Playing the guitar is romantic, it’s impressive, and it’s quite a skill. If you have always wanted to learn guitar, it’s much easier than you think! You have to learn certain things correctly and be consistent, or you will always sound like a beginner. Our team of musicians have come together to create an easy guide on the best methods for guitar learning.
Best Ways To Learn How to Play the Guitar
#1: Face-to-Face Lessons
For the more hands-on learning individuals that want to start playing guitar, face-to-face lessons will yield the best results. Guitar lessons are not difficult to find, and whether you are looking to play an acoustic guitar or an electric one, in-person lessons are one of the best ways to learn the guitar.
Just from an efficiency standpoint we can see that having a guitar teacher correct you instantly or point out errors that you may not realize while watching instructional videos will help you learn faster.
Your guitar teacher will be able to show you how to play songs the right way and how to finger the guitar chords. However, our expert musicians say there is a downside to teaching guitar in-person, which will also apply to the students as well.
You will have to take time out of your day to schedule classes and go through the process of vetting to find a good guitar teacher. What’s more, in-person guitar lessons generally cost more than video lessons.
#2: Online Lessons
Speaking of video lessons, you can also choose online guitar lessons. This mode of learning will maximize your time and give you ultimate flexibility to work the lessons into your schedule. You may be able to find online group classes to learn guitar that will lower your costs even more, but our team of guitar teachers say that isn’t the most efficient way. Learning guitar online will already take away some important elements such as in-person instruction, but you won’t get the most out of playing your instrument if you learn guitar online in a group.
Therefore, we recommend enrolling in individual online classes if you decide that going digital is the best way to find time in your busy schedule to learn guitar.
#3: Trying it Out Yourself
How many people do you know that have claimed to want to learn guitar but lacked the resolve to actually do it? You may not know if you like to play guitar until you have actually tried it. It’s a big step to invest in a guitar, which can be expensive, and invest your time practicing, looking for a teacher, and paying for classes only to find out you don’t really like playing guitar!
To avoid this, our team of experts recommends trying it out for yourself first. You can rent an instrument or borrow one from a friend and use some of your free time to explore this new hobby. There are some excellent resources out there for guitar learning that are extremely helpful.
You can find books, DVDs, and free online guitar instructional videos that won’t cost you much, if anything at all. Try it out first, after all, committed guitar education will require you to spend money, and sometimes a lot.
Beginner Steps to Learn the Guitar
No matter how advanced or basic your level is, there are set beginner steps that every budding guitarist needs to do to learn guitar.
1. Choosing the Right Guitar For You
So, you are sure you want to take on the endeavor of learning guitar. The first thing you need to do is to look over the stringed instruments to find the right one for you.
Ask yourself what kind of guitar you want to buy. Are you an acoustic type person, an electric guitar rocker, or a classical lover? In general, the guitar will cost you somewhere around a few hundred dollars, but they come in a package deal. This means your purchase will come with the guitar, the pick, extra strings, and more to get you started.
Keep in mind that the above is a basic combo. If money is no object, then our experts suggest buying a slightly higher end guitar to start with. The best way to learn the guitar is to familiarize yourself with the instrument and not have to switch one for another somewhere down the line.
Take it from us, many beginner guitarists end up purchasing a better one in the future, which ends up costing even more. If you don’t want to be “that” beginner guitarist, then our team suggests going for guitars that are more mid-range, around 500. Keep in mind that higher end models usually do not come with the pick and all the other accessories, so you will need to buy those separately.
2. Read on the Basics: Parts, Proper Techniques, Etc.
Once you have your instrument in hand, the next step is to get acquainted with your instrument. To learn guitar well, you have to understand the various parts of the guitar and know the basics. We’re not going to lie, but the beginning can be the most difficult part of the guitar playing learning process.
Even as teachers, our team says the beginning is the hardest when they teach guitar. You don’t have to dive as deep as understanding music theory, but our team has listed a few tips below that will help you practice guitar the right way.
