I just bought an acoustic guitar yesterday and well i heard it was hard to learn to play and they werent kidding, it is bitch difficult! I practiced for a few hours and still am no better at playing than when i just bought. How long will it take before i can play even the simplest riffs

Here’s a breakdown of the stages of guitar learning and the approximate time it might take you to get there.

- Playing Basic Chords - This is usually the first benchmark most new players reach: The ability to strum and switch between the basic guitar chords. At this point you don’t necessarily have the chords memorized and aren’t able to play many songs, but you’re managing to fret and strum them. This level can be reached within one week.

- Playing easy songs - You’ve mastered more guitar chords and have been practicing them enough that you’ve got most of them memorized and are able to strum and switch between them without too much hassle, and without looking at the fretboard when you do. This means you can play songs! This level can be reached in two to three weeks of daily practice, though for many it might be longer.

- Playing Barre and Power Chords - We’re moving right along and you’re advancing to a level where most self-taught guitarists never go. Barre Chords are much more difficult than open chords and learning these takes extra practice and a whole new set of strength in your fretting hand. It’s possible to play most barre chords in two months, quicker for some who practice a lot.

- Fingerpicking - The ability to pluck individual strings and play simple riffs (short solo pieces on individual strings) is a new skill your strumming hand needs to learn. This can usually be achieved in two to three months if you start to learn and play easy guitar tabs.

- Lead Guitar - A Lead guitarist is the guy or girl who’s got the audience at his/her beckoning. Playing solo’s and using techniques like slurring, vibrato and palm muting is a whole new set of rules and I’d give it three to four months. This might be way off depending on what kind of music we’re talking about - playing acoustic solo’s might take less time, but playing rock or metal solo’s will probably take longer.

- The improviser - A guitarist that can improvise riffs and solos on the spot (and in the middle of a song), have moved from the realm of amateurship to being a pro or semi-pro. Depending on how much talent you have and what you’re musical background is, this might take anything from six months to a year.

Please note that these time lengths are given as a very broad estimate and aimed at people with little musical experience. If it takes you longer than a week to learn the basic chords, don’t get upset. These times are not set in stone and you have to learn and develop at a pace that’s natural and comfortable for you!

http://www.pluckandplayguitar.com/how-long-to-learn-guitar.html

Can a person with limited dexterity in their hands due to a disability (mild cerebral palsy) still learn to successfully play a guitar?

I have heard it rumored that a guitar player somehow had only up to the first joint of most of his fingers and could still play wonderfully.

You can definitely still play guitar. Here’s my advice: if you have a 3 or 4 fret reach, you should be fine with most chords. You can actually cover a lot of ground in soloing with a 3 fret reach (mainly the minor pentatonic scale). I’d just say go for it.

In fact if you only had 1 finger remaining on your left hand, you could still play guitar. The secret here is to use an alternate tuning to make the chords easier to play. You would remain in one key but could play hundreds of songs still. Don’t let dexterity get in the way.

Now, to answer your question specifically, I have written an article in my blog that explains dexterity’s place in playing guitar (I call it finger flexibility): http://guitarmann.com/articles/the-best-way-to-build-finger-strength-for-guitar

Stephen
http://guitarmann.com

I am very much a beginner at guitar. I play an extremely ramshackle acoustic guitar that is held together with tape. I have the learned the chords A C D E G. I figure that the next logical step would be to learn scales. If so, how should I go about learning these. Or if you have any more idea, please tell me.

I would personally recommend private tutors in regards to my experience; most theory and general work content solely revolves around your level. For the mean time, use forums to your advantage; via ultimate guitar, etc.

Other than that, learning the theory and note construction would be most essential; you’ll learn how each note reacts with other notes, and what notes interact with others harmoniously. Theory is typically crucial if you’d like to understand what you’re playing exactly, and I would advise you to look heavily into it.

I’ve played guitar for about 5 years and recently I’ve noticed that whenever I play for about 5 minutes, I get burnt out on it very easily. Pretty much all I play is punk rock. Is there any way I can make playing guitar fun again? I tell myself that I’ll lay off on playing guitar for about a week but for some reason I go back to playing guitar everyday even though it’s not very fun.

the second chick is right mate, you really need to play and listen to music of other styles to keep yourself interested. You don’t have to listen to country however… But anyway, learning and playing different things can really help you get more interested in your instrument and also get alot better. Try learning a bit of lead guitar too, because improvising leads is alot more fun than hammering out power chords all day long - trust me. My last peice of advice is to change your strings and clean your guitar up real nice - nothing makes me want to play less than when i have shitty, rusty strings on a grimy neck. Give your axe some tlc, learn some new and more challenging things and you’ll get back into it in no time keep it real mate and stay true to your music

I have a cousin that lives 3 hours away and we want to combine my guitar playing and his drums over the interent some how. I have heard of band members spread across the country all playing together over the internet using a software but I don’t know what software would do it. Does anybody know?

