Guitar - restarting from scratch

paddylonglegs

Hi guys,

I'm self taught, and have played on/ off for the last 15 years. I don't know if I would class myself as intermediate (as I don't know what to compare too!).

Being self taught, I can understand chords, read and play tabs, but don't have a great grasp on theory, scales, and how to use the fretboard to maximum affect. I started to learn as I wanted to be able to play some of my favourite songs, loved music, and it was fun having a repertoire for parties and meet ups.

As time and life has moved on however, the parties aren't a thing anymore, I'm a bit bored of trying to learn songs "that people will like" and I'm not motivated to pursue it anymore.

To cut to the chase, I would love to go back to the drawing board and get a good understanding of the guitar, learn the theory, scales, and everything to go along with it to become accomplished. I love listening to blues (amongst a lot more) and I watch quite a lot of blues tutorials on YouTube.

So where do I start? Buy a book? Go online? Do I engage with a guitar teacher? Im fairly good at playing scales etc, but understating them is another thing. I see this as a slow burner, spending the next ten years getting my practice in every day (when possible) having achieved an excellent grasp of guitar.

help?

Rigsby

I'd suggest say, a half a dozen (more if you can afford them) lessons from a good teacher, to get you started. IMO you can't beat sitting knee to knee with a "real live" person, who will be able to explain things to you, and correct you if/when you get things wrong.

The ideal thing would be to have the teacher suggest a book, and have him/her work through it with you. After your set of lessons, you can go it alone if you wish. You could always come back for more lessons at a later time if you felt the need.

When choosing a teacher, try to get recommendations from people who have studied with a particular teacher.

jenearl

Bang on - get yourself a few lessons to kick start your progress again. After that, I'm sure you'll find it much easier to self-teach.

paddylonglegs

Thanks s million. Great advice

Ol' Donie

Lessons, for definite.

Edit: A few conversations with someone who knows what they're talking about will lead to examples to illustrate what they're talking about, which widens your taste in music which leads to more curiosity. It's an extremely valuable cycle (that hopefully never gets boring).

paddylonglegs

So, the important question. Any recommendations on a suitable teacher?

Kildare based

joxerjohn

Hi Paddy

I am in a similar position to you and wondered if you had made progress finding a teacher or class in the Kildare area?

Previously I looked at maybe doing a class in Waltons Music School but it would be a bit of a trek for me.

paddylonglegs

joxerjohn wrote: »

Hi Paddy

I am in a similar position to you and wondered if you had made progress finding a teacher or class in the Kildare area?

Previously I looked at maybe doing a class in Waltons Music School but it would be a bit of a trek for me.

Planning to drop in to Jam Music shop in Naas on Saturday. They seem very knowledgable so hopefully they can put me in the right direction

alb

As someone who did something similar I'd add that something that's completely different now from 15 years ago is the resources available for free on the internet, there are so many great lessons and general guitar educational videos on youtube that you can dive into.

Also, for me at least, I found the Rocksmith video game incredibly useful, no need to bother with amps or pedals or finding tabs or backing tracks - just plug in and you're playing along with the real song with the right tone for the track. It's an easy and FUN way to get back into it.