Follow These Steps And You'll Be Playing Guitar Soon
Rock Stars, Guitar Hero, Slash... Who doesn't want to play electric guitar?
It's a fun and exciting instrument with a fantastic sound. It's the greatest!
So how do you get started playing this cool and fun instrument? Well, read on, and you'll get some good ideas on starting out playing guitar.
- Decide What you want to learn.
What I mean here is ask yourself questions like: Do I need to be able to read music? Or is it enough for me to just be able to read TAB (Tablature)? Do I just want to play some of my favorite songs? Or the music of my favorite artists/players? Do I want to be in a band someday?
- Decide how much time you'll devote to learning the guitar.
Some folks will talk on about not sleeping until they've done their 5 hours of guitar playing and practice for the day. Others get by happily making sure they squeeze in a good 15 minute practice session every day - and think about the number of days between practice... Some players find they are better after taking a few days away from the guitar. The point is there really is no lard and fast rule - everyone's different - but it's important to decide for yourself what's right for you and try to stick with it' Match the time you put in to the progress you want to make.
- Decide what kind of gear you want to use.
You might want to think about going easy on the gear, especially at first. And though few will tell you this, buying Eric Clapton's gear won't be much help in making your playing sound like his. By the way, he'll still sound like himself, no matter what type of gear he happens to play. That's just the way it is.
- Decide if you want to take lessons or be self-taught.
There are obvious pros and cons to each of these learning routes. And you might find that it goes best when you use a combination of the two. A lot depends on how well you like your instructor. Don't be afraid to ask them a lot of questions up front. And as you take lessons, be sure to speak up to them about the material you like, what you want to study, etc.
- What do I expect to be able to do?
This is big. Know going in what the ballpark-range of your expectations are. Play in a band, be rich and famous, unwind after a tough day, record a CD, all of the above. Because what you want out of it will determine other answers to your guitar learning questions.
This is important. These questions above are all very personal - and nobody can answer them for you - and nobody should answer them or decide them but you. And your answers don't have to be the same as anyone else's. I hope you have fun learning and playing the guitar.
