u/sandfit

Here is my collection of advice on how to learn guitar. If I can do it in retirement at age 70+, so can you. Learning guitar is like driving across the USA. You can stop at the stateline visitor centers and get maps and directions, but mostly you just gotta drive. It takes about 5 days to drive from coast to coast, and about that many years to "get good" at guitar. So don't try to do it in one day, month, or even year. Make your practice play, and vice versa. Take frequent breaks. But just do it every day. If you do nothing else listed below, do Justin Guitar, Absolutely Understand Guitar, YouTube channels of listed lesson sites, Wikipedia and keep it fun!

1 PRACTICE & PLAY every day as much as possible, but leave some for tomorrow.Take frequent breaks. First, practice notes, chords, riffs, scales, fingerstyle, and online lessons. Then play your songs every night.Play, sing and sound likeYOU,not them! Wash your hands. Squeeze tennis balls to strengthen hands. Trim fingernails. Practice hard parts of your songs.

2 It takes time. You can't climb a mountain in one step. You can't climb to the penthouse of a tall building with one step on the stairs. There is no elevator, no shortcuts, no direct flight. It takes years. Keep it fun! Talent = practice x time

3 Slow down in your practice! You are not a train speeding down the tracks. You are laying the tracks. You are building the neural pathways your brain uses to do the job. Make sure your brain has the right path to the note, chord, and song! Practicing too fast creates the wrong neural pathway. Play/practice a minute or two, then stop and let your brain save it. You learn faster. It is far better to practice it right slowly than practice it wrong fast. Speed will come.

4 String notes numbered 6-1 are E A D G B E "Elvis And Dolly Got Blue Eyes"

5 Learn the notes and intervals - here they are: A BC D EF G < Notice there is no note between B and C, and E and F. see that on a piano keyboard also. Remember it this way: "Big Cats Eat Fish"

6 Open string note scale: String 6 Frets# 0 1 3 = EFG / String 5 Frets # 0 2 3 = ABC / String 4 Frets # 0 2 3 = DEF / String 3 Frets # 0 2 = GA / String 2 Frets # 0 1 3 = BCD / String 1 Frets # 0 1 3 = EFG

7 There are only 12 notes in music: every note (A-G) has a sharp and a flat between them, except B and C and E and F. Big cats eat fish.

8 Chords are made up of 3 or more notes. Learn chords in these orders:

A D E then G C D then C F G hundreds of songs use only 3 of these

The rest – only 21 chords in all to start: A-G minor, major, and 7ths

.Starting strum: \/ \/ /\ /\ \/ /\ or \/ \/ \/ /\ \/ /\ Learn other new chords from songs. Learn barre chords (F & B) by practicing them up the neck, then move down. Start with “cheat” versions of F and B but also learn the right way to make them.

9 Practice making chords by making the chord, strum it, and lift your fingers just off the strings, and lay them back down and repeat. Over and over.

10 Practice changing chords by going thru A-G major, minor, and 7^(th) while strumming and keeping rhythm going. Keep rhythm going by strumming an all open chord between each chord while you change to the next chord.

11 Scales are progressions of musical notes that form a pattern. The chromatic scale is simply a progression of every one of the 12 notes of music. The major scale is a progression of 7 notes that ends in the eighth starting note, one octave higher. The pattern for it is 221-2221 in terms of progression of the notes (intervals) from the chromatic scale. The pentatonic scale uses a series of five notes to make playing single notes easier. The most common pentatonic scale pattern is 3 notes apart on the E string, 2 notes apart on the A, D, and G string, and back to 3 notes apart on the B and high e string. Details are on “Absolutely Understand Guitar” on Youtube. And see more details on Wikipedia.

12 Best free lesson sites: Justin Guitar, Lauren Bateman, Andy Guitar, Guitar Lessons .com, Marty Music , Fret Science, FretPath, National Guitar Academy, Chris Sherland /// Best paid: Guitar Tricks, Pickup Music, TrueFire, Fender Play /// On Youtube only: Absolutely Understand Guitar, Redlight Blue, Kevin Nickens, Musician Fitness, Play in the Zone, Justin Johnson, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Six Strings. Find your songs on ultimate-guitar.com. Then simplify the chords, Lyrics are on Azlyrics.com. Practice standing up some. And sing! Strum once per chord first time thru a song, then strum with pattern and sing.

