What's the best method for learning guitar?
 

I got my first good acoustic guitar in high school. I messed around with it, learned a few chords and songs, but never got good at it. Fast forward 25 years later and I still have the same guitar and know the same basic chords. I've practiced some recently and learned some new stuff by looking up guitar tabs on the internet and playing along with songs on Youtube.

I bought a cheap used electric (Epiphone Les Paul Studio) yesterday hoping to motivate myself. ;) What's the best way to get to the point I can actually play one of these things?

Ask some local musicians who the best guitar instructor in town is, then give him/her a call.

+1

The best "teach yourself" resources available can't match the learning effectiveness of a good, hands-on instruction, IMO. Good luck.

Lessons.

And practice. Practice. Practice. Practice.

A problem in this age of instant gratification.

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Is that you Tim? Not bad. I was in Victoria last weekend and the street musicians there SUCKED. You need to get out there and imporve the pool a bit.

Lee, if you can drive out to my distant outpost, I can give you some pointers sometime.

Who is that guy? I remember seeing a youtube video of his review of a Suhr Badger. Good guitar player...

i think its a hard question to answer without knowing more about a person's talents, interests, natural skills, discipline..etc. these days, there are some great DVD's, books, teachers, youtube lessons, etc....

for me, the thing that got me playing really well, was by playing along with records. both the chord changes and the scales. you do need some basic info first though...take a few lessons

now days, one of the greatest ways to improve your playing is by using a looping pedal. you can create rythms and improvise over them etc....

all my old 33s are worn out from playing along with them. i still have boxes of them that no record store would ever buy. CDs are so much better. get into the local open mics. it forces you to improve.

Nope. But I'm trying.

Use tablature to start getting used to the mechanics of playing, while you incrementally learn music theory. There are numerous websites with tabs for essentially any song you can think of. If you have good basic rhythm, you will be playing your favorite songs within days to weeks, depending on the amount of practice time you have.

As has been mentioned, there is no way around practice time. It takes a lot of it, but it becomes addictive and very enjoyable as muscle memory grows.

That depends on what kind of music you listen to. If you're an Eric Johnson disciple, reast assured, it will be years before you can plan anything of his and make it recognizeable. But most mainstream or classic rock can be copied enough to give you some satisfaction and sense of advancement.

I used to play along with LP's and cassettes. That's how I learned everything by ear. Now with the Internet, I've gotten sooooo lazy. I just Google the title of the song plus "TAB" and find it right there. It's true that there's no getting around practice. But you need to practice music you enjoy to keep interested in it. When I was seven and got Van Halen I, lessons didn't keep my attention very long while she made me play Love Me Tender and Mary Had a Little Lamb. You need to learn songs you will enjoy playing.

Lessons are probably good. And as others have no doubt said, practice practice practice. But here is an interesting tidbit I heard recently:

There are two types of musicians or at least, learning styles. One is the kind that practices for the purpose of getting better.

The other is the kind that practices because it's fun. I got fairly good at the guitar and bass, but I do not remember ever practicing for the purpose of getting good. I played because it was fun. Golfers are the kind of people who, when they encounter challenge......bear down. With music practice, the challenge of 'getting' a song needs to be its own reward. When I was active in playing music, hours would roll by while I "practiced."

If you have Netflix, there are some good DVDs available from Fred Sokolow on blues, slide and chord progression. Another good resource to help you along is the "Guitar Fretboard Workbook" available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0634049011/bookstorenow600-20

and practice, practice, practice even if it's just 15 minutes a day.

True. The approach one takes, I believe, depends primarily on one's personality. Secondarily, it depends on what YOU want to get out of it or NEED to get out of it.

As a general rule though, I think that (assuming you have the requisite skills) if you have fun and enjoy the process, you will be motivated to play and learn and grow. The guitar is an exceptionally complex instrument - if you want it to be. It can also be very simple and almost crude. It all depends on you and the goals you have...

