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I have a guitar and I have no idea how to start learning


jamie
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Ok so my grandma's friend had an acoustic guitar that he never used so he gave it to my sister and I. It's a yamaha fg 140 nippon gakki (that's what the label says??) and it looks like this.

tumblr_o8c452iLeI1s4zroko1_540.jpg

 

it's not left handed but hey it'll do. if you guys have any tips that'd be great (bonus if you're also a lefty because i wanna embrace my left-handedness lol)

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The left handed aspect will be the first thing you need to make a decision on ..

 

There are people who have learned every way possible - lefties who play a left handed guitar, lefties who play a right handed guitar, lefties who play a right handed guitar but put the strings on backwards, etc

 

How do you feel most comfortable ?? .. Or, what seems like it would be most comfortable ??? ... If you were to embrace your left handedness and flip the guitar around ( with the pickguard facing up ) so your left hand would be the one that held the pick and the right hand would be on the neck, would that feel most natural ??

Edited by Lucas
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And BTW - that is actually a great guitar .. I'm assuming it has a red label inside ?? .. it is collectible .. The Japanese made acoustics from the 1970s were made very well

Hey have you seen these recent Sabbath reissues? Wow I didn't know about these, look at the package (click more images under the album cover at this link)

 

https://www.discogs.com/Black-Sabbath-Sabotage/release/1979882

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Jamie, I am right handed, and I have no idea how I would have ever learned on a left handed guitar .... The only thing I can suggest is flipping the guitar around and putting the strings on in the opposite order

 

That may not even work, as the nut of the guitar ( the white thing with the slots in it for the strings, right near the Yamaha plate ) will probably be cut for the thickness of each string ...

 

A lefty will know more about this than me

 

But Treeduck may be correct - you might just wanna get a left handed guitar

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The left handed aspect will be the first thing you need to make a decision on ..

 

There are people who have learned every way possible - lefties who play a left handed guitar, lefties who play a right handed guitar, lefties who play a right handed guitar but put the strings on backwards, etc

 

How do you feel most comfortable ?? .. Or, what seems like it would be most comfortable ??? ... If you were to embrace your left handedness and flip the guitar around ( with the pickguard facing up ) so your left hand would be the one that held the pick and the right hand would be on the neck, would that feel most natural ??

For me it's easiest to just flip the guitar and use my left hand to hold the pick. Would it be possible to sort of learn the basic motions that way until I can get a left handed one? I don't wanna tamper with the strings, I'm afraid I'll break them.
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As for learning, you may want to look into a guitar class at a local community college if there's one near you. Everyone is a newbie, so you wouldn't feel out of place.

 

As for the left-handed-ness, I would simply take it to a guitar store (Guitar Center?) and have them replace the nut and put a fresh set of strings on it. That shouldn't be too costly. You can watch them replace the strings so you're comfortable with doing it next time. Maybe pick up a stringer winder and a cheap tuner as well. I wouldn't worry too much about the pickguard if this is just a hand-me-down/beginner instrument for you.

 

I would be rather trippy learning to play lefty with a right handed string set up.

Edited by HemiBeers
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I'm left handed, you'd probably be better trying to get a left handed one, it makes things much easier...unless you're Steve Morse...

 

Morse's reasoning was (paraphrasing), "I saw no reason to complicate my life by playing backwards. I wanted my strongest hand on the fretboard." It makes sense when you look at it that way, but yeah, he's Steve Morse and he makes everything look easy. When you see how good his picking hand his -- his weak hand -- you wonder if he's a little bit ambidextrous.

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As for the left-handed-ness, I would simply take it to a guitar store (Guitar Center?) and have them replace the nut and put a fresh set of strings on it. That shouldn't be too costly. You can watch them replace the strings so you're comfortable with doing it next time. Maybe pick up a stringer winder and a cheap tuner as well.

 

Agree about taking it in to a guitar store and have them but fresh strings on it (upside down for lefty mode).

As far as a tuner, I have found free guitar tuner apps on my iphone. I love it now that wherever I am, I have a guitar tuner with me. Plus, it seems like every time I needed to use the old tuner, the battery was dead.

