What is a good electric guitar for beginning guitar player?

Any advice for a guitar/bass player that is beginning to play the Stick?

• I've been playing guitar and bass for some years now and I've just acquired a Grand Stick. I hope it won't be that hard for me because I'm a lefty, so I'm kinda used to tapping with my right hand, and I'm familiar with the ascending strings for the bass; I've also played a little piano, but I really don't know what to expect in terms of the learning curve.

• Answer:

  Welcome! I have a Grand Stick, and I'm also a lefty. So I can tell you that yes, your right hand will feel right at home on the melody side of the fretboard, it's easy because it's tuned in 4ths and because of the position you play in, you'll get used to playing the chords "upside down" easily. Plus, no irregularities like in a guitar with that major 3rd between strings 2-3. But... the problem will be with the left hand. With the right hand, the recommended method is to only use 3 fingers (you can use you pinky if you with, after all, it's already strong and used to the fretboard). But in the left hand, you need to use all 4 fingers. And you will probably find that your pinky is pretty useless at first. This happened to me when I started; turns out, after years of playing electric & acoustic guitar, as well as bass (just like you), none of the techniques I used ever required my left pinky. So it was really weak and clumsy. So I had to really exercise it to build strength, enough to tap the thicker bass strings, and also "aim" better at a given fret/string. After 2 years, it's still way weaker than the right pinky, but I can now play chords and notes; at first I couldn't even play a major chord in the bass strings, which are tuned in 5ths. I got The Stick Book, by Greg Howard, and there are some excellent exercises there. I strongly recommend taking lessons; if there aren't any Stick players in your area who can give you lessons, consider taking lessons over Skype, there are several instructors who do that. I spent a year learning by myself, from books and videos, then I took up lessons and in just a couple of lessons my technique improved significantly, and after 3 months I was playing a lot better. Unfortunately I am too busy right now and had to temporarily give up the lessons and barely have time to practice, but I hope to make time for that again soon. Get familiar with the geometry of the instrument. By this I mean the way scales and chords are formed in the melody side and in the bass side; the relation between the notes in each side, the scales, etc. The bass side will take a little more work, you need to become familiar with the 5ths tuning but when you notice the symmetry between both sides it will start to become easier. You can first try playing some simple patterns simultaneously on each side (index fingers at the same time, then middle, then ring), then alternate, etc. Here's a simple exercise you can practice to develop a bit of interdepence, playing a pattern simultaneously with both hands, then alternating (first a note with one hand, then the other), then changing which hand plays first, etc. And finally, if you want to talk to some other players, http://stickist.com is a good place to know some of them, listen to their music, watch them play, discuss techniques and exercies, and also contact the ones who can give you lessons over Skype.