13 First guitars: Taylor Academy, 114ce,112ce, or GS mini, Emerald Black Opus, Concert or parlor size guitar. Yamaha FS830 or CSF1M, Alvarez AF30, AP66 or ALJ2 / Electric = Yamaha Pacifica 112V. Feel & comfort are most important.

14 Do deliberate practice. It is Practice what is hard, Get outside your comfort zone and Push the envelope. Deliberate practice x time = success! All great musicians got great with it. Deliberate practice is purposeful practice that knows where it is going and how to get there. The magic way to learn faster is slow down! Improve every day. Grow brains in your hands. There are no quantum leaps or devil deals. But yes you can. Be patient, persistent, positive, progressive, punctual, precise, and playful. Mix practice and play. Keep it fun!

Hello, please recommend a 1/4" / 6mm thin magnetic pickup to be temporary mounted under the strings and neck of a emerald carbon fiber guitar. it can be held on with either poster putty or tape. that way one pickup could serve for the 3 sizes of guitars i want to buy. the guitar has an offset soundhole, so the usual soundhole magnetic pickup will not fit. i know of krivo, justin johnson, or republic ones, but do you know of any for closer to $100 or less than the above 3? see what i mean below.

https://preview.redd.it/n2kedv5c1gdh1.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb0b5a1dfc45283986e29601a80981d36e424f1c

Hello, please recommend a free app for my new android cellfone. i want an adjustable drum beat app only for practicing changing chords. not for performance. and free. thanx for your advice. please excuse, i am old and not up to date on this stuff. thanx

Hello, please recommend a free drum app for my android cellfone. it is for practice only. i hate the beeping of a metronome. thanx

Hello, your advice please. after 3.5 years of learning in my retirement, i am trying to break out of beginner. i have been practicing the 5 boxes of the minor penta scale for most of that time. lately i have become aware of the "diagonal pentatonic scale". i like it. should i start practicing/learning the diagonal pentatonic (minor/major) and leave all but box #1 alone for a while? are the 5 boxes academic and the diagonal the realworld way? thanx

Here is my collection of advice on how to learn to play guitar. this is not ai made. it is my learning process. i started learning in nov 22 at age 70+. i am fast-tracking it. if i can do it, so can you. this post is deleted and re-posted for maximum visibility every few weeks, so copy/paste it somewhere. make some music. your suggestions are added sometimes. this is limited to one front/back page of a document, so some things are brief. if you are just beginning, practice only about 20 minutes/day until you build calluses.

1 PRACTICE & PLAY at least an hour every day, in 2 or more sessions. Take breaks. First, practice chords, scales, fingerstyle, and online lessons. Then play your songs. Play, sing and sound like YOU, not them! Wash your hands. Squeeze tennis balls to strengthen hands. Trim fingernails. Play some with others. Practice hard parts of your songs. Take lots of breaks.

2 It takes time. You can't climb a mountain in one step. You can't climb to the penthouse of a tall building with one step on the stairs. There is no elevator, no shortcuts, no direct flight. It takes years. Keep it fun! Talent = practice x time

3 Slow down in your practice! You are not a train speeding down the tracks. You are laying the tracks. You are building the neural pathways your brain uses to do the job. Make sure your brain has the right path to the note, chord, and song! Practicing too fast creates the wrong neural pathway. Play/practice a minute or two, then stop and let your brain save it. You learn faster. It is far better to practice it right slowly than practice it wrong fast. Speed will come.

