Good Way to Learn to Play Guitar

[Turkish]

Here some advice from someone who started playing guitar as a freshman in college with no music/music theory education what so ever.

Take a basic music theory class as an elective at your school. Most of the people that ended up in my class were doing it as some sort of a requirement, but since you will find many practical uses for it, it should have no problem holding your attention.

Don't just look up tabs and try to start playing songs. Do a search for the "C Major Scale" which you should probably already know from lessons but,...Practice that scale.. Practice 1 finger per fret, alternate picking, etc etc.

Find people that also like to play and join them when you get a little better. This will keep it fun for you. Good luck!

[davidwilcock]

If you want to learn to play like an absolute villain id buy the john petrucci rock dicipline DVD. Ive seen the effect that this has on people and its amazing. its not too cheap though.

[Specialist]

Put on the music. Find the chords or tabs to the music. Play along. Never quit. One day it'll all click. Training your ear is very important. Doing this helps with that. Forget scales, you don't need them to impress chicks.

[challenger84]

First piece of advice: don't listen to Specialist. Second piece of advice: Learn the major and minor scales up and down the entire fretboard. Try to start learning songs by ear. Practice 3-4 hours a day and you will start seeing results fairly quickly.

[Specialist]

Here's better advice. Learn all the modes and scales. Learn all the theory. Buy a Jimi Hendrix tab book. Play till your fingers bleed. Keep playing. Practice 10 hours a day. Maybe you'll show some improvement.

[challenger84]

I know you're being facetious, but that's much better advice, except for the tab book. Nobody ever got any better using tab.

[Wools]

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john petrucci rock dicipline DVD.

[/ QUOTE ]

JP's dvd is literally 20 years old(crazy how time flies) but he's an absolutely amazing technical player and I also own the DVD. It has tons of great exercises and comes with tab, but in the end it's nothing you cant emulate on your own with a bit of ingenuity.

I think the "Speed Lives" dvd by Michael Angelo Batio has better dexterity drills and it comes in at $20 instead of $50, but that's just my opinion. JP is my favorite guitarist hands down and I've seen DT live in STL, KC, and NYC; OP would be on the right track getting any instructional dvd's if you ask me. You can find a lot of video clips online these days...

Learn theory though, that's the most important thing.

[davidwilcock]

Just for clarity, the john petrucci DVD is just really techical skill in rock/metal/fast paced music. Before you get it (if you do) like these guys say, get your scales covered, maybe mix in a few tabs here and there. while playing the tabs try to see where the scales fit into the actual songs you are playing this should stop you getting bored of learning scale after scale after [censored] scale

[Shantanut]

[ QUOTE ]
the easiest way to learn guitar on your own is to just look at tabs and try to mimic songs you know (www.ultimate-guitar.com). a sure fire way to get better is to learn all the dmb from www.dmbtabs.com, they have videos for most of their stuff. also, practice playing entire songs, not just riffs from songs, helps a lot more. First song I ever learned was some song by Matchbox 20, slide by goo goo dolls (you need a capo).

you'll learn the music theory eventually I'm sure, you almost can't help it. You'll probably have G-C-D down within a week...

[/ QUOTE ]

totally true. also learn some Jack Johnson for strumming patterns, Metallica for rock style, stuff like that. The best way to get better is to practice all sorts of different things. Dave and John Mayer will definitely get you tons better, even if its hell to try to learn it at first, or even to get yourself to sound remotely like the band. I recommend learning comfortable, not very hard to play but still sounds way harder than it is.