A Beginner's Guide To Learning Guitar

As an absolute beginner looking to learn the guitar, getting on the right track can be quite confusing. More likely than not, you will be confronted with a variety of conflicting information about who to see and how to start learning guitar. With everyone trying to offer you their own advice, keeping focussed on your end goal can be difficult, although is essential if you're looking to learn how to play the guitar proficiently. So where do you begin when trying to learn the guitar? And how can you ensure your guitar learning experience is as fruitful as possible.

Before even beginning to learn the guitar the first step is to consider whether to learn on your own basis through a book or online, or whether to learn with a tutor through individual or group lessons. This can be an important decision, and one that is crucial to your ability to learn how to play the guitar. If you find self-motivation and dedication easy, you may find learning on your own to be a more cost-effective way of picking up the guitar, and one that proves to be more rewarding in the long run. Alternatively, if you find the prospect of learning quite daunting, it may be a better idea to get in touch with an expert guitar tutor, who will hold your hand through the learning process, and keep you on track to build on your guitar playing abilities. Either way, it is important to ensure you practice everything you cover, and to play at every opportunity to improve your skills and technique, which will provide more stable foundations for becoming a great guitarist.

The first thing to consider when learning to play the guitar is how often you are going to practice, and from where you will access your guitar. As a beginner, it is desirable to pick up a second hand or cheap first guitar. There's no point spending hundreds, or even thousands, on a new top of the range guitar when there is no guarantee that you will be able to play it. When selecting a guitar, you should look for something that is sized appropriately for you, and that sits comfortably when playing. A Spanish or classical guitar is slightly softer on the fingers, although the acoustic guitar is better for smaller hands initially. Obviously each type of guitar has its own specific advantages for more advanced performance, but as a beginner it may be wise to put consideration into the actual size and shape of the guitar and how it fits with you.

Learning to play the guitar can seem like a mammoth task for the complete beginner, but with a few tips in the right direction it doesn't need to be out of reach. With the means to learn and some form of guidance, either through a book, online or through a tutor, learning the guitar can be a fairly straightforward process, and one which can prove to be very rewarding in a short period with drive and determination.

Thank you to Peter Finlay