|
As we all know the first thing you need to do to play guitar is - learn some chords.
A good start would be G, C, D and E minor.
One of the first bands I was in, almost all of our repertoire could be played with those four chords. We had a lot of fun, we played gigs, we even got paid sometimes so don't underestimate the power of those four humble chords.
But lets face it, practicing chords in isolation can be, well, boring. It's a bit like reciting the alphabet over and over again without uttering a real word.
One of the key things about learning anything, and persevering with it, is to make it fun, and what better way to make the guitar fun than to play real music!
I have tortured memories of guitar lessons as a kid. practicing scales which felt completely meaningless or learning tunes like "Home on the Range", when I really wanted to dive around the room playing riffs and chords like Angus Young from AC/DC or one of my other heroes of the time.
The problem was my teacher made no effort to add context to what I was learning, or heaven forbid, make it fun and interesting. So inevitably my interest wained and I joined hordes of my fellow eleven year olds in mastering the air guitar.
As early on as possible in your guitar learning career you want to start playing real music rather than just practicing chords shapes or playing scales.
Obviously drills and practice routines are essential for building skill, but in order to keep your interest up and give it some context you want to be playing real music.
First you will want to pick some easy guitar tunes, preferably those with chords you know. (We are collating a list to help people get going, if you have any suggestions please get in touch and let us know.)
Some ideas for easy tunes to play are folky songs, early Dylan, maybe some sixties stuff, some of the easier Oasis tunes perhaps. The kind of things your looking for is simple, strummy sounding tunes, so see what you can find that fits your taste.
If you like traditional British, American or Irish folk you'll be able to find a pile of tunes you can play with the four chords mentioned above.
But how do I know what chords are in the tune? Well you need to find the tablature!
There are a number of tablature sites on the internet which provide "their impression" of the chords and the lyrics to a song. This makes it easy to play the tunes without having to work the chords out by ear.
You need to pick some tunes that you like, you don't have to love them, we know you'd rather be playing some extreme metal or something, but you should at least be able to tolerate them.
Music is a very personal thing, there's not much point trying to learn a tune if it makes you want to fall asleep or wretch every time you hear it.
Now, one thing that helps in playing a tune is to know it really well.
If you pick tunes you already know or get to know a tune really well, you will instinctively be able to pick up the rhythm and strumming pattern of the tune and the tablature will make more sense.
So it will be of great benefit if you can internalize a tune to the point where you know it off by heart, then you can concentrate on playing it rather than trying to remember how it goes.
If you spend a lot of time traveling or you have periods of the day where you can listen to tunes like at work or round the house, put a few easy tunes on a disk or MP3 player (this will come in handy later). Play the tunes on a loop as background noise whatever you're doing, so the tunes drift into your subconscious.
Next if possible, recruit some mates or your partner. They may be learning the guitar themselves, they may dream of being singers, drummers, bassists, xylophone players or whatever. If you can share the journey with someone else it will be more fun and you will learn faster through exchange of ideas and experience.
However if you are not surrounded by people of sufficient calibre to share your experience, first pity them, then direct them here and then continue on regardless.
If you do get some mates involved, be democratic and compromise! They may have completely different tastes in music but this is a learning experience, so choose a few tunes each and provide a tab and something to listen to for each one.
So now the fun begins, spend a little time working on each of the songs on your own. Then when you feel confident meet up with your fellow learners or if you're on your own put on the CD and try playing along with it, it's great fun!
Make it a regular event you can look forward too, turn it into a party put on some food and drink, the more fun it is the more likely you are to keep it up.
The next step is to keep developing - keep adding new tunes into your setlist. Try adding a tune with a new chord or two each time, throw in some solos, learn some scales, and you'd be surprised how soon your repertoire builds up.
Grab some books and DVDs. You don't have to buy them, you can rent them at . With these tools you can pick up some new techniques and styles and unlike a teacher you can rewind a DVD!
A good mix for a practice session is: A few tunes you know really well that you can bash through to blow out the cobwebs, then some more technical numbers and then finish on a high with an old favourite or two.
Finally, set yourself some targets. Put that family to good use, you have a captive audience there! Now you can get your own back for all the times you were made to watch Eastenders!
Commit to playing at a birthday or family party. You'll be amazed at how much an incentive it is to practise as the big day approaches and you have the choice of fame and admiration or ridicule!
Record yourself, it's a great way of isolating areas that need work and a good opportunity to have a laugh at yourself.
When you start feeling more confident look for sessions and open mic nights that you can play at. These are gatherings where musicians are given a chance to play in public and are great experience. (Although take the opinion of other musicians with a grain of salt, it may be motivated by jealousy of your growing ability).
The event itself is fun (although scary) but more importantly committing to an event like that makes you practise like mad!
So to sum up - first of all make it interesting, then keep it interesting, keep stretching yourself and set some targets see everything as an opportunity to learn and improve.
Keep going and have fun with it, then miraculously one day you'll wake up and say to yourself "I can play guitar".
|
Learning Guitar 
