Learn guitar - How long on average would it take?

Hey all,

Just looking to get some general info off someone who may have any idea about ye olde guitar.


I'd like to be able to play guitar, but I'm a useless cnut when it comes to learning thing.


So my question is, if i were to go out and buy some cheap ass guitar, and get lessons, how long do you think it'd take before you could give up the lessons and play or mess around competently on your own?


I know everyone's different, and i could learn it all in a week, or it could take me twenty years, but I'm just looking to get an idea from other people for an average amount of time/number of lessons it'd take before you could have a vague idea what you're doing?


Also; do guitar tutors also teach the theory side of things, or just the practical, actual playing of the guitar? I'd obviously not be able to read tabs or anything like that, so just wondering if it's common for such schools to accomodate such novice people?

According to Google, these are among the only guys in my area:

http://www.puretonemusic.ie/


I notice it says on their page they teach "music theory".. would that be what I'd be looking for?


Sorry for the clueless post, just very lost and confused regarding it.


Cheers

partyatmygaff

You can competently mess around on your own from the first moment you have a guitar once you know a few basic things about how to physically hold a guitar and how to fret notes, it just won't sound right though. Guitar tutors usually exclusively teach the practical playing, music theory is a whole different thing altogether, it will help you understand how music works but not know how to physically play, first learn how to play, then understand how it works.
They can accommodate people who have never held a guitar, btw tabs are the easiest things to read imo. The bottom line of a tab is your 6th (thickest) string and the top line of a tab is your 1st (Thinnest String). The numbers just refer to what fret you play the string on (The usually brass coloured metal bar on the fretboard).

You can start playing simple songs on the first day you begin and as with any instrument, you need alot of practice.

Paolo_M

You're probably expecting this answer but how long depends on a couple of things:

Your natural musical/rhythmical ability; some people just get it quicker than others, some still haven't gotten it......
How much time you're willing to spend; that Brazilian dude who currently holds the Guiness Book of records for worlds fastest guitarist is reported to have practised up to 16 hours a day!
What's your definition "vague idea of what you're doing"? Knocking out a few chords for a drunken party sing along, playing in band etc.

A couple of hours a day for 4-6 months should have you knocking out Runaway Train, Mr Jones etc. at a house party.

Some teachers will teach theory, some won't, it depends.
IMO forget theory until you have time to learn some basic chords and see if you're gonna stick with. Trying to learn guitar while learning theory would be a daunting tast for anyone and theory is not essential for learning to play guitar.
You'll probably choose to go back and learn some theory if you do get into anyway.

eamon234

Deleted User wrote: »

Hey all,

According to Google, these are among the only guys in my area:

http://www.puretonemusic.ie/

Not everyone in your area is going to be advertising on Google or even be online! Check locally newspaper is a start!

rcaz

IMO, nobody is able to say that they've "learned" to play guitar.

I've been playing for eight years now, and I don't ever think I'll stop learning guitar, or anything to do with music.

You can't finish music, and that's why we all love it so much

A few weeks will see you playing chords, I'd say, but anything beyond that, anyone's guess.

Rigsby

All the information you have received so far is accurate IMO. If you are really keen on taking up the guitar, then time should not matter. The fun should in learning and progressing. Everyone learns at their own pace.

fguihen

its endless., you never stop learning guitar.

I picked up the guitar about 10 years ago. I tried to learn by myself for a month and got nowhere. Then got a teacher for about 6 months and made huge leaps and bounds.

After that my tutor moved so i want back to learning on my own and as i had the basics i was a lot more successful in learning new stuff.

Lately( the last 12 months or so) I found i had plateaued and so found a good teacher and went back to lessons and now im moving forward and improving again.

So you really need a tutor for the first few months to get the basics. No getting around that. After that, depending on your natural ability, time dedicated to practicing and your practice methods you can cover a lot of ground by yourself. but eventually you will stop moving forward and find you keep playing all your old stuff and not moving forward. Time for a good teacher again to point you in the right direction.

