Guitar Megathread - learn-share-talk-lessons-tips-fun

[freewait]

Do you guys know of Neil Zaza? what do you think of him? He is like a Satriani / Petrucci type of mix but slightly different.

Never heard of him but very nice stuff. Had me thinking a little Eric Johnson in there as well plus some str8 ahead minor pentatonic sweetness.

[freewait]

Ok, the guitar player is a good friend of mine who has gone on to play with names like Peter Frampton, Black Crowes, Jimmy Page, etc. This was way back in the early 90's but still a killer guitar player though old school rock stuff.

[lovemyar15]

Sounding good bro! First Sat nite in a long time where I'm at home and taking it easy!

Thanks! I work evening shifts and have young kids so I'm usually home every Sat night. It's not that I have to be it's just I don't get to see the kids much except on the weekend. Luckily for me my two main hobbies are playing guitar and lifting weights right now and I can do both of those without leaving home since I have my own weight room.

I've got ALOT of work to do on my playing, but I'm very pleased with the progress I've made. I practice about as much as my forearms will let me...lol...

[totallybrool]

glad i found this thread. dont lurk too much in the music subsection...now i have a reason to! just got my first guitar, a seagull s6. ive been hooked since i moved in with my two roommates who play guitar all the time.

[Sevenstrings]

Well since it's been pretty quite in here lately I figured I'd post a few vids of my recent playing. I've been back on the instrument about 4 1/2 months now.

Decent attempt at the Randy solo and some alright licks in the improvisation video.
Intonation is a big issue though, with the way you fret some of the notes, the way you bend and your vibrato.
Listen to David Gilmour, for example.
He may not be a fast, shreddy type guy, but his bends and vibrato are always perfectly in tune and he always frets the notes accurate, so his intonation is always spot on.
Or even Joe Satriani. He's not just a wizard at super fast legato leads, but his intonation and general control is amazing.

Plenty of tutorials on bending and vibrato on Youtube. Find good videos and learn from them.
Within a few months, you'll notice you'll be able to bend to the correct pitch much more easily.
Vibrato takes a bit longer to seriously nail, especially bent note vibrato, but make it part of your daily practice and you'll start to see serious improvement over the next few months.
As for the fretting notes, make sure to really fret them as accurately as possible, without pushing or pulling the strings out of tune accidentally.
Keep it up man and keep us updated on your progress

[lovemyar15]

Decent attempt at the Randy solo and some alright licks in the improvisation video.
Intonation is a big issue though, with the way you fret some of the notes, the way you bend and your vibrato.
Listen to David Gilmour, for example.
He may not be a fast, shreddy type guy, but his bends and vibrato are always perfectly in tune and he always frets the notes accurate, so his intonation is always spot on.
Or even Joe Satriani. He's not just a wizard at super fast legato leads, but his intonation and general control is amazing.

Plenty of tutorials on bending and vibrato on Youtube. Find good videos and learn from them.
Within a few months, you'll notice you'll be able to bend to the correct pitch much more easily.
Vibrato takes a bit longer to seriously nail, especially bent note vibrato, but make it part of your daily practice and you'll start to see serious improvement over the next few months.
As for the fretting notes, make sure to really fret them as accurately as possible, without pushing or pulling the strings out of tune accidentally.
Keep it up man and keep us updated on your progress

Well I'm certainly no David Gilmour or Joe Satriani...lmao...as for the bends I do work on that and I know it's an issue, but I've been playing for 4 and 1/2 months now. The intonation problem is actually to heavy of hand pressure on the floyd rose I'm trying to work on this and staying relaxed is a constant thing a work on. I'm trying to fix this with improving my technique, but I may end up going to a floyd rose pro and possibly putting in a stopper that rests against the trem block to keep the strings from going sharp. My hand actually rubs against the fine tuner on the low C string sometimes causing it to go out of tune as well.

Believe me I know I'm not very good and I work on those things. I'm just a hobbyist no desire to play in a band what so ever.

[BobDaNob]

You're excellent for only a handful of months and I wouldn't even worry about any criticisms until you're at least a year in, preferably two. By then all the little details like bending in tune, vibrato, playing cleanly, ect will start working themselves out. That you know these are issues is already a big step.

Don't worry - your future looks bright.

[lovemyar15]

You're excellent for only a handful of months and I wouldn't even worry about any criticisms until you're at least a year in, preferably two. By then all the little details like bending in tune, vibrato, playing cleanly, ect will start working themselves out. That you know these are issues is already a big step.

