Starting up on acousic guitar - brand recommendations?

[jinp6301]

I don't think I'm going to take any professional lessons for a while (can't afford them), so are there any "usual" pitfalls I should avoid? I might have some guitar playing friends give me lessons every now and then though.

Most common mistake if you dont take lessons is that you make up your own finger positions for chords and it hinders you from changing chords easily.

Thats all I know. I took lessons

[Tachikoma]

Good thing the internet has pretty pictures that tell me what the correct fingerings are I'm using guitar.about.com's guitar lessons, and I'm up to lesson 5 or so.

[nor_spoon]

My advice is to:

Try to place the fingertip just behind the fret, and use only the pressure needed to push down the string to get a clear tone. Try to press down as straight as possible, using only the tip on your finger. Relax your hand, and try to play as effortlessly as possible. Paradoxically I think you will need quite some strength to be able to relax though, but it will come with practice.

Listen to each note. Let it ring while listen to it. Could be a good idea to sing it too. Just relax while doing this, and let the note come to you, take your time, do not force anything. This will help you "open" and develop your musical ear. You can look at playing an instrument as almost some kind of meditation, or you go into a different state and place while playing. You will need to develop quite some technuiqe and know your instrument first though... But keep in mind.

Just look at some of the musicians with who plays by heart, e.g Neil Young when performing, you can see the "empty look" and that he is totally into his own musical world

I could probably go on for a while, but last, try to sing a note, e.g. an E before you touch your guitar first thing in the morning, without having heard any music that day. I believe this will also help you develop your musical ear.

And last but not least, HAVE FUN!

EDIT: eh, I see I did not exactly answer any of your questions though lol! Nevertheless, I think they are good advices.

Guitars are really one of the things that you get what you are paying for. If you don't know anything about guitars, take a friend who knows to check out what you are about to buy. There are lot of "junk" out there to kill the fun of playing.

No matter what level you are, everyone deserves a good instrument. You will learn faster, you will be more inspired, you will sound better, because the instrument will be better to play, hold its tuning, have better woods etc...

Second hand could also be a good idea. If nicely used, you can get a lot more guitar for the bucks compared to a new one, and if you decide to sell, you won't lose any money.

Ok, enough from me, roger and out.

[nor_spoon]

Oh damn, I see you already got your guitar.

Congrats! Looks like a nice choice. The best thing, they only get better the more you play them! That is quite fascinating.