I just love answering these guitar lessons questions. Here’s another:
Question: I’ve been taking 2 years of lessons, and my teacher told me to take about 5-6 years of lessons total to have a strong foundation in straight picking and fingerstyle.
Is it normal to take 6 years of private lessons for someone who wants to be very good at it?
Answer: I would say that 6 years is overkill, but I never went through it. Part of becoming a musician is exploration and working solely with one instructor can limit that. But, the more you know, the better you’ll be, just make sure you find time to explore guitar and learn on your own. If you practice a couple hours per day, then you’ll be a pretty good player in 6 years, but a lot of that just has to do with time and repetition of scales and chords.
What a great learn guitar question:
Question: I’m so excited, I’m getting a guitar soon and I’m saving up money for lessons(:
Is it hard to learn? How long do you think it will be before I get good?(I’m taking lessons soon)
I already play the cello and some piano and I caught on the both pretty fast…
Guitar players, could you explain to me how to strum and stuff also??? I’ve never understood how you do that!! Lol(:
Thanks so much in advance(:
Answer: Having a musical background with the cello and the piano is to your advantage when learning to play the guitar. Playing the cello should have given you the needed calluses already so that’s a plus too. Nevertheless, you will encounter difficulties as you progress and that is normal. You must remain confident and motivated to play the instrument.
With the guitar your fingers will rebel against having to form chords in awkward ways. You must train them and that will take many hours and patience on your part. Every guitarist has gone through this and you can as well.
Learning the techniques of strumming is best done with one-on-one instruction with someone proficient in the guitar. As you know, music is set apart with metric signatures and each time signature requires different approaches in rhythm. Remember, the first beat gets the stronger beat in 3/4 time; the first and third beats are strong in 4/4 time and cut time.
I might add that guitar music is sounded and played a full octave below the standard piano tuning. The Middle C on the piano is the guitar’s high C note.
Be patient, stay motivated and focused and you will do well.
A learn guitar question that should definitely interest you all this week
Question: I want to learn guitar as I have an acoustic one that has been under my bed fir god only knows how many years. But I want to learn! It may just be a phase and I may grow out of it, but is there anyway I can learn without having to pay for lessons?
There are LOADS of guitar players at my school but I feel a but gay asking them if they could teach me :/
If you already play, can you also leave some tips on learning guitar?
Answer: Since you already have a guitar, my recommendation is to invest in a new set of strings for the guitar and a combination lesson book/video series. Check out the following website for some of the best prices around on guitar accessories and instructional materials. They have a wide variety to choose from, so browse around a while and find one that will help you meet your individual goals.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/
Keep the learn guitar questions coming! I liked this one:
Question: I’m trying to learn to play the guitar, but whenever I encounter a difficult chord (say, F or F#m), there is absolutely no way I can make my hand barre the whole first fret AND cleanly hold down other strings…I really struggle even with very easy chords.
Seriously, I could spend the next 40 hours trying to play F#m, and it ain’t happening…what’s the trick, guitar players? How do I progress from "that’s flippin’ impossible" to "okay, I can do that?"
Answer: It takes time and practice to develop the strength to hold down the barre firmly but it WILL get easier!
Lots of tips/techniques here! http://www.ihatebarrechords.com
This week’s question is as follows:
Question: i took basic lessons two years ago and then started to teach my self some more but i feel i would improve a lot if i took more lessons. i was wondering if people teach more than just the basics for me to learn. i already know several songs, minor pentatonic scale, pinch harmonics, hammer ons and pull offs, etc.
Answer: Sure, you can take lessons at any level.
Another guitar lessons question has come in this week. Let’s tackle it straight away:
Question: Alright, my friend wants me to join his band, and has let me borrow one of his lesser quality guitars, an amp, and obviously the case and pick. Basically, he taught me what everything on the guitar was called, the neck, headstock, frets, strings, blah blah blah.
Problem is after that, he left. Leaving me to figure out how to play by sometime in October. Is there anything that people out there can tell me? I know that a lot of guitar players (By the way, he wants me to play rhythm guitar if that helps) were self taught, but how? If there are any free online instructional videos and/or guides that someone can link me to, please do.
And if there are any people who have tips and pointers to give me, I would REALLY appreciate it. Thanks!
And no, saying blah blah blah doesn’t mean I’m not into it. I really want to learn, but I thought it would be a bit pointless to go through each piece of the guitar that I can identify, seeing as that’s not what I need to be taught.
However, think what you want.
Answer: blah blah blah, looks like you’re not really into it.
Edit: Never let anyone force you to learn to play a ‘position’. Tell him you’ll look into it and concentrate in that major but never settle down for it. Your goal is try to learn everyhing that interests you.
Some great begginer sites are
Justin’s guitar
perfect tab sites
www.ultimate-guitar.com
just learn the basic chords
than learn major and minor naturl scalse
learn pentatonic scales
pentatonic blues scales
and so on..
learn power chords
learn how to build a chord anywhere on the fretboard
learn a bit of music theory
This week’s question is as follows:
Question: Can anyone tell me from their own ear what the chords for guitar for Will Youngs "Who am I?"
I found an awful version saying tuning down the guitar.
They’re all wrong so if someone who is good at the guitar could work it out, it’d be really appreciated!!
Answer: who is will young???
try the web.prob ultimate guitar or tab crawler.
Well here’s a question I just had to answering straight away:
Question: Guitar Players?technically Brilliant or Havin a Feel for What They Are Playing?who Rocks and Who Sucks?
Answer: To answer this question one has to consider more than one genre of music. The usual answers to questions like these are Clapton, Van Halen, and Santana, They are great but they are far, far, far, from the best. You have to look at the classical guitarists as well as the jazz players. I think Santana can play it all. Clapton got creamed by George Benson when he tried to do a duet with him. Clapton is one dimensional and is best when he plays blues based rock. Van Haylen won’t even try jazz or classical because he would get lost. Some of the best players in the business are people you don’t even know.
I speak from experience as one who is in the business.
Keep the guitar players questions coming! I liked this one:
Question: I would like to own a gibson voodoo explorer if i had the cash lol.
Answer: I have a Les Paul Goddess and a Stratocaster and a 67 Telecaster which was passed down from my dad.
But if I had a ton of cash to blow right now I think I would go for this Gibson SG Custom which I have had my eye on for a while: http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/5/1/8/396518.jpg It’s just so beautiful….