4 Learn the notes on strings 6>1 : E A D G B E "Elvis And Dolly Got Blue Eyes"

5 Learn the notes and intervals - here they are: A BC D EF G < notice there is no note between B and C, and E and F. see that on a piano keyboard also. Remember it this way: "Big Cats Eat FIsh"

6 Open string note scale: String 6 Frets# 0 1 3 = EFG / String 5 Frets # 0 2 3 = ABC / String 4 Frets # 0 2 3 = DEF / String 3 Frets # 0 2 = GA / String 2 Frets # 0 1 3 = BCD / String 1 Frets # 0 1 3 = EFG

7 There are only 12 notes in music: every note (A-G) has a sharp and a flat between them, except B and C and E and F.

8 Chords are made up of 3 or more notes. Learn chords in these orders:

a E A D hundreds of songs use only these 3

b G C D hundreds more songs use only these 3 chords

c the rest – only 21 chords in all to start: A-G minor, major, and 7ths

.Starting strum: \/ \/ \/ /\ \/ /\ or \/ \/ /\ /\ \/ /\ Learn other new chords from songs. Learn barre chords (F & B) by practicing them up the neck, then move down.

9 Practice making chords by making the chord, strum it, and lift your fingers just off the strings, and lay them back down and repeat. Over and over.

10 Practice changing chords by going thru A-G major, minor, and 7^(th) while strumming and keeping rhythm going. Keep rhythm going by strumming an all open chord between each chord while you change to the next chord. Aim to grow both muscles and “brains” in your hands & fingers.

11 Pentatonic scale is a 5-note scale that lets you play single notes in the same key. The notes are 3 frets apart on strings 6 2 1 and 2 frets apart on strings 543. Learn notes on all 6 strings. The notes are the same on 1 and 6.

12 Best free lesson sites: Justin Guitar, Lauren Bateman, Andy Guitar, Guitar Lessons .com, Marty Music , Fret Science, FretPath, National Guitar Academy / Best paid: Guitar Tricks, Truefire, Pickup MusicLearn Practice Play On Youtube only: Redlight Blue, Kevin Nickens, Musician Fitness, Play in the Zone, Justin Johnson, Jo Bywater, Rick Beato. Also search YouTube for “learn guitar”, “play guitar”, and “guitar lessons” and watch videos it suggests to you.

13 Find songs you like on either ultimate-guitar.com or songbookpro.com and print them out or not. Lyrics are on Azlyrics.com. Then simplify the chords, Practice standing up some. And sing! Strum once per chord first time thru a song, then strum with pattern and sing. Slow it way down to get it right.

14 Good first guitars: Taylor 114ce or GS mini, Emerald Black Opus (X7 & X20), Martin Dreadnought Junior, Yamaha FS830 or CSF1M, Alvarez AF30, AP66 or ALJ2 / No pickup needed. Feel, comfort & playability are most important.

15 Do deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is (1) practice what is hard (2) get outside your comfort zone and (3) push the envelope. Practice songs, scales, and chords that are just outside your current ability. Move the “meter” from impossible to difficult to easy. Deliberate practice x time = success! All great musicians, athletes, chessmasters, and others got great by deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is purposeful practice that knows where it is going and how to get there. The best way to learn faster is slow down. Aim to play a little better every day. Take frequent breaks. Read about famous guitarists on Wikipedia. There are no shortcuts, quantum leaps, or crossroads devil deals. But yes you can. Mix practice and play. Keep it fun. GO!

i saw this elsewhere and just had to share it. enjoy.

https://preview.redd.it/urzi5cpl5q4h1.jpg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd0f0f2a44d02005aa4f1be80c786a269ac32d06

Here is my collection of advice on how to learn to play guitar. it is not ai made. it is my learning process. i started learning in nov 22 at age 70+. i am fast-tracking it. if i can do it, so can you. this post is deleted and re-posted for maximum visibility every few weeks, so copy/paste it somewhere. make some music

1 PRACTICE & PLAY at least an hour every day, in 2 or more sessions. Take breaks. First, practice chords, scales, fingerstyle, and online lessons. Then play your songs every night. Play, sing and sound likeYOU,not them! Wash your hands. Squeeze tennis balls to strengthen hands. Trim fingernails. Play some with others. Practice hard parts of your songs. Take lots of breaks.

2 It takes time. You can't climb a mountain in one step. You can't climb to the penthouse of a tall building with one step on the stairs. There is no elevator. There are no shortcuts. It takes years. Keep it fun! Talent = practice x time

3 Slow down in your practice! You are not a train speeding down the tracks. You are laying the tracks. You are building the neural pathways your brain uses to do the job. Make sure your brain has the right path to the note, chord, and song! Practicing too fast creates the wrong neural pathway. Play/practice a minute or two, then stop and let your brain save it. You learn faster. It is far better to practice it right slowly than practice it wrong fast. Speed will come.

