By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer
Of course, you can! Many musicians have learned to play guitar and other instruments without formal guitar lessons. However, music is mimicry so we need some sort of guidance to make sure we are going in the right direction. Thanks to modern social media and technology it is possible to study music all on your own. Here are some tips and tricks on how to teach yourself to play guitar.
Pros and Cons of Teaching Yourself Guitar
Pros
- It is not easy to find a teacher, music is not as commonly taught and in some cases, it is only possible to do online lessons.
- Learning by yourself is a lot easier as far as working around your schedule and life. You can study and practice when you have the time.
- Even if you are using online lessons it is usually cheaper than in-person local instructors, self-teaching is always a better price.
- The guitar is not too hard to learn as it is not an overly complicated instrument. If you play often and work towards solid goals you will make progress.
- There are tons of resources these days to use, whether you choose books or beginner guitar lessons. In fact the one problem is that there are so many lessons to choose from it can be confusing.
Cons
- An in-person teacher is helpful to guide you through the hurdles and jumps you will have to navigate. Having an experienced instructor is a plus for knowing you will get the proper guidance. However, some great online guitar lesson programs offer video feedback and other tools that utilize real teachers.
- Without proper teaching, one can get stuck in bad techniques permanently! If you are new and unaware it is easy to fall into unwanted habits.
- It helps to have a teacher push you to practice, motivation can be difficult on your own. It takes a lot of dedication to force yourself to practice daily.
- Being both the student and teacher can be a bit much for some, see how it works for you and if any progress is made.
How to Play Guitar On Your Own?
While this question has many answers there is one main response that is important to remember! The way you play guitar on your own or with a teacher is to just do it. Don’t think about it or over-plan, just start playing anything you can. Get your fingers used to fretting notes and make sure your pick is hitting the correct strings. Also, make sure any chords you are fretting sound correct, there should be no “dead” or muted sounds.
Now this is a lot easier said than done, many people want to play guitar but they struggle with the actual effort that is required. At the end of the day it is important to pick that guitar up and attempt consistent and high-quality practice. Even if your technique is not perfect, if you stick with it you will show progress.
Self-Teaching Guitar Steps
- Find the Right Guitar – This is the biggest problem many self-starters run into, they buy a cheap guitar that has bad action and intonation. The notes then do not sound good and failure is imminent, buy a suitable guitar with a reasonable budget.
- Tune it – Make sure the guitar is tuned and set up to give you a great tone, this step may seem simple but it is essential like having a decent guitar. Make sure your tuner tells you the octave and chromatic note so you do not break any strings.
- Pick some beginning chords – Start simple with three chords in the same key as: key of G (G-C-D), key of C (C-F-G). key of A (A-D-E). These chord orders are very popular in many songs, as you practice keep these chord progressions ready to play and they will prepare you for most genres.
- Arpeggiate those chords – Suppose you have picked the easy G-C-D to practice with, next play the strings of these chords individually. Playing the single notes of a chord in order is an arpeggio and it can sound pretty when done correctly. It will also help you pick out single strings as opposed to just full strums.
- Strumming patterns – Go back to the G-C-D and do only downstrokes for a measure on each chord and then repeat it. After that, try alternate down and up strokes and strums, keeping in mind to play slow at first. Don’t worry about speed at first, just get used to fretting the chords and playing notes cleanly and efficiently.
- Add rhythm and drums – As you play chord progressions and scales add in backing tracks and drum machine rhythms. These drums and tracks can be found in apps like these, and it is a simple matter of letting them play on loop while you practice. This will help with timing, strums, and when learning new song styles.
- Learn by ear – In the old days before online lessons and so many books people studied music by playing a record and copying it by ear. Now we have chords and tabs to help supplement such a practice, but it still helps to do it all by ear. Ear training is tedious and difficult but it is also the best way ever to teach yourself guitar!
- Self-control and dedication are essential – These guitar goals are all reasonable to accomplish if you take the time to study. If you put a lot of effort into it you should be able to be playing decently within a few months. However, that is only possible if you have practiced almost daily and dedicated a lot of time to the process.
- Continue to check out music – When you are taking a break from physical practice you can still read and watch videos about guitar playing. Completely immerse yourself in the world of music for the best self-teaching results!
If you follow some of these basic steps you should have no problem teaching yourself how to play guitar. Even guitarists who studied under amazing instructors still had to go home and practice and that is the ultimate key to success, practicing as much as you can! Set a goal and work towards it every day and eventually, you will see that you always had the ability to play the guitar.