This question is regarding a friend of mine who is interested in picking up the guitar. He is a good bit younger then me, 16 or 17 now, and just got a strat and amp.

He can't really afford lessons at the moment, is there anything else I can suggest for him to work on his own?

I'd point him towards scales but I don't know anything outside of the bass world; and my knowledge is very limited as is!

So yes. Over the summer I can hook him up with some friends that can give him some lessons and point him in a good direction, but until then is there anything else?

i'd just recommend that he plays along to whatever music he likes best. there are still plenty of tab sites out there that have some content available. just remind him to start with something a little simpler. like 'purple haze' or 'manic depression' instead of 'voodoo chile' hehe (you did say he got himself a strat after all hehehe)

if this was a personal friend i'd just force them to take copies of these three discs to start

nirvana - nevermind
the jimi hendrix experience - are you experienced?
black sabbath - paranoid

I am personally a believer that the first instrument should be something you don't have to worry about destroying when your learning/experimenting with what it can and can't do.



One of those how to videos could be a good place to start for lessons.

you don't mind if i start using this belief in my 'what guitar should i get?' responses right?

It's on the house.

awesome any day i don't have to fight off the squirrels is a good day hehehe

Hmm the CD idea does sound like a good one. Its a good way to get someone rolling right away with music they enjoy and can see the results fairly quickly too.

I will also try and look up a good video for him too.

Yeah apparently he knows Leslie West, ya know, the dude from Mountain. So he was able to get him a strat and amp for pretty cheap.

Aside from just playing songs is there anything else I could get him started working on? I am weary to tell him to use tabs but teaching yourself how to read music would probably be a little challenging.

don't take this the wrong way but...

if he can't read nirvana tabs then he should just put the guitar down and forget ever wanting to pick it up in the first place.

Hah! Sorry I worded that sentence a little confusing and it was a little incomplete with my thoughts.

When I said reading music I meant actual sheet music and not tabs. Every teacher I have ever pretty much always kept me off tabs and tried getting me started reading notes so I never developed the crutch later on.

So should I be telling him to do the same? It doesn't sound like it.

But yes, I'm confident he can read tabs, although it took me like five times to show him how to use an electric tuner; those things always seemed pretty straight forward to me...

Great if he uses tabs, since they're so widely available. But I think learning to read notes is important as it aids music theory.

I would only add that if all he wants to learn are punk power chords, he should be encouraged to play other stuff to improve his technique, etc.

EDIT: After being referred to an older thread by Satchmo, I thought it fit to state for the record that I can't play guitar as well as Django. Sorry in advance for that shocking revelation.