Learn How To Play Guitar & Guitar Accessories

Question: Is it easy to teach yourself guitar?

(Posted by: Saaam. on 2009-07-28 13:33:48)

I reallyyy want to teach myself to play accoustic guitar, but i cant afford lessons i was just wondering whether anyone has, and how they went about it? thankyouu.x

Posted by: BlueApple on 2009-07-28, 13:39:22

You can do it! You just need to buy some guitar music that shows you how to make the chords by putting dots on lines. Best wishes to you. And don't give up too soon. It makes your fingers really hurt for a few days but then they toughen up and you start to enjoy it. You also have to believe that all chords are possible for your fingers, some of them are really tricky and take quite a few attempts but it's so worth it.

Posted by: Luke on 2009-07-28, 13:40:28

It will take longer to teach yourself. although, you will be much more unique with your playing style. If your motivated, you'll succeed. You have to keep it up to become a good player (obviously). And you'll love it when you can do your own thing. I suggest buying books for beginners on technique and easy songs to get going with. When your confident with that, start to learn how to improvise to cd's. Don't stick to one genre. You need to explore what's around you to adapt to become a good player. Also, after you have learned a good number of songs from books that teach you first. Try going onto sites such as ultimate-guitar.com where you can search for almost any song you know. That also has good lessons for you to use and other things you need to know. CD lessons are also a good way to learn. I suggest buying something from the lick library selection. Oh. Youtube is also great for lessons etc. Good Luck with it all. If you need any help or advice, you can contact me :)

Posted by: hayleyseviour2000 on 2009-07-28, 13:42:38

Hi sounds cool that you want to play the guitar. maybe have a look online for lessons in your local area or find some info in the library or something. good luck :-)

Posted by: Qingda on 2009-07-28, 14:12:24

Yes, it can be done but it will be much quicker if you can get someone to show you a few basics. If my mate 'Olly' hadn't shown me a couple of chords 40+ years ago, I might never have stuck with it to become the gigging musician (amateur) I am today. Teaching myself meant I developed a couple of bad habits that have actually cramped my style over the years and, to be honest, it was many years before I really mastered major barrés and laying changes over them. If you don't know what they are ... you will because you'll find there are things you want to do but can't and then, when you work it out (or someone shows you) you'll find you need major barrés. An advantage of teaching yourself is that you learn theory by working it out for yourself. This means you see it from a different perspective and understand it intuitively so, while a traditionally tutored player is working out how to do something, you've done it and moved on. You get a better 'feel' for playing (at least I think so) because, without that feel, learning without a tutor becomes too unrewarding and you wouldn't stick with it. Buy a very basic book and learn how to hold your guitar, especially how to hold the neck. If you don't get that right, you are building up trouble for yourself. Learn a few chords. Buy a songbook of songs you know with chord shapes shown and learn to play them. Practice until you can change chords instantly, without thinking. Keep going when you fingers get sore. Surgical spirit will help toughen your finger tips. Concentrate on getting a fluid movement in your right wrist. Too many players prod at the strings as though their wrist is made of wood. Experiment with different ways of playing the same series of chords - different strums, harder, softer, with plectrum, without plectrum, one note at a time, ascending or descending, picking each string with a different finger tip ... anything to get a feel for it and to develop your ear. Properly trained guitarists learn to play scales and swear by them. I've never found a use for them but I am not knocking them. The trick is to learn as much as you can, then you can choose how and when to use it. I cannot choose to use a tool I never acquired. Properly trained guitarists also learn to read music and to translate it into guitar fingerings. Something else I can't do which restricts my scope. On the other hand, I can listen, learn and work it out for myself which a lot of trained players can't. You might want to learn to read TAB or one of the other guitar notations. They weren't around when I was learning. This is useful because there is a world of difference between playing a guitar and strumming a few chords. There's nothing wrong with strumming chords but you can add so much individuality and expression if you are able to move beyond them. For that you need good fingering techniques (both hands) and a good ear or the ability to read some sort of notation. Sorry I'm rambling because I am passionate about guitar playing. It is not easy - nothing worthwhile is - but it is easy to get started and to start feeling good about it. I'm still learning.