Im in no way a pro, far far far from it, but i can hold a tune and make an attempt at figuring out almost any song without tabs.

Even with the teacher, some weeks you wont have time to practice, or that particular lesson wont click with you so you wont make much progress, but some future lesson will triger something in your head and most of it will fall into place and you are making ground again!

Thats just my experience with learning guitar...

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the info and thoughts so far. Very much appreciate it.

My overall goal with guitar would be to be able to pick-up-and-play WWE theme tunes. For those of you who aren't familiar with WWE, all of the major wrestlers have a theme song that usually remains the same. For example, Triple H's theme has always had the same kind of beat or rhythm to it, despite it being changed a lot over the last decade or so.

The good thing about that is, every wrestlers' theme's rhythm is usually the same five or six seconds of guitar over and over again, so theoretically, shouldn't be overly difficult to learn.

The bad thing is, there's a lot of wrestlers, meaning a lot of different rhythms.

Now obviously I'm never gonna learn all them, and I'd probably lose interest along the way and want to try other stuff, but ideally that's where I'm coming from starting off.


One thing I've always wanted to be able to do though, and I don't care if it takes me fifty years; is learn how to play Slow Chemical by Finger Eleven.

This is it if anyone would care to make an estimate as to how difficult it would be;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOWZPTDPC4U




I also have two other questions; regarding lessons.

Firstly, what would you guys say the going rate is for a lesson? The Pure Tone Music place I found on Google are charging €16.75 for a 30 minute session. Would you regard that as a goood or bad price? (I'd plan to start off with a two hour lesson, and then do one-hour lessons following that, depending on how I get on).

Secondly, is there a website or newspaper or something where a lot of music teachers advertise in particular? Or would I be better to just make a post in the Louth forum when I decide to go looking for someone (wont be this year, anyway. Probably January or February in 2010).


I had a guitar before. I bought a "Fender Squeir Squier Starter Pack" in The Sound Shop before for about €250 or thereabouts. I got frustrated, was too busy/lazy to organise getting lessons, and so I sold the guitar on shortly afterwards, but I've always regretted it.


Thanks again for all the info and advice guys.

-Chris-

Go to any music shop in town and you'll see little flyers hung up with lessons advertised.

Ask someone you know who plays guitar what teacher they went to.

Buy a guitar and start taking any of the free lessons off Youtube.

Playing guitar is easy and you'll have it in no time, playing guitar well is the elusive part that will keep you playing/practicing for years to come.


My €0.02 about how long it'll take to "learn to play" guitar is 2 years. You'll know chords in no time and you'll know all the WWE songs off by heart within 6-12 months, you'll be good enough to play with other people after 2 years.

In terms of getting good - some say it takes 10,000 hours.

Paolo_M

Deleted User wrote: »

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the info and thoughts so far. Very much appreciate it.

My overall goal with guitar would be to be able to pick-up-and-play WWE theme tunes. For those of you who aren't familiar with WWE, all of the major wrestlers have a theme song that usually remains the same. For example, Triple H's theme has always had the same kind of beat or rhythm to it, despite it being changed a lot over the last decade or so.

The good thing about that is, every wrestlers' theme's rhythm is usually the same five or six seconds of guitar over and over again, so theoretically, shouldn't be overly difficult to learn.

The bad thing is, there's a lot of wrestlers, meaning a lot of different rhythms.

Now obviously I'm never gonna learn all them, and I'd probably lose interest along the way and want to try other stuff, but ideally that's where I'm coming from starting off.

Do you mind me asking; why wrestling songs?

NoQuarter

OP i would say it would take 2 years to learn to play that song the way its supposed to be played, however, youll probably think your playing it right after a year or so, the only ones who will hear the flaws in your playing would be other guitarists! Of course thats not set in stone!

And also its worth noting that lessons arent necessary, im playing 8 years and i never had one and i would consider myself "good".

