I really want to learn to play the electric guitar, but I have no idea where to

Question:I got an electric guitar for Christmas a few years ago, and a small Peavey amp. I have no idea where to start, and I can't get lessons, so I'm planning on attempting to self teach myself.

Any advice, help, tips, websites, references, would be really appreciated.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I got an electric guitar for Christmas a few years ago, and a small Peavey amp. I have no idea where to start, and I can't get lessons, so I'm planning on attempting to self teach myself.

Any advice, help, tips, websites, references, would be really appreciated.

Get a book which will show you where to put your fingers. Don't worry if you can't read music. You just need to know how to hit notes so that they sound like music.

Think of a song you want to play - maybe it has a riff you like. Memorise the riff. Sing it to yourself. Poke around on the guitar until you are playing something that sounds as close as possible to the riff. You're probably playing the riff. Well done.

I wouldn't worry too much about chords yet - you need to get your fingers moving first, so that you can hit notes accurately. Playing melodies is the best way to do that. At least one great player, the blues guitarist BB King, claims not to be able to play chords (this isn't true, he actually does know chords, but he hardly every plays any).

I taught myself the guitar and have never had a lesson. Mind you, I had had a year of piano lessons when I was 9 so I already knew about things like major and minor scales and sharps and flats and key centres. Knowing that stuff helped me a lot. You should know it too, so that you know what it means for a song to be in G instead of A, or whatever.

Learn a couple of cords and practice them. You can buy sheet music that shows you where to put your fingers or if you want you can google it for free. Get go going Star!