Learning to play the electric guitar is easy, fun, and if you are talented enough and work hard you could become a famous guitarist. This article will show you where to start!
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Play
Step 1. Prepare the guitar
The setup of your guitar is one of the most important aspects to take care of in order to have a great learning experience. You can have it done by a professional musician or a luthier. There are some main benefits you should have your guitar adjusted for:
- Good intonation. The most important aspect. Your guitar should be adjusted so that when it is tuned it plays the right notes. If your guitar doesn't have the right pitch, it may be in tune on the lower strings, and be completely out of tune when you play the higher notes. This will be daunting, and it will be harder to learn.
- Ease of sound. A guitar with too loud a setup will be almost impossible to play, as it will take too much pressure with your fingers to push the strings against the frets. This will cause intonation problems, hurt you, and slow down your learning. Over time you will develop calluses on your fingers and feel less pain, but it will still be difficult to play fast pieces and change chords easily.
Step 2. Listen and repeat
Almost any song you like will have a recognizable melody, an easy to remember round of notes. Don't just play the solos - even if they are important to learn - but also listen to the singer, bass line, riffs and accompaniments of the guitarist. Anything that catches your attention will be fine - focus on simpler pieces in the beginning, which you can learn better.
- For example, the melody of Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven" is very simple, and has little twists and vocal phrasing that you can try to imitate on the guitar.
- Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" has a catchy tune, but it also has an accompanying guitar that you can imitate for practice.
- Psy's "Gangnam Style" has a continuous synthesizer line that starts at the beginning of the song and ends at the end. While you won't be able to play all the notes on the synthesizer, you can mimic its baseline and have fun.
- The secret is that you won't become a guitar legend by learning solos - you will by learning to listen and reproduce what you hear.
- If you have trouble understanding a part of a song, try watching a YouTube video of that song - often, you'll see footage of the band playing that part of the song.
Step 3. Mix the difficult and easy songs
Take a break after working on a difficult piece by playing something easier that you know well. This way you will keep your fingers moving, you will continue to improve and you will not be discouraged.
- Make sure you always have difficult songs to work on! These will make you grow as a guitarist.
- Work on the things you fail with even more effort. For example, if you are good at playing very fast single note solos, good for you! Continue to cultivate that ability. But if you have trouble making chords, practice on those with even more effort.
Step 4. Avoid using a sprain when exercising
A distortion distortion will make you produce a beautiful sound, and will sustain your notes for a long time, but will mask technical errors.
A clean and pure tone will allow you to notice all the mistakes. Use the distorted tone when playing with friends or improvising alone
Step 5. Learn the music
As you improve as a guitarist, you will learn to appreciate the "shortcuts" that music theory can give you.
- For example, instead of trying all the chords to find the right ones for a song, knowing music theory will let you know which chords are most likely in a given key.
- You will also be able to communicate musically with other musicians - very useful if you want to start a band. For example, a keyboard player may not be able to interpret the position of your fingers when you say "play this chord". But if you say "Play an A7, then a B7 and then an E", he will understand you.
Method 2 of 2: Take Lessons
Step 1. Find a good guitar teacher
What makes a teacher a good teacher will depend on you. Some people learn by watching, others by hearing. You should look for someone who specializes in the music you like, or someone who achieves great results regardless of the student's preferred musical style.
The style of music you like is just one of the considerations you need to make. A guitarist who loves blues, for example, could take flamenco guitar lessons. Although the two styles are very different, the techniques used in flamenco will be very useful
Step 2. Learn to read music
Whichever type of teaching you prefer, make sure it includes solfeggio. Since the guitar has six strings and can play many notes, playing while reading music is not easy. Practicing this skill is very helpful.
Step 3. Keep enjoying yourself
Regardless of the musical genre you are learning, taking lessons can be boring: repetition, difficulty, repetition, and exercises that are more concerned with the technique than the melody. You might get discouraged if you don't keep enjoying yourself!
- Practice following the proposed lessons, and when you are done, close the book and play what you like, as you like.
- When you practice the stairs or passages and think your mind is getting distracted from boredom, spice up the exercise with some embellishments. Make sure you are working on the real notes, so that you can learn the techniques assigned, but try playing them with bends instead of pressing the keys; add some vibrati; use distortion, reverb or delay; plays the same passages in reverse. Do whatever comes to your mind to break the routine and continue to be interested.
Step 4. Practice
Whether you're learning on your own or taking lessons, the only way you can improve is by practicing. You will need to practice and play as often as you can, for as long as you can.
- Learning to play the guitar involves many aspects: improving finger strength and endurance, learning note position, building "muscle memory", playing cleanly, and playing with passion. It takes time to learn these skills, and some you will learn sooner than others. Keep practicing, and you will improve.
- All the guitarists you've ever heard or admired have found themselves in the same condition as you. They all have one thing in common: they never stopped playing and practicing!
Advice
- Make sure your guitar is right for you. Some guitars, such as the Les Paul, are very heavy, while others, such as the Stratocasters, are lighter.
- Owning a great amplifier can change the sound you produce a lot.