If your set on lessons you shouldnt bother getting any for about 1 or 2 months i would say and the reason is that everything a teacher will teach you in those 2 months you could learn by yourself on the internet, its only after that time that that your technique will be needed and maybe thats where its time for a few lessons! AKA theres no point showing up day 1 to a lesson not having tried to learn some stuff yourself!

Just my opinion!

-Chris-

king-stew wrote: »

And also its worth noting that lessons arent necessary, im playing 8 years and i never had one and i would consider myself "good".

I'd disagree with this.

I agree that it's possible to learn some basics from the internet and it's a great resource for exercises and song specific tuition, but I've always found I progress a lot faster when I have a teacher.

There's a case to be made for both, but I'd think everyone should get lessons every so often - it's amazing how bad habits can creep into your playing!

NoQuarter

-Chris- wrote: »

I'd disagree with this.

I agree that it's possible to learn some basics from the internet and it's a great resource for exercises and song specific tuition, but I've always found I progress a lot faster when I have a teacher.

There's a case to be made for both, but I'd think everyone should get lessons every so often - it's amazing how bad habits can creep into your playing!

Yeah thats true but they still arent necessary! I suppose it all depends on your goals as a guitarist! The OP just shouldnt assume that he has to spend money on lessons to be a really good player because that would not be true! Im not anti-lessons at all and i appreciate what they could do for a person but i just dont think they are essential...especially not if his goal is to play WWF songs!

And you can most certainly learn more than just "some basics" from the internet!

Banjo

If you *do* go down the route of teaching yourself using tabs and the internet before you take a few lessons, it's important that you don't wait too long to get some proper tuition - you'll pick up bad habits and there'll be no one around to correct your mistakes. It was 15 years before someone pointed out that I was using the wrong fingers to fret A!

Read up on practice routines, don't just faff about trying to learn the first few bars of "Real American" (hands down, the greatest wrestling song ever). Using your practice time intelligently is the difference between nailing lightning fast licks in your first 18 months playing and finding yourself 30-something and still finding F and Bm to be problematic.

Regrets... I have a few.... *cries into his wine*

CianRyan

Banjo wrote: »

If you *do* go down the route of teaching yourself using tabs and the internet before you take a few lessons, it's important that you don't wait too long to get some proper tuition - you'll pick up bad habits

I never had lessons and I'm playing better than people that have had lessons and about two/three years on me.

People often talk about the right and wrong ways of playing guitar, who decides these?
Honestly, if something works for you and what you're doing sound nice with out stressing your hands/fingers then what's wrong with it?

I have asked an established classical teacher to point out flaws in my playing and really all he could point out was my posture(in terms of classical guitar, this is quite important) and that I wasn't bending my fingers enough while soloing. Using between the flat and tip of my fingers, instead of the very top, which to be honest, I see very few players actually doing.
I took his word for it and it did help but at that stage I had been playing about 5 years.

No harm in taking pointers from some one who's dedicated their life to training but tbh, most lessons out there will hinder your creativity, imo.

If you think about it, do you want to play guitar or do you want to play some one else's songs?
Getting lessons from day one leaves you a bit dependent.


My advice would be to buy a nice guitar, nice doesn't mean expensive, and teach yourself. and after you've learned to play if you want some one to help you progress try a few lessons with some one who really knows what they're doing.
There are a lot of ropey guys giving half hearted lessons these days.


That was a bit of a rabble, sorry.
I'm a bit wrecked and my mind is all over the place.

Just on getting a nice guitar, to finish up.
I'm ****e at learning anything, always have been, it's just me.
I know that, had I have started playing one something that didn't feel nice or sounded like arse, I'd have thrown it in the corner and always wished that I put the effort in.
Cheapy guitars just are not to play.
They're badly made, feel terrible, will hinder progress and are just unpleasant.
Spend a bit on a set up, ~€300 on an electric/amp set up will do you well for starting out.
And about the same, maybe a little more on an acoustic. I find cheap acoustic guitars are the most horrible thing in the world but a nice acoustic is like heaven.


