# what guitar to buy



## tina (Dec 5, 2014)

Hi I have just started to take guitar lessons, I am a senior female 5'8" -60 years old first time lessons, no experience at all. I have started on a Taylor GS mini and I am finding it hard
to keep my fingers on the right string I mute it since it is a little on the string below or above ,plus having difficulty reading the music without looking at the guitar strings to see if I have the right note. I was told maybe the guitar is to small since
it is not a full size guitar and the strings are closer together. I have looked at Seagulls and Normans guitars then I started to read about what guitar to get don't make a mistake is the neck to big, is the guitar to wide..
etc etc.. . Now I am very confused it took me a year to get the Taylor mini GS since I did not know what to get and now going to a full size guitar I don't know what to get. Does anyone have any
suggestions. I can't keep waiting at my age***..... Thank you any recommendations or comments would be greatly appreciated.


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## TeleToons (Aug 13, 2014)

I think the mini will be okay for you. You are just experiencing what most every beginner does. A larger guitar is just going to be a bit louder, and a bit more uncomfortable to play. 

Try only putting enough pressure on a string to make the note sound. Practice how much or little pressure you need. You might be squeezing the neck hard and that will squash your fingers down . Was your mini "setup" for you when you bought it ?

And save some money, check out Justin Sandercoe at http://www.justinguitar.com/ with his complete beginner lessons, all for free. You actually can learn to play from him, I did. Be patient and hang on to the Taylor for now.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Welcome to the forum, tina.

I am a guitar teacher who teaches a number of adult beginners, some of whom started later in life than you have - so first of all, good for you for taking up the challenge! And take heart, it does take time, but if you stick with it I'm sure you'll get there.

The guitar you have is typically a pretty good starter guitar, but you may want to consider another one...

A couple of questions before I offer too much advice:

How long have you been trying to learn?

Are you taking formal lessons, or teaching yourself?

Are you trying to play chords or melody (notes), or both?

If you have just started, you may want to give it a bit more time before making any decisions about you guitar. 

I am biased, but if you don't have one, a good teacher will speed up the process considerably. There is some technique involved in playing clean clear notes and a teacher can help with this.

If you are trying to start with chords, you may want to try playing notes first to build some strength and dexterity before attempting chords.

Finally, if you do decide that you need a different guitar, you may want to rent one before buying - usually you can apply a percentage of your rental fees towards purchase.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

TeleToons said:


> I think the mini will be okay for you. You are just experiencing what most every beginner does. A larger guitar is just going to be a bit louder, and a bit more uncomfortable to play.
> 
> Try only putting enough pressure on a string to make the note sound. Practice how much or little pressure you need. You might be squeezing the neck hard and that will squash your fingers down . Was your mini "setup" for you when you bought it ?
> 
> And save some money, check out Justin Sandercoe at http://www.justinguitar.com/ with his complete beginner lessons, all for free. You actually can learn to play from him, I did. Be patient and hang on to the Taylor for now.


I agree 100%. I play a mini myself and it is one of the easiest guitars I've ever played.


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## skilsaw (Nov 4, 2014)

Hi Tina, I echo what the others have said.
Also, when picking a teacher, the best guitar player is not always the best teacher.
Find someone you like, who makes you feel good and want to play more.
I just checked where you live on google. London and Woodstock each have a Long and McQuade. They sell and rent guitars and offer lessons. You might do well talking to them.

Musical instruments are like tennis rackets or golf clubs... The person with the most expensive toys is not the best player. Talk to your teacher about your guitar "action." That is the height the strings are above the neck. The higher the strings, the harder it is to push them down. If your action is acceptable, stick with the guitar you have for now.

Good for you starting guitar at our age. My son has just picked up the guitar again after a few years hiatus. He is inspiring me to start again. I haven't played guitar for 25 years. 

Enjoy the learning. It will seem hopeless, tedious and slow to start, but you will catch on if you persevere.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Hi Tina and welcome to GC. All very good advice here. Stay with it. A wider neck is easier but that is usually only for guys like me with large hands and big fingers. Try the advice above for a bit and see how that helps before getting a larger guitar. And what BW66 said about learning to play notes first is an excellent suggestion.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

I'm not sure how long you've been at it, congrats on giving it a go. I generally tell people who don't play, it takes about the same amount of time to develop the finger strength and the callouses to play as it does to learn to play something relatively coherent...about 6 months, playing at least an hour a day. Your problem with fingers unintentionally muting strings as you're chording is something that ALL guitarists have had to deal with, regardless of the guitar they learned on. Don't sweat it. It's a process. Keep in mind, it's a constant challenge to learn the "next" thing. It never really ends. You'll find every new thing you learn makes you aware of three more things you need to learn. I've been playing for 22 years and I'm still learning. It's like building blocks or puzzle pieces. Each new thing you learn makes it possible to move on to learning the next thing. Eventually, you'll find that learning a new song or technique, you've already done 80% of the work and you really only need to learn that other 20%. Then that new song or skill is applied to the next thing. I'm not sure if that makes any sense...driving in this storm today has somewhat fried my daily concentration allotment...


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

Excellent advise from all. I might suggest that you wait awhile longer, like adcandour I have a smaller guitar and I find for practising scales, chords etc. the smaller one is more comfortable, if I was still playing professionally I would revert back to my larger guitars. Although I'm not just starting out I do learn new things regularly, even though I have been messing with guitars and music for 50 plus years. Hang in there the effort and time are well worth it.


