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Welcome to the first in a weekly series of mental_floss guitar lessons. We’re starting at the very beginning and presume that an air guitar is the only guitar you’ve ever strummed.
Tune in every Monday and we’ll see how far we can take these.
In Lesson No. 1, you’ll get a taste of what to look for when picking out your first guitar. Special thanks to Dave, the manager at West L.A. Music, for taking time out of his day to drop a pantload of 6-string knowledge. You can watch the video on our site below, or if you want to see it in better quality, go over to our YouTube page and click the link under the video screen that says watch in high quality.
Incidentally, the title of this new feature was suggested by one of our loyal readers, Johnny Cat, who sent us the following comment when we asked who’d be interested in watching weekly guitar lessons (thanks Johnny!):
…just wanted to suggest the series be called “Anyone Can Play Guitar” in honor of flossy band, Radiohead.
Comments (15)
Comment
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I’m a woodwind player who has always wanted to learn to play guitar. Thanks for this great new series! Now I just have to go get myself a nice guitar!
posted by Amy D on 9-29-2008 at 12:41 pm
That was great! I look forward to future installments!
posted by nikki on 9-29-2008 at 1:18 pm
That was fun…and since Taylor Guitars got a lot of love in that piece I can tell my boss it was work related.
BONUS!
posted by Troy Lee Wells on 9-29-2008 at 1:32 pm
Mental Floss doesn’t have their own Youtube account? Go get em Dave.
posted by Jeff on 9-29-2008 at 2:29 pm
as a person who’s been struggling to learn the guitar for a couple of years now (i am pretty impatient), i am pretty pumped about this.
posted by buu on 9-29-2008 at 2:30 pm
I have to disagree. For a beginner, getting started on a electric is much easier. Getting, for example, a Paul Reed Smith SE model is a superb starter guitar. And a cheap little amp to play through. Wonderful combination to start.
posted by BlogDog on 9-29-2008 at 2:57 pm
Great video. I actually work not too far from West LA music but rarely get a chance to stop in.
posted by GB on 9-29-2008 at 7:26 pm
Thanks for this series. I’m looking forward to the next video. Maybe now I will finally be able to learn to play a little something on my guitar :)
posted by Meg on 9-29-2008 at 9:03 pm
Nicely done. Thank you. I look forward to further installments.
posted by Tom on 9-30-2008 at 9:42 am
@ BlogDog – An electric would be easier to learn on, but an acoustic is better to start with. It helps to develop strength in the hands and rigidity in the fingertips.
posted by Jim on 9-30-2008 at 12:13 pm
David, this is great. This would give me a great brush up on basics, seeing how I’ve fallen out of practice lately. Great idea, and hope you can keep it up!
@ BlogDog, while it is easier to start out on electric, trust me, it makes a HUGE difference between the two. I had two friends start out about the same time on guitar, one on electric and one on acoustic. My acoustic playing friend is soooo much more talented and picked up stuff a lot easier than the electric playing friend (who gave up after a while).
posted by BigTex on 9-30-2008 at 2:12 pm
Thanks for this installment! I got a guitar not too long ago, but found myself not knowing where to start! I have an electric acoustic, so I guess I’ll start out using acoustic for now!
posted by Hannah on 9-30-2008 at 4:41 pm
I can’t wait to play my first chord! Thanks.
posted by Alison on 10-2-2008 at 11:05 am
Bought my 7 year old son a 3/4 Yamaha FG. Quite inexpensive and a very nice sound.
posted by Stew on 10-6-2008 at 3:06 pm
I’m left-handed. Can you post a flopped video?
posted by xtopher on 12-29-2008 at 1:59 pm