How are you learning to play guitar?

[OliveCorduroy]

Hello all,

So I am curious as to how everyone from beginner to intermediate and even to advanced is learning to play guitar. Are you taking private lessons? Have you purchased DVD packages? Are you taking and joining online course packages? Or are you trying to do in on your own from books or piecing together YouTube videos? Or any other way?

I have tried them all and while I have made progress from being a beginner to the very early phases of being an intermediate player, I have bounced from one to the other. I can never seem settle into one way and follow it through to the end and I think this might contribute to not really making progress at a good pace?

With all that said, what has been the most successful for you and what do you like and dislike about the methods you have used?

Thanks, George

[Kerbie]

Welcome to the AGF, George. Hope you find it informative and enjoyable.

I've done all of the methods you listed. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. Different people learn in different ways, so I think you should concentrate on what works best for you. I'll think you'll find at different times in your life, different methods might work better than others. But I don't think that method has to remain best for the rest of your life.

Generally, I think private lessons are the best way to go, but that assumes that you find a good instructor who works well with you. Not all instructors have the same expertise or the same abilities to teach. It might take a couple tries to find someone who clicks with you.

So, I say the answer is... all of the above! I think you'll find a lot of help here. Enjoy the journey!

[MikeBodd]

I've also done it with all of the above. I am finding what is really helping me progress quickly now, is recording myself. Either with a condenser Mic or plugged in.

[S-10Ken]

I like to learn from DVD's because you can progress at your own pace and at this point in my life I just want to play songs so I find one I like on a DVD and they show me how its done and I take it from there. Plus you can always go back to look at it for future reference. So for me its the best way to learn

[Steel and wood]

Find yourself a good teacher is probably at the top of my list. (Tell him/her what you want and by when and get them to develop some sort of path or curriculum to allow you to achieve your goals whilst being prepared to go in every week and ask plenty of questions).

Second on my list is practice, practice and more practice. (Lots of repetition).

Then it's mostly onto the more intermediate/advanced stuff because the journey really never ends.

Good luck!

[MikeBodd]

I agree with Steel and wood. Lots of practice.

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by Kerbie

Welcome to the AGF, George. Hope you find it informative and enjoyable.

I've done all of the methods you listed. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. Different people learn in different ways, so I think you should concentrate on what works best for you. I'll think you'll find at different times in your life, different methods might work better than others. But I don't think that method has to remain best for the rest of your life.

Generally, I think private lessons are the best way to go, but that assumes that you find a good instructor who works well with you. Not all instructors have the same expertise or the same abilities to teach. It might take a couple tries to find someone who clicks with you.

So, I say the answer is... all of the above! I think you'll find a lot of help here. Enjoy the journey!

Yes, some instructors just want to teach kids (and adults) how to play songs and not how to play the guitar. (If that makes sense). You have to tell the instructor what you want (learning how to play guitar to be able to play songs is different to learning how to play songs on guitar) and get them to develop a set of lessons, the material and resources to help you get there. (It might be the long road but it's a good road). The other good thing about lessons is that it allows you to ask plenty of questions which books and online lessons don't allow.

Of course it is possible to learn using online resources (it's a great time to be able to access all sorts of lessons and advice), but the risk is that there is so much of it aimed at players from all levels and genres, that learning "can potentially be all over the shop" for beginner and novice guitarists in particular.

Again, good luck!

[boombox]

I understand where you are coming from. When I switched to acoustic five years ago, I felt I'd gone from being a pretty competent electric rhythm guitarist to a novice acoustic player. Due to financial and family commitments, I've gone down the self-taught route, which isn't probably the best as along the way, I developed some bad habits which I only realised I had when I came up against stumbling blocks to more complex pieces.

First off, decide what it is that you want to play - not friends, nor family, nor what message boards or teachers suggest. You have to want to learn something: you can listen to suggestions all you like, but it is only when you are fully engaged that you will learn higher level skills. As an example, I was desperate to learn Sir Patrick Spens as played by Martin Simpson. I bought the tab from his site and floundered miserably at first, but as I really loved the song, stuck at it until the strange chord shapes and runs became so familiar I even play some Fairport Convention songs in CGCFCD!

A warning about teachers and/or guitar courses: I had lessons for a couple of months as a nine year old and quit because I wanted to play House of The Rising Sun at the end of the book and started teaching myself that rather than do specially written stupid little tunes about princesses in towers or whatever. If the teacher had addressed this and perhaps simplified what I wanted to learn to make it accessible, or given me similar material, I probably wouldn't have quit. I then took it up again at 18 when a friend showed me Stairway to Heaven and I went home and dusted off the guitar and that was the first song I learned (minus the solos of course!).

So I would say get it clear in your mind what you want to do and then go hunting for a teacher to facilitate your vision, not his. Nowadays too, there are so many tab books, online tabs (not always accurate, I know), yt videos etc, you can make a start yourself. I'd also recommend playing with others if you can - song circles, jam sessions, open mics etc. Just sit and listen if you like and pick out some likely folks who perhaps share your musical tastes.

