Guitar Lessons - I'm going to do it!

Are there any guitarists here? How long have you been playing? What type of music do you play? Self taught or lessons?

I've been wanting to learn to play the guitar for ages, and have finally decided that this is the time. I've contacted the local music store and will be stopping by tonight to sign up. I'm not sure which instructor they'll pair me up with, however. From their web site, they have instructors that specialize in everything from speed metal to country. My goal is to eventually learn to play classic rock.

Any tips, suggestions, comments that I should ask for or look into when signing up?

Thanks!

dang ol' hippy...

This is pretty cool and you can try before you buy. https://guitarjamz.com/premium/ Some of his videos are on YouTube too.

My youngest (twins) started with Rock Band, and now they are one. Good luck.

I took lessons with Jack Pearson. He and I became good friends and it was always a treat to meet the folks who would come for lessons. It was, and is, a pretty advanced crowd.

He has an on-line guitar academy at this url.

https://www.jackpearsonguitar.com

There is more material there than anyone could absorb in years of self study.

I see there is a quote from J. D. Simo on the home page. If you've ever seen J. D. play, you would never think that he would consider lessons. But J. D. is just one example of the myriad of professional players that stop and take a lesson with Jack when they're in Nashville.

I highly recommend him. And, not only is he one of the all time great guitarists, he's a really good guy. Very big heart. Very humble.

He's definitely one of the best.

Edit: A few other thoughts related to the OP.

There are lots of things to learn, and some are easily learned from books, or from experiment. But there are other things that are easy to miss. You may be lucky in that you don't have a lot of stuff to unlearn.

Sometimes it's useful to get the perspective of other teachers on your play too. I spent a little time with Roland White (he had taught his little brother, Clarence White, to play guitar, although he made no claims to being a guitarist himself. He did play the guitar professionally as part of Bill Monroe's band though). Roland taught me several useful things. I also spent some time with Shane Roberts. Shane is an incredible talent who is largely unknown.

Any of these guys will tell you that one of the first things you should do if you're serious is to literally memorize the fretboard. It seems unnecessary if you just intend to play a few songs.... but if you want to make progress as a musician, instant knowledge of every note, and strong background in scales, chords, chord progressions, and arpeggios is the starting point. You could consider a few lessons, or something like Jack's guitar academy, and then focus on self study. There's plenty to learn.

google guitar tabs , the easy way to learn songs on a guitar (reading traditional music is HARD)

I took lessons on violin, trumpet, and piano. I learned guitar on my own. Most of that learning occurred playing with others. Jamming with others is usually mutually beneficial. You learn something from them and also show them something they didn't know.

I'm currently learning using the excellent 'Learn & Master' DVD set of lessons by Steve Krenz. Highly recommended.

The lessons require that you also learn how to read music, but that is taught in a more-or-less painless manner.

My advice: Learn basic stuff, preferably on a well set up, quality acoustic steel string. (unless you wish to play classical, which is a whole other specialization)

Although I began the course this fall, it's my New Year's resolution to gain a degree of proficiency sufficient to enable playing before an audience!

All you need is to play 15 to 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week. Once the calluses develop on your fingertips, this regimen is not at all arduous.

Rock On!

Yes. 1964. Classic rock, blues, improvisational. Lessons and self taught.

Advice: always keep a guitar in a stand within arm's reach (e.g., of the couch) so you will play every day, even if it's only for a couple minutes. If it remains in a case, you are far less likely to get it out. Acoustic guitars (nylon and steel string) are far more sensitive than a solid body electric to the deleterious effects of high or low humidity (~47% relative humidity is ideal), so I keep an electric in a stand by the couch and play it some or a lot every day. By playing it without plugging it in, it is also less distracting or annoying to others in the house. FWIW, while acoustics and electrics have some different playing characteristics, some different skill lessons they teach you, and different sonic character, it is probably easiest to begin playing guitar on an electric. You do not have to plug it in, and there are headphone style amps in case you want to limit the sound volumes to others.

Mad German said:

Are there any guitarists here? How long have you been playing? What type of music do you play? Self taught or lessons?
I've been wanting to learn to play the guitar for ages, and have finally decided that this is the time. I've contacted the local music store and will be stopping by tonight to sign up. I'm not sure which instructor they'll pair me up with, however. From their web site, they have instructors that specialize in everything from speed metal to country. My goal is to eventually learn to play classic rock.

