And probably easier to begin with front wheels, so as to avoid having to deal with asymmetric dish. My first build was a 5-speed high-flange 36x3 rear wheel. It took a couple of days to get it tensioned and dished correctly. My next wheel was a plain low flange front 32x3, and it went together in a couple of hours. I also think a spoke tensiometer is very useful, especially when starting out. I know experts can do a great job by ear. I managed to build a half dozen wheels before I got one, and they worked fine for the way I used them (daily commute, occasional 50-100 mile road tours, but never anything very demanding). One good reason to use a tensiometer nowadays is that modern wheels use a variety of spoke materials, sizes, and shapes and these give different sounds when plucked, so it's more difficult than it used to be to know by sound when you've tightened the spokes to the correct tension.