r/LearnGuitar

I have been technically playing guitar since about 2017 or 2018. I played almost every day until 2019, when I slowed down to a couple times a week, then once every other week, until eventually around 2021 I completely stopped. I am trying to get back into it, but for some reason, I'm completely fried. I'm not even talking about being rusty, it's more like I've never played before. Even this is understandable, if unfortunate. However, my problem is that I can't even practice correctly anymore. I try to practice at least every other day-- doing it every day was affecting my mood too much. Doing spider exercises, chord changing exercises, barres, it's like I have no connection to my hands anymore. I'm not fretting right, I'm hitting the totally wrong string, notes buzz or mute. I've been practicing to a metronome, and have been keeping it at around 60 bpm; I'm trying to practice slow, like you're supposed to. 60 is still too fast for me sometimes, and slip up on simple open chord changes. Sometimes I even forego the metronome just so I can practice even slower, and while it's not as egregious, I'm still making embarrassingly simple mistakes. I picked it up so easily when I first started, and now despite starting over from step 1, I'm having a harder time now than I did then. What should my next step be? I'm starting to feel hopeless, like I'm just never going to get it. Please give me advice, I love music so much and I want so badly to be good.

I’m at the stage I want to learn a popularly recognized solo. Which one will get me the most mileage as a base to build on/modify?

What is the technique of strumming down on the "and". Are you supposed to break the natural up down swing of your arm with do that? Also whats the appropriate term for the and

I have been using the "Functional Ear Trainer" app for 3 days, about 90 minutes a day. There was a bit of improvement, but there's so little difference between each sound that I'm still getting them wrong all the time.

Is this something I'll have to do for months before it clicks? Is this app the wrong way to learn? I'm just winging it.

I have a guitar tutor but 30 minutes a week isn't cutting it and I'm not sure if it's a good fit but he's the only one in my town.

Im 14 years old, i've been learning for a year and an half how to play blues and rock.

I want to know about pentatonic, vocabulary, how to add more notes and things like that

Like many of you, I've always found it super frustrating to memorize the fretboard and visualize how scales and chords connect across the neck. Most of the tools I found online were either clunky, confusing for beginners, or locked behind a paywall.

So, I spent the last few months building my own solution, and I wanted to share it with you all. It's called FretMaster Studio. It's completely free to use, runs directly in your browser, and has zero ads.

I designed it specifically to make music theory visual and easy to digest. Here is what it can do for you:

• 🎸 Fretboard Editor: An interactive canvas where you can paint scales, click around to build chords, and see exactly what notes you are playing. It’s great for mapping out your practice sessions.
• 🎤 Practice Studio: This is my favorite part for beginners. It uses your device's microphone to listen to your actual guitar, gamifying the process of finding notes on the neck.
• 📖 Musical Library: A quick visual dictionary to explore chord voicings, inversions, and see real guitar fingerings.

You can try it out here: https://fretmasterstudio.com

Since this community is all about learning and improving, you are exactly the people I built this for. I would absolutely love your honest feedback.

Is it intuitive? Does it help you understand the fretboard better? What features would you like to see added to help you learn faster?

Thanks for checking it out, and keep on practicing!

I've been (inconsistently) teaching myself since 2023 by watching song tutorials online. Last year, I could play songs like Left-Hander by Panic and Your Shampoo Scent In The Flowers by Jang Beom-june on acoustic. Then I started playing electric guitar as well, but I feel like I can barely do anything. The only thing I can play is Be Quiet And Drive by Deftones and it really doesn't sound that good.

If it matters, I'm into metal and I want to play songs by bands like Slipknot, All That Remains, Avenged Sevenfold, The Curse Within etc.

I honestly don't know what I'm missing. I feel like I just lack all the basic knowledge I need for all this, even though I looked through some basic theory stuff way back. What am I doing wrong and how can I improve?

So I started posting a bunch of free tools online for learning/assisting guitar players. So far I have:

• Find the right scale over any chord.
• Chord progression scale finder.
• What chords work in a key finder.
• Arpeggio finder.
• About to add find any note on the fretboard.

I want to put up a bunch more and am looking to find out what people would find most useful. It's all at https://guitarlicklab.com/tools/ Hopefully that's okay to share.

Just started learning and just started watching Absolutely Understand Guitar.

In the second video Scotty talks about how important ear training is.

What are the valid options here? I might be able to find someone to teach this in person if warranted - my guitar tutor that I'm seeing for my 30 minute weekly lesson today might know someone.

Are there apps or anything else that can cover this?

So i want to learn a Guitar and iam extremely beginner , so where should I start from .I don't know is this right page to post this, but if you can please help me

Hi guys, I started playing guitar around 3 years ago. I played fairly consistently for 2 years and even did lessons for a few months before around a year ago I accidentally dropped and broke a 700$ Les paul semi hollow and lost interest. I still have a guitar, some cheap shitty 150$ Les Paul and want to get back in I just don’t know how or where to start. Any tips?

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!

Did anyone else use this website? I used it fairly regularly, I just noticed last week that the domain has expired. If anyone knows similar sites or if it's going live again please let me know!

I’ve been trying for almost 2 years and I can’t seem to be able to play even the easiest song, my fingers hurt every time I try to play, and my wrist hurt trying to hold onto the guitar neck, I can’t transition form chord to chord, and my biggest enemy are barre chords, is there the possibility that I actually ain’t built for the guitar?

18 months in. 52 yo. Self taught using all the different resources. Practice/play 20-30 mins daily. Major scales, triads, intervals, pentatonic, learning picking patterns to snippets of songs I like, etc.

All of a sudden everything is just clicking together and I feel like my playing is running on jet fuel! Like I’m finally seeing how it all fits together!

I was so discouraged along the journey thinking I was really missing the point of it all.

Just stay curious, focus on growth and find answers to your questions. It will come!!

My apartment walls are super thin, so even quiet acoustic practice is starting to bug the neighbor next door. Been looking into quieter setups for late-night practice, mostly stuff with headphones or silent guitars.

I’ve seen the Yamaha silent guitars mentioned a lot, but I can’t tell if they actually feel good to play. Anyone here used one for a while? Or are there any other solid alternatives worth looking at?

There are lots of posts of people displaying their guitar collection. As a guitar enthusiast I love seeing them. The question I always have is do people with multiple guitars play all of them (i.e., playing one for only for gigs, one for only practice, etc.?) I'm just curious.

I'm brand new to guitar- I've had one sitting in my room for awhile, but it's only just recently that I moved it off its beautiful shelf and down to where I'm practically tripping over it to help myself remember it's more than a prop. Today was day 6 of picking it up and spending 20-30 minutes strumming on it.
Only,, I feel lost. There's so much I can learn. There's so much I need to, but in what order? How do I know I'm doing it right? At what point does strumming turn into music? None of these questions are essential to learning to play, I think, but I can't stop them from taking up so much headspace.
I've currently got a schedule that gives me 5 minutes of warmups, 10 minutes of chord practice (currently A and E, switching between those two, and Em and Am. Is it unreasonable to expect to memorize A, E, C, D, and G by the end of 30 days?), 5 minutes for a technique skill (currently alternative picking, and my next goal is palm muting,, maybe?), and then 10 minutes to just noodle.

Please help, even if that's just to validate that I am, in fact, overthinking.

And a second question: how much bigger of a difference does having a teacher help compared to solo learning through apps (simply guitar) and YouTube?

Actually, I use thumb pick when i play metal on the guitar. Somebody may think “how do you play’PH’“?
Hold down the string with your pinky while plucking.
It is easier than normal flat pick.