You have to set up your guitar and get it ready to practice chords and to learn strumming patterns. You have to take the time to learn how to tune your instrument, replace the strings, and know what different parts of the guitar are called.
Learn the names of the strings and how to hold a guitar pick correctly. The first step a guitar teacher will teach you is how to play notes. You can’t start learning songs without understanding the notes first. After you have mastered the notes, you can move on to learning chords.
Pros make strumming a guitar look easy, but you don’t know how much time they took to learn guitar until you try it yourself. You have to have a loose wrist but not too loose. If you tense your wrist, you will end up with pain after a few practice sessions. You need to make sure you have enough finger dexterity [1] to finger the chords quickly as you progress.
Guitar playing is an art and one that comes with a learning curve. You may be eager to start playing your favorite songs or specific songs, but remember that practice makes perfect.
3. Find the Best Space to Practice
It’s not just about the instrument and the method of learning, but you also have to create the right environment. The space needs to be comfortable and one that is properly outfitted to bring out your inner guitar player.
The best way to learn the guitar and to stay motivated is to prepare a space with the right lighting, right temperature, and right decor to name a few.
Wherever you decide to play, a great idea is to keep your guitar prominently displayed. This will prompt you to get practice more when you always see your guitar sitting pretty and waiting for you.
The temperature and the lighting can really set the mood in a room. Our team of musicians always prefer to have logs of natural lighting, but it’s not a big deal as long as you keep the room well-lit. Mood lighting can also make practicing more fun. Keep the room at optimal room temperature but not too warm, because we know some other musicians that are so relaxed in the room they don’t get much practice time in.
This goes without saying, but keep the environment quiet so you can practice your songs. You need to be able to hear the chords and notes clearly to know if you sound good or not. The chair or stool you practice on definitely needs to be comfortable. You won’t see your favorite artists perched on something uncomfortable when they’re jamming out, so make sure yours is adequately cushioned.
Lastly, the best way to learn the guitar is to do it in a room that inspires you. Ask yourself what you need in the room in terms of decor to bring out your inner creativity. Maybe a poster of Bob Marley?
4. Training Your Ear
Training your ear is a crucial part of learning guitar. Aside from mastering basic chords, you need to train your ear to recognize notes. You want to eventually be able to pick up chords, notes, and songs just by ear.
How do you do this? The key to training your ear when learning guitar is by repetition. Guitar learning consists of learning the notes, then the scale, then listening to your favorite song in order to identify which ones are used. Once you understand the structure of a song, it’s much easier to master it plus many other songs in the future.
Learning by ear just takes a lot of playing, practicing, and listening. This is definitely one of the best methods to learn the guitar for beginners, and it’s just a matter of time before you become a pro!
5. Learn From Online Lessons or Apps
If you plan on enrolling in an online course or using an app, there are a few pieces of advice to keep in mind. Firstly, there are poorly designed apps and some unqualified teachers out there, and the only way to identify and avoid wasting your time with them is by doing some due diligence. Our team does have a recommendation for online lessons, which we will get to in a bit.
If you are signing up with an online course that has pre-recorded videos, then you will need a certain level of discipline to complete it. It’s easier if there is an instructor, but that type of guitar lesson also costs more. The same kind of logic applies to apps.
There are some excellent guitar learning apps out there, but most of them are pre-recorded and require you to be self-motivated to see any type of improvement at all, which brings us to the next section.
6. Practice Regularly and be Patient
No matter which way you go for, whether it’s face-to-face guitar learning, playing guitar on your own, or with an online instructor, the key to perfection is to practice daily, or as regularly as possible, and to be patient. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you still can’t play that song you want after a few weeks.
Is there a right way to practice? Not really, but there are a few things you can do to maximize productivity.
Start by carving out the time to play guitar, and don’t give yourself any excuses not to do it. Forgoing one practice session could lead to bad habits, such as missing two, three or more practice sessions.