The bottom line I think is, if it aint fun to you, you probably will never progress because you will stop picking it up and another 25 years will go by.

Its probably not accurate to compare golf and guitar though. playing an instrument is about pure expression of one's feelings. Golf is a game and doesnt require an aesthetic or artistic expression. I do not think one can be a very good guitar player or even enjoy trying to play guitar, without that artistic drive to express one's self via music

True, but there is another reason for my use of this analogy. I can remember clearly what it was like when I was learning. I'd play a lick, and get it wrong. Similar to a golfer taking a shot and messing it up. At this point, many people become frustrated and give up. That is the opposite of my approach. When I could see that I was not playing it well, it increased my focus and my interest. My response was to BEAR DOWN. Practicing was not for the purpose of practicing. It was not work. It was play. But it was play with a determined focus. Once in a while I would get it right. Like a golfer making a good shot. Those instances were SOOOOO satisfying that I just HAD to repeat it.

true. ide agree with that.

i used to golf, so i get the comparison regarding the mental determination

there is no doubt that learning the guitar requires extreme determination and "bearing down" as you say. absolutely

I am learning guitar. I started about 8 months ago.

I did lessons at first, and they did help, but $100 a month is pretty steep. What I am currently doing (and wish I had done in the first place) is "Learn and Master Guitar". It's a 20 lesson DVD set with an instruction book. The DVDs are very well done and start at the very beginning. You start with parts of the guitar, how to fret, then do some simple scales and simple songs, then chords, etc. If you go through the series at the pace they recommend it is about 18 months total. The set sells for about $150.

http://www.learnandmasterguitar.com/

Each lesson has a basic lesson, tips and tricks (tuning the guitar, changing strings, etc) and then a workshop where he takes you through the practice part.

It honestly is very very well done and well worth the money.

I will probably pick up lessons again after I complete the series for the more advanced stuff.

Become a fan of AC/DC.
You will be able to learn to play most of their guitar work in a matter of hours ;)

perhaps the most lucid thought you have shared here to date and easily the most amusing.

When I first started, and I mean during the time when it was terribly difficult to string three notes together.....I played Black Sabbath.

LOL, not to say I'm not a fan of AC/DC or black sabbath, I am. It's just that most of their guitar licks are not exactly what I would call complicated.

Sometimes simple is better anyway.

“If you play more than two chords, you're showing off.” - Woody Guthrie

If you like AC/DC, by all means, learn their stuff. It's not hard, but it will keep you interested. Angus has always been great for power chords and a killer raw sound. I know what I'm gonna get when I put on any AC/DC album. Nothing wrong with that.

The first song I learned how to play was Stairway to Heaven. Sounds totally cliche, but if you really learn it all the way through, including the solo note for note, it's a very good lesson. Has a bit of everthing in it.

I agree with the practice, play along with songs, etc, but here's another suggestion: Find some other musicians to play with, preferably those with a similar skillset as yours. It'd be ideal if there was another guitar player, one who knew a bit more and was willing to show you the ropes a little. You could start out playing rhythm, and learn as you go.

I dabble in guitar, but have played bass for 20 years in many different types of bands. It's amazing what playing with others will do for your playing ability, timing, appreciation for other styles of music, etc.

Plus, it's fun, and a good excuse to have a beer with friends. SmileWavy

Jim

Another thing to consider is do you feel comfortable with the guitar you bought years ago. If the action is too high or the strings too large of a gauge, did that cause any discouragement?

Maybe a nice setup would be in order before you jump into it again. Just a suggestion.

And one more thing to add, posture. Make sure you sit up straight and hold the guitar like you were Andre Segovia at a concert. You'll fret better and the chords will ring. I catch myself at times hunching over and it makes a big effect on your playing. Good luck.

