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Saturday, 26 November 2011

How to Really Learn Guitar

By Harvey Vitti


The best way to learn guitar is up for debate. It seems like everybody is going to have a different opinion of it. If you have no idea where to start then read on for more insight. Beginner guitar players usually fall into the trap of doing nothing but reading tabs. They want to learn how to play their favorite songs quickly so they take the short cut of learning songs by looking up the sheet music for them.

Great guitar players practice playing by ear all of the time. In fact it is what they spend hundreds of hours doing. Most of the great guitar players have never learned how to read music theory let alone how to read music. Learning music theory can be very helpful because it's easier to find the notes and chords on your guitar. But it will not make you a better sounding guitar player.

If you want to truly become a musician rather than just another tab reader you will have to start practicing the skill of listening. Most of the practice great guitar players put into their playing was about listening to music they liked and learning to play it on guitar. Most famous guitar players never even bothered with tabs or music theory.

Guitar players in the old days did not even have guitar tab booklets or even teachers to learn from. All they had was their guitars and music to listen to. So they had to start out from scratch. They had to learn the chords on their own just by spending all day learning by ear. So if you would like to become an adept guitar player I highly recommend learning by ear. Start training your ears by listening to music and playing along as best as you can.

But actually listening to music and playing along will make you a much better sounding guitar player. The great guitar players are the ones who are a pleasure to listen to. Their music is very smoothly. They don't play like robots. They learn to play with feeling. This takes a lot of practice and dedication. But you need to understand how to practice if you want to sound smooth on guitar.

I see aspiring guitar players all the time ask what they should do to improve their playing. They simply get better by listening to music and then perfecting the skill of translating it on their guitar. My suggestion is to start out getting the basics down just like with anything else. Learn the chords, scales, and even some music theory. Take lessons or learn from online guitar courses. Just do what you have to do to get started. Then once your hands have adjusted to playing and you have a basic understanding of the fretboard you can start training your ears. Practice every day so you progress quickly.




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