Teaching myself guitar

[Strider1002]

So... how hard is it to learn guitar on your own? I'm probably going to get the "for dummies" book on learning guitar, and I'm already musically inclined, but still... any tips?

 

[SGM4HIM]

There are a great deal of guitar chord charts and online videos to get you started. There are also many books and dvds you can buy.

However, it helps to have other friends that will help encourage you to play. It also helps to have others that are more advanced than you, to help speed up the process and show you short cuts and theory.

You can learn 3 or 4 chords and play many songs within 3-6 months.

Go for it!

 

[Strider1002]

Sounds good. There's an "Acoustic Guitar for Dummies" pack that I'll probably get. It has the guitar, a tuner, picks, a book and CD. Looking forward to learning.

 

[SGM4HIM]

Amazon gives it a pretty good review. I am not familiar with the product or guitar. Sometimes inexpensive guitars have a lot of space between the string height and frets. This can be frustrating and painful to learn if you have to pressed down real hard to get a sound out of it. It usually takes practice to get a clear sounding chord but this will come with time.

If the string height is unbearable you can get the "action adjusted". It might not be worth it on a cheap guitar, and you may want to get a more expensive guitar if you find out guitar playing is for you.
A guitar tuner is good and will save much time and frustration.

If you are into Christian contemporary music here's a cool site with videos and song charts Worship Together: New Worship Songs Music and Resources

 

[Flowerandthevine]

Hi there,
I taught myself guitar. Had a few lessons here and there. I play piano so I can read music. Learning barre chords now.
Much luck on your journey!

 

[EyeofTheBeholder]

I taught myself guitar as well, I wouldn't look at guitar being hard but more unfamiliar with and with anything else the more you have it in your hands the better you will get at it. youtube and ultimate-guitar.com have a bunch of free lessons and what not. Just remember most important thing is to have fun.

 

[oi_antz]

Look up how to do power chords. When you know how to do power chords you can play along with almost any song. I learned all the Nirvana songs using power chords, it's real easy because it's just three strings in the same pattern, and when you don't have to concentrate so much on your fingers you can concentrate on your strumming and then progress to more technical when you get the hang of it.

Here: Guitar Power Chord Lesson

Notice that power chords are the same pattern wherever you place it on the neck.

 

[mysterE]

I started playing guitar in 1968. I would watch other guitarist and try to do what they did. I wouldn't recommend this method. The internet has a lot of begining guitar instructions, and guitar manufacturers like Fender and Epiphone promote guitar playing to sell more instruments. It's a great way to worship wheather in a church or just one on one with God.

I have 2 children that I've been teaching by request at their own speed and my daughter is playing on the worship team along with secular open mic's after playing for only 2 years. She has a spot in a music festival in a couple of months. I'm proud of my kids.

I'm encouraged with people that have musical desires.

 

[TakeOverMe]

I've always wanted to play on a worship team. The power chord approach is fun at first, but don't stop just there like I did. I'm starting to get back into it. This time, I'm going acoustic. Hopefully, I'll be good enough to be part of the worship team.

 

[Rose of Eden]

So... how hard is it to learn guitar on your own? I'm probably going to get the "for dummies" book on learning guitar, and I'm already musically inclined, but still... any tips?

I started teaching myself to play the guitar too! I've been playing for several months now and I'm not going to lie, it hasn't been easy (and it's not my first instrument; I've played other instruments for years and people have called me "musically inclined" before as well). But even though it's been difficult, it has been very rewarding! I can now play and sing some easy songs with easy chords, though not very well but it's still a progress and it's still very fun! I've been using the free set of guitar lessons that came on Garageband with my Macbook (haha!) as well as song chords and tabs online and various Youtube videos to help me out. I plan on starting guitar lessons with an instructor soon (when I have some more money!) to hopefully get much better!

Also, I personally don't believe in the idea of being "musically inclined." I truly don't think anyone is (well, except for a few extremely gifted people, I suppose, like child prodigies). I truly believe that the only way to really succeed with any instrument is to be truly dedicated, to practice A LOT, and to never give up!