Any tips, suggestions, comments that I should ask for or look into when signing up?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Kinda-sorta self-taught. Using on-line and DVD instructions mostly. I started out using the lessons in Garage Band which were a big help. I also use Capo (program) to play along with any song in my music library (it helps with cord changes and tempo practice because you have to keep up).

Far from proficient, I'd say I was an moderate beginner. Always put in the time and learn your cords and scales. I had several false starts over the years (used to play bass in several bands before I got married and was asked to "stop making all that noise. After a couple of years I wanted to pick up guitar but had a lot of false starts).

One pitfall is the false economy of a cheap guitar that is so awful to play that you never get past the "it's work" hump so you quit. I bought a $50 starter kit with a Lyonn acoustic and had many false starts over about 5 years. I stumbled across a Martin D15 (mahogany body dreadnought) in a pawn store for a price I couldn't ignore. Once I'd invested a little more I was then faced with committing to the investment but also had a guitar that didn't peel the callouses off my fingers every time I played it.

15 to 30 minutes a day, every day. One day, you'll do your normal practice but later catch yourself thinking, "I want to go practice again." Once that happens you know you've turned the corner and it will forever be "fun" to play and learn.

Rock, Blues, Metal, some old R&R from groups like Canned Heat. Rhythm right now but it's something and it's fun.

Working of Suffragette City as my new deal and it keeps my fingers fumbling over the change up into F. Meanwhile Mike Bloomfield's, "Buried Alive in the Blues" just fell into place and it's something I try to play for fun at least once a week.

Here's one lesson that takes a few basic cords and throws curve balls at you by expecting you to highlight the basic cords with extra bits part way through.



Sold off the D-15 and replaced it with another Martin (GPCPA4 Rosewood - their naming is as bad as bike and car builders). Somewhere along the way, I also picked up an Epiphone Les Paul that I later "traded up" to a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro II. I like the sound of the Gibbie more but it drifts out of tune more than the Epi did. For the cost difference that shouldn't happen. I've had it set up in spite of Gibson touting its Plek system but am taking it to have a new nut (in bone) cut to see if that will make a difference. I also picked up a wonderful tube amp; Marshall DSL40C (had a Fender tube amp in my bass days) that is a joy to play raucously but at 60# doesn't travel unless someone's paying me, so for Xmas I got a Pignose Legendary 7-100 (@ < 10#) that is amazingly spunky for it's small size.

Tip: Get a good local shop you can trust. Guitar Center is losing its luster to me.

They had a "Yogi Berra Day" in Yankee stadium a while ago. Gifted him with some good stuff, like a new car, and for some reason, a piano. A reporter asked him "Yogi, what are you going to do with that piano?"

Yogi answered, "I guess I'll have to get somebody to come over to the house and show me how to play it." Do that.

Mad German,

If you can play a keyboard, disregard this post entirely, and go have fun.

If you play no musical instruments now, I would recommend a keyboard as a good start.

Keyboards are simple, and predictable. You can get any number of keyboard teaching programs for the computer, and the computer has endless patience. You can score a decent Yamaha ( <-TOPIC word!) keyboard with rhythms, "voices" ( like piano, organ, horn, flute, etc.), metronome, tunes, and memory (of what you played), and it will cost about US$40.00~60.00 at the thrift shops. Just make sure that the keyboard has MIDI jacks. A MIDI cord will connect the keyboard to the computer painlessly, for less than US$20.00 at a good music shop. The teaching programs can print out the sheet music of what you play on the screen, as fast as you can play it. These keyboards also have built in speakers; with power plugs and batteries, you can play anywhere with or without power, at any volume you want. Get full-sized keys, not a toy, but you won't need all 88. "Most" of a piano keyboard will do just fine. Have fun.

My experience: guitar lessons were a total waste of time, money, and effort. Everybody wanted me to build brick houses (chords) without ever showing me a brick (notes). Even if I knew where a note might be on the fretboard, my fingers did not. The arrogance of almost any music "teacher" is a complete turn-off. They (apparently) got derided and yelled at when they started, so they think that derision and yelling is what works, to teach others. Keep it, ya creeps!