Lee, if you think your guitar is not set up right, I can definitely fix that. That's one of the few things I do well. I just slapped an old Strat together a few weeks ago I had laying around in parts for the last 10 yrs. and shipped it off to a friend. Plays like a dream. High action, bad intonation, a bowed neck and dirty strings are a huge buzzkill. If it doesn't feel right, you won't want to practice and it won't sound good even if you think you have it tuned right.

I learned a lot of guitar playing along with early AC/DC songs. I used to call it "play along with Malcolm" as many of the songs are really easy. The funny thing is that when you dig slightly below the surface, AC/DC is more complex than it seems. A lot of the rythym parts in the early songs are open chords (vs mindless bar chords) and some of the songs are actually challenging to play well (for me anyway). "Gone Shootin' " and "Riff Raff" come to mind. The actual chords to "Highway to Hell" are tricky. I still can't play "Beatin' Around the Bush".

Go ahead and say, "yeah, but you must suck"... :) That's probably an accurate reflection of my guitar-playing prowess, but I have been playing for about 28 years and I guarantee I have as much fun playing guitar as anybody and I think that's what it's all about.

Oh, and one more thing. In my 28 years of playing, I've taken approximately two months worth of lessons. The very best thing the guy taught me (the only thing, actually) was to sit down and transcribe stuff on your own. Figuring out how to play something requires a hidden talent - being able to listen. I was trying to play songs that I had listened to for years, but found I had never really listened to them. I spent about a week learning some of the solos to the Thin Lizzy version of "Whiskey in the Jar" and found that I had to put headphones on and really concentrate on exactly what was going on.

Once you adopt this method of learning songs (vs using tab) it makes it alot easier to pick up new songs as your ear becomes trained to figure out what the guy is doing and your hands just start playing along.

Thanks for all the great advice. I'm much more likely to sit down at the computer and go through a course than I am to schedule a lesson. The trick is finding something that's actually worth the time. I'm going to check out some DVDs from the library. I've got a friend who probably has about the same (lack of) skill level as me. I'm going to try and get him to commit to getting together on a regular basis to play.

Rick - I'd like to get your opinion on my guitar's set up. I definitely have a case of, "I don't know what I don't know."

Hey, doesn't Jeff play guitar too? He's a lot closer to your house than I am. I'm probably headed to San Diego for the weekend and I don't know when I can get down to your area. But if you're up this way, let me know.

while i would recommend you do get together with your friend to have some fun, dont expect much progress if he is at the same "lack of" skill level as you.

in order to progress by playing with people, you both need to have enough skill to at least play, for example, a 12 bar blues progression so that you can back one another up.

This is how you explore the fret board. Eventually you will see and hear how the notes all fit.

However, if you both stink (no offense) then you may both be running in circles together -- which of course can still be fun but not all that productive. It is much more helpful if you have a good player to mess around with. You will be much more inspired and certain tihngs will rub off on you quickly

Ive been playing for 24 years now. I learned how to play simply by playing over and over, by ear, along with LPs, tapes, CD's, 4-track recordings, watching players, occasionally looking at books to see the scales and chords.

Ultimately, it was the absolute burning desire to want to be a good player that made me a good player. It was and to an extent remains, a total obsession like no other obsession ive ever had.

If you are a bit obsessed with the desire to play well, you will get off your butt, get some reference materials and begin playing often and soon you will see some improvement that will only make your motivation stronger

One technique that I have used to stay interested is to attempt to learn different techniques that I like to listen to. Sometimes I will go into a random alternative tuning period for a year, or I might spend 6 months studying the flatpicking technique of Doc Watson, I may spend 5 weeks playing just open slide tuning ala Muddy Waters.... for the past 2 or 3 years, ive played almost nothing but reggae

explore on the guitar, the types of music you love to listen to and you will find plenty of inspiration to keep you interested for a lifetime

the "Estaban" way ...........from HSN it even includes the guitar and amp for $199

Get a copy of Guitar Hero III for your xBox and be done with it! ;)