Don't worry - your future looks bright.

Thanks, I don't really think he was trying to be negative just point out some things to work on. I just wanted to let him know that I'm aware of those things and I do work on it. I'm trying to play metal so I spend the bulk of my practice time right now on alternate picking technique. I do work on bends in a few different ways...I play the note I want to bend to and then try to match it by playing a note a whole step lower for example and try to match the pitch. I also play a note while grabbing a note on the next lower string and try to bend to the note while letting both notes ring out at the same time. I even spend a little time grabbing random notes on different areas of the neck and try different bends while watching the tuner. Sometimes I nail it and sometimes I don't...lol...I'm aware of things like the importance of vibratto, bends, phrasing, feel, etc, but for now I do spend the vast majority of my time simply working on alternate picking technique.

It was a struggle to even memorize and play all the notes in that Revelation mother earth solo let alone even begin to capture the phrasing and feel at this point in my playing. I'm a huge Rhoads fan and I make no effort to hide it...lol

[BobDaNob]

Yeah, Rhoads was my first guitar hero and I LOVED that solo. Plus Crazy Train was one of the two songs I first learned. He's still amazing.

So far as I can tell, you're doing it all right. That's a great way to learn bending in tune, I did it much the same way back in the last century. lol And capturing the phrasing is one of those things that just takes time. It's something I've always told people - either you play the song or the song plays you. I can play some difficult Jason Becker songs, but I'm not owning the notes...the song is still playing me. lol

Keep shreddin'!

[supremejd]

Hey guys, how'd you all start getting into guitar? I have a guitar sitting around, and decided to actually get into it. My first lessons are tomorrow, pretty pumped.

I'm inspired by Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. I really like neoclassical and I want to learn how to play my favorite video game songs on guitar.

[foskeh]

Hey guys, how'd you all start getting into guitar? I have a guitar sitting around, and decided to actually get into it. My first lessons are tomorrow, pretty pumped.

I'm inspired by Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. I really like neoclassical and I want to learn how to play my favorite video game songs on guitar.

A couple years ago my buddy wanted someone to play guitar hero with, and due to my competitive nature i ended up playing until I was doing the expert dragonforce songs tapping on a damn controller. Figured it was time to put it down and get a real guitar which felt completely impossible with no previous instrument experience. Now I've been playin for almost 3 years now and it gets more fun by the day. Just practice what your instructor says and bit by bit itll all start to click.

[An hero]

Hey guys, how'd you all start getting into guitar?

I liked music a lot. I wanted to get in on that **** so I decided I was going to play guitar or drums.

I didn't have anywhere to put a drum set.

[lovemyar15]

I liked music a lot. I wanted to get in on that **** so I decided I was going to play guitar or drums.

I didn't have anywhere to put a drum set.

Alot of people in the world have music playing in the background while they clean house or in their car, but don't really listen to the music with a deep appreciation for it. The people that have a deep appreciation for the music usually play an instrument at least a small amount. For me it just makes sense I have over 300 physical music CD's and we have no television service at our house so it's obvious what is more important in my life...lol. My 10 year old boy plays cello and has said he wants me to teach him how to play guitar. I told him we will wait till summer break when he isn't taking cello lessons so it doesn't interfere with that. My 6 year old girl has said she wants to play drums...I'm going to give her a couple years and see if she changes her mind...thank god for the invention of electric drum kits:-) My 13 year old girl is more of an athlete, but she also is in choir and loves singing.

[freewait]

Hey guys, how'd you all start getting into guitar? I have a guitar sitting around, and decided to actually get into it. My first lessons are tomorrow, pretty pumped.

I'm inspired by Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. I really like neoclassical and I want to learn how to play my favorite video game songs on guitar.

Been playing for 35 years and my father played guitar so that interested me. What kept me interested was playing guitar with friends and family stuff when younger.
Getting lessons is a good way to learn the foundation and see if its something you'll stick with. If you really love it, you'll find yourself learning songs and finding tips/tricks everywhere. Back when I was younger it was much harder to do!! Cheers and have fun.

[freewait]

You're excellent for only a handful of months and I wouldn't even worry about any criticisms until you're at least a year in, preferably two. By then all the little details like bending in tune, vibrato, playing cleanly, ect will start working themselves out. That you know these are issues is already a big step.

Don't worry - your future looks bright.

I kind of thought the same thing. He didn't ask for feedback on his playing but as long as he's cool with it, rock on. I know many people 4.5 months in that could only play a few chords and really not in time.

