Hey TL. I wanted to make this blog for two reasons, one is because I failed before in this specific endeavor, and two is because I don't want to fail again.
Learning an Instrument... Again
I'm going to keep this blog short, I want to relearn the guitar. Before you all start hating, as many people seem to, at the idea of someone learning/relearning the guitar, I want to make one thing abundantly clear, I really like the guitar. I enjoy the guitar, I enjoy the way it sounds, all of those things, but most all, I just like the feel of the strings in my hands. At the same time, unlike how I was able to train my fingers to hot keys in starcraft, or how to hit the correct combinations playing Twisted Fate in LoL or what have you, guitar has always confused me. It doesn't come naturally to me like cooking does, and it certainly doesn't seem to come at all in a lot of cases.
Two summers ago I bought a guitar (as in a real guitar, not a child's one that I had before), I had attempted to learn the instrument when I was a very little kid, about 8 or 9, and I just didn't have the capacity to practice on the thing. As I grew, I realized that I had seriously missed out on something that could be useful in life. As a sophomore in highschool I decided that it would be a great idea to pick up the guitar again to get girls. I feel embarrassed by that now, but at the time, it seemed like a damn good idea; considering the fact that most guys who are mediocre at guitar pick up the guitar to pick up girls, I felt like I was fitting right in the idea. Of course, whenever I do something that I'm no good at, in order to do something for someone else, I fail.
Now it's my senior summer. I read like crazy, I walk my dog, I go on dates with my gf, and I sleep. I have an hour to spend practicing a song or two, and I have time to work at the things I really enjoy. I have no job, not that I truly want one right now, and I have an immensity of time. I play a few hours of video games, read for the same amount of time, which leaves me a couple hours to go to the gym, a couple hours to spend on video games extra, and maybe some time for guitar and some CAD. I'm building a computer this summer to help with the CAD (computer art and design) in Maya so I can add to my skills, and so that I can game easier than on my mac laptop. I feel like along with reading, which I can tell is helping my writing, I should learn a different art to stay diversified. After I enter college, I feel like I'll have time on off days to play a bit or practice, do some reading and the like; maybe I'm wrong on this, but I'd rather try and fail, than I would never try at all.
I'd like some advice of re-picking up the guitar, if I should instead choose another string instrument like the guitarron instead, or maybe I'm not cut out for any instrument lol. I also want to know any ways to practice the guitar which makes the learning process gratifying before mastering a song. Finally if any of you guys have suggestions for guitars to buy, because my brother has commandeered my old one, that would be greatly appreciated. I know a lot of you guys are really talented, and I've read the TL knowhow by Wo1fwood on learning guitar, so I feel like now that I want to learn the instrument to learn it and not to get the chicas, I might be more successful.
Thanks guys . EDIT: Teoita wrote the guitar blog, Wo1f wrote the general music theory . Thanks Wo1f .
oh, you should change that haha, Teoita wrote the KH on guitar, I did one for general music theory. You can always PM Teo if you have questions as he teaches guitar.
I play a bit of guitar. If at first you don't "feel" it, just practice more and it'll become natural. Also, you really should get a tutor, even if you think that training solo would be just as good. There are things you can't learn from a guy on the internet, like fixing your own bad habits when playing. I learned in a month with an instructor more than in a year by myself.
Playing the guitar can be incredibly rewarding. Finally getting that song that you've been trying to play for a month? Trust me, there's no feeling quite like it. Go with it
Yo Docvoc. I'm doing the same thing over the summer. I took piano lessons for a few years as a kid, and took it again for a semester in high school. Was planning to go get a book and practice and see how far i get over the summer. Good Luck! Go woo them miami chicks out of their pants with your guitar strings of love!
To answer a few questions, at first I'm going to start out on free learning tutorials and then I'd like to get actual lessons while I'm in college. I'm probably going to learn acoustic as I don't really want to play in a band or anything, at least for now, I just want a fun little diversion to jam out a tune.
