Anyone teach themselves to play guitar?

[ken_xman]

As I get older I have been thinking of picking up the guitar more and more. I can read sheet music and play trumpet, tuba, and peck at the piano.
My mother has a 70's Ibanez acoustic that i had re-strung and the guys at the guitar store said it has a great sound and was a really nice vintage guitar.
Most of what I am finding out is the New thing is to learn to play by tabs rather than reading the music. What would you suggest to a newbie? and damn my fingers are sore from pushing down on the neck strings.

open to all suggestions. thanks..Ken

[ken_xman]

forgot to mention I am doing the tabs so far and it kind of seems like cheating to learn a song rather than really play the instrument

[IROC]

I am "self taught", for what that's worth. I can't read music and know essentially zero music theory. Tabs are useful, but unless you're buying transcriptions in a published book, most of what is on the internet is generally wrong or incomplete. I don't see it as cheating..it's all about enjoying playing guitar and if tabs add to that enjoyment, then what the heck.

To me, learning to play guitar is about 90% enthusiasm and the pure love of playing and the other 10% is talent. In other words, if you really enjoy it, you can learn and have fun and play for years without ever being able to play a Stevie Ray Vaughan song note for note. Just keep at it and don't ever let it turn into a chore. It's supposed to be fun.

One other thing is that if you're trying to learn a song, I've found that the biggest key to learning it is to listen. Listen to the song very carefully and take it a little bit at a time. I've even had to listen on headphones to pick up the small nuances of what is going on. Developing the ability to really listen to the song will allow you to pick out what the guitarist is actually doing more easily and you'll soon find yourself almost instinctively figuring things out.

I've been playing for about 30 years and I am honestly not very good, but I love every minute of it and IMHO that's all that matters.

[sammyg2]

Anyone teach themselves to play guitar?

Sort of. I started 35 years ago and I'm far from done
In fact I could be called a terrible player and it wouldn't be that far of a stretch cause I have zero talent. But I can memorize the mechanics and theory and get without talent, sort of. Plus I enjoy it.

Learn the music math first.
Figure what 4ths and 7ths and all that stuff means and how it all works together. Then, learn scales.
Get good at the major and minor scales at least.

THEN..... start playing music. I suggest 12 bar blues first. Strum first, throw in some bass, then eventually improv.

[jeffgrant]

I did.

I started playing the violin when I was really young, and am lucky enough to be able to play by ear. I sucked at sight reading and theory (still do), but play a tape/CD once and I've pretty well got it.

I switched from violin to guitar in the mid-80's. No Internet or fancy/affordable electronics to help learn, so I picked up what was at the time considered the bible; The Heavy Guitar Bible. Basically worked my way through it, and just played and improvised a ton. While watching TV, I was noodling on the guitar... that kind of thing. I also bought the Guitar Player magazines that had the little teaching columns; "practice scales of the month", etc.

Basically, I listen to a song and hear the guitar parts. (Strangely enough, that's my main focus on just about any song I hear; the guitar parts). I usually have no idea what the words to the songs are, but I can hear and visualize the guitar parts.

I'm usually pretty good at knowing how the notes were played (what chord, muted strings, etc), and where on the neck. Then it was just practice and trial and error until what I was playing matched the source.

For some songs/albums, I bought the play books because it was a nightmare trying to figure out the exact fingerings and techniques used. (Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan). The books had the sheet music as well as the tabs, and technique lessons, and explanations of what was going on. They weren't perfect, but they were very close.

I also jammed with other players as much as I could, as you learn a ton doing that. Most of my friends were pretty accomplished jazz/blues musicians, too, which really helped.

Now, though, it's SOOOO much easier to learn, thanks to YouTube and the internet. Find a simple song that you want to play, search YouTube, and you'll probably find an instructional video for it. Not only that, but watching a live performance of the song can be really educational. "Oh... THAT'S how he's playing that".

The biggest thing I'd recommend is to keep it fun. The more fun it is, the more you'll play. The more you play, the better. For me, keeping it new and interesting was buying some effects pedals (delays and flanges and chorus) which led me off into totally different music to learn (Pink Floydish stuff). I wouldn't get too hung up on the music theory at the start... pick a simple song or exercise to play, and figure it out. Just about everyone I know started with Louie Louie because it was stupidly simple. Then you can go and learn what those chord progressions are, and why they work, and what else works with them. Start training your ear. Play some music on whatever you play music on and then try to play those notes on the guitar. Even just a single note representing the chords in the song. Work on building that association between what you hear and what you play. Start developing your picking style.

