I have no music experience at all but I can sing pretty well and I'd like to learn the guitar. I'd rather not take the dent in my bank account by paying for lessons. I heard Eddie Van Halen learned on his own, is it possible for a non-musical genius? I consider myself quite intelligent with a nice IQ score. I want to learn acoustic, and just rock out on my own. I don't plan on becoming famous, I don't want to. I have other plans for my future haha. So basically I am just asking if it's possible?
Yes.... Most people learn on their own. I did too. Lessons are only really worth while once you actually have tons of skill and just want to get some extra help doing something, or playing with your favourite bands' guitarist (via bandhappy).
[quote name='"Demiurge"']Yes.... Most people learn on their own. I did too. Lessons are only really worth while once you actually have tons of skill and just want to get some extra help doing something, or playing with your favourite bands' guitarist (via bandhappy).[/quote] Is there any advice you could give me on learning on your own?
I've been wanting to teach myself guitar for the longest time. Man if only my brother hadnt taken the guitar :/
Ultimate-guitar.com I've learned everything about anything guitar related from that site. It's the grasscity of the guitar world.
Yeah I taught myself, just watch beginner videos on youtube. Learn your basic open chords, bar chords and pentatonic scale and you'll be set. After that it becomes self explanatory
[quote name='"ddoublevision"']I've been wanting to teach myself guitar for the longest time. Man if only my brother hadnt taken the guitar :/[/quote] ^^thats when you do one of these.
I taught myself to play, a little. been playing on my own for about 3 years now and i can play a few metal songs. Everything i've learned was from youtube vids. get tabs from songsterr
I'm teaching myself guitar at the moment. I'd suggest starting with you basic open chords. You can play a heap of songs when you learn them, and even make your own. Before I was just playing songs from tabs and not learning shit and got really bored of it. I'm working on my barr chords at the moment, been playing a lot of Jack Johnson lately Keep working on it bro, music is great for the soul!
Shit yeah, I never took lessons for the first few years. I got my technique down first by learning songs, a couple of solos, and making them sound good on shit equipment. Picked up chords along the way. Then I learned the pentatonic scale and played along with the radio, finding the root note of a song and soloing along the entire time. I got good equipment, and sounding good just made me want to play more. A word of caution though... big amps and sweet guitars don't make you a better player. You can spring for an expensive setup, but your mistakes will just be louder. But as for actually picking up guitar, and eventually making your own music.....by learning other artists' solos, along with sheer trial and error, you learn what intervals and shapes sound good. As an old guitar instructor once told me, if you copy one artist, you're stealing. If you copy a bunch of them...that's research. Lol don't start off looking to be perfect, but never lose sight of your next goals as a guitarist... Whether it's learning to improvise a solo, or being able to play eruption have fun man.
Yeah I also taught myself although obviously the comparison between me and someone who has been lesson taught for years is pretty dramatic. I wouldn't rule lessons out if you can afford it and really want to play that much
You can definitely learn on your own. Look up online guitar lessons and various practice techniques and such. You just gotta have the motivation to do it, that's all. I took guitar lessons for a couple months but then I quit because I just learn better on my own than trying to learn in front of someone that I wasn't very comfortable with in the first place. I've learned more from just trying to play various tabs that I found online than I did from my guitar lessons. I guess the lessons did teach me some simple basics, but you can learn those elsewhere too.
You have been given a lot of good advice. You certainly can learn how to play the guitar yourself and there are a lot of resources on the web that can help. I have been playing guitar for years and I wanted to comment on what type of guitar you should get if you decide to do this. Many new players make the mistake of buy a very cheap guitar in the beginning. The thought behind this is likely that, if they decide they do not want to play, they have not spent a lot of money. This is the wrong decision. Generally, cheap guitars are much harder to play. It is much better to spend a little more and get something that is a better instrument. You don't need to get a Martin or a Taylor right off, but spend the bucks to get something that is playable. I have seen many people start to learn the guitar and quit because the guitar was too hard to play. I have a hard time on some of those cheap guitars myself. IMHO, the biggest thing to look for in a starter guitar is the action. The action of a guitar refers to the height of the strings above the fret board. Too high and the thing is hard to play, too low and you will get buzzing on your strings when on your higher frets. You can Google "good starter guitars" and come up with some good results. Alternatively, if you have a good guitar shop in the area, look at some of their used guitars. More bang for the buck. You can ask the salesman for a good starter guitar. Avoid the really cheap "starter guitars." Good luck. Knowing how to play a musical instrument can really add a lot to your life.
I've been playing guitar for 7-8 years now, my biggest boost i had. Is a website called "www.guitarjamz.com", theres a 3 day trial so if you don't feel like paying you can just make a new account each 3 days and have access to alot of videos for free. Also get GuitarPro 5, a program where you can download tabs from sites such as "www.911tabs.com". A really good program for learning songs. Good luck in your guitar playing
Quoted for truth. I responded to this before, and I said before that I got bored of guitar after learning some tabs, but I just realized how important this was. I started off with a $120 electric guitar I bought from a shop... BIG MISTAKE!! I learned that the hard way, after my pop died and I inherited his guitar. The action on this thing made playing sooo much easier. Best electric guitar I've ever played. The action on a properly set up guitar is so nice, I can't even describe it, best I can do is say it's like floating on the chords.. Definitely get a decently set up guitar if you want to get into it I don't know shit about guitars since I've only just got into it, but my pops guitar is a 30 - 40 year old strat copy, and fuck.. It's soo easy on the hands.. Get a decent guitar if you really want to get in to music Edit: and novice advice (take with a grain of salt), but best site I know for tabs and stuff is ultimate guitar. That's where I started when I wanted to learn songs. Others might point you in a better direction though.
I've been playing for over 35 years, and I am self-taught -- all of it before the internet age of course. (well not quite, I'm still learning, it's something that never stops). Easiest thing is to find someone else who plays and is willing to get you started. Learn some basic theory, it will help you in the long run. Everything is based on scales (patterns). As you learn, try to find some people you can just sit in the background with when they're jamming and try to follow along. Ask questions, everybody likes to give advice. What works, or is easy for one person may not be true for you. There are usually at least 2 ways of doing something on the guitar; if one way seems very difficult or clumsy, monkey around and you will find another way of doing it -- which may be easier for you.