First Steps
This is going to be fun!
And even if you are already on the guitar/singing path, there might be a few nuggets of info that will be of service to you.
Supplies you will need:
GUITAR
A guitar (approx. $350 to 500) with a case. If you’ve never bought a guitar, look at my posts on buying a guitar.
Start with a sturdy, well made acoustic/electric - with a strap.
If you’re just starting out and your hands are on the smaller side of things, look for a guitar with a more narrow neck.
Extra Strings – light or medium light phosphorous bronze sets. Down the road, we’ll explore buying strings in bulk but for now, buy full sets.
A string winder
An assortment of picks – more of them on the thin to medium side of things.
MICROPHONE
A mic – A Shure SM58 is what you need. Get one that DOESN’T have and on/off switch – they only break. Make sure the mic clip is in the mic pouch when you buy it.
A boom mic stand – You’ll probably have to make two purchases: a straight-up mic stand with a round weighted base and a boom stand accessory.
A 20’ XLR mic cable.
We’ll talk amplification later.
MUSIC
A music stand – not a folding chrome stand but rather a black collapsible stand
A larger size iPad/tablet. It doesn’t need to be the latest and greatest – just something with decent memory and screen size where you can read lyrics off a music stand.
An app to manage all your pdf song lyrics.
Create pdfs of all of these lyrics.
VOICE
Begin singing the songs you want to learn on guitar. Start singing them a cappella in the car, shower, on walks, etc. Use lyric pdfs if you need to.
Tape yourself and evaluate your singing.
Create a pdf of ALL the songs you want to learn to play and sing and start getting familiar with the lyrics. Make a note of what key you naturally lean to when singing them a cappella.
Second steps will be in my next post.
This is going to be fun!
And even if you are already on the guitar/singing path, there might be a few nuggets of info that will be of service to you.
Supplies you will need:
GUITAR
A guitar (approx. $350 to 500) with a case. If you’ve never bought a guitar, look at my posts on buying a guitar.
Start with a sturdy, well made acoustic/electric - with a strap.
If you’re just starting out and your hands are on the smaller side of things, look for a guitar with a more narrow neck.
Extra Strings – light or medium light phosphorous bronze sets. Down the road, we’ll explore buying strings in bulk but for now, buy full sets.
A string winder
An assortment of picks – more of them on the thin to medium side of things.
MICROPHONE
A mic – A Shure SM58 is what you need. Get one that DOESN’T have and on/off switch – they only break. Make sure the mic clip is in the mic pouch when you buy it.
A boom mic stand – You’ll probably have to make two purchases: a straight-up mic stand with a round weighted base and a boom stand accessory.
A 20’ XLR mic cable.
We’ll talk amplification later.
MUSIC
A music stand – not a folding chrome stand but rather a black collapsible stand
A larger size iPad/tablet. It doesn’t need to be the latest and greatest – just something with decent memory and screen size where you can read lyrics off a music stand.
An app to manage all your pdf song lyrics.
Create pdfs of all of these lyrics.
VOICE
Begin singing the songs you want to learn on guitar. Start singing them a cappella in the car, shower, on walks, etc. Use lyric pdfs if you need to.
Tape yourself and evaluate your singing.
Create a pdf of ALL the songs you want to learn to play and sing and start getting familiar with the lyrics. Make a note of what key you naturally lean to when singing them a cappella.
Second steps will be in my next post.
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