How did you learn to play guitar?
I feel like everyone just picks up a guitar and becomes amazing at it a few weeks later.. How do you do it? Do you learn scales and chords and go from there, or get tabs for songs and learn to play them one at a time progressively getting better?
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September 27th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Just keep at it. Thirty minutes a day will get you a good foundation in less than a year. It takes 10,000 hours to become proficient.
September 27th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
i learned some basic chords but it got really boring so i started to learn to play songs and went from there 😀
September 27th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Get hold of a copy of Bert Weedon’s “Play in a Day”. You won’t be Joe Satriani after the “day” but you’ll know some basic chords that fit together.
September 27th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
I taught myself to play by looking up songs I like on http://www.911tabs.com/ , or http://www.chordie.com/ . On those sites they have the songs with pictures of how to do the chords.
Hope this helps.
-Peace be with you
September 27th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
my dad taught me 3 chords and a song that used them – peggy sue.
then i borrowed a beatles songbook from my brother (i was a big fan so i knew what the songs sounded like) then i went through and learned how to play all the songs with those chords.
then i learned all the songs with those 3 chords and one other one. then once i’d got the fourth chord i’d learn all the songs with those 4 chords and one other one. i gradually built that up.
then i started playing along to nirvana, led zeppelin, offspring, who, green day cds.
it took 3-4 years for me to get to a performance standard. learn by doing.
you’ve got to WANT it – so many people start learning, find it’s difficult, then give up. if you really want to play then you’ll go through all the duff notes and the sore fingers until you make it sound amazing.
September 27th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
most of those people only look up tabs online learn some basic chords really get your scales down pat…its not a bad thing to lookup tabs jus dont base your hobby off of it. ive been playing for seven years and i cant tell you how many of my friends just look up tabs for songs.practice makes perfect…a great song to learn (and i personally prefer finger picking) is “what its like” by everlast and when you get it down switch up the picking pattern goodluck
September 27th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Trust me, it takes a little longer than that 😉
It is, however, with the right tricks, easy to decieve people into thinking you’re good.
I had a teacher for about a month, then i went out on my own. I practised about 6 hours per day. Now i do about 4 hours because i’m trying [and failing] to fit schooling in aswell. I normally end up playing anyway. Chords are great to learn, it wont take long until they become easy. You should also try learning barre chords – they do get easier, and scales too. Then practise simple songs and take it from their.
You just need a bit of concentration, lot of patience, and passion 🙂
September 27th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
I taught my self how to play guitar. I’ve been playing for 5 years. I learned simple chords first from a chord book. Then I practiced changing to different chords by making up random chord progressions. I also found the chords to songs I liked and learned them. Next I taught myself how to finger pick. I practiced finger picking using the chords I had learned. From there I taught myself how to slide and do hammer ons and offs. Around that time I taught myself how to read tabs, then I learned all my favourite songs from tab.
Now I make up my own stuff.
September 27th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
well i wasnt some twit bleeding on scales,,,,
i was an American boy,,,, i learned chords from Mel Bays books
and i loved chords, so many of them and the more i learned i seen that any two notes make a chord,,,,, from there it was east and easy to build…………………then some one offed a piano and from there it was shown true,,,,,,,, any two notes make a chord
i learned to play guitar by to keep ;earning and to do all learned,,, oh yea,,,,,and Mel Bays
September 28th, 2010 at 12:25 am
I had some friends help me out in the beginning and then I also bought the learn and master guitar course, that was helpful in picking up. Apart from that, the only thing that helped me a lot: Practice.
September 28th, 2010 at 1:09 am
I’ve been playing for about a year and a half and I learned chords then progressed slowly. I play every day and just make up stuff. Listen to easy listening guitar songs that are easy. Like:
brighten – single millionaires
Alot of nevershoutnever songs are easy
nevershoutnever – dare4distance
nevershoutnever – what is love?
if you want more let me know. Hopefully this helps 🙂
September 28th, 2010 at 1:48 am
I’ve heard this question a few ways, but I really like the way you put it!
First of all, don’t be fooled. I was labeled as the kid who “got it” over night. The only “it” someone gets is the motivation to play. When I first started playing, I would literally practice for 4 hours a day, because I loved it. That was over 15 years ago, and I still play every day. Not to brag, but because your question has a personal twist, here’s some videos of me playing guitar (scroll down a bit):
http://guitarmann.com/categories/about
To better answer your question though, there are mainly 2 “schools of thought” with learning guitar. One is to learn songs, and one is to learn a method. In other words, you can eat a fish or learn how to catch fish. I would recommend learning a system and then seeing how every song in the world applies to that system. I’ve spent hundreds of hours teaching that system and incorporating it into my site. It will start with chords, teach you some songs, show you some music principles along the way, and take you wherever you want to go with your playing.
Stephen
http://guitarmann.com