Looking for something passionate to do?
Personal enjoyment?
Express your feelings?
Give enjoyment to others?
One sunny summer afternoon, or maybe one grey miserable winter night, you might have said to yourself,
So many people can and do play guitar, why can’t I?
Why would I want to play guitar?
How hard is it to learn and how much time would it take?
Do I have spare time to learn how to play guitar?
What do I need to do to get started?
These are excellent thoughts.
Learning to play guitar does involve a commitment. It does not have to be stress inducing,
pull out your hair, bite your fingernail kind of stress.
It simple means reaching a defined set of goals, dictated by how much time you can dedicate to it.
It may be a half hour a day, or every other day. It might be a half an hour a week,
but it does mean a regular routine if you want to make progress.
In order to achieve your goal faster you should practice at least a half hour a day.
Where do you start and what do you need? Let me think, oh, a guitar would be good.
If you don’t have your own guitar, then you will need to borrow, rent or buy one.
Renting might be a a better option because you may decide guitar playing is not for you.
It was a whim, but good that you tried it anyhow.
Hopefully that’s not the case and you will continue and explore the wonderful things that guitar playing can give you,
such as doing something new, the feeling of achievement, and the enjoyment of hearing music being made by your hands and mind.
On the more esoteric side it’s the feeling of the sound of the strings against your body.
There are many types of guitars of course. If you have a friend that does play guitar, talk with him/her.
Acoustic guitars are portable.
If your idea of a good time is playing songs with friends and relatives around a campfire an acoustic guitar is great.
Nobody wants to haul an electric guitar with cables and an amplifier to a campfire.
Also you would probable get thrown out the campground.
There are two types of acoustic guitars. The steel string acoustic guitars have, you guessed it, steel strings,
which give the guitar a bright, clear sound.
Acoustic guitars also use what are called nylon strings, actually a plastic feeling string.
In the ancient old days animal gut was used.
Nylon string guitars have a softer mellow sound and tend to be played with your fingers,
in a finger picking style. Still good for campfire songs and sing-a-longs.
Do you wanna rock? Electric guitars are made of a solid piece of wood.
They use electronic pickups to amplify the sound through an amplifier.
If you have friends that play bass and drums, getting together with them for ja am session is a lot of fun.
In the big band era acoustic guitars with big bodies were used, in order to project the sound above the louder music of the band.
It was not an ideal situation. Fortunately the electric guitar was invented allowing the guitar to finally be heard through an amplifier.
The inventor of the first electric guitar was Charlie Christian who used an acoustic guitar with an electronic pick up attached to it.
This setup had major problems with feed back, Which led to the creation of the solid body electric guitar invented by Les Paul.
Today electric guitars are used in a variety of styles of music, jazz, blues, pop, rock, and heavy metal rock.
Electric guitars are played through an amplifier with a clean sound, preferred by jazz and some blues and pop/rock players.
The sound can be made distorted or crunchy by overdriving the amps electronics.
There are a myriad amount of electronic pedals or “stomp boxes’ to alter, enhance or increase the amount of distortion, not to men tion volume.
Acoustic guitar or electric guitar can both be an enjoyable experience.
Well, once you have decided to play an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar you have to train your fingers how to press on the strings at different places on the guitar neck.
Playing just one or two notes can give you a feeling of satisfaction. This is music. You are playing it.
You are playing music and that is wonderful. Keep going! You will learn how to play chords.
You will learn how to strum rhythms.
You will play songs. You are a guitar player.
Think about why you want to play guitar. You can set as a goal to be a professional working guitar player.
Your life would start doing gigs for not a lot of money.
If you are persistent and truly want to make this your career, you have to be more than a great guitar player.
Versatility is key. Personality is key. Compatibility is key. Availability is key.
Living in a larger metropolis is key such as Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York where the competition is tough.
You have to be very good and very dedicated. If you are like most people though, you would like to not have that kind of lifestyle.
Perfect! I’m delighted that you have decided to embark on a new journey in your life.
You are a guitar player.Most important and don't take yourself too seriously. Have fun!
You may be thinking that if you are an older person that it may be too late to learn how to play guitar.
Think about this. You have a lifetime of experience.
You have the patience to understand new things.
You have the curi osity to try something new.
How do you make music from wood and steel? It is awesome. I love it.
There is an immense satisfaction that you cannot get from any other activity or endeavor.
It is unique. Learn to play guitar as an adult. It’s never too late too start.
There will be unique challenges but you can do it.
I taught myself to play guitar by listening to records. I played Beatle records until I wore them out,
playing little parts of songs until I figured out where to place my fingers on the guitar strings to make chords.
