Short and sweet question, I've never done soldering before.
Any tips or tricks to it and more importantly - what type of solder do I need?
Suggest you use 63/37 and/or 60/40 lead tin solder.
Use ~340 degrees C.
A temperature controlled soldering iron similar to the HAKKO FX-888D is good.
Many tips here but you will need to find the ones on soldering.
Your topic was MOVED to its current forum category as it is more suitable than the original as it is not an Introductory Tutorial
I completely agree with LarryD, and will only add that it should have flux core which he meant. Rosin is fine. Get a good quality no clean solder like Kester. The thickness depends on what you are soldering.
I'm fairly new to soldering myself but have done some Eurorack kits, some model railway stuff, etc. I use a 0.8mm Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu solder with flux core (branded "Tabiger", got it on Amazon) and have never had any problems with it.
I have heard many (especially older) people go on lengthy rants about the insufficiencies of lead-free solder (harder to solder, higher risk of "cold" soldering joints, shorter lifetime, higher price) but my opinion is that all of those are greatly overblown and/or only apply if you buy the absolute cheapest non-leaded solder you can find. And if I, as a beginner, can get this stuff to work, it can't be THAT hard.
Weighed against the massive environmental harm of leaded e-waste, I don't consider switching to 60/40 or any other leaded solder worth it.
Aside from that - get a good soldering station with a thermostat, buy some replacement soldering tips in advance (it is VERY easy to get one or two of them messed up as a beginner), and then just get some wire, some grid circuit boards and get hands-on practice. I found it hard to follow video tutorials on soldering, because it is kind of timing-sensitive, and you just have to develop a feeling for it. Don't worry, it'll click soon.
(Also get some desoldering wick and / or a desoldering pump, you WILL mess up and need them.)
In addition to what is stated above:
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63/37 is best for beginners. The reason being it is eutectic. Which means it goes from a liquid directly into a solid (no mushy stage). This helps eliminate cold solder joints. BTW cold solder joints aren't actually cold, it is a term for a joint that is compromised because the wire was moved as the solder is cooling. With 63/37 the cooling phase is much faster making it less likely you make a cold joint.
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For small parts use small solder. If you are only purchasing one roll (for now) I suggest 0.8mm (0.031") diameter.
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Stay with lead bearing solder. I'm not caviler about the environment, the amount of lead you will be using is so small I doubt the impact. The 63/37 is much easier to solder than "no lead" especially for the beginner. As you get better you can get some no lead solder.
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You must have big plans. 
+1 for leaded solder for learning. Unless you are going to eat your project, of course.
Think about how many people on this forum dabble in electronics, and how much solder they use between them. It adds up.
Even very low doses of lead in water and farmland soil can have massive impacts on the health of those who end up consuming it. Aggressiveness, lowered IQ, neurological conditions, lots of very unpleasant stuff. That's why I wholeheartedly agree with the RoHS, and want to avoid contributing to this problem myself, even if I am not legally required to and don't use that much solder in the grand scheme of things.
My view would be different if using unleaded solder actually was too challenging for a beginner - but, like I said, it really isn't, you just have to turn your soldering iron to a somewhat higher temperature (although the 340°C which LarryD suggested is pretty much what I also use for my Sn-0.3Ag-0.7Cu solder at the moment).
Not in the big scheme of things. 
Give us a break 
.
Estimates for lead in the environment do to hunting, in our country, is 80 tons each year.
In 45 years of soldering this user might have gone through 4 pounds and the PCBs worked on are still in service.
Wonder how much lead was put in the air do to gasoline ? 
If only.
I think, by and large, and lamentably, if it's not getting done with "jumpers" and solderless breadboards then it's not getting done.
Of course it depends on the person, however in general I don't agree.
Now that's a nice rhetoric trick to distract from the actual topic, i.e. whether leaded or unleaded solder is better for beginners.
But, since you asked: we stopped using leaded gasoline because we realized that it caused massive health damages, with some estimates being way above 1 million deaths PER YEAR being caused by leaded petrol.
