First, a little research...
Lesson number one: Guitar Center is a trap. Let me tell you why... when you go in there for one thing, you buy 50 things. It’s like Target... With that being said, my Guitar Center trip was a success in that I bought what I needed, but a failure in that I bought MORE than I needed. Whoops...
During my trip, I bought three different types of guitar picks. In my research on justinguitar.com, I found that beginners will be better off using thin picks. I ended up purchasing Fender thin picks (red), Fender medium picks (silver), and Dunlop picks (orange). The Dunlop picks were specifically mentioned on justinguitar.
I also purchased a guitar tuner, which I will need specifically when I change my guitar strings. I will need to be able to get my guitar completely tuned before I start playing. The easiest way to tune is with the tuner... when it comes to being able to tune by ear, that takes a ton of practice. Perhaps one day, I will be able to do this. In 5 weeks, probably not...but I can dream, right?
My next purchase was a capo, which is used to play songs in a different key, using the same chord shapes (justinguitar.com).
In order to change my guitar string, I needed to actually buy strings..which I did! The strings that I got, which are called Elixir strings, supposedly last 3-5 times longer than other strings. They were a bit more expensive than all of the other strings, but the homie at Guitar Center said that these are definitely worth it...
My brother-in-law plays the guitar, and he gave me the “Guitar Case Chord Book.” It contains guitar chords (obviously) and gives detailed charts of where your fingers go for each chord (which finger goes where, etc.). Thanks bro!
So, my next step will be to actually change the guitar strings. I’m a bit nervous about doing this, because I’m kind of afraid that I’m going to either lose one of the pegs that I have to take out, or I’m going to mess up the guitar... A video of me changing the strings will be in the next post... wish me luck (I made that green for St. Patrick's Day :D)!
Rock on!
During my trip, I bought three different types of guitar picks. In my research on justinguitar.com, I found that beginners will be better off using thin picks. I ended up purchasing Fender thin picks (red), Fender medium picks (silver), and Dunlop picks (orange). The Dunlop picks were specifically mentioned on justinguitar.
I also purchased a guitar tuner, which I will need specifically when I change my guitar strings. I will need to be able to get my guitar completely tuned before I start playing. The easiest way to tune is with the tuner... when it comes to being able to tune by ear, that takes a ton of practice. Perhaps one day, I will be able to do this. In 5 weeks, probably not...but I can dream, right?
My next purchase was a capo, which is used to play songs in a different key, using the same chord shapes (justinguitar.com).
In order to change my guitar string, I needed to actually buy strings..which I did! The strings that I got, which are called Elixir strings, supposedly last 3-5 times longer than other strings. They were a bit more expensive than all of the other strings, but the homie at Guitar Center said that these are definitely worth it...
My brother-in-law plays the guitar, and he gave me the “Guitar Case Chord Book.” It contains guitar chords (obviously) and gives detailed charts of where your fingers go for each chord (which finger goes where, etc.). Thanks bro!
So, my next step will be to actually change the guitar strings. I’m a bit nervous about doing this, because I’m kind of afraid that I’m going to either lose one of the pegs that I have to take out, or I’m going to mess up the guitar... A video of me changing the strings will be in the next post... wish me luck (I made that green for St. Patrick's Day :D)!
Rock on!