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## tina (Dec 5, 2014)

Hi thank you for your reply, I have just started I have appr. 8 lessons that are half long, I think the teacher can hardly wait for me to leave as he's always
looking at his watch. I had no music knowledge at all before this and I have been learning the strings and now a few chords. I do enjoy it even if is is frustrating 
when am playing and it sounds terrible when I hit the wrong string, but am finding I feel stupid in the lesson and as if am a bother even thou am paying $20.OO 
half an hour. I was wondering is there a web site that a new beginner can learn. I know you would have to be disciplined if there was a web site and without the
guidance am afraid I will quit. The only other guitar teachers in other areas an hour away from me. I just know where I am now I don't feel happy going there.


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## tina (Dec 5, 2014)

Thank you very much for all the replies to my question I have just started at my age I had no knowledge at all. It is all new to
me. I was wondering is there a good website where I could learn on my own. I am taking lessons at $20.00 for half an hour but
I feel very inadequate going there when I play I get so nervous I can't do anything right. Walking in there I feel
very uncomfortable and the other guitar teachers I looked up are an hour away. Unless I find one I could double the lesson for less travel. Can you
really learnguitar for total beginners on the internet? Thank you for suggesting justinguitar.com (I am not sure if I posted this twice as this web site
is new to me.)


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

tina said:


> Hi thank you for your reply, I have just started I have appr. 8 lessons that are half long, I think the teacher can hardly wait for me to leave as he's always
> looking at his watch. I had no music knowledge at all before this and I have been learning the strings and now a few chords. I do enjoy it even if is is frustrating
> when am playing and it sounds terrible when I hit the wrong string, but am finding I feel stupid in the lesson and as if am a bother even thou am paying $20.OO
> half an hour. I was wondering is there a web site that a new beginner can learn. I know you would have to be disciplined if there was a web site and without the
> guidance am afraid I will quit. The only other guitar teachers in other areas an hour away from me. I just know where I am now I don't feel happy going there.


Sounds like you need a different teacher! You should never be made to feel stupid. A good teacher should make the journey fun and interesting. As for getting a different guitar I'm inclined to agree with others here that it may be too soon to make that call. The early days are often awkward and uncomfortable. Stick with it and it'll pass. Welcome to the forum!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

You can learn guitar from the internet, but you're right, it does take more discipline, and without the interaction with a teacher it can slow down the process.

Your teacher should not be constantly looking at his watch. It's natural to feel nervous playing in front of your teacher and it will subside with time, but his body language certainly isn't helping the situation. 

Does the place you take lessons have more than one guitar teacher? Is there a manager that you could talk to? Ask around - most communities have teachers that rely on word of mouth advertising and don't have a web presence or yellow pages listing. The music teacher at the local high school might be able to provide you with some leads.


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## TeleToons (Aug 13, 2014)

Tina, regarding teachers.

I started on my 60th birthday with the gift a Squier Telecaster from my daughter and son in law. I could not even hold the thing correctly and had absolutely no clue how to play. Being retired I could not justify to myself the expense of lessons. My son in law wrote some scales down on a paper and tried to show me a few simple things but my fingers refused to bend into chord shapes and I could not pluck individual strings at all.

Bouncing around on you tube, I found Marty Schwartz and Justin Sandercoe very quickly. I could not replicate any thing that Marty was showing but the pace of Justin's instructions started to help. His absolute beginners course taught me the A,D,E chords and how to change between them. Took quite a while before I could form the chords and change between them fast enough to play anything resembling music, but it started to happen.

Justins site promotes Jamplay, for a free 7 day trial. I signed up and tried it out. They were offering a Christmas deal for 100 dollars for the year. I took it and stayed with them for four years. I only let my subscription die off this fall. Total spent 400 dollars over 4 years. I bought Justins strumming dvd (proved not necessary as time went on), his begginers songbook, Vintage songbook and acoustic songbook. One book a year.

The first Chrismas of playing, my family all chipped in and I picked out a lovely Godin Mini Jumbo, my first acoustic. Fantastic guitar. But, being a total clutz I could not get the sounds out of it that I wanted and had trouble playing chords. Traded it in and now, looking back, I wish I had it again as I can now play well enough to do that wonderful guitar justice. That would be like your situation with the Taylor Mini.

So, been playing a little over 4 years. Have a slew of guitars and amps. Have moved on to bar chords and exploring the neck. Can play a lot of songs on the acoustics. Getting fairly proficient at fingerstyle. And by reading tabs have gotten good enough on the electric to not have my attempts at bends and pull offs to drive the cat screaming from the room.
So for myself, I have done okay without a teacher. My 30 year old kids can sit down and learn a guitar part in minutes, it takes an awful lot longer for me to get the muscle memory down still, so ten minute learning curve for them will take me a week to nail it. That's just comes from learning at an older age I believe.

My experience leads me to recommend Justin and Jamplay. There a lot of other you tube personalities I follow now that I have the skill to play what they teach. Guitar Tutor Man for songs, GuitarNick for fingerstyle blues, and Bobby Crispy for electric. But I believe you can't go wrong with Justin and Jamplay to learn the basics. The money you save can go to new gear.

Good luck! And have fun


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Tina: Here is a list that may be of help to you. Some of these have disappeared from YouTube but most are still there.

www.guitarscanada.com/showthread.php?39968-Guitar-Lessons-On-Video-ONLY!-No-Shredding-Clips


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