Take what you will from my mindless ramblings, I've said what I've wanted, how ever senseless is was. :rolleyes:

Rigsby

CianRyan wrote: »

I never had lessons and I'm playing better than people that have had lessons and about two/three years on me.

People often talk about the right and wrong ways of playing guitar, who decides these?
Honestly, if something works for you and what you're doing sound nice with out stressing your hands/fingers then what's wrong with it?

I have asked an established classical teacher to point out flaws in my playing and really all he could point out was my posture(in terms of classical guitar, this is quite important) and that I wasn't bending my fingers enough while soloing. Using between the flat and tip of my fingers, instead of the very top, which to be honest, I see very few players actually doing.
I took his word for it and it did help but at that stage I had been playing about 5 years.

No harm in taking pointers from some one who's dedicated their life to training but tbh, most lessons out there will hinder your creativity, imo.

If you think about it, do you want to play guitar or do you want to play some one else's songs?
Getting lessons from day one leaves you a bit dependent.

I accept some of the points you are making. You are correct. There are no "right" and "wrong" ways of playing the guitar. There are however, tried, trusted, efficient, and generally accepted ways of doing it. This aspect of playing, i.e. technique is best imparted by a teacher IMO.

To say "most lessons out there will hinder your creativity" is absolute nonsense and irresponsible IMO. Just because they are not for you, does not warrant such a statement. Lessons help to give you the confidence, know how, and knowledge to be creative. If you reach an impasse in your progress, a teacher can get you over it and keep you motivated. What do you mean by your last line ?? Dependent on what exactly ? A half dozen lessons or so from day one, especially on technique, can get the learner off to a great start. He/she wont pick up bad ( note I did not say "wrong" ) habits that might have to be unlearned later. A book or the net etc cant point out your mistakes.

In case you think I might be a music teacher........ I'm not. Just someone who has benefited greatly from going to lessons.

CianRyan

Rigsby wrote: »

I accept some of the points you are making. You are correct. There are no "right" and "wrong" ways of playing the guitar. There are however, tried, trusted, efficient, and generally accepted ways of doing it. This aspect of playing, i.e. technique is best imparted by a teacher IMO.

To say "most lessons out there will hinder your creativity" is absolute nonsense and irresponsible IMO. Just because they are not for you, does not warrant such a statement. Lessons help to give you the confidence, know how, and knowledge to be creative. If you reach an impasse in your progress, a teacher can get you over it and keep you motivated. What do you mean by your last line ?? Dependent on what exactly ? A half dozen lessons or so from day one, especially on technique, can get the learner off to a great start. He/she wont pick up bad ( note I did not say "wrong" ) habits that might have to be unlearned later. A book or the net etc cant point out your mistakes.

In case you think I might be a music teacher........ I'm not. Just someone who has benefited greatly from going to lessons.

Well yes, saying it would hinder was a bit much.
As far as blocking creativity, I'm going by what I've seen.
I know guys that have come out of lessons playing nothing but covers. As far as they are concerned, if they can play EVERY song by X band, that makes them a great guitarist.
The other point, if some one teaches them self and I mean really teaches, not just learns to string together a few chords; If they hit a stage where they feel they're not going any further, they should be able to find a way to get them self back on track, where as, Guys that have had lessons, reach this same point and are left dependent on the teacher to tell them what to do.
IMO, that goes hand in hand with the lack of creativity.
But of course, that is just my opinion.

How I learned as the was I do everything and tbh, I am pretty different to most people, I just picked up the guitar, messed around with it, found out what made what sound, when I did what, ect...
Then I listened to songs I liked and tried to replicate the sound and I got the basic idea from that.
Once I got better, I got my chords from the net and got those down.
Figured out what sounded well with what and as you do.

When I was confident enough, I started playing with other musicians and that is when you see your skills really going up.
Imo, learning this way will get you a greater understanding of music/how a guitar works, then having some one tell you that's how it works and that what they said was gospel.

That's just me though and as I said, I've always been a bit weird.

