I'd recommend taking lessons, that is the best way to get you motivated and ensure you'll stick with it. Plus you get to listen to a professional play, which will help you develop "feel" and various techniques you can only pick up by watching someone else do them.
No, I dont play the guitar, I play saxophone, but I wouldn't be anywhere near as good as I am today without lessons.
There is a great abundance of books with CD's and lesson videos out there so if you cant take lessons with a teacher, you can still get great pointers and motivation from these videos. Bear in mind the artist videos mostly show you a few licks from their songs, and not really a method for learning guitar in general.
A very nice book is the one by Ralph Denyer.
The Keith Wyatt books and accompanying videos on blues guitar are pretty good. Don Mock also has some nice intro video on blues and jazz. Rock Discipline by Petrucci gives quite a good practice regimen. Frank Gambale and Paul Gilbert have good videos on picking technique. You might like the Wolf Marshall series of books on guitar theory.
A good book on scales, modes and chord voicings would be good to study from to memorise the fretboard.
As for guitar maintenance and setup, Dan Erlewine has a nice book and accompanying videos for electric and acoustic guitars.
Also, read any essays from Jamie Andreas. She is the author (and excellent player/teacher) to help you not develop 'bad habits' with her Guitar Principles of Correct Practice.
Even if you have zero music talent, learning basic level guitar as in basic chords and basic strumming is easy........BUT you have to be CONSISTENT and practice every day for around 10-30 minutes. After about a year or two, you will be able to play basic Neil Young style chords.
The reason why so many people can’t play music on a basic level is because it’s difficult to maintain daily consistency In practicing.
I want to stress that playing guitar on a basic level does not require talent or high level skills. The hardest part is the simple discipline of being consistent with the daily practice of 10-30 minutes.
Best to learn on an acoustic first as you will have a different style at the end instead of learning on an electric guitar. Really even 1/2 to 1 hour a week with a private instructor is special. At times you can find someone who just knows what you want to know. As a kid my father payed a guitar teacher to teach me 1970s rock songs. Simply learning the riffs and chord progressions can be everything for some.
It’s been 40 years since I had a private lesson, but I remember they were fun. As mentioned playing every day is the key. Instructors look at your fingers to see if you’ve been practicing, as even 1 hour a day makes your finger-tips different.
But the best guitar players play all day long at a point. That’s the thing the really good guitar players tried to fit 25 years of guitar playing into 5 years. But even if your not that motivated or gifted, practice pays off. It always pays off.
One really important thing is to learn to be comfortable, as if your cozy you’ll play longer. I only play eight hours a week, but in my 20s I’d play way more. Some play while watching TV and movies.
There is many directions you can go and I’m not sure there is actually one way. I have a family member who does not use a pick and learned 20 songs off YouTube. Then you have the people who go to the Guitar Institutes, who are very serious about playing a more critical and professional way. So guitar is open that way.
But if your into it, learning a couple Blues songs can last you a lifetime learning your own way to interpret them and expand on what they do. Get GuitarTuna off Apple Store onto a phone and learn to tune your guitar perfect. Test it every time you play and after a while you will get a good ear for how the basic chords sound. Many guitar players teach themselves after they have even learned just the basic chord progressions and scales. They may not play the songs they hear correct but very few do. Each person has their own obstacles to overcome as some have better natural timing and some need to focus on learning timing. But many folks have learned simply by copying their friends or what they see on YouTube. I myself try to play each song different every time I play. Then again for some playing the song exactly the same is the goal. But attitude is always key, as after a point many are going to be gifted with skills that allow them to progress and progress. Some people have big hands that can reach around a basketball. Some have an incredible inner musical voice that can’t be stopped. Then others are just normal, but that doesn’t mean they can’t end up a truly amazing guitar player anyways. So that’s the thing at some place in time the goal is to make the instrument your own. At some point you will be able to become an entertaining experience; if not only for yourself but others. But the key is to make it fun.
Also it’s much easier to learn if you’re a teenager.
If you start at the age of 15, after a year you should be able to play the basic Neil Young style chords/songs.
