TFP Guitar Lessons

[Daoust]

So, I'm sure there's a bunch of you on the TFP who play guitar. I just received a left handed acoustic Yamaha last night as a gift.

I'm about to embark on a musical journey. I know it's going to be very hard to pick up, but I'm super pumped.

Guitar players on TFP - tell me who you are and your experiences learning to play for the first time. Did anyone start learning at the age of 26 or older???

Any good lessons, or practical tips for learning how to play??? Let's hear it.

[ratbastid]

I was an early starter with music in general, and guitar was no exception. I started playing in sixth grade, something like 20 years ago.

My advice is, find a local teacher. We can't really correct your technique mistakes over the internet. For instance, I learned on my own for several years--playing by ear along with Satriani solos (or trying to), learning out of books etc. I developed a very poor technique habit of anchoring my picking hand on the guitar body with my pinky just below the strings. It wears me out and slows me down, but still frequently if I'm fingerpicking or flatpicking, I'll look down and DAMMIT, my pinky is glued to the guitar.

A teacher can catch you doing stuff like that and stop you.

That and, don't get discouraged. Guitar isn't an easy instrument to master.

[Martian]

I started on the guitar when I was 18, which means I've been playing the one I have for 4 years now. I've been making music in general since I was 10.

ratbastid is right about technique, self-taught you'll run into problems which will only give you grief down the road. That said :

It all depends on what style you want to play. Classical guitar isn't really something you can teach yourself, but rock guitar is simple enough to learn. I actually started by taking lessons in classical guitar and moved from there to rock by looking up tabulature online for songs I liked. Try www.guitartabs.cc (assuming you can read tab) if there's any particular song you want to learn.

Aside from an aversion to picks that I keep to this day, I now do better with rock guitar than classical. I've been thinking of taking lessons to correct that, though.

[spectre]

I started at 15 and played off and on for about 5 years. Now, 4 years later, I've been playing regularly and have improved. I bought a couple books on how to play. Those weren't really helpful, except that they taught me about tabs. After that, I just went online and downloaded tabs for all songs that I wanted to play.

[divagrrrl]

I have been playing for a year now. Recently I went to have my first lesson, and the teacher was amazed... apparently I had no bad habits. He couldn't believe I had only been playing for a year. Guess I was lucky.

I have been gigging already for 6 months, playing my Taylor 414CE and singing. I have my cover songlist up to about 70 songs, and I play my originals as well.

The advantage I had going into it was the fact that I am educated in music theory and have been singing in bands and writing songs and putting out records and CDs since I was 15, so I had already been around music for 20 years when I started playing guitar.

I know I will never be a virtuoso but I am having fun and making money and thoroughly enjoying myself.

[lpj8]

I began playing 11 years ago. I bought a guitar, taught myself a few chords and picked up the biggest Beatles chord book I could find. After I learned all of the basic chords, I started practicing scales and worked on my picking/strumming dexterity.
A few years ago, I took lessons, and I had learned a few bad habits that were somewhat difficult to correct. It took some time, but it wasn't too terrible in my case. If you have some natural music ability (sense of rythm, good pitch) I think you could probably teach yourself the basics pretty quickly. If you want to be a virtouso guitarist, then you may want to consider lessons from the get go.

In short, I'd try to learn three of four chords (G, C, D, E, A, maybe A minor, and E minor) so you can begin playing songs. The sooner you can play a few songs, the longer you'll want to play and it will be more likely that you'll want to practice. You can play a long with ton of music with only the G, C, and D chords.

I hope this helps

[Daoust]

It does, thanks. I am learning G, D, Em, and A. C is a hard chord for me. Keep in mind I've only been playing for a week. I am loving it though. I'm loving that my fingers are hurting all the time...

I'm halfway though my learning my first song... "Today I Started Loving You Again" by Merle Haggard. Should be good.

[Charlatan]

I've been noodling around with the guitar my wife and kids gave me for Christmas two years ago... I don't have nearly as much time as I would like to practice...

I am mostly self taught.

My favourite songs to play are Wonderwall and Heart of Gold. I find it very difficult to sing and strum at the same time. I don't think my mind works that way.

[zfleebin]

I have been playing guitar for around 10 years and for the last 4 I have been learning flamenco. I started learning from my friends that played guitar but sought training after the first year. Then I took classes in classical guitar for about a year before running off to college and I have spent the rest of my time trying to undo those lessons. I think the most important tips I can give you are that you should be comfortable playing the guitar and the only pain you should ever feel is from the tips of your fingers (in the beginning). People that develop pain in their wrists or hands while playing are usually holding the guitar wrong or too tightly and need to work up their finger strength. One way to know if your holding the neck wrong is if your hand touches the side of it while playing without using bar chords. Another way is to hold a chord and then try and slide it down the neck while keeping your fingers firmly holding the strings. If you are using your thumb to create most of the pressure (which is bad) this will be difficult. Two other things that are important are to practice with a external source of rythm such as a metronome and always keep your guitar tuned (at least to itself). Good luck and keep us updated on how your progressing.

[quadro2000]

Be patient with your fingers. The hurt will (pretty much) go away in a while, and the tips of your fingers will become numb. This is a good thing.

And it's never too late to learn! Good for you!

[lpj8]

Soon you'll develop callouses on your fingers. Its great because you won't feel much on your finger tips. You can take stuff right out of the toaster and the microwave.

Just a small, and often overlooked, perk of playing guitar.

I second the use of a metronome. Another good strategy is to play along with actual song your learning. It will help you get the timing down for strumming. Finally, I'd find someone who has a little experience playing, and have him show you a few things. A lot of guitar "breakthroughs" that I experienced were from friends who were just a little better than I was.

[Daoust]

The music teacher at the school where I work is in a few bands, so he does know a thing or two about guitars. He is coaching me. Thanks for all your feedback, TFPers. It's great!

Charlatan, I feel the same way about singing and playing at the same time. I find it hard to concentrate on both things at the same time. I understand that the two things are just supposed to become automatic over time, and they will, but it's the getting to that point that will test my ability to edure hardship.

[spectre]

Originally Posted by Daoust

Charlatan, I feel the same way about singing and playing at the same time. I find it hard to concentrate on both things at the same time. I understand that the two things are just supposed to become automatic over time, and they will, but it's the getting to that point that will test my ability to edure hardship.

It'll come quicker then you think. It's just a matter of knowing the song well enough that you don't need to think about what you have to play next.

[Charlatan]

For me it isn't a matter of knowing the song it's a matter of rhythm... I start to stum in time to my voice or sing in time to my strumming... Of course I find it difficult to walk and chew gum so that's probably my downfall...