Rigsby

CianRyan wrote: »

Well yes, saying it would hinder was a bit much.
As far as blocking creativity, I'm going by what I've seen.
I know guys that have come out of lessons playing nothing but covers. As far as they are concerned, if they can play EVERY song by X band, that makes them a great guitarist.
The other point, if some one teaches them self and I mean really teaches, not just learns to string together a few chords; If they hit a stage where they feel they're not going any further, they should be able to find a way to get them self back on track, where as, Guys that have had lessons, reach this same point and are left dependent on the teacher to tell them what to do.
IMO, that goes hand in hand with the lack of creativity.
But of course, that is just my opinion.

You must one of the lucky ones, who seems to have a natural talent. Not everyone is the same. That is why I say it is irresponsible to discourage others from going to lessons.

Guys coming out of lessons playing nothing but covers is not the fault of the teacher. Yes, the teacher will probably use covers to demonstrate an aspect of a lesson, and maybe get the pupil to practice the cover in order to hammer a lesson home. In the end though, it is up to the individual as to how they utilise the knowledge they have aquired. Most people just need a "kick start" from the teacher to continue if they reach a dead end. If they need to rely on the teacher for everything, then there is something seriously amiss with them, not the teacher. You either have creativity or you dont. If you do, a teacher can help you to nurture and develop it.... not block it.

fguihen

Rigsby wrote: »

You must one of the lucky ones, who seems to have a natural talent. Not everyone is the same. That is why I say it is irresponsible to discourage others from going to lessons.

Guys coming out of lessons playing nothing but covers is not the fault of the teacher. Yes, the teacher will probably use covers to demonstrate an aspect of a lesson, and maybe get the pupil to practice the cover in order to hammer a lesson home. In the end though, it is up to the individual as to how they utilise the knowledge they have aquired. Most people just need a "kick start" from the teacher to continue if they reach a dead end. If they need to rely on the teacher for everything, then there is something seriously amiss with them, not the teacher. You either have creativity or you dont. If you do, a teacher can help you to nurture and develop it.... not block it.

I agree with Rigsby on this. I got a dozen lessons to get me started many years ago. they helped a lot and after that i was on my own. I made a bit of progression learning one song after another after another. but all i could do was learn songs. i knew nothing about the structure of the songs, how they were created, the musical rules(guidelines) that all music is based on that allows songs that sound good to be created etc. so although i could play a bunch of songs, i was just like a trained monkey, trained to do a specific task(i.e play specific songs) but had no idea why i was playing what note.

A few years ago college got in the way of praticing so i effectively put the guitar down for a few years. about 18 months ago it came to a point where i decided to either play the thing or get rid of it.

I got a good teacher who firstly had a long conversation about where i currently was in relation to playing skills, what i wanted to achieve, my goals, influences etc. He then brought me back to basics, explaining chord formation, how chords are not just shapes you play in the first 5 frets, and they can be played anywhere on the fretboard(taught via CAGED), went through pentatonic, blues, tried a few strange things and am now moving on to more melodic scale usage.

The amount i have learned from this teacher is amazing. I could not have learned this from noodling around on the guitar, or from a book, practical instruction is a must ( for me anyway) for learning such ideas. Your teacher gives you the correct information, is there to correct your mistakes, bounce questions off and help you progress.

You may figure some of this out on your own, but there is nobody on this planet that will improve much quicker and have more solid technique than if they get a good teacher who works with them.

Eoin Madsen

At least a couple of years before you want to quit lessons. But you can be that guy who brings his guitar to parties within 6 months. :pac:

CianRyan wrote: »

I never had lessons and I'm playing better than people that have had lessons and about two/three years on me.

People often talk about the right and wrong ways of playing guitar, who decides these?
Honestly, if something works for you and what you're doing sound nice with out stressing your hands/fingers then what's wrong with it?

