well, i went ahead today and bought a guitar. I dont really know why. i just felt like buying one, and for some odd reason, my parents had an pretty nice amp that i can have. its an mid-range Ibanez. now i just got to figure out how to play it

You could take lessons, but that ain't worth a damn. Just start off by learning some basic riffs.

Here's (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/) a good place for learning tabs. They're pretty easy to figure out. It's not nearly as difficult as standard music notation.

I recommend starting with the typical beginner things like single-string versions of Iron Man, Smoke On The Water, Island In The Sun by Weezer, maybe some Green Day licks. Also, while you're at it, look up some proper form techniques and develop good habits, like alternate picking (look it up), using all four fingers on the fretboard, and stuff like that.

ok, thanks. i have a question though, in tabs, for example like this:

___________________e
___________________b
___________________g
___________3_______d
___________3_______a
___________3_______e

You hold the e a and d strings down on the third fret, but then do you only strum those three strings?

Yes. When it says to play an open string (when you play a note on that string without holding any frets down) it has a 0 instead of a number. So if you were to play all six strings with only those three pressed down, it would look like this:


___________0_______e
___________0_______b
___________0_______g
___________3_______d
___________3_______a
___________3_______e

So if it doesn't have anything there, that means don't even touch the note.

PS, the strings on tabs go from lowest pitch to highest pitch as they go up visually. Basically, e is the lowest and thickest string on a guitar followed by a, the next thickest, then d g b and finally the top e as the thinnest and highest pitch. The high e is exactly one octave (a set of eight notes) above the low e, assuming it's in tune. But that's going off on a tangent in much more advanced terms.

What kind of guitar? Just a starter one?

Ibanez GRG170DX, it was $250, but its pretty sweet. got it in black.

Yes. When it says to play an open string (when you play a note on that string without holding any frets down) it has a 0 instead of a number. So if you were to play all six strings with only those three pressed down, it would look like this:


___________0_______e
___________0_______b
___________0_______g
___________3_______d
___________3_______a
___________3_______e

So if it doesn't have anything there, that means don't even touch the note.

PS, the strings on tabs go from lowest pitch to highest pitch as they go up visually. Basically, e is the lowest and thickest string on a guitar followed by a, the next thickest, then d g b and finally the top e as the thinnest and highest pitch. The high e is exactly one octave (a set of eight notes) above the low e, assuming it's in tune. But that's going off on a tangent in much more advanced terms.

actually it two octaves....

p.s. instead of just not touching the stings, putt 1 finger over all of them but dont press down.... just keep the fingers there to stopp the strings ringing. this means you can strum the whole guitar and not worry about it sounding too weird....