Should beginners play MTT, S&Gs and Cash games?

I would play small (1 or two table) S&G's before I hit MTT's. That will get you comfortable with the intricacies of endgame play. It would be tragic if you got deep into an MTT but found yourself ill equipped for proper short handed, short stacked play, as that's where the real money is at. The difference between 1st and 5th in an MTT is usually pretty big.

As far as playing ring games and tournaments together, that's fine as long as you can seperate the two. Cash games and tournaments have different strategies.

When I started I only played one or the other. Well, I'd play something different on occasion to break the monotony, but I found it easier to just concentrate on ring games, then just concentrate on tournaments.

I would recommend just sticking with one or the other (tourney-style, or cash tables.... although deepstack play on cash tables will be beneficial to playing tournaments (deepstack)... it's probably best to just stick with one or the other when you're getting started).
I guess I could tell you what I would do if i had it to do all over again. I would start off with 9-plyr. SNG's & large-field MTT's. Since alot of your current experience comes from playing in freeroll tournaments, I don't see a problem with playing micro buyin MTT's.
With SNG's I'd stick to either single table or mult-table but I personally would just play the single table games for awhile. Read up all you can on playing SNG's as there's some basic key principles to playing them.
If you also choose to play the 18-plyr. ones, know that you'll be playing shorthanded before the two tables join and you must loosen up your starting hand requirments a bit in order to survive (or look for spots to resteal form players who are playing too many haneds).. reason being, you must make it a goal to get to the other table with ~2,500chips min. (hopefully) so you won't be in dire straits on the final table when they do combine.
If I had to do it all over again.... I would play SNG's for ~300-500games and then consider playing MTT satellites (one's paying ~1in4 or 1 in 5)... these also have a very specific, straightforward strategy for playing them and one can capitalize on those who are frequently making mistakes in them.
Then I would add in more MTT's.
Then I would consider getting knowledgeable about cash game play and would start off at the lowest limits first, putting in ~5,000-10,000 hands prior to moving up. Full ring would be probably easier to start out with.
I would focus on one or the other but not both at the same time (tourney-style (ie. SNG's & MTT's) or cash game play (full ring or 6max).

Find what you like the most as this is where you'll be motivated to put in the time to study the game (obv). Personally I prefer MTT's over cash game play but many are the exact opposite and might suggest that you get a solid micro limit cash game going prior to playing other stuff. Whatever suits you.

The advantage to playing MTTs and SNGs when you are just starting out is the amount of hands you can play for very little risk.

In a tournament, its one buy-in to see 40-50 maybe 200 hands or more. If you play that many hands in a cash game, and fold every one, you are still going to be out the blinds.

This will give you experience in all kinds of different situations before you start risking more of your money.

Thanks for the responses.

It does seem that SNGs are the most common starting point for players building their bankroll (from reading posts and interviews). I can see the advantages - minimum risk, fairly quick to play and can show consistant and steady profits.

The thing that bothers me with freerolls/MTTs is the time it takes. 4-5 hours is a very long time for small rewards..but I guess you need to start somewhere to gain experience.

I think cash games can be the most profitable (but also bigger swings).

Anyways, I think ill stick with SNGs for the time being along with some freerolls and MTTs.

I agree STTs would be best for a beginer since there more of the action takes place preflop and its much easier to make (big) mistakes postflop then preflop.

Learning the in's and out's of SnG's will keep you busy for awhile. Be patient and most importantly have fun.

This is not really true as most of the top pros earn most of their money from cash games. But MTTs is where the publicity is, so it is no wonder that a lot of people don't understand the imporance of cash games.

For I beginner I also suggest trying out a lot of different options. See where you are most likely to make a profit, and work on that. And remember that there are games other than Holdem....

Well them 90 seater double stack $1.10 are pretty soft .... And you would learn a lot playing them!