Beginner at guitar

Exactly

 

well i never took lessons mabey that isnt for everyone but i have a kick ass blues rock style that i have never heard.i just think its good to learn yourself take two lessons 1- learn how to tune 2-learn to read finger tabs if you dont know notes.other than that your just wasting your time and money if you want it bad enough you will do it on your own.and that is what i mean by musical death so blah.

 

I don't really see the need in learning to read sheet music unless you're planning on playing classical guitar. I don't think it makes anyone less of a musician if they can't read notes either, it's all about what people are comfortable with. When I play guitar, I read tablature/tabs, but having background in violin and constantly reading sheet music, I do want to eventually learn to read guitar sheet music. But again, I don't see myself going very far in guitar, at least not in a concert guitarist kind of way.

If you plan on playing some Led Zeppelin and that's it, don't waste your money. If you want to go really far, I'd say take some lessons. I sometimes think learning instruments formally doesn't allow you to be creative until you're at high levels, where playing an instrument on your own from the beginning forces you to be creative.

 

I started playing stuff like Nirvana... It's just mostly all easy powerchords.
You have to teach yourself to stretch your fingers the right way, and to get quicker at moving them.
Sheet music isn't really that necessary if you're not playing classical indeed, but you have to understand the kind of tablature you'd find on the internet, it's really useful. But it's not that hard to figure out really

When you've gotten the hang of that you can start playing songs with full chords...
At least, that's what I did! And by just playing songs and looking up chords, I've learned all these chords by heart!

At that time I knew it really was the instrument I wanted to play and I started studying more theory and playing more complicated stuff.

Good luck to you, the guitar's a wonderful instrument.

 

I'm self taugh and im fine, but if i had lessons i would probs be better then i am now

 

Man, you don't need to read music to play music... all you need is a mind (it doesn't have to be sound), soul, hands... everything else is an accessory to the action.


You don't see bluegrass quartets with conductors and sheet music.

It all boils down to personal preference. Sure, I can read music if I have to, but I choose not to... and only break it down if I can't figure something out, but it has to be getting to the point where I'm waking up at night and staying up till 4am to try and understand/learn something.

 

Classical isn't the only music that uses a lot of Theory. For Jazz, the deeper you get into it, the more Theory that is used. I'm actually planning on going to Berklee College of Music (Not to be confused with Berkely in Cali.) to study music there, so I've learned A BUNCH of Jazz stuff, a lot of Theory, playing various genres, and just all around music stuff. So if you plan on making a career out of music besides just having a band and playing gigs and hoping to get recognized by a record company so you can make a living with just music. You have to study your Theory all different types of musical stuff, then go study music at some sort or music college. Don't get be wrong about the band and gigs thing though, cause that is essential to have as well.

But if you just want to play just for fun, and not make music your major career, then I say just learn some chords, some basic scales, and read tabulature.

 

Get a program called "Guitar Pro". http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php

This is NOT spam. I use the program, myself. Thanks to another forum member.
Hat's OFF and HAPPY HOLIDAYS George. (U know who ya are.)

 

Start really slow, and whatever you do, don't rush. Be patient. Buying a book and learning simple chords and basics is great for start, but I'd recommend taking lessons. I started by myself, and it wasn't that easy, because having someone to show you exactly what you're not doing right, how to play something, and explain you musical theory is really unvaluable. three months later I took lessons and I didn't regret it. I know that there's a bunch of players out there who have no idea about modes or harmonic or natural minors, augmented and diminished chords and scales, but learning theory is very useful and opens new doors and horizonts..So,take lessons!!!

 

and yeah, guitar pro is great

 

I want to say welcome to one of the best ways you can spend your time. Learning to play guitar. My suggestion to you is to try and keep it fun, cause it sometimes will feel like work. But hey man, enjoy!!

Jam with other peope!!
Who know how to play, they can teach you songs and teach things you may have never of found on your own.

Oh and make you work on your rhytum with a metronome!!

 

deffinetly don't take lessons....at least not yet because they will make guitar seem very boring...the best thing i can say to do is to have someone you know who already plays show you some easy songs...(white stripes??)....that will get your fingers a little more used to playing and then you can work on chords and stuff....and when you start being adequate....then mabye take lessons if you actually like it and want to stick with it...