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Whatever you do, don't just flip it upside down and try to play it with the smaller strings on top. There are people who flip their guitar, and then restring it so that the larger strings are on top. Jimi Hendrix did that. Then there are people who just flipped the guitar over, without rearranging the strings, and they play like that. Albert King and Doyle Bramhall II play like that. Playing that way puts you at a huge disadvantage, in my opinion, since all tablature and chord diagrams are done according to standard string placement. Take the guitar to a local guitar shop and ask them if they can restring it for you to play left handed. They may need to flip, or even replace, the nut so the groves are the proper width for the strings. That shouldn't be too big a deal, though.
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I'm left handed, you'd probably be better trying to get a left handed one, it makes things much easier...unless you're Steve Morse...

 

Morse's reasoning was (paraphrasing), "I saw no reason to complicate my life by playing backwards. I wanted my strongest hand on the fretboard." It makes sense when you look at it that way, but yeah, he's Steve Morse and he makes everything look easy. When you see how good his picking hand his -- his weak hand -- you wonder if he's a little bit ambidextrous.

Morse would still be awesome if he played with his feet.
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Looking at the bridge, it's angled. Not sure if that would throw off things (intonation?) if the nut was flipped. Someone reasonably qualified at a guitar store can check that for you.
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I wouldn't mess with the guitar. Keep it in good shape for the future. Save up and buy yourself a guitar that is properly designed for left-handed players and keep the Yamaha available for your right-handed musician friends who come over to jam with you.

 

I've seen too many people give up learning guitar because they couldn't get over the initial physical struggles, and I think trying to play a right-handed guitar restrung for a left handed player would exacerbate that problem. Just keep thinking of all the joy you will get making music with friends - because there really isn't anything like it.

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Looking at the bridge, it's angled. Not sure if that would throw off things (intonation?) if the nut was flipped. Someone reasonably qualified at a guitar store can check that for you.

 

The bridge would help with the intonation, definitely. This bridge is different from what I'm used to seeing. Yet it will definitely affect tuning. Hopefully it can be adjusted.

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If you're a righty, learn right-handed (while holding the guitar the neck sticks out to the left). Get yourself a rudimentary chord book, or heck just look up chord charts online for free. If you have an iPhone, a great app is Guitar Toolkit. It has chord charts and a built in tuner, it's great. The guitar is tuned (thickest string to thinnest: E, A, D, G, B, E).

 

You'll then need to learn a few basic traditional chords fingerings, major and minor, to get started (this is REAL world advice, not be-all, end-all).

 

E, A, D, G, C and F.

 

Then learn how to fret bar chords rooted on both the E string and the A string.

 

Aside from RUSH (and similar bands) EVERY SONG YOU'VE EVER HEARD uses these chords (mostly). Once you have these basics, you can pretty much YouTube any song you want to play for a tutorial and the rest is up to you!! Practice practice practice! You need to build up "muscle memory" in your fingers. Once you have a little bit of that, quickly fingering and jumping between these chords will become MUCH easier.

 

As has been already said, you might want to take the guitar to a music store for a "set-up." If the strings are too far away from the fretboard (also called "the action is too high", need to "lower the action") you will get frustrated FAST. It should only cost you $25-$75 unless something is majorly wrong with your instrument. If there is, get a second opinion.

Edited by RobK
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If the guitar's in good shape, you might be able to sell it on consignment at Guitar Center or another local guitar store, and use the money to buy a proper left handed guitar. IMO learning on a right guitar because of all the reasons previously stated just isn't worth it. Get the proper tool for the job.

 

If ebay is any indication, there's a decent market for these guitars and in good shape could fetch $200+. If you have the original case that's even better. I would ask $300 with case on consignment, and $250 without case.

Edited by stoopid
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I'm left handed, you'd probably be better trying to get a left handed one, it makes things much easier...unless you're Steve Morse...