Good luck!

 

[EyesOfKohl]

Learn how scales, chord progressions and chord formations work, then you'll be set

 

[tapi]

Having played both acoustic and electrical guitar almost all my life and in a lot of bands, I gotta recommend the beginner course on http://www.justinguitar.com/ for you guys. It's free but totally on par with ANY web guitar course. It covers the basic stuff really well in a easy to learn and rewarding fashion way: you get to make play real music and not just do mechanical exercises. Almost all the lessons are in video format easily watchable through Youtube, too

 

[English_Guy]

I am self taught - I went from being hopeless (no pitch, no rhythm) to playing in bands & teaching because I was so desperate to learn. Guitar is not an immediate instrument in that you have to work to get a decent sound at all but once you get past that stage it is a lot easier. Here are a few thoughts from my experience:

Good advice is always listen to what you do - how good does it sound. (It seems obvious but so many people treat playing as a numbers game 'do this, do that & it will alll be fine')

Tune your guitar every time you play & your ear will get used to the sound of being in tune & spot when it isn't.

Relax & don't press too hard - if you press too hard it 'locks' your fingers down & slows your playing.

Try & have an idea of what you want to do. Guitar is a large area - focus on the skills you want.

If you have a problem area zoom in on it. Many people waste time playing the parts they can do to practice the part they can't.

All the best with learning to play
Guy

 

[11822]

I'm teaching myself guitar also. I found a good website that has many training videos that you can buy or you can become a member and use all the videos just for the price of the membership. They offer a free 30 day trial period for an account, so you can use all their stuff for 30 days for free and see if you like it, and its easy to sign up for the membership. I highly recommend this website, they have training courses for beginners, intermediate and advanced guitar players that cover just about every style you can think of, they have some really cool stuff.

I think the most important thing in learning anything, especially guitar, is not getting discouraged in the beginning, the beginning is the hardest, don't get discouraged and give up, just take your time and eventually you will learn, anyone can learn to play, all they need to do is be patient and go slow with everything until they learn it, the speed will come naturally later on. There are different ways to play guitar, some are easy and some are not so easy, but any way of playing can be learned if a person doesn't get discouraged and keeps practicing. But starting out with simple stuff is best i think. You don't need to learn how to read music to learn guitar, but learning how to read a chord chart is needed, but that's not hard.


Here's the link:

TrueFire - Guitar Lessons - Learn How to Play Guitar Online

 

[11822]

Your fingers will hurt in the beginning also, but they will become tough over a short period and they won't hurt anymore.

 

[11822]

Having played both acoustic and electrical guitar almost all my life and in a lot of bands, I gotta recommend the beginner course on Free guitar lessons : Complete Beginners Method and loads of Blues, Jazz and rock : Learn how to play Guitar free here! for you guys. It's free but totally on par with ANY web guitar course. It covers the basic stuff really well in a easy to learn and rewarding fashion way: you get to make play real music and not just do mechanical exercises. Almost all the lessons are in video format easily watchable through Youtube, too

Thanks. This website will help me a lot also.

 

[English_Guy]

Also remember these days that there is a wealth of free stuff on youtube. I have been playing for 35 years but I still use it to learn cover versions & new tricks - saves a lot of time.

 

[If Not For Grace]

Keith Richards, Tom Petty & Others say they learned by watching others and by listening and twittling around till they could copy sounds as well.

They also point out that it was better to start out with a good USED guitar.
Richards says start acoustic for the foundation and I would have to say I
can't think of anyone who's done it as well as he has for as long as he has.

Pawn shops are a musician's friend as are the classified.

 

[ekcol]

Check out Marty Schwartz, I learned the beginner chords in a few weeks and I'm now able to play tons of songs. The videos are really good and he's very good at teaching. Good luck my friend!