4 Learn the notes of the 6 strings E A D G B E "Elvis And Dolly Got Blue Eyes"

5 Learn the notes and intervals - here they are: A BC D EF G < notice there is no note between B and C, and E and F. see that on a piano keyboard also. Remember it this way: "Big Cats Eat FIsh"

6 Open string note scale: String 6 Frets# 0 1 3 = EFG / String 5 Frets # 0 2 3 = ABC / String 4 Frets # 0 2 3 = DEF / String 3 Frets # 0 2 = GA / String 2 Frets # 0 1 3 = BCD / String 1 Frets # 0 1 3 = EFG

7 There are only 12 notes in music: every note (A-G) has a sharp and a flat between them, except B and C and E and F. Big Cats Eat Fish.

8 Chords are made up of 3 or more notes. Learn chords in these orders:

a E A D hundreds of songs use only these 3

b G C D hundreds more songs use only these 3 chords

c the rest – only 21 chords in all to start: A-G minor, major, and 7ths

.Starting strum: \/ \/ \/ /\ \/ /\ or \/ \/ /\ /\ \/ /\ Learn other new chords from songs. Start learning barre chords early. Start with the easy/cheat versions of F & B.

9 Practice making chords by making the chord, strum it, and lift your fingers just off the strings, and lay them back down and repeat. Over and over.

10 Practice changing chords by going thru A-G major, minor, and 7^(th) while strumming and keeping rhythm going. Keep rhythm going by strumming an all open chord between each chord while you change to the next chord. Aim to grow both muscles and “brains” in your hands & fingers.

11 Pentatonic scale is a 5-note scale that lets you play single notes in the same key. The notes are 3 frets apart on strings 6 2 1 and 2 frets apart on strings 543. Learn notes on all 6 strings. String 6 = EF G A BC D E

12 Best free lesson sites: Justin Guitar, Lauren Bateman, Andy Guitar, Guitar Lessons .com, Marty Music , Fret Science, National Guitar Academy / Best paid: Guitar Tricks, Truefire, Pickup MusicLearn Practice Play On Youtube only: Redlight Blue, Kevin Nickens, Musician Fitness, Play in the Zone, Justin Johnson, Jo Bywater, Rick Beato. Also search YouTube for “learn guitar”, “play guitar”, and “guitar lessons” and let your computer refer videos to you. Watch!

13 Find songs you like on either ultimate-guitar.com or songbookpro.com and print them out or not. Lyrics are on Azlyrics.com. Then simplify the chords, Practice standing up some. And sing! Strum once per chord first time thru a song, then strum with pattern and sing. Slow it way down to get it right.

14 Good starter guitars: Taylor 114ce or GS mini, Emerald Black Opus (X7 X20), Martin Dreadnought Junior, Yamaha FS830 or CSF1M, Alvarez AF30, AP66 or ALJ2 / No pickup needed. Feel, comfort & playability are most important.

15 Do deliberate practice. See Youtube videos on it. Deliberate practice is (1) practice what is hard (2) get outside your comfort zone and (3) push the envelope. Practice songs, scales, and chords that are just outside your current ability. Move the “meter” from impossible to difficult to easy. Deliberate practice x time = success! All great musicians, athletes, chessmasters, and others got great by deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is purposeful practice that knows where it is going and how to get there. Good books are “Country and Blues Guitar for the Musically Hopeless” by Carol McComb, “Zen Guitar” by Philip Toshio Sudo, and “Peak” by Anders Erikssen. Read Wikipedia articles about famous guitarists. Yes you can. Mix practice and play. Keep it fun. GO!

Hello, can you recommend a good room DEhumidifier for the spare bedroom that my 4 wooden taylor guitars are kept in? i do not want to get individual in-bag humidity control, since that would multiply it x4, twice a year! the room is 12x14x9 feet, for 168 square feet, and 1519 cubic feet. whole house is 1936 sf, all brick with stained concrete floors. there is a double window in the room, that i keep a blanket over at nite. there is a door that can have a large towel under the bottom to slow down house air coming in. right now the room humidity is about 70%. we rest the 17 year old heat pump in spring and fall. then we run off in summer and turn it off again. then in winter the air dries out. i can hang a wet towel from the ceiling in winter for humidification. so really all i need is a good room DEhumidifier. there are some at my local lowes on the shelf right now.....i would rather not buy from amazon or home depot. or walmart is okay with me. thanx for your advice.

