Some thoughts on approaches to learning guitar

[jpmist]

Originally Posted by janinep7

I didn't start learning guitar because I'm dying to know music theory. I picked up a guitar because I love music, want to play it, sing and have a good time. Of course, the risk with the Song-a-palooza approach is that there will likely be holes in my knowledge, but I figure I can fill them in as I fall into them. It's possible, even likely, that I am extrapolating the theory incorrectly, but if that's the case, I'll find out soon enough and can get some help.

I'm sure there are other approaches to learning guitar. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts.

My sister learned by taking lessons while I taught myself by learning the basic chords and teaching myself how to figure out stuff. She's stopped playing altogether, I'm on my 5th decade. 10 years or so, I learned how to drop the pick by copying basically everything Mark Knopfler recorded from his last few "Dire Straits" albums to his recent. I'll always argue that learning by ear worked best for me, but I'll never know how much better I could have gotten faster by having a teacher. . .

[Russ C]

Intelligent replies.
As a teacher for most of my life it seems I must agree about how important motivation and reward are.
Any theory needs to be related closely to what you’re doing - I call it practical theory. Sometimes a short excursion into the future with theory can pay dividends but it’s gotta be a bit bite sized.
Technical exercises have always been a source of frustration for me - I wanted students to do more of them because being ready and able to do things before you need to or want to is so much more productive.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi Janine,

I have always used your latest approach -- the song oriented approach -- to learning guitar. I am interested in theory only as it applies to the particular song I am learning. Then theory has instant applicability.

I am glad you are making progress. Good for you!

- Glenn

that's how I can make people think I can play a pretty good piano!!!

[TBman]

I could probably use a big dose of music theory, but it's not necessary to learn to play guitar, but it helps when you want to write your own music. Besides, music knowledge is always a good thing.

[nowgypsy]

Like a lot of people I tried playing guitar in my very early teens. There was no one close by to teach me anything and my family did not have the extra money to pay for lessons. I quickly convinced myself that I couldn't play guitar. Fast forward forty years, a friend of mine was a professional musician and talked me into trying again. He gave me three or four lessons (basic chord shapes, rhythm patterns, etc.) then he became ill and passed away. By that time I was hooked.
I read and tried many different things and began to see how things were interrelated. I was living where there was next to no music culture. Ten years later I relocated to a place where there were many musicians with lots of jam sessions. That is the point that I really started to learn. Now I have been playing for 25 years and don't think I would have stuck to it without playing what I liked at the level I was able at the time.

[b1j]

I've always played by ear. In high school and college I leaned into copying James Taylor's contrapuntal finger picking arrangements (not one note out of place in those!). The result: not so much, but it gave me a standard to aim for. More of the same for most of college.

But when my playing buddy and I moved off campus together with the aim to play more together, I was taking a theory course at the college. I plunged into playing scales, thinking in intervals, and focusing on my fret positions. It kind of ruined me for playing spontaneously. My roommate and friend was not thrilled.

I eventually recovered, but I've turned into a hybrid of the two styles. Now I just frustrate my wife when I stop to correct a mistake in the middle of a song.

[pszy22]

I don't know how people learned things before the internet. The amount of knowledge and wisdom available is incredible, perhaps bordering on overwhelming.

I started from day one by learning songs, picking up new information as needed to play whatever I happened to be learning.

All that said, I've made the most progress over the past several years since finding a guy named David Hamburger. David teaches songs, but goes a step farther to teach how to learn to play songs. David pretty much plays fingerstyle blues, which is why I a enjoy his material so much. Above all, he is an outstanding teacher.

Originally Posted by pszy22

I don't know how people learned things before the internet. The amount of knowledge and wisdom available is incredible, perhaps bordering on overwhelming.

I started from day one by learning songs, picking up new information as needed to play whatever I happened to be learning.

All that said, I've made the most progress over the past several years since finding a guy named David Hamburger. David teaches songs, but goes a step farther to teach how to learn to play songs. David pretty much plays fingerstyle blues, which is why I a enjoy his material so much. Above all, he is an outstanding teacher.

That looks really great! He had me at Statesboro Blues. Yes!

[Jim Owen]

Originally Posted by janinep7

That looks really great! He had me at Statesboro Blues. Yes!

Janine,
You can find David’s lessons at Homespun or Truefire.

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by janinep7

I got so bored so fast, and also so frustrated because I was 17 and did not want to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Wildwood Flower. I wanted to play Molly Hatchet Flirtin' With Disaster and similar. It was just taking too long to do anything fun. I could not connect what I was being taught to what I wanted to actually be able to play. I gave up quickly.

This time, I'm learning mostly on my own with some help from a friend. It's what I'm calling the "Song-a-palooza" approach.

I think this is an excellent approach for the older learner. Do what you think is fun and enjoy.

[pszy22]

Originally Posted by janinep7

That looks really great! He had me at Statesboro Blues. Yes!

Check out this sequence. It will give you a good idea regarding David's teaching style (and you'll learn alot (at least I did)).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l3JnMLUObk

[Jdogblues]

Originally Posted by janinep7

That looks really great! He had me at Statesboro Blues. Yes!

David is an awesome teacher. His monthly membership
www.fretboardconfidential.com focuses on one tune a month he teaches you step by step. He gives you a fundamental version, embellished, and then a few interchangeable solo's you can mix and match line by line with the goal of you being able to come up with your on compositions and improvisations. I learned a few songs, but took a break from his method to focus on learning more note for note songs because I felt that was more in line with my personal goal of playing and singing, but once I get a decent repertoire under my belt I'll definitely return.

That said....I saw the other post with resources and it reminded me of the past year sorting through 9 million youtube channels, truefire, etc. I find it totally overwhelming. I had to really narrow it down and focus and I've made much greater progress.

[reeve21]

Another recommendation for David Hamburger. His free YouTube stuff is a great way to check out his teaching style. He is very articulate and detailed, maybe a little too much talking for some folks. He does not focus on learning tunes note for note the way the greats played it the day they made the recording. He will teach you about song structure, groove, riffs, turnarounds and eventually arranging and improvising. If you want to break out of the tab habit and become a more spontaneous player he is the ticket. The link posted above is very good, and I also like his free 6 part series on YouTube on playing the blues in E.

[Br1ck]

A while ago I quit noodling, and started noodling with a purpose. Tired of cowboy chords? Learn the next inversion up the neck, then explore ways to get from one chord to the next by making up little melodies. One little step at a time, but always with purpose.

[Sadie-f]

I learned in the way back when buying sheet music, learning the cowboy chords and eventually realizing I didn't love playing with a pick. With no access to instruction, I worked out a flavor of finger picking I could make work. It wasn't very structured, and I wasn't very happy with it.

Decades later when I again picked up a guitar to be serious about playing, I found I was still quite able to do the same fingerstyle. I didn't feel great about it, still it worked, sounded ok recorded for critical feedback. Most of all, my GF likes it, neighbors I checked in with about volume (electric, amp) also said they'd rather hear me than not, and I could play along with my daughter on her uke.

In between, I got a lot out of Mary Spender's beginner fingerstyle course.

Downside, I guess is the one time I've tried to do lessons, when I couldn't easily play the way he told me to (set a pattern with fingers and thumb, a specific set of strings, and repeat), I found that boring, and he didn't offer suggestions on how to improve within the structure I knew.

In the couple years since, I've found that for some things I naturally drift into a "standard" picking patterns. I'm working on adding more meat into chord progressions, much of that just came from trial and error.

As I add more theory, I can also ad lib, and simply play to match a mood, I'm vaguely considering writing some lyrics and choosing chord progressions to go along with ... That's a longer term project.