Actually, before you start that, read up on picks and picking styles. I know it sounds like it should be intuitive and simple, but starting off with a style and technique in mind, and practising and improving on it will really help you out in the long run. I'm sure there are some instructional books out there that cover the various picks you can use, and the different way different players hold them and use them for their styles. For instance, Eddie Van Halen holds his pick so that his first finger isn't holding it, so he can more easily transition to the right hand hammer-ons on the neck. SRV held it differently than that to better facilitate his shuffle style, Jeff Beck is different again because of his finger picking, etc., etc. Personally, I didn't do that, I just picked it up and started strumming not knowing any better. And my style has developed on it's own such that I'm kind of screwed; I can only play with a large Tortex triangle pick because that's what I learned on. Anything else and I have problems, and, to be honest, too lazy to try and change it now.

Couple of other suggestions: start off with easy songs... don't pick hard stuff that's going to discourage you. I usually had one hard song I was working out, a bit at a time, while learning the easier songs.

You can get software for your computer that will play back songs at half or quarter speed, but in the original tone. Slowing stuff down lets you hear more of the intricacies and details that are going on. And on that note, if I can make a suggestion, don't be lazy. If there's a little lick in a song that puzzles you, don't just gloss over it and leave it out thinking "that's good enough". It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine to hear covers where the little things that give the song character aren't there because they were too lazy to put them in. Sure, 95% of the crowd won't know, but that's not the point, if you know what I mean.

If you have an iPhone, there's a pretty cool tuner app called Cleartune that I like.

Get the guitar looked at by a pro before you start. Make sure it's setup reasonably well. Have him tell you what gauge strings it's been set up for, and be sure those are the ones you're using when you replace them. That way the neck and frets are under the proper stress, and the playing action is as it should be and the harmonics are all set up, that kind of thing. It'll make it easier to play, and it'll sound better.

Spend the cash on the newer anti-rust strings. They'll last way, way longer than the cheap ones, and will be easier to play.


Those are my suggestions, but it's not like I'm an expert or anything, so you get what you pay for.

[9dreizig]

I've tried and like you could read music etc. I found a couple of websites,, Justin guitar dot com is excellent for taking you from nothing to actually playing.. However I also got a good instructor locally off craigslist and in my opinion it's worth every penny.
So much about playing guitar isn't about theory or notes it's about the little nuances .
Also someone gave me a great bit of advice, never put the guitar away, have it out so you can pick it up mulitiple times a day,, really helps in the practice dept.

[Head416]

I've been working on it sporadically for the last 20 years. I know five chords and can entertain myself for a bit. Based on that experience... I say take lessons.

[LSA]

I've been playing for ~2 years and I've imporved dramatically. When I was younger I played piano for 8 or so years hated it switched to guitar then gave it up and just started a little while ago. I have a basic understanding of music theory but can't translate it to guitar so I just use tablatures.

The tabs on this website ultimate-guitar.com are pretty good, generally you can't go wrong with the stuff rated 4 or 5 stars it's pretty accurate. Maybe pick up a book or two that are pertinent to your interests I got Amazon.com: Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar (Stylistic Method) (0073999993233): Troy Stetina: Books
and it really has helped my speed develop.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Sort of. I started 35 years ago and I'm far from done
In fact I could be called a terrible player and it wouldn't be that far of a stretch cause I have zero talent. But I can memorize the mechanics and theory and get without talent, sort of. Plus I enjoy it.

You and I need to start a band.

[LWJ]

Not hard to teach yourself but a teacher can accelerate the whole deal. Good advice above. Make it fun. A band is a great way to do this as well.

[ken_xman]

Thanks for all the great info! I am at a point where i think a couple lessons could really help. I am pretty quick learning it but the dexterity needed is just not there yet... my mind goes pretty quick and the hands just cant keep up. I really like the idea of leaving it out instead of back in the closet, even a quick 5 in between can help. I am actually at about an hour per day, but for only 2 weeks. So far my skills are only happy birthday, jingle bells, and hacking at smoke on the water... just the easy bits. Its the left hand stretch that needs most work. The net really helps with looking at form.
Do you always still look at the neck or do you eventually just play by feel? My guess is i am trying to not look and making it more difficult.

[john walker's workshop]

it's been about 50 years since i got my first unplayable stella acoustic for xmas and i still ain't worth a crap, but i amuse myself. i never got into reading music or very deep into theory, although looking back it would have helped massively. i just scratched up most of my 33s learning riffs by ear. way easier these days with digital and the web. replay all you want and no scratches. online tuning any way you want. should be a lot easier to teach yourself now.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by IROC

You and I need to start a band.

LOL, you ever see that movie sling blade?

That's about how I sound

[redstrosekNic]

I taught myself to play the guitar. I can read music from being in marching band in high school. If you learn a few common chords, you'll be happy with how many songs you can play along with. Your fingers will kill you until you build up the skin on the tips of your fingers...

[azasadny]

Our friend and music minister at church taught our son Daniel to play the bass and Dan had been taking piano lessons for years and can read music, which made things much easier. After Dan learned how to play the bass, he taught himself the guitar, mandolin, ukelele, drums and keyboard (synthesizer). I think having a good solid foundation on the piano really makes it easier to learn additional instruments.