How to learn guitar
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!