Before you start playing songs, warm up your fingers and your vocal chords if you usually sing along to the easy guitar songs. Our musicians have found that one of the best methods to learn the guitar is to record yourself so you can learn from past mistakes.
Looking at your form and finger positioning and correcting it over time is much more effective than sticking with an old lesson plan. If one thing isn’t working, don’t hesitate to try something different. Maybe you can’t learn chords by watching a video, but jamming out with others could greatly improve your learning experience.
(If you are passionate about playing the guitar, here are the best guitar chords you should learn)
Our Top Recommendation for Online Lessons: GuitarTricks
Our team had mentioned an excellent online course recommendation, and that is Guitartricks.com. Why are they our top choice? We have listed the reasons below.
Award-Winning and Comprehensive Lessons
Guitartricks lessons are award-winning, and optimized for all types of learning. You can go through a list of popular song choices such as Hotel California by the Eagles, Perfect by Ed Sheeran and classics such as Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. There is a repertoire of songs already with thousands of new releases every week you can look forward to.
Guitartricks addresses everything needed when learning guitar such as the fundamentals and eventually branching out to different genres of music. The curriculum is a step-by-step process and you won’t need to move on until you have mastered your current level.
Guitartricks was started in 1998, and has since blossomed into recognized music business with professional instructors from all around the world.
Easy Learning System for Beginners
Whether you are experienced or a beginner, Guitartricks’ learning system can help you hone your skills or develop new ones. For example, the first few classes are dedicated to the fundamentals of learning guitar. Even without any prior knowledge, the basics are easy to understand and will teach you basic and minor chords, scales, reading notation, and more.
The lesson curriculum then splits into the different music genres that most guitar players are keen to play such as blues, country, and rock. There is also level 1 that touches on the basics, and then level 2, which goes into more detail about the learning process.
The lesson plan is easy and straightforward. You can get world-class instruction from professional guitarists worldwide. You will get to play the songs you’ve been wanting to learn much sooner than you think! You can even try out the course for free to see if it’s the right choice for you.
Learn the Best Guitar Tracks
As we said before, Guitartricks has a ton of iconic songs you can choose from with thousands more added each week. There are classics, modern hits, and more obscure songs you never realized sounded so good on the guitar. You can learn guitar the fast way with Guitartricks and master hit songs that everyone loves.
Highly Recommended by Students
Since their conception, Guitartricks instructors have been the proud teachers of over 3 million successful students! Face-to-face online sessions are the most useful way to learn guitar for people who don’t have the time to head into a studio.
Students rave about how friendly and constructive the lessons are, almost as if you are having a friend explain how to play guitar. It’s not only the lessons students love, it’s every aspect of Guitartricks. They are always ready to support you whenever you need with friendly and dedicated instructors.
Guitartricks is extremely genuine and beginners and intermediates find the lessons very fruitful. Some people learn slower, while others pick things up quickly. It doesn’t matter what kind of learner you are or how you excel, Guitartricks instructors are professional and passionate about helping you learn guitar.
(Looking for the best guitar instrument? Well, we have listed excellent Yamaha acoustic guitars here)
FAQ
How can I teach myself to play guitar?
You can teach yourself to play guitar by watching videos, using apps, and taking advantage of books and DVDs. Keep in mind that it does take some self-discipline and determination to learn guitar on your own without any instruction. Remember that practice makes permanent!
How long does it realistically take to learn guitar?
It can take anywhere from a few months to years to learn guitar. The answer to this question hinges on how advanced you want to be and the length of time you dedicate to the craft. For beginners, it takes over 2 months with 2 hours of practice a day.
Conclusion
Don’t be discouraged by how long it will take to learn guitar. With the right instruction, environment, guitar, and loads of practice, you can get there. With GuitarTricks, you will have everything you need to play the songs you want while learning a stable foundation. The instructors are friendly, knowledgeable and dedicated to helping you master the art of guitar playing.
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