Thanx for your advice. do you know of other slim surface mount magnetic humbucker pickups for acoustic guitars? i know of the krivo, pictured below, the justin johnson, the republic, and the lace sensor. are there others, especially one for under $100?

https://preview.redd.it/y83qkv0rnxzg1.jpg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c0b65d810189efdb142bc55ce9efd7f0f0e2d1e

it would be used for temporary mounting with poster tape under the strings of emerald carbon fiber guitars i want to buy. they have offset soundholes. see below. thanx for your help.

https://preview.redd.it/vbpabz80oxzg1.jpg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86d84600eb523cc76fcf0e6a26f5a24abff8e16d

lately my wife has been telling me about a proposed data center near my town, near the river. most towns in the usa are near rivers, or aquifers. me must have water. but data centers must have water to cool their equiment. it creates lots of heat. then that water is dumped back into its source, killing the environment. since reagan's secretary of the interior said "jesus will clean up the environment when he returns" in the 80s, that has been the republican attitute towards nature. but we all must drink, breathe and eat. they dont get it. so here is my point: about half of americans are agnotic, including those in church. we just admit it to ourselves. we must enlarge our tent to include those that attend church for social reasons and try to save the earth from rape in the name of religion. nuff said.

What some famous guitarists have said:

“*It takes a lot of devotion and work, or maybe I should say play, because if you love it, that's what It amounts to. I haven't found any shortcuts, and I've been looking for a long time”.*Chet Atkins

“*It takes a lot of discipline to be very proficient on your instrument.....You have to really exercise your willpower....reach down really deep within and pull out stuff you never knew you had, strength you never bothered to find before.”*Steve Vai

“The general attitude is “I want it, and I want it now”. But it really takes years if you're going to do it right.....It doesn't make any difference how technically good you are or how fast you are or how many notes you know; you just can't do it in two years” Johnny Winter

“Around 1959, at age fifteen, my mom bought me my first guitar....If you want to get to the top, you've to to start at the bottom.....I would just play every spare moment I got....I was never parted from my guitar....I took it everywhere and I went to sleep with my arm laid across it.” Keith Richards

“We were fascinated with it, Brian and I. We would spend every spare moment trying to get down Jimmy Reed's guitar sounds.” Keith Richards

“The blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll.” Muddy Waters

“For me, I think the only danger is being too much in love with guitar playing. The music is the most important thing, and the guitar is only the instrument.” Jerry Garcia

“Whether you are playing in the bar, the church, the strip joint, in the Himalayas, the first duty of music is to complement and enhance life.” Carlos Santana

“Every time you pick up your guitar to play, play as if it’s the last time.” Eric Clapton

“Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.” Jon Bon Jovi

“A day that I don't learn something new is a wasted day.” B B King

“You gotta want it bad. So bad you spend at least an hour every single day practicing. Imagine you are walking across North America from Atlantic to Pacific. Walk a few miles every day and you will get there.” Me

Also search this community for "how to learn guitar" by me

Hello, can a clip-on horn mic such sound good and avoid feedback on a carbon fiber acoustic guitar with an offset soundhole? such as the audio-technica pro 35 or the shure beta 98 h/c or the behringer cb 100? or something else? for a solo performer who will sing/play solo, no loud band? or some other clip on mic? see below \/

https://preview.redd.it/ghnia07cpdyg1.jpg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=980a07305231be418edd754c8e230d6dec2fc0b2

the pickup would clip onto the edge of the soundboard on the offset soundhole. see the emerald carbon fiber guitar's soundhole below \/

https://preview.redd.it/cs7d4vhaldyg1.jpg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86c190bb42c3fcd4ff7233c857c5dc275f169bab

and what about the cheapish $50 ones on walmart or amaz that have wireless transmitter/receivers? thanx for your advice