How hard is it to learn guitar from a book?
I want to learn guitar, I have no musical background so I don’t know any chords or even what that is! Its just a dream of mine to learn. Is it very hard to learn guitar from a book?
You can start to play with some decent books. I have been playing for over 30 years. I started out with a battered old guitar and Mel Bay’s Book of Chords. I will offer a few tips for success:
1) Form. Pay attention to how the book shows you to position your hand and fingers. Do it the
correct way. You’ll be glad you did as you become more advanced.
2) Walking the scale. Spend at least 10 minutes each time you practice walking up each
string, open, first, second, third, fourth fingers. Then back down. This may seem
monotonous, but it builds finger strength, correct positioning and callousing.
3) Dedication. Play at least 30 minutes every day. Don’t give up because your fingers
hurt. This is normal and will go away after a few weeks.
Good luck and stick with it.
xx
May 29th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Quite hard. Have fun, dude.
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May 29th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
nope. like you, I’m a beginner and i’m teaching myself how to play.
I purchased a book from my local music store for beginners, and I’m doing really well.
All you need is the time and patience.
Good luck!
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May 29th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
It’s difficult to learn from a book, no doubt. However, if you know someone that knows a thing or two about guitars, then it wouldn’t hurt to have them help you to better understand the book. Best of luck!
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LIFE
May 29th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
It is doable. It is harder for some people than others, personally I can’t learn from a book because I won’t retain any of it and will have trouble making sense of a lot of it.
If you learn from a book and videos it could make it easier on you aswell. Youtube has a lot of stuff on there, and im sure there are plenty of other places you could find videos to help you out.
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May 29th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Go on Youtube, you’ll learn it easily because youtube has videos showing many people how to play a guitar or ride a bike or etc.. All I’m saying is that go on Youtube you’ll learn it better because people on youtube will show you step by step.
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May 29th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
You got to have the right book and commitment, keep training and nothing is impossible.
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May 29th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
You can start to play with some decent books. I have been playing for over 30 years. I started out with a battered old guitar and Mel Bay’s Book of Chords. I will offer a few tips for success:
1) Form. Pay attention to how the book shows you to position your hand and fingers. Do it the
correct way. You’ll be glad you did as you become more advanced.
2) Walking the scale. Spend at least 10 minutes each time you practice walking up each
string, open, first, second, third, fourth fingers. Then back down. This may seem
monotonous, but it builds finger strength, correct positioning and callousing.
3) Dedication. Play at least 30 minutes every day. Don’t give up because your fingers
hurt. This is normal and will go away after a few weeks.
Good luck and stick with it.
xx
References :
May 29th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
I’ve been learning from a book since last May, and the learning curve obviously plateaus, because I haven’t improved since October. I’m going to get the Hands of Steel and the Learn Rock Guitar DVDs from Rock House, and that should help.
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May 29th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
It would be fine but I would ask a friend if your doing it right so you wont get off track.
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May 29th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Keep in mind that statistics show that 9 out of 10 people who try to teach themselves guitar, fail. You’re a million times better off getting lessons from a professional guitar teacher.
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Long time pro guitarist
May 29th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
No.
But I’ve yet to see a book advise anyone when they’re having trouble nailing a concept down.
You’d be better off getting a teacher & using the book to reinforce what you learned.
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May 29th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Well, it all depends on how you learn. Some people learn well from a book while others require a one-on-one instructor, while others can just teach themselves how to play by just messing around. Myself, i tried to learn from a boo AND an instructor and it did not work out. In the end, i just ended up learning songs that i liked and just messed around and learned things at my own pace. Just find your best way to learn. Cheers!
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Guitar Player
May 29th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Its not too difficult if you can find the right book, I took lessons when I first started and my teacher gave me recomendations.
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May 30th, 2010 at 12:16 am
I’ll recommend getting someone to go around the basics to start you off.
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May 30th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Depends on the difficulty of the book,course even a beginner book may seem hard at first.Anything can be hard at first but you’ll grow into it and it’ll be easier as time goes by.
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May 30th, 2010 at 12:50 am
When you’re learning anything for the first time, it’s overwhelming to try to pick the most reliable source of information. You can buy a cheap book or even try to go through reading a lot of free lessons that are offered online. Keep in mind though that just like many things, you get what you pay for. A walmart book or free articles are only going to take you so far, and you probably won’t learn what you actually want to learn.
The best inexpensive yet reliable option is video lessons on the web. You actually get taught how to play. I personally have spent years and years developing a system and creating an online instructional website that is quality (not just trying to make a buck–like most sites out there). In fact, I offer a new video lesson every single week, answer questions, have a forum. It’s set up just for people like you. Hey, even if you don’t go with my site—I would advise you to set some goals for yourself, and do your research. The web by far is the best way to learn.
Here’s a blog post I made recently about choosing on online guitar instruction website. Good luck learning! http://guitarmann.com/articles/the-best-online-guitar-lessons
Stephen
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guitar instructor for over 10 years