whats the best way to learn guitar without paying money for lessons?

4 Comments

1. Daniel E says:

   February 1, 2010 at 06:00

   If you have a good enough ear, you can teach yourself. I did. If you already know chords, you can find fake charts on the internet. There are also videos you can look at on youtube, just do a search on guitar. A lot of it is pretty advanced, but there are basic lessons too.

   I just got a basic book to show me chords and went from there, trying things out, trying to duplicate what I heard on ‘records’ (no CDs back then). I ended up making a living playing guitar for 15 years, before I decided poverty wasn’t so great a lifestyle. Good luck.
2. Zack S says:

   February 2, 2010 at 22:03

   A lot of people will tell you to start by learning a couple basic chords and throwing them together. That’s one way, but I’ve found that it’s not the most effective way.

   When I teach people how to play guitar, I start by teaching them tablature, (which you can learn to read online, it’s quite simple) and then i teach them how to play Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple. I teach them a dumbed-down one-string version of it for simplicity’s sake.

   The reason I find that this method is slightly more effective is that when people can play some chords they then say “Gee. Now what? I still don’t know how to play anything.” and often give up.

   When someone is learning a nice simple song like Smoke on the Water, they can actually hear how much progress they are making. Plus, since it’s an actually rock song, rather than a nursery rhyme (Mary had a little lamb, for instance), they feel like they are actually become good guitarists.

   So, my advice to you is to learn how to read tablature and then to learn some easy songs. Some good ones to try would be

   Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
   Cat Scratch Fever – Ted Nugent
   Come as You Are – Nirvana
   Iron Man – Black Sabbath
   Holiday – Green Day
   Put Your Lights On – Santana
   2 Minutes to Midnight – Iron Maiden
   One – Metallica
   Day Tripper – The Beatles

   Hope this helps.
3. cconsaul says:

   February 6, 2010 at 09:29

   I have provided some links to similar questions I have already answered. This will help you to consider some of the many aspects that learning to play guitar gets into. It will also provide you with a whole bunch f links to help solve these challenges before they become problems for you. Be sure to take a look at other contributor’s answers as well. I do not, by any means, wish to suggest that their advice is not worthy of your attention as well. There are some fine contributors like Guitar picker56, MAmianka, Think About This, JCK, KAisergirl, Chessmaster 1018, JKF_alone, NvadrApple, and Dansinger61along with many more I can’t think of off the top of my head. Be susre to read their suggestions as well.
4. guitarpicker56 says:

   February 9, 2010 at 20:57

   While Zack S makes a strong point at learning to play by tablature I would never recommend that avenue solely by which to learn. Consider purchasing Hal Leonard’s Guitar Method #1 for beginners that is found in any reputable music store.

   Inside are instructions for tuning the guitar along with other essential things you must know. Also, you will find basic chords to begin learning along with music theory–which is most important for you to learn. You may not be able to play some of the rock songs mentioned by Zack S., but you will learn to play notation on each string.

   Playing by tablature is a slower process compared with reading music and it is something not always available for many of the songs you may wish to learn later. Not all great songs are written for the guitar, so if you can read music notation, such songs would pose no problem for you.

   Hal Leonard publishes a series of guitar playing manuals, and each one can help the student progress further.

   Conversely, I learned to read and write music while in high school and then applied what I knew to guitar playing–writing my own music which prompted deeper research in theory. I, too, played professionally for many years–both during my military career and afterward and it is a tough business to climb.

   My essential advice: 1. Learn chords and their progressions. 2. Learn to read and write music. 3. Learn to play hot lead guitar.

   Of course, these three simple recommendations will take years to attain through constant and focused practice.

   Cconsaul: I appreciate your comments.