Obviously, this was a far bigger problem than leaded solder in magnitude. But trying to argue that leaded solder isn't a problem because leaded petrol is far worse is a nonsensical argument, and even calling it an argument at all is a stretch.
Anyway, I have already acknowledged that leaded solder used by hobbyists is a fairly small-scale problem. My argument is that the alleged benefits of leaded solder do not outweigh this small-scale disadvantage.
Incidentally, I find it interesting that people in this thread have detailed opinions on different types of leaded solder but none of the critics of lead-free solder even bother mentioning which types of lead-free they have used, and which problems they have experienced with them. It just gets written off as bad and hard to use, without the least bit of substantiation. Instead, all I get is belittling comments and people being exasperated that I even dare bring up the problems of toxic e-waste in what I believe is a reasonably polite manner.
I have and do use unleaded solder, however, only when necessary (required).
My point is that in the scheme of things, solder from PCBs is not a problem.
From an instructional point of view, new people to soldering need to first learn to solder properly with leaded solder.
Only after mastering leaded solder, should these new people try to use lead free solder.
The millions of people that suffer(ed) from lead poisoning got the lead from other sources, not PCBs.
From gasoline, from paint, from lead pipes, from industry, from water exposed to hunting shot, from dishes and on and on . . .
BTW, lead free solder paste can be very tricky to use.
Environmental problems caused by lead from PCBs is not a problem, it is humanities inability to recycle; should spent electronics be recycled, absolutely!
BTW, I am not smart enough to know what dangers we might have from components in lead free solder bismuth, indium, antimony etc.
Finally, 340°C for leaded solder is for fast in/out operation, to prevent in component damage, not that it is necessary as with lead free versions.
Edit
What was this ?
“ Even very low doses of lead in water and farmland soil can have massive impacts on the health of those who end up consuming it. Aggressiveness, lowered IQ, neurological conditions, lots of very unpleasant stuff. That's why I wholeheartedly agree with the RoHS, and want to avoid contributing to this problem myself, even if I am not legally required to and don't use that much solder in the grand scheme of things.”
Apologies to the OP 
That is your opinion, which you have so far substantiated with exactly nothing, and with which I disagree.
Soldering with good lead-free solder is very easy, a beginner can absolutely do it.
It's called an argument. I believe that environmental impact is a relevant factor when deciding which solder to use. It is therefor relevant to this discussion. The comparatively higher environmental impact of leaded petrol is neither relevant, nor is it an argument - it is simple whataboutism.
And you're right to apologize to OP - we wouldn't be having this discussion if you had just read my first post and agreed to disagree, instead of starting a slapfight.
I have have trained hundreds people over the years, the comment is from objective and sustained observation.
We are in agreement about the dangers to the environment that lead has caused and is causing; the lead problem is not the use of leaded solder on PCBs, you know this too .
So maybe tell us what you have observed, and substantiate your claims?
The lead problem is from a variety of things, and e-waste is one of those things.
To the OP, if there is a need to use lead free solder, use the SN100C lead free version.
You will need to invest in proper lead free soldering equipment, google lead free soldering.
Aside from a soldering station which can get to a sufficiently high temperature, what else would you need? (I use a €50 soldering station from China, which I bought after the screw holding the soldering tip broke on my Weller basically immediately after using it for the first time, and my second Weller came with a UK plug instead of a German one. It works fine for me. Should be a 60W thing and the thermostat goes up to 480°C. I'd post a link but as is often the case with Chinese electronics, this exact product is no longer available. I've spotted one with an identical case, which might be the same, but I'm not going to post a recommendation just based on looks.)
My gear besides the soldering station is the following (might be useful info for OP):
- a fan with active coal filter (necessary because flux is highly cancerous, and can also cause heavy asthma attacks)
- a wet sponge (usually comes with the soldering iron) and the weird wirey cleaning thingy
- a desoldering pump (the cheap springloaded variant)
- copper desoldering wick
- a "third hand" (i really hate that term)
- and, of course, protective goggles (important!)
I don't think there's anything in that list that's specific to lead-free solder... though I guess if you have only a cheap and / or ancient unregulated soldering iron, that would probably need replacing.