[lovemyar15]

I kind of thought the same thing. He didn't ask for feedback on his playing but as long as he's cool with it, rock on. I know many people 4.5 months in that could only play a few chords and really not in time.

I'm open to feedback and productive criticism. The other guy hasn't replied back yet, but I'm sure he wasn't really trying to be negative just make sure I was aware of those issues. I just wanted to make known that I do work on those things, but there are only so many things I can work on at once. My main focus has been on improving my alternate picking I actually spend probably half of my practice time doing nothing, but picking exercises and playing scales over and over. The other thing I'm really concerned with is my hand pressure on the floyd rose making my strings go sharp. I have 2 friends that have played for several years and are both in different metal bands and that was the first thing they noticed about my playing. I'm working on staying relaxed and lightening up my picking hand pressure to try and solve this, but if I can't I will either have to block the trem or get rid of the floyd all together. If you saw me play a long passage or play the rhythm part to a complete song you would also notice I start out pretty decent, but by the second half of the song I'm tensing up and my playing really goes to sh*t then.

[lovemyar15]

I also wanted to point out that my ear isn't that good I'm learning these Rhoads solo's from lick library dvd's. I've got several of their dvd's but you can find some of the lessons on youtube.

Here is an example of one of their lessons that I used to learn the goodbye to romance solo which was the first one I learned:


The guy in the video is also a student of Satriani. The other guy I have some video's from by lick library is Andy James he does more of the metal lessons.

[supremejd]

Got my first lesson in, really looking forward to investing time into this.

How long do you guys usually practice every day? I'm getting at least 2 hours a day so far.

[An hero]

I play pretty much all day but it's not just a hobby for me. 2 hours a day is great.

[lovemyar15]

Question for freewait and An hero...

Would you mind going through some specific things you would cover or teach a complete beginner during his/her first 3 or 4 lessons?

Since I played when I was a kid and just restarting at age 37 just as a hobby I probably skipped alot of stuff that a beginner would want to start with. For example I already knew alot of theory it's just a matter of really memorizing it and I also started immediately tuning down 2 whole steps learning the notes on the guitar that way instead of starting with standard tuning.

The reason I ask is my boy wants me to start teaching him how to play guitar. He is just completing his first year of cello in grade school and is 10 years old. I figured I would get him started and see how well he does and how serious he gets then maybe sending him to a "real" guitar instructor later. With lessons around here being about 20 bucks each I could save alot of cash doing it myself and also spend some good time together.

[An hero]

Question for freewait and An hero...

Would you mind going through some specific things you would cover or teach a complete beginner during his/her first 3 or 4 lessons?

Since I played when I was a kid and just restarting at age 37 just as a hobby I probably skipped alot of stuff that a beginner would want to start with. For example I already knew alot of theory it's just a matter of really memorizing it and I also started immediately tuning down 2 whole steps learning the notes on the guitar that way instead of starting with standard tuning.

The reason I ask is my boy wants me to start teaching him how to play guitar. He is just completing his first year of cello in grade school and is 10 years old. I figured I would get him started and see how well he does and how serious he gets then maybe sending him to a "real" guitar instructor later. With lessons around here being about 20 bucks each I could save alot of cash doing it myself and also spend some good time together.

I'm not a teacher. But I would start first with the basics of holding the instrument (holding the pick, good posture, hand position on the guitar, where to put your finger when fretting a note), then teach them a very basic chromatic exercise to get them started alternate picking right out of the gate. Then I would begin teaching them the open chords, and a little later, when they're ready, the major scale and pentatonic scale.

This is what my teacher did for me. He never taught me songs, although he would have if I asked. I figured I could learn those on my own, but it would be good to teach your son/student some cool riffs and actual music to play while they're working on all this boring technical stuff. Your son is 10 years old so he probably doesn't have a fully developed taste in music but you should know the kind of music he wants to play.

By the way, I really wish I'd started playing at 10. You're going to have to take into consideration how small and weak his hands are when teaching him though.

[lovemyar15]

I'm not a teacher. But I would start first with the basics of holding the instrument (holding the pick, good posture, hand position on the guitar, where to put your finger when fretting a note), then teach them a very basic chromatic exercise to get them started alternate picking right out of the gate. Then I would begin teaching them the open chords, and a little later, when they're ready, the major scale and pentatonic scale.

This is what my teacher did for me. He never taught me songs, although he would have if I asked. I figured I could learn those on my own, but it would be good to teach your son/student some cool riffs and actual music to play while they're working on all this boring technical stuff. Your son is 10 years old so he probably doesn't have a fully developed taste in music but you should know the kind of music he wants to play.

