Learning a musical instrument.

[TestMangler]

Depends what you want to do with your musical talents.

If you want to be able to knock out a few songs to sing along with, start with the guitar and learn a few chords. (G/C/D7/Em) and the song possibilities are almost endless.

Don't buy a cheap guitar !! Get something with a nice low action and a thin neck. Makes it easier to fret the notes and shape the chords.

[NotAllThere]

Just three or four chord shapes if you do power chords.

[BlasterBates]

A harmonica is an easy instrument to play, managed to figure out silent night in an hour or so.

Sounds good in an evening by the fire, or on the patio in Summer.

[d000hg]

Don't buy a cheap guitar !! Get something with a nice low action and a thin neck. Makes it easier to fret the notes and shape the chords.

Depends what you class as cheap - you can get some nice ones for a couple of hundred quid. Cheap by 'proper' guitar standards, maybe you mean sub-£100 models though.

[BlasterBates]

The standards are much higher these days and you can actually pick up dirt cheap guitars that are fine. A mate of mine picked one up from a supermarket for 60 quid and used it for live gigs in the pubs, and that was even though he also already had a respectably priced one. I have an electric bass that cost quid 200 that I use for recording, sounds fine.

Best though to try them out in the shop and find one you like, I wouldn't pay more than around £500 or £600 and I would try out different guitars between £200-600 and pick the one you like the best, and it won't necessarily be the most expensive one.

[BrilloPad]

Has anyone done the pink oboe joke yet?

[d000hg]

With guitars you've also got the big choice between gut (Spanish style) and steel strings. The former being for more classical music, the latter for chords.

[BlasterBates]

Yes that's right so you when you choose a guitar you have to decide between a guitar played in a Spanish style (think flamenco, bossa nova, classical, Gypsy) nylon string or Western/folk/pop steel string (i.e. American country (John Denver), Irish folk music or pop music (the Beatles).

If you want to strum folk songs then a steel string is best, if you want to play classical stuff, guitar solos probably you want the nylon string. The classical style is how you would want to play a guitar solo i.e. no singing just to impress people playing the instrument.