Never too young to start in my opinion. It think it is harder to learn to read music when you're older, but it just takes some extra discipline and commitment to practicing. I think if you're also the one who is actually buying the instrument (and not your parents, for example), you'll appreciate the entire experience more... the first instrument I bought with my own money? I just looked at it differently, and devoted myself to learning how to play it.
Fender Telecasters are all I have played for the last 15 years. I like 'em cuz they fit my body and hands the best, and they get the tone I like. The only other guitar I play is my "Den guitar"....a 1954 Gretsch Electromatic that never leaves my house. I haven't picked up my Yamaha acoustic in a while....it's gathering dust in the closet.
I never took a guitar lesson in my life. Here's how I learned. I picked up a Beatles book for like 25 cents at a garage sale. It was a good choice for me, 'cause I knew how all the songs went, so I could hear whether I was playing it right or not. Above the melody line, they'd have guitar chords. It would say "C" and tell you where to put your fingers. So I'd play the chord when it said to. At first, it would take me a LONG time to be able to switch from chord to chord. Then it would only take a moment. Then eventually, I could switch back & forth pretty effortlessly. I'd say stay away from tabs right now if you've only played for 6 weeks. At this stage, you should be more focussed on making sure you can get the instrument in tune, and you can change chords in time. Also, it wouldn't hurt if you could associate certain chords with certain keys. Examples: In the key of G, you'll most likely rely on G, C, D, Em (if it's a I-IV-V type of song, which most are). In C, you'll most likely rely on C, F, G, Am That kinda stuff. Once you can quickly change from chord to chord, without looking and without missing, come back and we'll teach you about barre chords. THEN you might be ready for tabs
How old is too old to start playing guitar? I'm 22, too late??? I'm 19, so I'm not that much younger than you. Besides didn't Jack Black learn how to play in his late 20's or early 30's or something, and he's like my idol (yeah it's sad). [/I]ANASTASIO: Having taught guitar and spoken with so many players for years, I've narrowed it down to one piece of advice: Forget about learning scales and theory, but try to play the melody to everything you hear: every song on the radio, every commercial, every nursery rhyme, the theme song to your favorite TV show. And don't just play guitar lines: try to play horn lines, vocal melodies, piano parts. Develop your ear. Guitar players are the most notoriously scale-oriented instrumentalists. I'm amazed how many guitar players I've met who can't play a C major scale up the neck-from C to C, not as part of a pattern. That's the first thing that you learn on any other instrument, but guitar players learn the blues scale as a pattern, so they end up playing stuff with their fingers instead of their ears.[/I] I started playing the piano when I was about 4 or 5 (my uncle is a concert pianist, sax player, and etc. He started playing when he was like 3 or something, played on one of those American Band Stand type of shows... kinda in my blood I guess), so I have a pretty good ear already and I know how to keep my rhythm and all that. When he says melody, does he mean just making sure that when struming it, that it sounds like the song; making sure that I strum when it should be strum and with the beat?
Kinda contradictory advice here - "forget about learning scales" but also that the C major scale is "the first thing that you learn on any other instrument." Still, I like that he focuses on learning melodies - it's a good idea. However, you should know theory in order to play in a band. Unless you write all the music in your band, there will come a time where you'll have to write a part to someone else's melody . Ideally, you should come up with the part in your head (i.e. you sing along with the original melody) and then, using your theory knowledge, transcribe your singing into a guitar part. If you don't know your theory, you'll waste time trying to figure out what to play. Plus, knowing all your scales will allow you to build chords on your own (without having to memorize one of those Mel Bay books).
I've been playing for about 15 years, and I just started practicing with a metronome, and I really recommend it, because it keeps me focused and helps with my timing. I would learn the pentatonic minor and major scales, as well as the major and minor diatonic ones. It helps to play with and learn from musicians that are better than you are now. I think it would probably help to have lessons, though I've never taken any, I've just read a lot of books and magazines and jammed with a lot of people. I would try to get some kind of band together even if you are not that good yet because it will give you a reason to practice and get better, and can be a lot of fun.
