should i learn guitar through a book or through lessons?
Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at
07:21
Martyn asked:
Hey. I’m thinking to guitar a books guitar already. problem is, i’m not i better or book. mind but fancy prices.
guitar book lessons?" url="http://www.learnguitartips.info/learn-guitar-articles/should-i-learn-guitar-through-a-book-or-through-lessons">
Hey. I’m thinking to guitar a books guitar already. problem is, i’m not i better or book. mind but fancy prices.
Thanks advance.
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start with the books, once you’ve mastered basic chords and know that it is something you want to pursue, then find a teacher. Good strumming!
i agree…books and then get a teacher…good luck
Lessons are the best way for most people (especially me), but if you’re still unsure use a combination of books and online lessons where people show you proper finger placement and other little tricks that the books won’t.
If you’re learning electric, I’d say teach yourself. I’m 15 and I started playing last year and I’m in a band playing gigs in my hometown.
Look up guitar tablature, learn how to read it, and you’re set.
Here’s an example of how you learn tablature, “Tabs.”
e)——–11—-11—-11——–|
B)-8-9-11—-11—-11—-11-|
G)———————————-|
D)———————————-|
A)———————————-|
E)———————————-|
(into to Love Drunk – Boys Like Girls)
The numbers represent what fret you play.
And the chart represents the layout of the guitar neck.
The strings go from highest string(thinnest) on top.
To the lowest string(thickest) on the bottom.
Say, you want to play something like…
E)—–0–1–2–3–4–5———|
You would play the low E string, the one closest to you and the thickest string, from the first fret to
the 2nd, to the 3rd, then 4th, then 5th.
Once you catch on to tabs you’ll learn guitar in NO time at all.
An EXTREMELY easier and in mine and almost everyone else’s opinion better to learn.
GuitarPro. It’s a tab software which plays guitar pro files, which are just like the song, but without the vocals, and it shows the tab layout, and plays along with the song showing you the tabs so you can play along with it and learn it.
But, GuitarPro isn’t free, it’s $50.00. Which, if you use torrents, you can get it for free, but if you’re against that you can download TuxGuitar. It plays GuitarPro files and it’s just as good in my opinion.
I’ve included a link that shows you how to download it and how to use it. It’s very basic. To play a song you want, go to: Ultimate-guitar.com > song you want > find highest rated guitar pro version > click on it and scroll down > hit download. If it asks you what you want to open it with, go to: Brose > computer > (C:) > Program Files > and click on TuxGuitar.
And it’s open.
If you’re learning acoustic….then yeah. Get a teacher. Because I fail majorly at chords and ****.
tl;dr
Electric: Teach yourself, it’s easier and faster, and you can play the songs you want to learn instead of the ones your teacher wants to learn. But if you find it too hard to teach yourself, then go with a teacher.
Acoustic: Teacher.
Good luck and happy shredding.
Oh, and I’ve added a few sites that might help you along the way.
Cheers!
-Nate
Both!!
They compliment each other & if you’re stumped on something in the book a teacher can, hopefully, explain it better in just a few minutes. You’ll progress a lot further & faster this way than by going one route only.
I personally was better off with lessons considering they taught me the basics as well as how to identify notes.
Try this though, use the books and also check out youtube videos on how to play some songs on the guitar.
I would start with the books. Learn the basics through there, and then when you need help with things that the books can’t explain to you, then find a teacher. Yeah, the prices are tough, but it’s completely worth it in the end.
I was going to try to teach myself to sing… But when that didn’t work and i got lessons, i’ve never felt so confident in my singing.
Should be the same with guitar.
You want to do both. There is a lot of free info online, but a teacher will get you started in the right direction. I’ve been playing 15 years, and will go see a teacher, or maybe a guitar workshop every now and then.
alot of people i see here post things such as ”i taught myself piano its easy”
let me say any instrument is easy, but to properly play it & understand what the heck your doing (this helps your creative process when writing your own stuff) is another different matter.
i could be taught to recite out 10 basic piano tunes, but give me the likes of Mozarts music & ask me to use certain techniques that are heard on piano. i would fail (as would all the people claiming ”its easy”)
the problem with teaching yourself guitar (or any instrument) is that alot of people give up they get frustrated. (supposedly 90% of self taught musicians quit)
also alot of people can ”play” guitar, ie bang out a few songs & intros eg starirway to heaven.
guitarists are a dime a dozen, everybody plays guitar (heck i play guitar) however a decent guitarist is hard to find this is where you can benifit from lessons.
Lessons are definitely a great idea, a teacher can show you techniques & correct you. i still get corrected over things i do at my lessons.
alot of the internet resources aren’t that great, again it is alot of amateurs with bad technique or looking to make a quick buck.
every music autobiography i have read (& i read quite a fair bit of them) the guitarist/any instrument, has gotten lessons at some point.
there are a rare few virtuoso (ie talented) people who didn’t get lessons but even at that they start practicing with other people who have got lessons & learn off them.
As somebody said those ”guitar for dummies” are great, however that is as a side tool to reference to. not to just teach yourself, at a glance you learn the basics but when you study those books they can get quite complicated & a teacher can clear any questions you have.
a teacher also encourages you to practice & gives you set goals.
PS try not to ask people to give you the chords to a song, its better if you can work them out yourself it creates an ear for certain notes. however make sure what you are playing is correct.
Guitar is easy. That is why everybody is doing it…
Now. I’ve learnt piano, guitar, and harmonica by myself, and I have had loads of concerts, some even my own songs. I’d say do not use books and do not get a teacher at first. Get DVD’s because there you can actually see and hear what you have to do, so you’ll know if you did something wrong. That is what I did. Then you get to learn some chords everybody knows, like E, A, D, G, C, Em, Dm, Am, F and these give you a lot of songs to play.
I used
to find songs and I also used
to find chords that I did not know how to play.
After you can hold these down from remembering, get a guitar teacher for 2-3 weeks, he/she will show you all the tecniques to finger pick the strings or to do scales etc, or how to understand the playing. After that, get rid of the teacher, it is a waste of money and time.
I got a teacher for 2-3 weeks, and in that time period, I didn’t even want to look at the guitar, as it only reminded me of how I need to practise the crap the teacher told me to do. Just like doing homework for school. The reason why I stopped was because playing music was the only thing that I loved doing, and when that became part of my life, it was something that I did just for me, nobody else. When I got that teacher, it was just work, like everything else around me. I felt like I have something to live for finally.
So I guess the bull **** figure, 90% of all musicians giving up is because they are not musicians, and are not motivated enough to be wanting to understand music. I understand how music works, and I can play from hearing, and I can compose, and I can name intervals, I can tune without a tuning fork, and I can play in time without a metronome – maybe I understand what I am playing…and I am self-taught.
Just start playing, tune the guitar to E-A-D-G-B-E (Eddy Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddy) and start messing around. If you like it, in 3 years you’ll be better than anybody who had a teacher because you enjoy what you do, and they don’t.
Good luck!
Here will be some simple guitar lessons