Best Way to Learn Guitar

This article is pretty much a summary of what I'd advise guitar beginners to do when approaching learning the guitar. I'm planning to go into more detail in further articles about different aspects I've touched on in this article.

You might be wondering how the famous rock stars from your favourite bands or the highly skilled classical guitar players of the likes of Andre Segovia became so good at guitar. It definitely didn’t happen overnight, and it most likely took a great deal of time and effort for them to get to where they are now. But that’s not to say that you cannot achieve a high standard of playing.

First of all you have to decide on what genre of music you want to play and buy the appropriate guitar. If you’re interested in rock or metal (or most modern) music you definitely need an electric guitar and an amplifier too so that the guitar can be properly heard. On the other hand, if you want to play softer music, such as folk or other acoustic guitar-based styles, you might need an acoustic guitar. A decent guitar can be acquired fairly cheaply nowadays (around $200-$400) and a basic practice amplifier, if you need one, sells for around $100-$200. Auxiliary equipment such as effects pedals may be required at some point to get the sound you want for the genre you are playing, but you can worry about this later.

Once you have the instrument you need there are a number of routes you can take. If you don’t feel comfortable learning things from a book or from videos on YouTube or a DVD then you could look for a guitar teacher in your local area, or if you’re at school there may be an opportunity in the music department to learn. If you choose the self-learning route, there is a seemingly limitless amount of information on the internet; you should have no problems finding the resources you need online.

Now you have to consider what you are going to learn. If you are going to learn from someone else, everything you need to know in the beginning will be familiar to your teacher and he or she will impart it to you. However, if you aren’t taking that route it will be your first task to decide on what you want to learn and find sources of information to accomplish this.

With a basic grounding in music theory it will be much easier for you to learn and write for guitar. It is essential for you to know how to read sheet music, guitar tablature and tune your guitar.  If you have a good understanding of these basics and their associated concepts then you should be ready to start applying them to playing guitar.

Once you know the absolute basics – e.g. how to hold, pick and fret on a guitar – you should start to learn songs written by other people. This will gradually enhance your playing abilities and eventually things you had to greatly pay attention to in the beginning will become second nature to you.

Alongside learning other people’s songs, it would help to learn music theory as it will help you in the future if you wish to write your own music. However, it’s not absolutely necessary if you have a good ear. Some big hits have been written by people with a very limited knowledge of music theory.

Providing you persevere and stay determined to advance in your guitar playing you might reach a point where you want to start playing in a band. It would be wise to start working on your timing if you want to play with other musicians as keeping in time is an integral aspect. Practicing to a metronome and/or backing tracks is the best way to go about building up your abilities in this regard. Also, learning to improvise can be a very useful skill when you’re starting to play with others. This can only be learnt through practice, the development of good hearing and possibly getting to grips with music theory if you really want to have a clear understanding and common language with which to communicate with other musicians. If you stick to it, you might be make it to the stage someday!