Playing Guitar

[MTSUDaff]

Haven't been on in a while, but I need advice from fellow VNers.

I bought an acoustic (Yamaha) the other night because I've been putting off learning to play for years because of other stuff (school, marriage, CPA studying, anything you can think of), but I figured it was time to just get to it.

I want to know if it is really feasible to teach myself online, or if it is worth it to pay and get lessons from an instructor? I played French horn (I was a nerd) when I was younger, so I know more than someone who has never studied music at all, but it's been a long time and I'm beyond rusty.

What say you?

And for those who started around my age (30), how long did it take you to really pick up on it to where you were playing, and not just doing basics?

TIA!

 

[mdrew27]

Teach yourself. It's not hard after you do some research. I have the guitar tabs app, which is awesome. Every good player I know taught themselves. But trust me when I say this....... You need to put in a lot of time. A LOT. Most people start playing when they have a lot of free time.

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

As someone who tried to teach myself (and failed miserably) I'd recommend lessons. Of course I have a couple of friends who are self taught and are pretty good. I guess it depends on your determination.

 

[IBlvNTmWrk]

Much like anything else, it's always possible to develop some bad (incorrect) habits when teaching yourself anything (e.g. golf, skiing, basic typing skills... and playing the guitar). So imo it really depends on how proficient you want to be.

 

[Gator H8R]

Just put in a lot of time. Start with learning a couple basic chords. Then once you have those down start progressing through those chords. Try some different combinations and just bunch back and forth until you get smooth. Once you have the first few down pat, start throwing in a few new chords. It isn't hard, it just takes time.

 

[govols/cc]

I bought one but gave up. YouTube is full of good stuff.

 

[kiddiedoc]

I have played piano since age 6 and guitar since around 14. With quite a few years of classical piano instruction under my belt, I still feel like I benefitted immensely from guitar lessons. I only took for a couple of years, but establishing good technique and having someone direct your practicing will pay off.

I know that many guitar players are self-taught, but my experience with friends has been that most who attempt it never develop much skill or burn out with early frustration.

In a Nutshell (which is, by the way, a great early song to learn): unless you just can't afford them, get lessons.

 

[volinbham]

How's your ear? If you have a good ear then self teaching can work.

I started playing in my 30s - I just mess around but have a good ear so I can figure some basic stuff out.

One thing that worked for me was learning the major and minor chords (including bar(sp?) form) and the minor then major pentatonic scale. If you learn the 1, 4, 5 progression (basic 12 bar blues) and the minor pentatonic you can play along with a ton of rock songs. I used to just play while watching TV or listening to music.

Tab helps too but I'm much more aural than visual so I can use tab if I know how the guitar part of a song sounds but not so much if I don't.

 

[milohimself]

If you wanna be able to just pick it up and play a couple songs at a party or what have you, you could probably teach yourself that.

If you're interested in actually becoming a skilled guitarist, then lessons are 100% worth it

 

[dmac17]

Check out the lessons on ultimate-guitar.com. They cover most anything from the basics to advanced techniques, plus you can find tabs or chords for just about any song you'd like to learn on there.

 

[volinbham]

I'm just a hobbyist so take this with a grain of salt. The + of lessons I found was learning some tricks of the trade like all the variations around the D-chord or other configurations that allow easy access to many chord variations. Otherwise, the lessons lagged and didn't do a whole lot for me. Again, I'm basing this on being a hobbyist rather than serious player AND having a good ear.

At a minimum, I think you need to try several different teachers to find ones that get you where you want to be.

 

[VIF]

I taught myself with the help of a good CD. The instructor on the CD was a music professor and I was playing simple songs the first day. I started 2 years ago and now have a repertoire of about 30 songs. I try and practice about an hour a day.

 

[Chris4Vols22]

Play what you like. Don't waste your time doing instructional books unless you really like the music (most sane people don't).

Maybe some day you'll be as good as me, the best guitarist on VN.

Probably not though.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

Get a cheap little tuner and get the thang in tune or it won't be very satisfying. Then learn a two or three or four of the easiest chords. Not saying don't take lessons; just saying, don't wait for that and use that lack as an excuse. Do it for yourself, and have fun!

 

[amazingGRACE]

Teaching yourself isn't too hard if you don't want to pay for lessons.

I taught myself how to play guitar and piano all from just watching YouTube & by ear. I can't read a lick of sheet music but I can read guitar tabs a little bit.

Learning bar chords are totally easy..