I don’t recommend this. Find a good guitar teacher that can show you what you need to know.
One on one is the best way. If you cannot find a good teacher that suits you, there are some very good online lesson sites for you to try.
-Learning to play the guitar will be a lifelong endeavor.
-There is always something new to learn.
-There are many genres that you can explore, blues, rock, folk, and jazz, just to name a few.
-Maybe you will find one type of music that you become particularly fond of.
-Is it fingerstyle folk music in the style of Joni Mitchell or James
Taylor.
-Or maybe you feel inspired by the blues.
What every turns your crank follow your heart and jump in.
With a bit of effort you will be highly rewarded.
Is this you?
I decided today that I want to learn how to play the guitar.
I love listening to music and wonder how is it done.
If I learned how to play guitar I could have an answer to that question.
• I need to find a good teacher that will be patient with me.
• I know I have to make time to practice.
• I know that if I want to play the guitar I have to be serious about it.
• I know that playing the guitar is only for me and my enjoyment,
• If other people enjoy my playing that is a bonus.
• This will be a lifelong endeavor.
• This will be more satisfying than playing video games.
• Maybe there is a latent musician in me that I never had time to explore.
• Maybe, this is finally the right time.
• There are songs I love, I can learn them!
• The intro to Stairway to Heaven is beautiful!
• I can play that, I just have to learn how.
• Goals are simple if I apply myself.
• I can do that.
• Where do I start?
Allow me to tell you about myself.
I wandered when I was young, no direction, and no goals.
Miraculously, after having many jobs, and finally a permanent one,
while playing in many rock, country, and blues bands,
I married a wonderful woman.
We own our home and we are very happy. I am retired now.
I dabble in wood work and gardening, which I do enjoy.
I taught myself to play guitar by listening to records.
I played the Beatles records until I wore them out, playing little parts of the songs until I figured out where to place my fingers on the guitar strings to make chords. I don’t recommend this.
Find a good guitar teacher that can show you what you need to know. One on one is the best way. If you cannot find a good teacher that suits you, I am hoping my website will help you.
Think about why you want to play guitar. You can set as a goal to be a professional working guitar player. Your life would start by doing gigs for not a lot of money. If you are persistent and truly want to make this your career, you have to be more than a great guitar player. Versatility is important. Personality is important. Compatibility is important. Availability is important. Living in a larger metropolis city like Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville is advantageous. But completion is tough. You have to be good and dedicated. Most people do not like that kind of lifestyle. Playing for yourself and others can give you a very satisfying life.
Where do you start and what do you need? Let me think, oh, having a guitar would be good. If you don’t have access to a guitar then you will need to rent or buy one. Renting might be the better option because you may decide that guitar playing is not for you. It was a whim, but good that you tried it anyhow. Hopefully that’s not the case and you will continue and explore the wonderful things that guitar playing can give you, such as doing something new, the feeling of achievement, the enjoyment of hearing music being made by your hands and mind. On the more esoteric side it’s the feeling of the sound of the guitar’s strings against your body.
.
There are many types of guitars of course. If you have a friend that does play guitar, talk with him/her. Acoustic guitars are portable. If your idea of a good time is playing songs with friends and relatives around a campfire, an acoustic guitar is great. Nobody wants to haul an electric guitar with cables and an amplifier to a campground. Also you would probable get thrown out of the campground. There are two types of acoustic guitars. The steel string acoustic guitars have, you guessed it, steel strings, which give the guitar a bright, clear sound. Acoustic guitars also use what is called nylon strings, actually plastic feeling string. In the ancient old day animal gut was used. Nylon string guitars have a softer mellow sound and tend to be played with your fingers, in a finger picking style. They are still good for campfire songs and sing-a-longs.
Do you wanna rock out? Electric guitars are made of a solid piece of wood. They use electronic pickups to amplify the sound through an amplifier. In the big band era acoustic guitars with big bodies were used, not ideal if the band was loud. Fortunately the electric guitar was invented allowing the guitar to finally be heard. The inventor of the first electric guitar was Charlie Christian who used an acoustic guitar with an electronic pick up attached to it. This setup had major problems with feedback. This led to the creation of the solid body electric guitar invented by the renowned Les Paul.
Today electric guitars are used in a variety of styles of music, jazz, blues, pop, rock, and heavy metal the amount of distortion, not to mention volume. rock. Electric guitars can be played through an amplifier with a clean sound, preferred by jazz and some blues and pop/rock players. The sound can be made distorted or crunchy by overdriving the amps electronics. There are a myriad amount of electronic pedals or “stomp boxes’ to alter, enhance or increase the sound of your electric guitar.