Also, Mysterymeat, I'll be at Rhodes College and not Miami at first, and unless I dislike Rhodes College, I'm probably going to stay there. I rethought the money issue and came to the conclusion that Miami would be much better to go for grad school and I should go to Rhodes for undergrad cuz of the money they gave me. We'll see how my family takes that though , my dad was pretty set on Miami.
what kind if guitar do you play?steel string acoustic(im assuming, since that is by far the most common in NA) or classical(spanish) acoustic? Or electronic?
Also what kind of music do you want to learn.
Any pop/rock(most songs use like 5 or 6 chords repeated over and over with 1 or 2 strumming patterns) is fucking easy compared to something like
Paco de Lucia is a total boss, and that's a serious understatement. When listening and watching guitarists like him I get a bit demotivated, knowing I'll never be as good as that guy but also happy that he exists
I'm in the same boat for wanting to learn guitar and JustinGuitar website looks very promising. A few people here have thrown out that lessons with an experienced player is much better, but really how much more can they teach me than that site? I guess what I'm asking is what are the specific things I wouldn't be able to learn from online resources and only through tutoring?
if you are doing something wrong, you won't know until someone else who knows better sees it and corrects you. a teacher can also help motivate you and give you goals and direct your progress. it can be really hard to be objective about your own playing and having an outsider who can tell you what you need to work on is helpful. some exercises are really hard to explain in just text/audio and benefit from having someone to demonstrate and guide you through it. last but not least playing with other people is very different from playing with a metronome.
don't try to reinvent the wheel, there's a reason music pedagogy exists.
@op: start by figuring out exactly what sort of music you want to learn. that will determine whether you want to buy an electric or acoustic guitar. don't buy an acoustic just because you think you're a beginner, if you want to play electric you should start on that.
Nothing to be embarassed about, in high school EVERYONE that starts playing does it because of girls lol (including me haha) :D
Really when starting to play, you just have to realize that takes a ton of time and patience. You just need to practice it, maybe not a lot every day, but try to dedicate one hour ish to basic exercises and songs and as you get better you'll have more fun, want to play more etc. It feels very, very rewarding eventually when you get to be able to play most of the songs you enjoy listening to (depends on the genre you like of course).
Also i most definitely recommend getting lessons, it's much easier to start playing like that than on your own.
I think if you can afford it you should definitely make the effort and search for the best guitar teacher in your area. Learning an instrument is just about doing it and nothing else, and everyone gets demotivated at times, especially if you are already older and have other things to attend and worry about in life and have to get through the more tedious parts of learning guitar at the beginning of the journey. Having a meeting with your teacher every week or every 2 weeks gives you another reason to learn stuff other than just your own willpower and motivation (which can always fade).
Also it's very helpful to have someone who knows what he is doing show you different placements for your hands, how to hold your guitar and force you to practice with a metronome at least once in a while and to count with the music you are playing. It's tedious and usually not very fun, but once you have all that stuff in your subconscious and don't have to think about it as much while playing you will be very grateful for having gone through it, and if you are willing to learn it also teaches you a lot about music in general.
On June 16 2013 01:31 Divinek wrote: i wouldnt recommend lessons and i wouldnt recommend learning songs if you want to enjoy guitar, just pursue your own stuff, much more rewarding
I have to completely disagree.
Especially when you're brand new, you will not catch your own mistakes. There's a lot of nuance that goes into learning an instrument and you need someone, especially someone who has gone through everything you are going through at some point, to be there to observe you and correct you. Yes, there are some complete prodigies and I know some of them who can learn instruments by themselves without any assistance. But if you can afford it, go take lessons.
Your attitude and what you want out of the instrument determines if you should get a teacher or not. If you wanna get good fast they probably help. You can still get a lot out of a $200 guitar without them though.
The Kenny Werner talk was pretty good. Just make it a 5 minute thing you do, like brushing your teeth. Eventually you'll want to play a lot more than that.
EPT
. 
. Thanks Wo1f 