I'm sick to death of hearing that argument. If that were the case, nothing would be wrong with it. And good for you that it's worked out well for you. But that is not the norm. My personal experience (and that of any of the players or other music professionals that have earned my respect thus far) has been that self-taught players usually have problems with their technique that both limit their ability to play and put strain on their fingers, hands, elbows, shoulders or back. And the problems are usually things that a teacher would have spotted and corrected early on. It's a lot easier to learn good habits than to unlearn bad ones, and it's not good advice to try and convince someone to opt for muddling by on their own on the off-chance that they'll be one of the lucky ones rather than one of those who plateau early on and never reach their potential. Musical instrument techniques have been evolved and refined over generations; it's retarded to suggest that you're not better off standing on the shoulders of your predecessors.

Eoin Madsen

Ha, I never even read onto the second page. :pac: Sorry for the repetition.

CianRyan wrote: »

The other point, if some one teaches them self and I mean really teaches, not just learns to string together a few chords; If they hit a stage where they feel they're not going any further, they should be able to find a way to get them self back on track, where as, Guys that have had lessons, reach this same point and are left dependent on the teacher to tell them what to do.
IMO, that goes hand in hand with the lack of creativity.
But of course, that is just my opinion.

I've had the opposite experience in practice. Guys who teach themselves are usually trying to unconsciously sound like the CDs they listened to when they were trying to learn how to play. My teachers have only helped to open my mind, and being more aware of what's been already been done by others can only stimulate originality - in my opinion. Honestly, and I don't mean this as a personal attack, but you must have some self-confidence issues yourself if you genuinely think that getting lessons would leave a person in any way dependent on their teacher.

af_thefragile

Hey, I've been playing guitar for about 3 years now and I still consider myself just a beginner. I did take a few lessons in the beginning to get started and all which probably helped but I mostly just learnt it myself through the Internet.

I'ld say it'll only take a couple of weeks of getting used to the strings and memorizing chords before you can start playing simple songs. Though it'll take you. Good while to get good at it Nd play the more complicated and challenging stuff. Be prepared to start learning for life.

Anyway if you wanna learn off the Internet then I should say you should visit www.justinguitar.com
his guitar lessons are byfar the best I've found online and he's also much better than most guitar teachers I've come across. You should definitely check him out.

Good luck!

breno58

i think lessons are pointless just buy yourself some tab books and a cheap guitar, thats how i started and i havent looked back since, it took me about 3 months before i could actually play a proper song and that was playing about 3 hours a day so its something you would want to be willing to spend time on if you want to get good in a short amount of time

-Chris-

Lessons are never pointless.

I absolutely guarantee that.


Obviously presuming the teacher is decent and the student is interested.

breno58

ok pointess is a bad choice of words, im just saying i dont see the point in paying someone to teach you something you can learn by yourself

-Chris-

It's a balance imho.

I'd hate the idea of paying €20 for a half hour lesson (or whatever it costs nowadays) every week for the rest of my life. That's an awful lot of money.

On the other hand, in my experience of playing, I've progressed a lot faster when I've been having lessons than when I haven't

I would think that if someone's learning guitar for 10 years, they should be aiming to have 12 months of lessons every 3 years. I think that would give a good balance of learning and working it out on your own (or make up your own ratio).

There's lots to learn that can't be taught, only experienced - like how to play with other people. That takes a while and it's trial and error.

We are talking about someone who's learning from scratch.




My recommendation would be to do a course of lessons (maybe 10) to learn the fundamentals (how to hold a guitar, how to tune a guitar, how to strum etc.) those are hard to learn from a book.
Then if you're happy with your 10 lessons and want to explore on your own, go for it.
If you think you need 10 more lessons to help you with your chording and to get F nice and clear, do it!

Once you get to a stage in lessons where you say "this all makes sense to me, I can work it out myself", that's the time to stop (for a while). I think it's crazy to decide at the very start that you can work it all out on your own. Yes it's possible, but it's a hell of a lot less efficient and it'll be quite a bit longer before you're able to stand on your own two feet.

zoom!

