The Guide to Teaching Yourself Guitar

philbo · 05-06-2006, 07:13 PM

so, a lot of people try to teach themselves guitar. myself included.

i know in my situation, i had my hands on a guitar for about 3 years. it wasnt until this year that i made any progress with it, and i never really knew what i was doing with it, just picking songs to learn, and figuring out how to play each one.

today, i made more progress on it than i have in the past few months.just by sitting down and actually thinking about what i was doing, so i figure. why not get the thoughts of a few folks on it?

what would you say is the best way to go about teaching yourself?

PenguinBoy · 05-06-2006, 11:04 PM

What worked for me:

Listening to the type of music u wanna and can play: i got into acoustic music because bands always failed and were hard to organise, so i played acoustic and wrote personal songs, then i started to listen to music which reflected myself.

never practice: just play. Formalising the experience is really hindering to your enthusiasm.

Expect crapness. you will feel useless and that you're not progressing. but every now and then you will discover that you've just played something that you would have not been able to a month ago.

Enjoy it. You either love it or you don't. but if you've got the love of music and playing guitar and expresing yourself, then your on the road. You'll want to play and will keep comming back to your guitar, if you've got the fever, you're pretty much gonna keep at it no matter what this thread tells you, and that's all you need... to keep at it.

*Kat · 05-07-2006, 02:29 AM

Well a few years ago my brother taught me how to play a couple of songs and how to read tab.

I got a guitar for my bday that year and started practicing properly.
I would now consider myself "able" to play the guitar. As in I'm past the "not being able to get the hang of strumming" phase, and any chord u show me, I'll master pretty quickly.

But I never really caught the bug. I like being able to play, and I don't really understand why, but much as I enjoy playing songs I can sing along to, I rarely feel any desire to learn NEW songs.

05-06-2006, 07:13 PM	#1
philbo Eskimo Regular Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 176	The Guide to Teaching Yourself Guitar so, a lot of people try to teach themselves guitar. myself included. i know in my situation, i had my hands on a guitar for about 3 years. it wasnt until this year that i made any progress with it, and i never really knew what i was doing with it, just picking songs to learn, and figuring out how to play each one. today, i made more progress on it than i have in the past few months.just by sitting down and actually thinking about what i was doing, so i figure. why not get the thoughts of a few folks on it? what would you say is the best way to go about teaching yourself?

05-06-2006, 11:04 PM	#2
PenguinBoy Appreciative Minion Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Harlington, Beds, UK. Posts: 1,695	What worked for me: Listening to the type of music u wanna and can play: i got into acoustic music because bands always failed and were hard to organise, so i played acoustic and wrote personal songs, then i started to listen to music which reflected myself. never practice: just play. Formalising the experience is really hindering to your enthusiasm. Expect crapness. you will feel useless and that you're not progressing. but every now and then you will discover that you've just played something that you would have not been able to a month ago. Enjoy it. You either love it or you don't. but if you've got the love of music and playing guitar and expresing yourself, then your on the road. You'll want to play and will keep comming back to your guitar, if you've got the fever, you're pretty much gonna keep at it no matter what this thread tells you, and that's all you need... to keep at it. __________________ Good eyes see nothing to shoot, Good Feet Feel good giving up good boots. Myspace - My Music - My Last.fm Profile- My LiveJournal - I'm Jacob Last edited by PenguinBoy; 05-06-2006 at 11:07 PM.

05-07-2006, 02:29 AM	#3
*Kat I don't wanna be labeled! Join Date: May 2004 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 117	Well a few years ago my brother taught me how to play a couple of songs and how to read tab. I got a guitar for my bday that year and started practicing properly. I would now consider myself "able" to play the guitar. As in I'm past the "not being able to get the hang of strumming" phase, and any chord u show me, I'll master pretty quickly. But I never really caught the bug. I like being able to play, and I don't really understand why, but much as I enjoy playing songs I can sing along to, I rarely feel any desire to learn NEW songs. __________________ Well I've been here before...