By the way, I really wish I'd started playing at 10. You're going to have to take into consideration how small and weak his hands are when teaching him though.

Thanks, I was thinking about starting him with alternate picking right out of the gate, but not sure if that was the way to go or not. I think the big advantage of starting that young is he is ok with learning the rudiments instead of wanting to play some technical song right off the bat. I mean it was less than a year ago he played me marry had a little lamb on cello...lol...I think his finger strength is better than alot of beginning 10 year olds due to his lessons on cello. I just want to get him started on the right track. Believe it or not he likes classic rock. I don't know where he got it because both his mother and I have pretty diverse music interests, but it's mostly metal getting played around the house and in the car. His older sister likes what I guess I would call metal to it's just stuff like black veil brides and avenged sevenfold. It's not uncommon at all to hear him listening to ACDC in his bedroom and I've even heard Pink Floyd playing in there.

[freewait]

Question for freewait and An hero...

Would you mind going through some specific things you would cover or teach a complete beginner during his/her first 3 or 4 lessons?

Since I played when I was a kid and just restarting at age 37 just as a hobby I probably skipped alot of stuff that a beginner would want to start with. For example I already knew alot of theory it's just a matter of really memorizing it and I also started immediately tuning down 2 whole steps learning the notes on the guitar that way instead of starting with standard tuning.

The reason I ask is my boy wants me to start teaching him how to play guitar. He is just completing his first year of cello in grade school and is 10 years old. I figured I would get him started and see how well he does and how serious he gets then maybe sending him to a "real" guitar instructor later. With lessons around here being about 20 bucks each I could save alot of cash doing it myself and also spend some good time together.

I've taught a long time and the best advice I have is know your student (which in this case you do). First lesson I always spend most of the time talking and asking certain questions which help me gauge the person's type of learning. If a beginner I always go over what type of music do they like, who are their favorite guitarist, what do they want to do with guitar, do they play any other instrument, (if in school) have they been in school band, etc. I work toward building learning while holding their attention. In other words, I'll teach with a song in mind for them play of their favorite artist even if I have to change the chords or simplify at the beginning. Nothing puts a smile on a beginner's face like playing a song they like.

I have a graphic of both an acoustic and electric guitar and go over the parts of the guitar and how it works but I don't spend too much time on it but will continue to followup in future lessons. Then it's the basics... you must build the foundation. I teach simple things such as how to hold the guitar, how to hold a pick, where to put the fingers on the fretboard, how to hold the neck, finger numbering, string numbering, tune the guitar, etc. And if an electric player, we'll go over the basics of the amp. Then I have a very generic chart on how to read a chord chart (what the "o" means, what the "x" means, how to put the fingers in the right location, etc) how to do a simple strum, how to correct the sound if muted, etc.

Then we'll begin to learn three easy chords while also learning the notes of the open strings. For young students I usually will write down what I want them to learn for next week and give them handouts or websites.

The following I cut and paste from my old lesson plans. And note each "lesson" may take several 30 min lessons to complete:

At the Lesson:
• Be prepared. Have your guitar in tune prior to lesson if possible.
• You don’t learn to play guitar "during" guitar lessons-you learn to play "between" guitar lessons.
• You will be given material at lessons designed just for you. You can place this in any binder, but please bring the material with you to each lesson as we will use this for lesson notes and next steps.
• I'll also be adding helpful material to this folder as we go along.
• For those under 18 years old, I will provide a "homework" sheet to help you in remembering what to have prepared for the next lesson. For those over 18, this is optional.


Note: Each lesson listed may take several music lessons or sessions to complete.

Lesson 1

Guitar Lesson Overview: What you'll learn
HAVE FUN!!
We will discuss current playing ability and what you would like to get out of our lessons and where you want to go with your playing ability. We'll skip to whatever lesson fits best based on your current skills. If you are a beginner, welcome!!!
By the end of this guitar lesson, you will have learned: how your guitar works, the names of the parts of the guitar, the names of the open strings, the process of tuning the guitar, how to hold and use a pick, how to hold the guitar, how notes are made, how to play a few chords and how to play a simple song using three chords.
We'll also begin to look at warm up exercises for the fingers.


