**Guitar players poll**

PRfCTlYUNkPTCLtHs

So I have an Acoustic Guitar @ home, took lessons for a bit..didn't stick to it.
Still want to learn. Some tell me teaching yourself is better...your thoughts...

Did u take lessons?
or teach yourself?
tips 4 me?

gobrowns19

I taught myself [I guess I should say I am still teaching myself.] It is interesting and a lot of fun, but with all that fun there is equal amount of frustration. If you do decide to go that path, buy the book Fretboard Logic. Harrison told me about it and i've learned more in the past month than the past year. It's a good path if you're like me and you have to take your own pace to learn things.

I would advise continuing lessons somewhere though, even if just a few, you can ask specific questions to an instuctor and they can spot problems you are having, where a book can't.

moster78

PRfCTlYUNkPTCLtHs wrote:

So I have an Acoustic Guitar @ home, took lessons for a bit..didn't stick to it.
Still want to learn. Some tell me teaching yourself is better...your thoughts...

Did u take lessons?
or teach yourself?
tips 4 me?

I vote lessons, and discipline. Stick to a practice schedule and work at it every day, if only for a half hour.

Lost_Clay

i started with a few lessons (just showing chords) moved on to guitar tab & now learn stuff by ear

Pearl Jam and toast

I taught myself and I'd advise it once you know what you're doing because you get to be more unique and more soulfull.

Lessons are great to start though. Get a nice foundation

*given*to*fly*

im in the process of teaching myself ...most of my friends play tho so i have someone to help me if im stuck ....its always good to have some help

Pearl Jam and toast

*given*to*fly* wrote:

im in the process of teaching myself ...most of my friends play tho so i have someone to help me if im stuck ....its always good to have some help

that's the best kind of help

the understanding, free, friendship help

start to play with them as soon as you think you can handle it. you'll be amazed how fast you grow from there.

ledhed43

i always had friends that played and they showed me stuff. those were the best lessons i had. it also depends on your musical background. i took piano lessons when i was a child so playing music wasnt foreign to me and i picked up guitar easier than some, it was still frustrating at first though. if this is your first instrument i would advise lessons there are things they can teach you that you may never pick up on your own. i have the aforementioned book fretboard logic. it is useful, i imagine it would have been even more usefull if i had it when i just started. even if you do take lessons you should still do some reading on your own. i learned a lot from the internet.

now for the best advice i can give when you are starting. STOP PLAYING WHEN: your hand hurts or you get frustrated. dont make it harder to pick up the guitar next time. even just a short break can be the difference between playing again tomorrow and quitting forever.

xtremehardy388

I taught myself while jamming with a bunch of other people. Just playing with other people will teach you different styles and that's somthing very valuable. I learned over the years and I'd like to think of myself as a pretty good guitar player. None the less, learning different styles from people is prettty good. It's always good to learn scales and chrods though so you might wanna work on that.

PRfCTlYUNkPTCLtHs

ledhed43 wrote:

i always had friends that played and they showed me stuff. those were the best lessons i had. it also depends on your musical background. i took piano lessons when i was a child so playing music wasnt foreign to me and i picked up guitar easier than some, it was still frustrating at first though. if this is your first instrument i would advise lessons there are things they can teach you that you may never pick up on your own. i have the aforementioned book fretboard logic. it is useful, i imagine it would have been even more usefull if i had it when i just started. even if you do take lessons you should still do some reading on your own. i learned a lot from the internet.

now for the best advice i can give when you are starting. STOP PLAYING WHEN: your hand hurts or you get frustrated. dont make it harder to pick up the guitar next time. even just a short break can be the difference between playing again tomorrow and quitting forever.

thanks...piano is actually something I would love to learn too...but it's not like I have one of those laying around.
thanks for the tips.

PRfCTlYUNkPTCLtHs

thanks everyone for your in put..i am a sponge..LOL. I will learn, I have wanted to for so long...it's time I get down to business!
All your help is so appreciated!

the unseen

a cool thing about lessons at the start, is they put you in a situation where you have a goal to reach for by the time the next lesson comes around.

when i was starting out,and trying to find a good practice routine or having a bad week of practice because of frustrations with trying to learn the material,there was no worse feeling than going into a lesson unprepared.

Dustin51

I had lessons when I was just starting out and I honestly didn’t get much out of them. The problem though was that I wasn’t as motivated as I should have been.

The reason I wanted lessons was because I had been playing other instruments and with most instruments the first thing you learn is notes. However, I took lessons for a few months and never learned any notes. They teach you scales, chords, keys, even tab, but no notes. I didn’t really understand that at the time but now I get it. Notes are not that important for guitar. I mean I’m sure if you know them its going to help you out but most guitarists I know don’t know them. In fact a lot of really incredible guitar players who I know don’t even really know anything beyond basic chords but they can still kick a lot of ass!!

What I do now is just play with my band, the other guitarist can kick my ass so I have to really work hard to keep up. Also, I pick up any DVD’s or books that look interesting to me. That’s what’s working for me, but I have to echo what some of the other people have said. You have to work at it. I look at it a lot like working out or training for a sport. For example anyone who played football in high school could probably still go out and play and be alright but you will never be good unless you practice, training, and are dedicated to it.

Sorry for the long winded response.

Pearl Jam and toast

Dustin51 wrote:

I had lessons when I was just starting out and I honestly didn’t get much out of them. The problem though was that I wasn’t as motivated as I should have been.

The reason I wanted lessons was because I had been playing other instruments and with most instruments the first thing you learn is notes. However, I took lessons for a few months and never learned any notes. They teach you scales, chords, keys, even tab, but no notes. I didn’t really understand that at the time but now I get it. Notes are not that important for guitar. I mean I’m sure if you know them its going to help you out but most guitarists I know don’t know them. In fact a lot of really incredible guitar players who I know don’t even really know anything beyond basic chords but they can still kick a lot of ass!!

What I do now is just play with my band, the other guitarist can kick my ass so I have to really work hard to keep up. Also, I pick up any DVD’s or books that look interesting to me. That’s what’s working for me, but I have to echo what some of the other people have said. You have to work at it. I look at it a lot like working out or training for a sport. For example anyone who played football in high school could probably still go out and play and be alright but you will never be good unless you practice, training, and are dedicated to it.

Sorry for the long winded response.

Once i started playing guitar (i played various things in middle school band before) i completely lost all note-site-reading ability which i was quite good with at the time.

i don't regret a thing though

PJ-Sin

I taught myself how to play, with the exception of someone showing me how to read tabs.

I have always thought that if I hadn't I might not have the unique style I have now. So, if you don't want someone elses style rubbed off on you (ha, that sounds funny), then just pop in some PJ and teach yourself by playing along. Seriously for the first few years, thats all I did.

MetalGod75

moster78 wrote:

I vote lessons, and discipline. Stick to a practice schedule and work at it every day, if only for a half hour.

amen to that;)