Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Learning To Play the Guitar

Before we dive into the basics of how to play the guitar, let 's take a look at the actual exercise layout. When we watch our favorite rock stars jamming with their amazing guitars at concerts or in music videos, we are envious of their speed, dexterity and skill. We want to be able to do the same thing and find ourselves wondering how in the world they learned to play so well.

The guitar is not a difficult instrument to learn how to play, but before you begin taking lessons there are a few basics you should keep in mind. You must be determined to succeed. Without determination, you are destined to give up before you've learned to play this wonderful instrument. Determination is especially important when it comes to learning to play the guitar.

Patience is the Key

Another key to learning the guitar is patience. You cannot become a rock star overnight. Learning the guitar takes time, especially during the initial days. Once you have these two basic tenets, the third thing, which is specific to music, is having a musical ear. You have to be able to, over a period of time, identify the sounds associated with particular notes.

Buy yourself a Guitar

The first step to actually learning how to play the guitar is to get yourself a guitar. Owning a guitar is vital to the learning process simply because learning involves constant practice. You have to constantly practice what you learn, as a lack of practice can make you rusty and setback your learning process.

Having your own guitar enables you to practice whenever you want, at the frequency you desire. Also, the feeling of ownership is a big confidence booster. By purchasing your own guitar, you have taken the first step to learning how to play it. The last and final preliminary step before you kick off the actual learning process is getting yourself a teacher. [Note from Chuck's Tips: I bought a guitar from a vendor on Amazon.com and am very happy with it. I took it to a reputable guitar teacher who also approved. AND, it only cost $39.99! Woohoo!]

Find a Good Teacher

In the days before the Internet, to learn how to play the guitar, you had to learn from a guitar teacher. This meant you had to actually go to the house of a teacher, or have the teacher come to your house. That was quite a limiting experience, because there was no guarantee the teacher you were learning from was the best or was able to teach you the style you wanted to learn.

Did You Know?

If you have lot of time and are ready to spend some money, private lessons are the best way to learn guitar. The problem is, it has become harder to find a good private teacher these days with the proliferation of online guitar courses.

Learning Guitar Online

There has been an explosion of online guitar teaching course lately and this has changed the equation forever. There are numerous online websites that are designed to teach a student how to play the guitar. These courses take potential guitar players from the simple basics to complex chords and various playing styles. In order to learn online, all you really need is your guitar, a computer and internet access. You should search for a site that best suits your particular
needs. Once you've found the perfect site for you, jump right in and start taking those guitar lessons. You will be glad that you did.


Kirk Downing is the creator of the popular portal for guitar enthusiasts called JamDojo. Total beginners can find a wealth of information in the form of articles and blog posts. If you're trying to learn how to play guitar JamDojo.com is the answer.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good for people to know.