How to start from day 1

Satriani

I think alot of people get a little confused and frustrated when getting home and whipping out their new guitar.
I'd strongly suggest they sit and chat to the salesperson BEFORE choosing a guitar (if they are beginners of course) and ask about simple yet important things, like

How do I tune it?
Should I sit or stand when I practise?
Why do my fingers get so sore?
How should my fingers hit the frets?

These sound like stupid obvious things, but if you don't practise CORRECTLY from day 1, it just takes that much longer to break those bad habits I see so often.

I would suggest practising half the time sitting, and half the time standing. They are 2 completely different experiences.
Learn to arch your fingers from DAY 1, and make sure you eliminate all unwanted string noise. PLAY EVERYTHING CLEAN (No Distortion) till things sound PERFECT to you.

Set yourself realisitc goals. I don't know how many minutes a day each person gets, but break it up as evenly as possible to get a decent workout, while still having fun.
Get a book of Chords, and learn 4 chords a WEEK (not a day). I say this because people learn a Chord, but it sounds terrible. They figure they know the fingering, so they move onto a new chord. BAD BAD mistake.

Most of all, enjoy everytime you pick your guitar up, and it will give you the rewards you seek ?

cain

I agree. I think learning everything RIGHT the first time makes things allot easier. I was playing a while and went to some teachers and i improved allot going to them but they never scolded me for stupid mistakes ( playing cleanly, doing legato properly ). Well going to Meir ( satriani aka topic poster ) for lessons soon fixed they, i have never met anyone that pushes you as hard as you do. Not a bad thing, my legato etc is now sounding super.

The moral of the story is, relearning to play things right the second time is much harder than learning to play it properly the first time. As meir also told me, practice does not make things perfect, it makes it permanent. So practice wrong and you will learn to play wrong.

NorioDS

Yup, kudos to Meir from me too!

I didn't know what I was doing and my playing was VERY sloppy. I've really cleaned up (with plenty of room to improve) and it's thanks to your input.

Now nothing irritates me more than sloppy playing and I don't think I would've gotten to that level if you didn't show me the difference ?

*all hail Meir!*

Deaan-Vivier

I see what you mean Francis by saying

Francis Viviers wrote: Well going to Meir ( satriani aka topic poster ) for lessons soon fixed they, i have never met anyone that pushes you as hard as you do. Not a bad thing,

Did you see the name of this lesson (read 29 times)

Well, I see myself as a beginner still, because of the fact that I stopped playing for about 6 years and only started playing again a short while ago, and thus I must add that it is true

Francis Viviers wrote: The moral of the story is, relearning to play things right the second time is much harder than learning to play it properly the first time.

And therefore i am gratefull for any tips and advice from all, even the most basic lessons. I will certainly read this 29 times.