, and things which traditionally are thought of as hard, are really piss easy when compared with chords and other apparently commonplace guitar techniques. Put it this way; a guy playing rhythm guitar in a jazz band is without doubt a hundred times more technically gifted than any Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana or that twat out of Metallica (yes, I know, which twat out of Metallica...).

Anyway. Guitar playing takes two things. Firstly, self-confidence is necessary to realize that it's better to stretch yourself and play something the hard way and fuck it up, than to play something slower or more simply without making any mistakes. Because after a while, if you play hard things a lot, they become easy. Like, duh. Also it's better to bash the hell out of your guitar and make a noise akin to an electric cat being killed, than to play more-or-less accurately but tentatively. It's also considerably more fun.

Second is finger strength. This comes only with practice, but it comes quickly. When you first pick up a guitar, you probably won't even be able to hold down a chord for more than a few seconds without your finger tips hurting like hell, and any chord which uses you little finger with be nigh-on impossible.

This will pass. I'd say if you practice reasonably regularly, the pain will pass completely within about three or four months, and within about the same time your pinkie will have built up enough strength to play some of the harder chords without fucking up. This seems like a long time, but with learning to play the first couple of months are very hard, but from then onwards it's downhill all the way.

FIRST THINGS
1. Guitar. You can start off on an acoustic if you want, but don't do what I did and start with one which was rusted to hell, and nigh-on impossible to play. It's better to start off on a cheap electric, a stratocaster copy or something. Yamaha make the best cheap guitars, and also companies like Danelectro are worth looking. An amp is very useful, but not essential.
2. Plectrum. Get a bloody plectrum. Get a thin one, between 50 mm and 35 mm. Thinner plectrums, otherwise known as picks, are easier to play with in my opinion.
3. Position. Don't try and play standing up. You won't be able to. Sit down with the guitar resting on your right knee, and not any other way like behind your head or in the room downstairs.
4. Play right-handed. I'm left-handed, but I use a right-handed guitar. Personally I think this gave me an advantage at the start, because my left hand, the fretting hand, was already pretty strong. There's no law which says you have to use your strongest hand to picking, and in fact I think my way makes more sense for chord-based music. There's really no reason to buy a left-handed guitar, unless you want to only play classical Spanish guitar and nothing else.
5. Get some distortion. If you've got an electric or an electro-acoustic, distortion of varying amounts will help build your self-confidence. As you get better, you won't feel the need to use as much distortion or 'gain' all the time. If your amp hasn't got distortion built in, or it's only weak and feeble overdrive, then buy a decent pedal like a BOSS, which will cost you between £30-50, or about $40-60. It's better to avoid buying cheap kit, except for the novelty value.
6. Find something to play. Don't start of trying to play 'Paranoid Android' or the solo from 'Purple Haze', because you'll only meet with disaster. Find some simple but familiar songs, but don't try and play the crappy examples in guitar tuition books. Because they're boring.
7. Ignore guitar tuition books.I'm literally self-taught, because I never used a book for tuition. However it's handy to have something as a reference guide. But really the best way to start is by playing easy songs which you like, and not the kind of crap guitar tutors listen to. Books with titles like 'Learn to Play in 13 Seconds' are best burnt. Find a book which goes into depth, preferably from some kind of jazz-type person, because that will come in handy later on, when you want to start playing the Hard Chords.

WHAT NEXT?
That's all very well. You've got the gear, and perhaps mastered the open Amaj chord. But what next? Well, children, next we shall look at other important issues to do with guitar playing, not necessarily related to actually learning to play.