Apr 14 2009
Ok….So you want to learn to play guitar?
So you bought yourself a guitar and you’re ready to start playing your favorite songs, but let’s not get to far ahead of ourselves just yet. Set your goals at acheivable levels and you will enjoy your instrument far more and have less chance of having another yard sale item taking up space in a closet or your garage. There is just so many cases that I can recall where someone was facinated with an ever popular video game that led them to beleive they could just pick up the real deal only to be disappointed that there was more involved in the learning curve than they bargained for. The truth of the matter is that learning how to play a guitar is only as hard as you want to make it. If you have the right mind set, the proper direction, and desire, then you will succeed. However, most of the “failed” attempts were due to the fact that the student wanted to jump right over the basic fundementals because his/her anticipation did not want to be bothered by the mundane. The bottom line is this: You can NOT build a solid house on a weak foundation. And you can NOT build it from the top down, either. You want to be solid throughout your whole learning process. I can’t count the number of times I have played with another guitar player who knew thier basic chords, but couldnt tell you the name. You have any idea how frustrating it is to sit down and play with another “guitarist” and not be able to speak the universal language that encompasses the entire intrument? Trust me, you are better off putting in your dues and learning right from the beginning then to just skip around and think that just learning how to play some “power chords” will land you any farther than your living room. One thing ALL musicians have in common is they are educated about their instruments. Don’t allow yourself to fall into the category of poorly educated and improperly trained musicians. Coincidentally, most improperly trained musicians develop bad habits that once they learn of thier bad habit, takes them longer to rectify, than if they had learned it right the first time. To quote my grandfather……..Anything worth doing with your hands is worth doing well, or dont do it at all.