Lesson 2
What You'll Learn in Lesson Two
This second lesson will continue to focus on exercises to strengthen the fingers in the fretting hand. We'll review the chords we learned in the last session and play a song with those chords. We'll begin to learn more complex strumming patterns and timing.
You'll also learn several new chords. String names will also be reviewed and we'll begin to learn notes up the fretboard of the guitar. Lastly, lesson two will also introduce you to the basics of strumming the guitar and review how to hold the pick for proper strumming in up and down strum patterns.
We'll learn the notes up the neck of the guitar on strings 1 and 6.
If playing electric guitar, we'll discuss the electronics in further detail and discuss amplifiers and its parts.
Lesson 3
What You'll Learn in Lesson Three
This third lesson will include both review material, and new material. We'll learn the three remaining open chords that are generally considered the basic chords. Will also introduce a couple ways to play the same chords and what notes make up chords.
We'll also learn another strumming pattern, introduction to Scales and how to properly pick strings in up and down sweeping motion. And, as with the previous lessons, we'll finish up by playing a song or two that use these new techniques we've learned.

In this lesson we'll begin to learn the reasons why chords have certain names; learn basic major and minor scales which also build on finger dexterity.

If interested, we'll discuss how to read Tablature, although we'll discuss the notes behind the tool as well.

We'll learn the notes of the guitar on string 5.

Theory: If the student desires, we'll begin discussing music theory and define what all that stuff means on a sheet of music. This will take several lessons to cover.

[TheTruthUSMC]

Good advice in here.

[lovemyar15]

I've taught a long time and the best advice I have is know your student (which in this case you do). First lesson I always spend most of the time talking and asking certain questions which help me gauge the person's type of learning. If a beginner I always go over what type of music do they like, who are their favorite guitarist, what do they want to do with guitar, do they play any other instrument, (if in school) have they been in school band, etc. I work toward building learning while holding their attention. In other words, I'll teach with a song in mind for them play of their favorite artist even if I have to change the chords or simplify at the beginning. Nothing puts a smile on a beginner's face like playing a song they like.

I have a graphic of both an acoustic and electric guitar and go over the parts of the guitar and how it works but I don't spend too much time on it but will continue to followup in future lessons. Then it's the basics... you must build the foundation. I teach simple things such as how to hold the guitar, how to hold a pick, where to put the fingers on the fretboard, how to hold the neck, finger numbering, string numbering, tune the guitar, etc. And if an electric player, we'll go over the basics of the amp. Then I have a very generic chart on how to read a chord chart (what the "o" means, what the "x" means, how to put the fingers in the right location, etc) how to do a simple strum, how to correct the sound if muted, etc.

Then we'll begin to learn three easy chords while also learning the notes of the open strings. For young students I usually will write down what I want them to learn for next week and give them handouts or websites.

The following I cut and paste from my old lesson plans. And note each "lesson" may take several 30 min lessons to complete:

At the Lesson:
• Be prepared. Have your guitar in tune prior to lesson if possible.
• You don’t learn to play guitar "during" guitar lessons-you learn to play "between" guitar lessons.
• You will be given material at lessons designed just for you. You can place this in any binder, but please bring the material with you to each lesson as we will use this for lesson notes and next steps.
• I'll also be adding helpful material to this folder as we go along.
• For those under 18 years old, I will provide a "homework" sheet to help you in remembering what to have prepared for the next lesson. For those over 18, this is optional.


Note: Each lesson listed may take several music lessons or sessions to complete.

Lesson 1

Guitar Lesson Overview: What you'll learn
HAVE FUN!!
We will discuss current playing ability and what you would like to get out of our lessons and where you want to go with your playing ability. We'll skip to whatever lesson fits best based on your current skills. If you are a beginner, welcome!!!
By the end of this guitar lesson, you will have learned: how your guitar works, the names of the parts of the guitar, the names of the open strings, the process of tuning the guitar, how to hold and use a pick, how to hold the guitar, how notes are made, how to play a few chords and how to play a simple song using three chords.
We'll also begin to look at warm up exercises for the fingers.


Lesson 2
What You'll Learn in Lesson Two
This second lesson will continue to focus on exercises to strengthen the fingers in the fretting hand. We'll review the chords we learned in the last session and play a song with those chords. We'll begin to learn more complex strumming patterns and timing.
You'll also learn several new chords. String names will also be reviewed and we'll begin to learn notes up the fretboard of the guitar. Lastly, lesson two will also introduce you to the basics of strumming the guitar and review how to hold the pick for proper strumming in up and down strum patterns.
We'll learn the notes up the neck of the guitar on strings 1 and 6.
If playing electric guitar, we'll discuss the electronics in further detail and discuss amplifiers and its parts.
Lesson 3
What You'll Learn in Lesson Three
This third lesson will include both review material, and new material. We'll learn the three remaining open chords that are generally considered the basic chords. Will also introduce a couple ways to play the same chords and what notes make up chords.
We'll also learn another strumming pattern, introduction to Scales and how to properly pick strings in up and down sweeping motion. And, as with the previous lessons, we'll finish up by playing a song or two that use these new techniques we've learned.