I've been playing for 7 months. I can't play a full song only parts of some. But I feel that I would be 10 times better if I had practiced consistently every day. I do play everyday, but its mostly just messing around and stuff, which is a lot of fun, but I'm beginning to take it a bit more serioulsy. I have a teacher whose bringing me through some metallica solos and getting me started on soloing pretty quick, and thats really cool too. What I'd say is:

Buy a good guitar. I bought this cheapass 50€ LP thing from ebay, did me well until now but I'm getting a Fender Squire for christmas. I should have started witht he squire tho, its a good guitar and really cheap.

Second, learn these three cords first: Am C D. They are the easiest chords and will ease u in really easy, a good song to practice these is Hurt - Johnny Cash.

Learn a new chord 3 days, and in between these days practice alternating the chords and so on. After a while alternating between chords becomes so natural you don't have to practice, but this is after minimum a year.

Once you've explored the guitar a little more, and have some basic chords down, you should decide what guitarist your gonna be, a shredder, a rythnm guitarist, or a lead guitarist (kinda the same as shredder)

Get a teacher and tell him what you want to be able to do with the guitar and advise him on a pace thats suitable for you.

After about 3 months with the teacher, and hopefully hard practice, youll be able to start making your own stuff once you have the knowledge of chords and scales, but playing them perfectly will still take years to master..

wandatowell

How much do lessons cost anyway lads? Total beginner here. Bought myself a guitar a few months ago but aint had the time to learn properly yet.
Obviously the quality of the tuitor will represent the cost of the lesson.

Any advice???

NoQuarter

wandatowell wrote: »

Any advice???

Yeah, if you dont have the time to practice like a deamon, dont bother paying for lessons as they will only go to waste!

They should cost around 30 per hour.

Milstream

well guys just came across this forum. I bought an acoustic guitar about 3 years ago but only started playing 8 weeks ago. I get lessons which worked out at €230 for 10 lessons and the tutor is really good and PATIENT. Have to admit it was hard with the chords at the start but now im starting to be able to play without looking at the fret board and starting to sing along with words now. I roughly do half hour to 1 hour practice a night if i can. The tutor has began to do tab and have done picking as well so all i going good. Just a couple of songs that i have learned and found not to hard to play


1. Ride on - christy moore
2. Chasing cars - snow patrol
3. knocking on heavens door - bob dylan
4. the gambler
5. galway girl
6. im yours - jason marz
7. hills of donegal
8. back home in derry
9. black velvet band
10. let it be - beatles
11. time of your life -
12. town i love so well (greenday)- picking
13. Wake me up when september ends (greenday_ - tabing

Il keep you all posted on how it comes along.

patmartino

I am playing 25 years and I find I change genre every couple of years to keep fresh.

Started as a Brian May head, then Hendrix, van halen, metal, then Vai, then jazz, I find that 1 hour a day on fingering exercises, then an hour on anything esle keeps you topped up. Then you can move onto pat martino, larry coryell, john mc laughlin etc.

Omenplaya

Fair play for thinking of taking up the guitar, its a great instrument and once u get going there will be no stopping you,

I learned piano (took lessons) a few years b4 taking up the guitar. i never took lessons for guitar but what i di do was pick up a guitar for about €100, a chord book and most importantly a song i wanted to play and liked. This was by far the easiest way for me to learn as learning a song u like and know is easyiest thing, especially when the chord shapes get harder.

alot of songs can be done by learning 5 or 6 chords ( to start with), this will keep you interested and playing.
Ur fingers will burn for a little from pressing the strings on the fret board but stick at it and you'll soon build up a callis on your fingers and won't notice anymore.

As soon as you have a repetoire of a few songs you'll notice the hunger for the less simple songs and this will trigger you into finding more songs via the net, something like www.chordie.com or just search for guitar chords and the son of your choice. you'll fin there will be simplified versions and harder more intricate versions of most songs, the simple ones are great for a start and the harder ones show you the subtleties with a few new chords of fingering style etc.

I hope this was of some help, It didn't take me too long to be able hold my own in a pub session ( highly recommended as u'll pick up so much more tips and tricks in a session)

best of luck