[jrs146]

I've been a casual guitar player for 20 years. By casual I mean I could play all the easy songs with open chords etc. but I never took guitar playing seriously. Recently I decided that I really want to "learn" how to play. I found a great instructor who I've been working with now for a few months. I'm working on the basic exercises that are not nearly as fun as playing guitars but I'm building a foundation that I can build off of for the future. I spend most of my time practicing reading music and playing the notes on the fretboard. I'm also spending a lot of time trying to memorize the fretboard.

My wife keeps asking me why I don't play songs anymore (the ones in the book are not that thrilling) but I know that putting the time into learning the basics will pay dividends so ok sticking through it. I want to get to the point where I can pick up a music book and play and not have to rely on tab.


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[BFD]

Originally Posted by boombox

....First off, decide what it is that you want to play - .... I'd also recommend playing with others if you can - song circles, jam sessions, open mics etc....

Most everything you need to know about 'learning guitar' is in Boombox's post. All the methods available for learning do work - for the right person. If none seem to work 'best' for you, then either they're all working, or your motivation may be lacking.
That's not a personal attack but it is something you need to answer truthfully for yourself. Most motivated learners would spend more time than they have available playing their guitars. They may or may not be learning the most efficient way possible, but that's really not crucial for most folks. What is crucial is that they enjoy the learning process and that it feeds their STOKE! It keeps them going.

So what Boombox said about figuring out what it is you want to play is essential. Wanting to 'learn to play guitar' really is too general to be much use. Once you've narrowed down some goals, that may also narrow down your method search. Or come back here with more specific questions.

BTW, the first thing a good, well rounded teacher will do is help you define goals. Then they'll show you how the curriculum they have in mind will help you attain those goals. Oh yeah, playing w/others IS great, both for motivation and for helping to define goals.

[FwL]

Back in the day you were lucky to even find TAB. You either had to find somebody to show you stuff or figure it out yourself.

Today everything you could ever need to learn is probably on youtube.

With that kind of access to resources what's needed is organization. A teacher might be able to provide that for you or you could provide it for yourself. Either way you've got to start with a clear idea of what you want to accomplish and come up with a plan.

Probably the biggest deterrent to improvement is noodling around on the guitar instead of actually practicing and learning. If you can figure out what and how to practice and get to it you'll see improvement.
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[geetaruke]

Interwebz and random sessions with experienced players. I'm sure structured instruction with a quality teacher is the best route though.

[roylor4]

Everyone has a different learning style (or mix of them) - visual, kinesthetic, auditory, etc.

My first 4.5+ years (I am 5 years in), I simply used chord books and learned by looking up chords and lyrics to songs. At that point, I knew over 100 songs but could make no further progress on my own. I am good enough to play gigs, and do every month.

I joined Jamplay, and have learned so much in 2 months that I have to slow down taking lessons to process it all. I initially signed up for 3 months and liked it so much added another whole year. About 10 bucks a month for unlimited online lessons.

I live in the country and don't make a lot of money, so taking lessons in person would be a hassle and more than I would want to spend.

Don't get me wrong, I would be light years farther ahead if I had of taken ANY form of lessons early on than where I am now, and I know it.

There is no substitute for practice but I think lessons (online or in person) will dramatically speed up the learning process for you.

[MC5C]

When I think back to when I learned how to play, it was a combination of learning music and learning to physically play the guitar. I was learning music in school (on the recorder, remember those?), and then clarinet, saxophone, etc, all through high school, so reading music and basic theory was a day class in school. Learning guitar was how to hold it, what the fingers on each hand did (I learned classical first), how to read music on the guitar, chords, etc. All with a teacher showing the way, correcting mistakes, getting technique down. At the same time I was teaching myself power chords, a bit of rock and roll, a bit of lead, and so on. After a while I had the guitar chair in the high school jazz band, and was taking jazz lessons outside. Then, to be frank, I virtually quit when I left high school and was on to other things. I took it up again and started taking more serious jazz lessons in my late 20's (around the time of my divorce, wonder if there is a connection there?).

[Toby Walker]

Originally Posted by Kerbie

Welcome to the AGF, George. Hope you find it informative and enjoyable.

I've done all of the methods you listed. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. Different people learn in different ways, so I think you should concentrate on what works best for you. I'll think you'll find at different times in your life, different methods might work better than others. But I don't think that method has to remain best for the rest of your life.

Generally, I think private lessons are the best way to go, but that assumes that you find a good instructor who works well with you. Not all instructors have the same expertise or the same abilities to teach. It might take a couple tries to find someone who clicks with you.

So, I say the answer is... all of the above! I think you'll find a lot of help here. Enjoy the journey!

I absolutely agree with Kerbie. Everyone has different ways of learning so thank goodness we live in an age where there are so many instructional methods to choose from.

Like Kerbie, I pretty much learn from all kinds of sources, including stealing ideas off of recordings and from friends at jam sessions, watching those in concert and even from some of my own students.