 

[Perennial]

I know that this is quite an old thread, but as it's still on the first page, I thought that there might still be people who come to it looking for advice on teaching themselves how to play guitar, so I wanted to offer my own tips. I gravitate heavily towards metal and hard rock, but these are useful skills for any genre.

You'll want to learn about the following (wall charts are good):

- The fretboard and where notes are situated on it
- The major scale
- The minor scale
- The pentatonic scale
- The minor pentatonic scale
- The blues scale
- Major chords
- Minor chords
- Power chords
- Seventh chords*
- Augmented chords*
- Suspended chords*
- Guitar tablature ("tabs")
- Sheet music

It's a lot of theory work, but if you give yourself a good grounding in theory before you pick up that songbook, you're going to find it infinitely easier to get the hang of exactly where, when, how and why you need to do things such as sustains, hammer-ons, legato slides, tremolos, bends, trills, harmonics, vibratos, ghost notes and the likes - getting a good book on guitar terminology will help you understand just what people are talking about when they spew out these words, too.

I personally can't stand the Dummies books and I tell everybody who will listen that if they're serious about learning guitar, the Dummies books will make them want to throw their guitar across the room. I'd suggest going into your favourite music store and enquiring about lessons, charts, songbooks and books specifically for different things. I would advise against getting all-rounder beginner's books: these books are the reason that so many beginners achieve a lacklustre sound, as they skip over important care and play techniques. Ask about books relating specifically to chords, specifically to scales, specifically to reading tablature and the likes.

* Don't bother with these chords until you've mastered all of the listed scales and the other listed chords. These will be way too hard at such an early stage, and without learning the other things first, you won't have the necessary grounding information.

- - -

Similarly, don't pick up the first guitar that you see. Be prepared, especially in the world of electric guitars, to spend over $300 if you want a quality guitar. Certain brands will be cheaper than others - you can achieve with a $600 Schecter the exact sound quality that you'd receive with a $1000 Jackson. You don't need to go all out: immediately turn away from guitars with wammy bars / floyd roses, floating bridges and lockable tuning pegs (if you don't know what these are - don't worry! Tell the sales assistant that you want to avoid them). These are too advanced for a beginner to bother with, and unless it's the only guitar that you'll ever have - and trust me, it won't be - they're like buying a puppy with two tails.

Do not purchase a beginner's pack. The guitars are poorly made and the amps will make even a brilliant guitar sound inferior. Do not import your guitar, as the guitars are disassembled during shipping and this permanently alters the guitar. Go to your music store and speak to the sales assistant. Pick up a few different guitars from a few different brands. Hold them standing, hold them sitting, and strum them. Don't be afraid of sounding silly - you don't have to plug it into an amp if you don't want to. The sales assistant should be more than happy to plug the guitar in and play it for you if you want to hear it through an amp.

Hold the guitar level to your eyes and look down the neck. Follow the strings to make sure that the neck isn't tilting to one side or another. Inspect the guitar for cracks, scratches or other defects. Give the guitar a good, hard shake - no rattling? That's good. Play the guitar on the very last fret (this is the fret closest to the pickup) on the top string. Is it buzzing? Put that girl back and pick a different one - for your first guitar, it's not worth getting her professionally tailored. It's better to pick the perfect one straight away. Above all, make sure that she's comfortable. Flying Vs look great if you want to go for a heavy metal look, but they're ridiculously uncomfortable to most people.

When you find the baby that's right for you, don't let the sales assistant get you a stock one. There is such a thing as a guitar lemon. Buy the exact guitar that's in your hands. Ask the store if they'll be kind enough to tune it for you and perform a minor service - this should be free of charge.

You don't need to spend an absolute fortune to get a good guitar, but you should still look at the decent brands. If you want to get a Fender, you don't have to jump straight into a Telecaster - go for a Squire instead. If you want to get a Schecter, you don't have to go straight for a Hellraiser - you can get an Omen Extreme. For your first guitar, though, unless you're absolutely set on it, don't bother getting a Jackson or a Les Paul.