Hello, I recently bought an acoustic guitar, and this is my second attempt at learning to play.
I made some progress, teaching myself basic chords and strumming, but I’m having trouble following sheet music/chord patterns and similar resources. Sometimes, when I’m watching a YouTube video on how to play a song, they don’t provide the strumming pattern or other details.
I’ve only been playing for a month, and I really enjoy it, but I feel like I’m starting to slow down again. I did download a book on how to improve my playing, which I plan to read later today.
I was wondering if anyone had a few resources they’d be willing to share.
Thank you!
Depends on your goals. Two things are magic: playing with other people and playing live Other than that focus on the basics - always practice with a metronome. You can instantly tell who is ready to play together and who is used to used to doing their own thing all over the time signature.
Practise by accompanying your favourite music. That way you don’t get hung up on the strumming pattern and focus on enjoying, which is what keeps you coming back for practice.
There are abundant beginner videos on YouTube that teach strumming. I think the important thing is to mix learning technique with just enjoying making music by any means.
(Source, self taught playing 20 years)
Hold the books and lesson videos for 6 months to a year. Learn by playing music you want to learn. Songs you love. Start with some easy 3-4 chords stuff. Get the strumming by playing along with the song. Add in a lick that you can manage. Gradually progress into more complex songs with new chords. Get comfortable with singing along. Enjoy it. Enjoy it enough that you want to play a bit more each day.
If you want to get better, you have to practice every single day.
You’re going to suck at first, but then you’re going to suck less. You have to learn enjoy the process, which it sounds like you do, so great! I like to break up my play time into practicing something new and having fun; they’re both important.
One thing I’ve found is that keeping my guitar out and on the wall makes it a lot easier to get started playing, even if I don’t feel like it at the time. Once I’m about five minutes into playing, I’m into it.
Oh, and practice with a metronome. Most guitarists suck at rhythm (myself included). Using a metronome beats it into your head.
I bought a poster of all the chord shapes and would constantly run through the whole thing while watching TV and a huge Beatles book because everyone knows Beatles songs. They literally taught us a bunch of them in grade school music classes growing up. After a couple of years of basic chord structure and strumming, I then moved on to learning scales. Mostly right now, concentrate on chord shapes, building up hand strength, and strumming. Pick easy three chord songs that you know and enjoy and play the heck out of them.
Dude, The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook? Totally how I taught myself guitar too. My only beef with it was that I need to tune Beatles songs down a whole step for my vocal range, which was not practical as a beginner, but I learned all the chord shapes really quickly