All IMHO, of course.

Cheers,

Red

infrared said:

Mad German,
If you can play a keyboard, disregard this post entirely, and go have fun.

If you play no musical instruments now, I would recommend a keyboard as a good start.

Keyboards are simple, and predictable. You can get any number of keyboard teaching programs for the computer, and the computer has endless patience. You can score a decent Yamaha ( <-TOPIC word!) keyboard with rhythms, "voices" ( like piano, organ, horn, flute, etc.), metronome, tunes, and memory (of what you played), and it will cost about US$40.00~60.00 at the thrift shops. Just make sure that the keyboard has MIDI jacks. A MIDI cord will connect the keyboard to the computer painlessly, for less than US$20.00 at a good music shop. The teaching programs can print out the sheet music of what you play on the screen, as fast as you can play it. These keyboards also have built in speakers; with power plugs and batteries, you can play anywhere with or without power, at any volume you want. Get full-sized keys, not a toy, but you won't need all 88. "Most" of a piano keyboard will do just fine. Have fun.

Cheers,

Red

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Keyboard first is certainly good advice.

On a keyboard, any particular note appears in one spot.

On the guitar the same note (in the same octave) can appear 3 or 4 different places. Simple example - the 10th fret on the 5th string is the same as the 5th fret on the fourth string, is the same as the open 3rd string, is the same as the 15th fret on the 6th string.... These are all 196 Hz G.

On the keyboard 196 Hz G is playable on one, and only one key.

So ... the guitar offers amazing options for chord inversions, and you can get some combinations that would never be reachable on a keyboard ... but the keyboard is a lot less complicated, and it is the best place to begin if your goal is to actually understand music and how it is put together.

I think that most people learn to play the guitar by learning to play some songs that they like. They learn to play with tablature instead of by reading music (that's OK), and they learn patterns that may be useful again in another song.

One of the jokes in Nashville is that there's no money above the fifth fret. Certainly songwriters tend to stay with simple chord progressions and patterns. It is the studio musicians who spice things up and create the hot licks.

Guitar is sort of like photography. Everyone can play the guitar. Everyone can take a photograph. It is easy to get started in either field. But it's hard to be really good in either field. Lots of people make it, but far more seek than find.

I played a long time ago. IU see these naturals that pick one up and in no time theyre shredding away. I played about 2 years, everyday for at least an hour and was still mediocre. I played till my daughter was born then it drifted away. I still have my seagull acoustic that I pick up here and there. As far as learning went, I played with friends and listened to music, read tabs and figured it out. May be why I sucked. haha

I'm jealous of you musically inclined people. When I was 5 I put my left hand through a plate glass window, severing tendons and nerves. Back then there was no such thing as microsurgery. I lucked out and there was a plastic surgeon who was able to re-attach one tendon in each of two fingers, but they don't work perfectly. I tried to learn guitar but unless I was going to learn to play lefty I was out of luck. (I also don't know how to read music.)

DRUMS, I could have probably learned, but I'm probably too old now. I needed something physical like guitar or drums as a kid, to work out some of the hyperactivity! Oh well, in my teens I started to ride dirt bikes. That led me here, ultimately!

Good luck, Mad German. I hope that it brings you a lot of pleasure!

Smoke on the water baby!!!!!

wheatonFJR said:

Smoke on the water baby!!!!!

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Deep Purple was my first concert...1973

Mad German,

Forgot to say, but you can download the Owners Manual for most electronic keyboards, direct from the factories. The average Yamaha keyboard has pages and pages of options and capabilities that are not familiar to most owners. These .PDF files are word-searchable, so you can instantly find all there is to know about "reverb" or 'tracks" on your instrument.

Most of the keyboard teaching programs for the computer will have some tunes with them, and you can change keys with the click of a mouse. That is useful if somebody wants to sing along, but does not have the vocal range to sing the original music. You would be able to play in a key that is comfortable for them to sing. Changing keys and writing out the results for one song would keep the average music student busy for half a day. Some teaching programs may even be able to read (and play) music from other sources.

Music is magic, in any form. Take the time, and go for the magic!

Cheers,

infrared

I'd suggest starting out with the skin flute....then move to piano....then guitar. You'll have much better hand strength.