Advice

LetsGoMteers

Might seem very stupid to everyone but here goes. I am 40 and have always wanted to learn to play guitar and am thinking of taking lessons. I have never player ever and don't know anything about it. I don't know a single solitary thing about playing or even reading music. Do they teach you to read music while taking the lessons or is this something you must learn before actually taking the guitar lessons. Sorry if a dumb question but thought it was worth asking

Thanks

2-feign-reluctance

could be both simultaneously - depends on the teacher.

kclemons

You can learn the guitar without learning to read music. Finding a good teacher is probably the most important thing. If you can find someone that knows what they are doing and has similar taste in music you will be in good shape.

Good luck.

mfc2006

I say go for it.

xtremehardy388

Not a dumb question, at all! You're never too old to learn something new. You can learn guitar and to read music at the same time. Best of luck!

LetsGoMteers

Thanks for the help

mccreadyisgod

It's worth knowing what "reading music" means to you, in the context of learning to play guitar. Some teachers will be willing and able to teach you to sight-read notation, which is the formal method of writing and reading music. This is the familiar clef and staff with dots for notes and such. In the world of guitar, we also have tablature, or tab. This is a guitar-specific method of writing and reading music, representing the six guitar strings and numbers representing the frets. Most (if not all) guitar teachers are capable of teaching tab, and it's a very helpful tool when learning guitar. Finally, there are charts, which will indicate key and chord shapes, and the chord changes, which are really all you need if you just want to strum along to some easy songs. This is a pretty common first step to learning guitar, and any guitar teacher should be able to walk you through reading some chords.

Unless you really want to become a serious, world-class studio guitar player, notation is probably not necessary. It's certainly helpful in many situations, and I don't want to knock the people who can sight-read notation (it's a serious and admirable skill), but most guitar players can't do it. Tab and chord charts are a much more reasonable skill to acquire, and most guitar teachers will use these tools in the course of instruction anyways. But don't feel like you need to know how to read any of these music formats to begin with, they should be part of whatever course of learning that you decide on.

PJ_Soul

xtremehardy388 said:

Not a dumb question, at all! You're never too old to learn something new. You can learn guitar and to read music at the same time. Best of luck!

I agree! Yes, you can learn guitar without knowing how to read music, but knowing how to read music is a great skill to have, and it definitely helps for playing any instrument. And it's not heard to learn! It's much harder to learn how to play the guitar, lol.

xtremehardy388

One more reason why marching band was/is awesome! #Trumpets #Drumline #TheSlackersAndCoolest

gimmesometruth27

go for it!

i learned by playing internet tab and by playing with my friends that were as shitty as i was at first. i have terrible technique and a really heavy right hand, but i get what i need out of playing with my poor technique. i started at 18 and i am 40 now. been playing in bands since i was 22. anybody can learn if you are willing to be patient and willing to practice.

Mignelli14

I've played the drums for 12 years and the guitar for under 1. Gotten good enough to take a turn on the guitbox when I jam with my buddies. I still don't know how to read music and I even took music in high school.
You can do it. And I definitely recommend it.

brianlux

Never too old! Go for it and have a ball!

Best guitar advice I only sometimes follow: play at the very least for 15 minutes every day.

Best guitar advice I did follow: listen to many styles of playing and learn a little from all of them and to what ever extent you can, strive to develop your own style of playing.

FoxyRedLa

brianlux said:

Never too old! Go for it and have a ball!

Best guitar advice I only sometimes follow: play at the very least for 15 minutes every day.

Best guitar advice I did follow: listen to many styles of playing and learn a little from all of them and to what ever extent you can, strive to develop your own style of playing.

My problem is even if I could get those 15 minutes a day those few minutes aren't structured and I don't really practice.

I have a DVD to follow along with but I'm also looking at a book that gives daily practice tips. Haven't decided yet.

2-feign-reluctance

Hanging with other people who could play really, really well and who weren't so pretentious definitely advanced my playing, that and playing every single day. The best I ever played to date was 2009-2013 by far, no kids yet, in an intense writing relationship with my band mate and played for hours just about every single day. Sometimes played 5-6 hours straight.

FoxyRedLa

2-feign-reluctance said:

Hanging with other people who could play really, really well and who weren't so pretentious definitely advanced my playing, that and playing every single day. The best I ever played to date was 2009-2013 by far, no kids yet, in an intense writing relationship with my band mate and played for hours just about every single day. Sometimes played 5-6 hours straight.

This. For sure.

2-feign-reluctance

I just read an article on Trey from Phish and he said the same damn thing about playing better when he's playing all the time.