r/LearnGuitar

So, I hope this gets some responses. I know it’s a basic question and been asked a million times, but here goes.

What is the very best way to learn some guitar “stuff”?

I am not looking to do anything beyond being able to mess around a bit, play some tunes, and ultimately learn enough about the fretboard to be able to do some soloing, noodling, playing along to tunes.

I know, it’s a basic question and might seem stupid, but there are so many different online instructors, videos, etc that I don’t know where to begin.

I’m 63, took lessons when I was like 10-12. I have an electric guitar that I bought and it just sits near my stereo looking pretty. So, I can play basic chords, but every time I pick it up, I get discouraged. I don’t want to pay a ton for lessons, but I do feel like I need to make a commitment to “something” that keeps my attention and allows me to have some fun. I’m a Deadhead, I love guitar players and have seen a ton of greats over the years. Maybe that’s why I get discouraged, I don’t know. I’m the type of persons who has a lot of hobbies and interests, so I am looking to fit playing guitar in, not having it take over my life.

Well, if you read all that, thanks! Any suggestions?

Hi ! I’ve been playing the guitar for a few years now (5 years) but very irregularly for about 3 years because every time I play, I have fun for 20 minutes and then I come back to technical shortcomings, musical theories or practices that make me feel like I’m going around in circles.

I don’t know how to explain it better, like I’m going to learn the chords of a song, I’ll catch on, but I’ll soon get bored. While to take the example of my former guitar teacher, when he played even a two-chord loop, it had a soul, it was pleasant to listen to! When I play, I feel like nothing is really injected into the guitar and that’s why I’m bored.

Of course, I tried to watch videos to find out how to make up for it, but I feel like all the videos that deal with this topic are too vague or aimed at real beginners.

So I wonder if I should learn music theory from scratch, or go back to school or stick to a routine or go on a retreat in the woods to reconnect with nature idk help me please

I've spent most of my life with music. Started piano (got to grade 7 theory, grade 6 playing), moved to saxophone (grade 8, A-level music), then bass and guitar. I have an ear that works- I can break down any song, tell you what every instrument is doing, and play it back.

Problem: I've never taken a guitar or bass lesson in my life. I learned by ear and muscle memory. So now I can play complicated fingerpicking (Blackbird, Under the Bridge), any metallic baseline including Anesthesia Pulling Teeth, and bar chords. I can physically execute intermediate-level stuff.

But I have no idea what I'm doing.

I don't know what chords I'm actually playing, most of the time. Anything past the 8th fret is a mystery. I can run a scale over a chord when soloing but it sounds like shit because I don't understand the architecture. I know an E7 sus4 when I see it on piano, but on guitar? No clue. Diminished sevenths, inversions, augmented chords- my brain just shuts off.

The reason: I've always rejected theory as "math." Stupid in hindsight.

Now I want to fix this. I have unlimited time and decent funds. I want to marry my natural ability with actual knowledge so I finally feel like I know what I'm doing.

Should I get a private theory-focused teacher (in-person or Zoom)? What books are worth it? Any tutorials or apps that don't suck? I'm extremely motivated and willing to be diligent.

Hello, so I have an acoustic guitar that I received from my uncle after he passed away. He didn't really play it either, but I think he got it from someone else. I have always been interested in learning the guitar, but due to personal reasons, I have struggled to focus on it. One thing I struggle with is knowing when I should advance to the next lesson. It's easy when you're working with an actual instructor in person, and they can tell you to keep practicing this or whatever, but when you are learning from tutorials online, you don't get that feedback.

So are there any good courses (free if possible)) that will tell me what I should be able to do on the guitar before I proceed to the next lesson? I know it seems easy, like just proceed when you can easily play the notes but it would still be good for me to know when I should be good enough to advance to the next lesson.

Any advice?

Thanks

I really like guitar but I don't have budget so I always compromise wherever I got the money I think it can be used for more important work other then buying guitar what do I do ?

I’m a metal guitarist and I’ve been playing just around 1 year(September was when I started) and in that time period I have learned a lot, mainly when it comes to playing riffs. I now feel fairly confident covering most metal rhythm guitar sections without much difficulty, some of the harder songs I’ve learned in full are laid to rest, tornado of souls, Mop, holy wars. I can play all the riffs, but I can’t play any leads no matter how much I practice them. Even a simple guitar solo like paranoid gives me a lot of trouble. When I try to learn how to play a guitar solo, I pretty much use the same method I do for learning riffs. I use a tab, try to play it slow and increase speed until I get it right but for some reason it always feels like I’m doing something wrong and it doesn’t sound anything like it. I feel like I make no progress everytime I try to learn a solo, am I doing something wrong?

