How to begin learning to play

[Quakeroatmeal]

I really appreciate my time with my guitar teacher.

Sure youtube is great... and books are a good resource... but nothing beats an in person human being who can tailor a lesson to meet your needs and actually work with you.

For me, my teacher + youtube to supplement has worked out very well for me.

This may not be possible during the pandemic though... but wrapping my brain around text books and diagrams didn't work as well as someone showing me, copying them, and having the direct feedback of a teacher adjusting/correcting me during my practice.

[lowrider]

You don't say that you have a guitar so I'll assume that you don't.

Number one will be to get a guitar. Probably a Yamaha FG or FS, depending which you think will be more comfortable for you.

Next go to JustinGuitar.com and practice, practice, practice.

Or if you heard that old joke about getting to Carnegie Hall as long ago as I did;

the beatnik says (snapping his fingers) ''practice, man, practice''

so true!

[Methos1979]

There are many ways, some better than others, but in the end you have to find what is best for you.

I tried formal lessons and video programs but in the end what worked best for me was just getting a chord book and then learning a few of the easiest open chords and then once I had those down fairly well the next key for me was to find some very simple songs that I know and love where those few chords were used to play.

Once I had the context of an actual song that made me want to play more and learn more. If I'm just doing scales and things that don't have context I get bored or frustrated and move on. Of course this is what I'm not all that great a player and never will be!

But at least I can play and play well enough to perform in open mics and get paid for our acoustic duo performances. You know, back when you could actually do that sort of thing!

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by bobster7

…start with Justin Sandercoe’s beginners course. It’s free and of very high quality.

Hi b-ster

Absolutely great recommendation…

Justinguitar on YouTube is the best jump start free lessons available.

Well thought out, easy to follow and understand.

[Mandobart]

Back in the ‘70’s I was really into the Eagles and Neil Young. I bought songbooks of those artists that had the sheet music, lyrics and most importantly for me the guitar chord diagrams above the lyrics at each chord change.

These were all songs I’d listened to multiple times, so I knew what they were supposed to sound like and could tell when I got it right. That’s how I learned all the basic chords, basic rhythm strumming and how to sing and play simultaneously.

If there are any artists that you like that have similar songbooks available (in print or online) that’s what I recommend to get started.

[_zedagive]

Originally Posted by bobster7

Don’t waste time and simply start with Justin Sandercoe’s beginners course. It’s free and of very high quality. It’s undoubtedly the best online course there is and very logical in its layout. Justin is an excellent world class teacher.

Yes ^^^^. this is a great place to start and the price is right.

[Warren01]

Justinguitar: first and foremost

[emtsteve]

I agree with Justinguitar for online lessons. I'll also recommend buying his Beginner song books (there are 2). If you don't have a guitar, a $200 Yamaha FS or FG 800 is perfect. Kraft Music has bundles with cases, stand, picks, capo, etc for a few bucks more. Then, and this is important, try to play EVERY day, even if it's only 5-10 minutes, and then gradually work up to 30-60 minutes every day as your fingertips and stamina improve.

Have fun!

[joeld]

Learn the E, G, C & maybe A, D chords, and hang out with your guitar friends strumming along.

It's been said above but, take a few lessons if you can for a faster start. Otherwise the justinguitar is one of the best on-line sequences.

You'll benefit in the longer term by learning the notes and patterns on the fretboard. The sooner you start, the farther you'll get. "Guitar Fretboard Workbook" by Barrett Tagliarino was very helpful for me, and gets my recommendation.

Have lots of fun!

ps. I forgot the world situation when I was typing. So maybe not hang out with your guitar friends just right now. Stay healthy! /jd

[Glennwillow]

HI Wil23!

Welcome to the AGF!

Justin Guitar is a good place to start.

- Glenn

[vindibona1]

My opinion with ANY instrument... Initially face-to-face lessons. As a new player, the better you establish good habits and technique the faster you'll develop. There are 100 ways to play guitar correctly and 1000 ways to find your way to bad habits that often take forever to correct [anecdote to follow below]. An online program isn't going to offer corrections for those bad things that will creep into habitual movements.

Ancedote: Right now I'm working on developing my bass guitar skills. While bass is similar to guitar it requires different skills and habits as well, so I have to learn some newe things. Here's the relationship with what I've said above...

Sometimes I'll be figuring something out and discover it a certain way and practice it that way, if even just for a few days. Then I'll discover that there is a better, more efficient way to play that something. However, it's murder changing and takes more time to switch from one approach to the other. And it may be something as simple as changing how I'm plucking the strings. The amount of time to relearn something differently can take exponentially more time to do that than to just learn it right the first time around.