 

Morse's reasoning was (paraphrasing), "I saw no reason to complicate my life by playing backwards. I wanted my strongest hand on the fretboard." It makes sense when you look at it that way, but yeah, he's Steve Morse and he makes everything look easy. When you see how good his picking hand his -- his weak hand -- you wonder if he's a little bit ambidextrous.

 

I have heard that same perspective from another person, and if it works for someone, great. And even though what he is saying doesn't sound like a fallacy, it didn't seem to make a difference to me. I am right-handed, yet my left hand seems to work very well on the fretboard. It doesn't do a lot else very well but on the fretboard it rules. :P

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I'm left handed, you'd probably be better trying to get a left handed one, it makes things much easier...unless you're Steve Morse...

 

Morse's reasoning was (paraphrasing), "I saw no reason to complicate my life by playing backwards. I wanted my strongest hand on the fretboard." It makes sense when you look at it that way, but yeah, he's Steve Morse and he makes everything look easy. When you see how good his picking hand his -- his weak hand -- you wonder if he's a little bit ambidextrous.

 

I have heard that same perspective from another person, and if it works for someone, great. And even though what he is saying doesn't sound like a fallacy, it didn't seem to make a difference to me. I am right-handed, yet my left hand seems to work very well on the fretboard. It doesn't do a lot else very well but on the fretboard it rules. :P

The thing about handedness is it's not that you really have a weak hand and a strong hand, it's more a case of the hand you're more inclined to use for tasks that need only one hand gets "trained up" over the years while the other one doesn't. So when you try to use it it's not as good as your "strong hand".

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I'm left handed, you'd probably be better trying to get a left handed one, it makes things much easier...unless you're Steve Morse...

 

Morse's reasoning was (paraphrasing), "I saw no reason to complicate my life by playing backwards. I wanted my strongest hand on the fretboard." It makes sense when you look at it that way, but yeah, he's Steve Morse and he makes everything look easy. When you see how good his picking hand his -- his weak hand -- you wonder if he's a little bit ambidextrous.

 

I have heard that same perspective from another person, and if it works for someone, great. And even though what he is saying doesn't sound like a fallacy, it didn't seem to make a difference to me. I am right-handed, yet my left hand seems to work very well on the fretboard. It doesn't do a lot else very well but on the fretboard it rules. :P

The thing about handedness is it's not that you really have a weak hand and a strong hand, it's more a case of the hand you're more inclined to use for tasks that need only one hand gets "trained up" over the years while the other one doesn't. So when you try to use it it's not as good as your "strong hand".

 

That's actually true. Human hands are amazing. In fact, if we were to start doing things with our non-dominant hand as much as we do now with our dominant hand, it would eventually be just as precise and strong.

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I'm left handed, you'd probably be better trying to get a left handed one, it makes things much easier...unless you're Steve Morse...

 

Morse's reasoning was (paraphrasing), "I saw no reason to complicate my life by playing backwards. I wanted my strongest hand on the fretboard." It makes sense when you look at it that way, but yeah, he's Steve Morse and he makes everything look easy. When you see how good his picking hand his -- his weak hand -- you wonder if he's a little bit ambidextrous.

 

I have heard that same perspective from another person, and if it works for someone, great. And even though what he is saying doesn't sound like a fallacy, it didn't seem to make a difference to me. I am right-handed, yet my left hand seems to work very well on the fretboard. It doesn't do a lot else very well but on the fretboard it rules. :P

The thing about handedness is it's not that you really have a weak hand and a strong hand, it's more a case of the hand you're more inclined to use for tasks that need only one hand gets "trained up" over the years while the other one doesn't. So when you try to use it it's not as good as your "strong hand".

 

That's actually true. Human hands are amazing. In fact, if we were to start doing things with our non-dominant hand as much as we do now with our dominant hand, it would eventually be just as precise and strong.

Yes. And if you think about if you try to use your dominant hand to do the things your other hand has mainly been used for it has the same kind of problems. In my case I have to use my right hand for certain things like right handed implements etc for instance my left hand cannot handle scissors at all whether they're right handed or left handed because I've always used right handed scissors in my right hand.

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