After another year, you should be able to play some basic blues guitar solos like Keith Richards in a general way.
Beyond that, depending on your interest and dedication, you can go further into being really good.
The issue is that most kids and people don’t have the patience. I’ve seen kids who had the ability to being good musicians but gave it up because they were more interested in playing with their iPhones instead.
Also it’s much easier to learn if you’re a teenager.
If you start at the age of 15, after a year you should be able to play the basic Neil Young style chords/songs.
After another year, you should be able to play some basic blues guitar solos like Keith Richards in a general way.
Beyond that, depending on your interest and dedication, you can go further into being really good.
The issue is that most kids and people don’t have the patience. I’ve seen kids who had the ability to being good musicians but gave it up because they were more interested in playing with their iPhones instead.
It’s so true that teenagers have the gift of learning it. In fact the family member I was talking about is 18. Though I have come to believe there is more talent around today? Of course it could be the fact that the internet gives you more bands to learn about existing. Yet since 2010 there has been a saying in music. The saying is everyone can play. It means there is no shortage of folks who are great on guitar. And not just guitar players but whole groups of musicians that all are really proficient at playing music. Add to that the fact that recording music is easy now with home recording on computers.
Then due to the internet distribution.......finished music is easy to get out. Bandcamp has thousands of bedroom musician albums. Then add the fact there are just more people in the would therefore more musicians and more albums. More bands and more recordings being made.
The only sad part is most musicians need a job to support themselves even being in a famous band. This creates issues where musicians will easily drop out of bands or simply act like they don’t care due to pay issues. They really don’t care. With so many bands at times musicians feel like the industry is bossing them around and not getting them their rock star treatment.
The most amazing change I’ve seen for musicians is digital downsizing. There are actually famous bands starting to carry all their gear onto the plane and drive to the concert avenue with simply a very evolved effects unit and a guitar.
While obviously most famous guitar players need a truck with a boatload of different guitars, as well as mountains of effects, there is something to be said of a guitar player carrying a single guitar with the effects to the gig. Maybe the house system at the arena they plug into gives them the sound they want, or maybe this is just necessary to play live today on a budget. Obviously less crew means more money for the players. I’m not sure how the drums would work in such plan?
So in many ways music/musicians today are both the same and very different. I’ve never gone on tour or even ever been paid more than beer playing live. Still I find many aspects of guitars fascinating. One of my high-school friends became a noted guitar builder, which is an amazing thing to learn about. Another friend is a hobby guitar builder. Then two years ago I had a guitar custom built. And as much fun as the whole process is, it’s a little nerve racking and full of education. The fact is there are way more choices when building a guitar. Same as my other friend that builds them. He basically says it’s like a story where one thing affects another and on and on. I’m happy with the guitar I’ve had made, but I’m not sure I would go through the process again. It’s exciting and a bunch to learn.
But every guitar is one of a kind in a way. Meaning that if they are made at a factory they are still different from one another. Also there will be variations especially with a custom builder. This is true to the maximum degree if you have the builder make something he never made before.
I think you are gonna have a blast learning guitar. As you can see from my profile picture
I'm still a begginer and I'm learning online, from a Brazilian teacher.
It's good to get lessons at first, agree. It's not a must, I didn't and I'm a fair guitar player, but luckily I didn't pick up bad habits and I practiced a lot in the past and have a perfectionist nature so I wouldn't settle for playing things sloppily. Certainly getting good habits from the beginning helps though, so would recommend lessons starting out.
Make sure to search for a good teacher, that MOTIVATES you with a good progression system. You can have all the theory and practice in the world, if your teacher doesn't motivates you (by the way he/she talks/teaches and the exercices itself), because the best way to learn and keep you motivated is practicing by playing songs. Yes, it's better to learn to play by playing, instead of doing exercices that you'll neve use in "real-life", and make you bored. What songs you play, that is responsability of the teacher to slowly give you harder and harder songs. Of course you'll do some exercices every now and then, but the main way is learning by actually playing. That's what my teacher says and teaches, and I'm having a blast.
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