Second anecdote: I'm a semi-professional trumpet player. I learned to play in my later teens and started without a teacher. My first teacher didn't recognize an embouchure defect. By the time my second teacher, only two months later spotted it, it was too late. Here I am 50 years later, still fighting with that bad habit that has limited me for my lifetime. Just saying.

Parting words to you and any musician starting out: Go as far as you can as fast as you can, before the enthusiasm fades. I can tell you from experience, in my own case, private lessons get me where I need to be 10x faster than on my own, even though I have a lifetime of music experience.
JMO

Dismounting soap box.

[Steel and wood]

Understand your preferred learning method to begin with. (Mine was/is being shown how to do something face to face and asking all the questions I need to understand something and that's why I decided on lessons with a teacher, at least for a number of years to begin with). It's worth noting however if you do decide on a teacher, know that there's a long road and a short road approach which might lead to the long road for some over time. (My guitar teacher had mostly young students whose sole purpose was to simply learn how to play their favourite songs and whilst there's nothing wrong with that, I wanted to learn how to play guitar and understand its relationship to music so I could play and improvise using any myriad of styles, techniques and genres later on which meant taking the long road). If you take the formal lessons approach also, make sure you go into each lesson armed with plenty of questions so that you can dictate more or less what you want to get out of them.

I have loved YouTube for the more intermediate to advanced stuff (including all things guitars themselves) and like others have said, YouTube has bucket loads of free lessons, aimed at beginners also. (Find yourself a recommended instructor who can take you from A to B which is different for a lot of people and then take yourself off to wherever you want to go using all sorts of YouTube resources to advance your playing).

I started out on books, but they are not my preferred learning style. (Although I love books generally).

Good luck and enjoy the journey because if you stick at it, it becomes more or less a lifetime journey.

[Jobe]

One thing I found helpful was playing a basic chromatic scale. Open low E string then running your individual fingers up four frets. Then open A string and so on. When you finish the first string run you go backwards down the scale. It may not be exciting but it is introducing your fingers to the fretboard and at the same time teaching your right hand to come along. The goal is to make clear notes at what ever pace you choose but try and keep time where your right and left hand are working together. It is a good warm up between lessons and you will find you are getting more consistent as a little time goes on. Down stroke on the first note and upstroke on the next. When you start to learn and form basic chords you will find your fingers more familiar with the neighborhood. Good luck! Patience is key but I think you may be surprised at how quickly your fingers start to move.

[dwasifar]

My introduction to the guitar was when one of the older kids handed me a guitar at youth camp to shut me up for a while. He taught me to play one chord, open Em7. I sat and strummed that chord for quite a while. Someone else taught me another chord. I sat and played that for a while. That was the extent of my in-person lessons. Shortly thereafter I wheedled a guitar out of my parents, the youth camp counselor gave me a chord chart and a folder of current pop song chord sheets (Take Me Home Country Roads, Fox on the Run, etc.). And that was it. I learned to play from that. Never had any other lessons and not much more reference material. As you might imagine, I became an ear player rather than a charts player.

That was 45 years ago. I haven't played consistently the whole time - took a break in my 30s - but various people have told me I'm a good player now. I guess so. I've made money doing it; not enough to live on, but enough for an evening. But if I'd had proper lessons back at the beginning it wouldn't have taken so long to get here. I probably have scads of bad habits that a teacher would have steered me away from. I often wonder how much better I could have been.

I don't know if this is advice or just a caution.

[OregonJim]

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

Use youtube and google the chords for songs you want to
play...

This would have meant nothing when I was learning to play. The Internet didn't exist then, and I'm kinda glad it didn't.

Step #1 is to LISTEN. Listen to the kind of music you want to play. Immerse yourself in it, and listen actively. That means to really try to hear what's going on, not just listening for pleasure.

Step #2 is to WATCH. Watch guitar players who play the music you want to play and analyze what they're doing with their hands.

Nothing else can substitute for the above two steps.

Beyond that, it would be great to get a private teacher for the first 6 months. Not everyone can or is willing to do that. Second best is to learn online from Justin Sandercoe. Of all the "online" guitar teachers, he seems to be the most sincere and honest, not in it for the money. My wife is going through his course right now. Even though I could teach her, I pointed her to Justin because he's that good. I just help her when she gets stuck.

All this is assuming that you are serious about learning, because it takes a serious commitment. 93% of people who attempt guitar will quit in the first year, according to a survey done by Rolling Stone. I hope you're in the 7%.