How To Teach Yourself Guitar

in #music6 years ago

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Jimi Hendrix - Source: bbci.co.uk

The guitar is a great instrument, but very hard to learn to play. It takes most people a couple of years before their playing improves to a decent level. During that time, their fingers are getting the strength they need to press down on the strings. Additionally, the player’s mind is getting used to coordinating both hands to play together.

Most people who want to learn to play the guitar think that they need formal training from an experienced guitar player. While formal training certainly helps, it is not absolutely necessary. There are many great guitar players who taught themselves, such as Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

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[Eric Clapton: Source Wikipedia]

Here are some tips to help you become a self-taught guitarist.

1. Stock up on resources.

There are many great resources that can help you learn to play the guitar. You should invest in rock and blues riffs books, music theory books and beginner’s notation books. While there are hundreds of these kinds of books, your local music store will most likely carry the most popular books. Ultimate-guitar.com is the king of those resources.

If you want to learn to play the guitar for more than just playing famous songs, you should learn basic music theory. Music theory teaches players how the sounds work together, helping them to understand how to compose their own music. Basic music theory books will teach players basic chord patterns, chord names, scales, and inverted chords.

2. Analyze everything.

The best way to understand complex concepts is to analyze even the most basic of principles. For example, don’t learn about complex scales if you do not know what a single note is. You should start with the very basics and analyze every principle behind every concept.

Start with learning the basic notes on the guitar’s fretboard. From there, learn how the major scales work, such as the major scale’s formula and scale patterns. After that, learn how to play basic chord triads and bar chords. Learn about the movable chord types.

After you learn all of the basic concepts, learn how to improvise on your guitar solos. The best soloists choose their notes based on the backing chords, changing their note choices for each chord movement.

3. Practice every day.

Learning how to play the guitar is as much a mental process as it is a physical process. Your mind needs to adapt to you using your hands in different motions. Hand-eye-coordination for guitar is very difficult. While one hand is strumming in an up and down motion, the other hand remains still, only allowing the fingers to move in unnatural motions. This is a very difficult process to master, so don’t be discouraged if it takes you a long time to feel comfortable with using two hands. You should start practicing by using one hand at a time. Once you feel comfortable with one part, move on to the other part.

Additionally, there are plenty of free finger exercises for guitar playing available online. You should review various finger exercises to help your playing. Basic finger exercises involve playing scales in a chromatic motion. Other complex exercises involve playing various blues or rock riffs until you feel comfortable.

4. Start with an electric guitar if you want it to be easier

When you first start learning how to play the guitar, you should play an electric guitar – even if you prefer an acoustic guitar. Electric guitars’ strings sit closer to the fretboard, making it easier for your fingers to press down on the strings. Additionally, your fingertips will develop calluses faster if you play an electric guitar. Until you develop calluses, your fingers will begin to sting if you play for long periods of time.

However, to help you learn properly, you should play the electric guitar on a clean channel. Distorted channels don’t allow players to fully gauge the type of tone and sound they are producing, making it hard to know if you are playing the right notes or chords.

5. Learn popular songs.

You should always learn how to play popular songs from mainstream artists. Along with being fun to play and impressing your friends, they help you get an idea for how chords and notes work together. They can also help you develop your musical sound. When you begin to write your own music, you will recall all of the popular music you have heard and learned. From that experience, you can write music that is unique to you.

Keep these tips in mind and you will be an excellent self- taught guitarist. Nothing beats lessons from an experienced guitarist, but you can certainly teach yourself. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.

Good luck! Beyond ultimate-guitar, sites like chordify and even YouTube [DTube is starting to build] their collection also have great free lessons.

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