I'm catching on to some finger picking

Still takes me a few seconds to line up my fingers everywhere when playing each chord

Let alone when going from chord to chord...

Any advice or is it just keep going?

Also pushing down the fingers hard enough in the right place so it doesn't clank and pluck the chord almost

Hi all! I’ve been practicing every day for a week now, and have soreness in my fingertips on my left hand. I know this is to be expected and I will probably deal with this for a long time (or forever), I just want to know: how much is too much?

I’ve injured myself doing other things just starting out, like whenever I start weightlifting I just immediately go too hard and mess up my shoulder badly enough where I can’t lift for three months, and the cycle continues. So I know that if I push myself too much with learning guitar, I could put myself out of commission for a week and lose my momentum, which I don’t want to do.

Is there a point at which I should stop practicing for a day or two to let it heal? The soreness isn’t bad, and I only see the tiniest bit of redness. I don’t want to stop practicing daily, I’m loving it so much, which is why I definitely do not want to put myself out of commission for an extended period of time by overexerting myself.

Thanks!

So I’ve had an acoustic for years and always noodled on guitars of my bandmates — picking up bad habits and doing my own way of handling a guitar. (I’m a drummer.)

A week ago Monday I finally decided to treat myself to an electric guitar for my 50th birthday (it’s in dec, but I couldn’t wait.)

Anyway, I’ve been trying to decide on the Gibson App or JustinGuitar.

The Gibson app seems to have a gamification element to it which is cool as I loved Guitar Hero back in the day. (Still love it)

However the Gibson app really starts off basic…like plucking one string — while Justin just takes off on the A and D chords…

I’m wondering if I just do both? Keep the Gibson app, and then use the Justin website? Any options or thoughts on that?

Also, I just went thru the A and D module today and my baby precious fingers are sore! But I’m gonna keep spending 20+ minutes a day switching between the two.

In Lesson 8 in Absolutely Understanding Guitar, they show a diagram of the chord chart box thing and talk about finger sliding. I wish I could post a picture so that I could show the diagram and it would make my question clearer, but images are not allowed and I don't think links to Youtube are either... but my question is that if you start at the top of the fret board, would the finger slide just be an open chord? At about 18:45 in the video it shows a note at 7 and an arrow down to slide to the next note, a half step at the end of do-re-mi... if I was playing at the top of of the guitar neck would that 7 just be an open G string?

Hi Redditors!
UK Dad here.
I want to buy a guitar for my 15 year old daughter to learn to play. But she is petite with small hands and has trouble with the size of the neck on traditional acoustic/classical guitars. I am thinking that maybe an electric guitar would be easier for her to learn on? (Plus of course, that’s far cooler in her eyes!)
Any suggestions for what guitar I should be looking for? Budget = £150 max (very open to used options).
Thanks in advance!

Hey guys this is my first postt! Anyways I’m writing because I want to get a guitar for my birthday but I’m just afraid of one thing
I feel like many people are gonna ask me “why learn the guitar if u don’t plan to be a musician or join a band” or whatever and I know it’s dumb but my parents (mostly my mom) are very big critics of my choices and anything I do they just always find a reason to judge and to criticise
But yeah I just want to ask ur guy’s opinions because I don’t rlly plan to join a band or anything, I just want to learn for fun and I feel like that’s a bit strange to say??

I’ve been listening to a lot of fingerstyle guitar over the past few years and finally decided to go ahead and get a guitar and start learning to play.

I think that having a song to work towards would keep me motivated to keep learning, even if it‘s just small, simplified parts at first. These are a few of the songs that really motivated me to want to start playing:

• Carthage by Hayden Pedigo
• Wilson Rag by Elizabeth Cotten
• Kittens by Kinloch Nelson
• Three Mile Bike Ride by Craig D’Andrea
• Little Green Apples by Bola Sete
• Sligo River Blues by John Fahey

Do any stand out as particularly good candidates for a “first song”? Is there another song that is similar in style but better suited to learning as a beginner? Or am I just approaching this incorrectly?

Just like the title says, I’ve tried to learn guitar quite a few times, but I’ve just never been able to do it. I have quite a few friends who know how to play guitar quite well, and typically I seek advice from them, but usually it just never ends up working for me. One of my cousins who knows how to play guitar told me that I could learn on YouTube and such, and one of my friends told me that I just need to learn how to read tabs, and another friend told me that all I need to know is just how to play chords. I feel so lost, and I feel that I just might not ever be able to learn guitar. I really like listening to bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Pantera, so to learn some of their stuff would be amazing, but I know I don’t get that good overnight. Is there any kind of advice or anything that I should or could be doing that could really help me to get good enough to play that kind of music? And if so, what would it be?