First of all, you need hardware to record it. Then a simple program like Audacity will allow you to save the audio files to your computer in MP3, or WAV format.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

So here is the dirt… we’ve been dating for nearly four months and our fifth month is ON christmas lol. We are both seventeen and well… he is the only guy i think ive ever loved…
He does play guitar and he asked for boxers… so lol i am getting him two pairs, but seriously? i cant just get him boxers lol.

He is really good to me and i feel like i need to show him that on christmas. Please Help!

does he have an acoutsic or an electric guitar? if he has an electric, get him an acoutsic. vice versa. if hes really good, he might have a REALLY expensive guitar. 1500$ is normal for a guitar, so you should do some research. idk the guy so it might be a good idea to get him something else.

I’ve been practicing the different scale patterns with a metronome. I’ve also been playing motiffs on these patterns all the way up the neck. Will doing this improve my guitar playing ability more than playing chords?

Of course, playing scales will improve your guitar playing.

But you will never be a good lead guitarist until you are first a good rhythm guitarist.

And you will never be a good guitarist if you concentrate on one over the other.

Personally, I don’t recommend scales…they aren’t musical…they’re mechanical, and they will not do much to help you find your own voice.

Learn the pentatonic scale, and the minor pentatonic scale, then work on learning some solos from your favorite guitarists…note for note. Listen to their phrasing and the length of each note. Listen for bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs..etc.

Learning nothing but scales will make you a boring guitarist…make up your own melodies(solos) in your head, and try to transfer them to guitar. Learn a song and all guitar parts by ear only…no books or internet, or tabs allowed!

Do not ignore rhythm guitar…learn at least 4-5 different ways to play each chord…work on strumming and different patterns of tempo. A good solid rhythm guitarist can control the whole band.

Play with a guitarist who’s better than you…you’ll improve as much in 1 year as you will in 10 years sitting around in your room playing scales.

Best of luck, and keep practicing till those fingers bleed.

I’ve been playing guitar for 2 1/2 years and I can play a lot metal riffs but when I get to the solos I can do any thing so what are good exercises to improve my fingers in that area. I also struggle with songs that have intricate rhythms, particulary megadeth songs. I know minor pentatonic, major and minor harmonic and minor melodic scales. I play mostly thrash metal songs.

well its good to frequently practice try some of these:

E |-15p12—12——————————————-
B |———-15–15p12—12———————————–
G |————————14—14p12—12————————-
D |—————————————-14—14p12–12—————
A |——————————————————14—14p12—12—–
E |———————————————————————-15—15p12
or

E |-0h2h3-0h3h5-0h5h7-0h3h5-0h2h3————————
B |——————————————————
G |——————————————————
D |——————————————————
A |——————————————————
E |——————————————————

This is part of the solo in Ride The Lightning
E |-19p15—15-]-17p14—14-]-15p12—12-]-14p11—14—-
B |———17—-]———–15—-]———-13—-]———12——-
G |————]————]————]—————
D |————]————]————]—————
A |—-4x——]—-4x——]—–4x—–]—-4x———
E |————]————]————]—————

its also good to "race" a metronome

hope this helps

I am taking a guitar class next semester and have the option of classical and jazz guitar. I know that the obvious answer is that with the jazz guitar you would play mostly jazz. But what differences are there? Is it a different technique? Different focus? Is one harder than the other or are they just different?

Jazz and classical are very different styles of guitar.

1. Jazz tends to be based a lot on improvisational techniques. You should know all your scales, and some jazz theory. Classical is based on interpretation and reproduction of music that is already written. The music will be right in front of you for this style.

2. Different guitars. That’s a big one. You might want to see if you have a classical (not an acoustic, a classical) guitar. Many people don’t.

3. Complete different techniques. If you play with a pick- you should do Jazz. Classical guitar does not use a pick at all. EVER. It is all done with the fingers on your right hand. Also, most classical guitarists spend years learning correct right hand technique on guitar, it is not something you just pick up and know how to do.

4. Since I know a lot of theory, I say that classical guitar is harder than jazz. However, if you don’t know theory but do know how to read music, classical would be easier for you.

The moral of the story here, is that they are very different. It mostly depends on what type of music you like more.

I’m left handed and held a guitar 1st like a lefty. I forced myself to learn guitar right handed and now I’m wondering should I change guitar playing like a lefty?

Hello there,

It depends on why you would want to change. Is there a reason you need to change? If so, change. If not, why bother.

I can play either way. Even though I have done that for 40 years, it can be confusing to switch back and force.

There was a time when I hurt my left hand and could not play for over a year. When I started playing again, I played mostly left handed until my right hand finally healed enough. Then I switched back to playing right handed.

For me, I can do more with my left hand than my right, that works better for fingering the guitar. I play almost entirely right handed any more. I can play left handed and did to show a nephew who was left handed how to start playing. Other than that, I find no reason to play guitar left handed.

However, I should add that I always play the bass left handed.

Later,