In this lesson we'll begin to learn the reasons why chords have certain names; learn basic major and minor scales which also build on finger dexterity.

If interested, we'll discuss how to read Tablature, although we'll discuss the notes behind the tool as well.

We'll learn the notes of the guitar on string 5.

Theory: If the student desires, we'll begin discussing music theory and define what all that stuff means on a sheet of music. This will take several lessons to cover.

Good stuff, Thanks!

[PSVita]

Yo guys. Can you help me out?

I want to learn how to play the guitar, however i've got absolutely no clue about it.
Is it possible to play a guitar with headphones? Or can you only play it with an amp? I'd never be able to play it otherwise.
Do you have to learn the acoustic guitar first to be any good?
I'm left handed so i guess i'm gonna suck alot compared to righties, is it possible to get a left handed guitar? I'm guessing it'll cost alot more?

[lovemyar15]

Yo guys. Can you help me out?

I want to learn how to play the guitar, however i've got absolutely no clue about it.
Is it possible to play a guitar with headphones? Or can you only play it with an amp? I'd never be able to play it otherwise.
Do you have to learn the acoustic guitar first to be any good?
I'm left handed so i guess i'm gonna suck alot compared to righties, is it possible to get a left handed guitar? I'm guessing it'll cost alot more?

I often play an electric guitar with no amplifier at all, but yes alot of amplifiers have headphone outs. I'm also left handed and play right handed so it's up to you which way you want to play. My decision to play right handed was everything was easier to pick up right handed since I'm learning on my own without an instructor and everything online as far as instruction is designed for right handed players.

[An hero]

Is it possible to play a guitar with headphones?

yes

Do you have to learn the acoustic guitar first to be any good?

depends. Most great guitar players certainly played acoustic before they played electric guitar

I'm left handed so i guess i'm gonna suck alot compared to righties

[Dave76]

I don't post in this thread much but I lurk a lot. I enjoy playing a lot of old gospel tunes and usually write my own arrangements using kind of a folk/bluesy style. I rarely try to copy anyone but I decided to learn Willie Nelson's version of "Unclouded Day". So, I went off in search of software to slow things down.

What I found was Transcribe! from seventhstring.com. I'm new to this kind of software but I've been blown away by the capabilities. I expected the software to slow things down for me. What I didn't expect was the ability to change the pitch (key) of the song. In my case, Willie plays in F and I'd much prefer to play in E. No problem, just lower the pitch by a semitone and play right along. The software will also analyze the music and gives an educated guess as to the note, or even the chord, that is being played.

I'm still on the 30 day free trial. While I'm impressed with the software, it's the only one I've ever used. I found this software when I was reading up on "Amazing Slowdowner" and many user comments suggested that Transcribe! was better. Before buying ($39), I'd like to know if there's other software I should try first. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[freewait]

Yo guys. Can you help me out?

I want to learn how to play the guitar, however i've got absolutely no clue about it.
Is it possible to play a guitar with headphones? Or can you only play it with an amp? I'd never be able to play it otherwise.
Do you have to learn the acoustic guitar first to be any good?
I'm left handed so i guess i'm gonna suck alot compared to righties, is it possible to get a left handed guitar? I'm guessing it'll cost alot more?

You can play an electric guitar with headphones but not plugged directly into the guitar unless it has active pickups and even then it will not sound that great. You'll need some kind of "power" to produce the sound from the guitar and it can be something very small like a cheap amp, or even devices like a smartphone, old powered computer speaker, old radio with aux in/aux out, etc. May not sound the best but there are quick ways to get sound to headphones.

Do you have to learn acoustic first? No. But if someone has a good acoustic I do recommend starting there, but if there are choices I'd rather see someone play a good electric than a cheap acoustic. Many get turned off from playing simply because many cheap acoustics are darn hard to play and kill the fingers. If you do start out on electric, keep the amp on the clean channel while learning. Distortion can hide a lot of mistakes when getting started. You want to learn the right way.

Left handed, right handed. Makes no difference. Obviously more equipment is built for right handers but as Hero showed in pictures...there are some famous left handers out there! My brother is left handed and plays left handed.