(Image is of me playing a 30K Martin at the NAMM show 2009 … carefully) All my life kids and grownups alike have asked me this simple question: “What guitar teaching method did you use to start playing?” I play my 6 string in class, on my job as a teacher, for my kids at bedtime, for my own enjoyment of songwriting and recording, and anywhere else they’ll have me! I enjoy the hobby that has become my personality more than most any other thing on Earth. The answer to the question is always the same and pretty simple. I’ve had years to perfect it and I make sure it’s encouraging to the asker. I say:
I was in about 4th grade and I wanted to be like Kenny Rogers as he sounded on “The Gambler.”
After that, they always (without fail) ask: “So who was your teacher?”
Now this is a really tough one because I’d say the most intense teacher was myself. I spent hours in headphones listening to riffs, runs, and chords by all my favorite bands of the 1980’s like The Alarm, Big Country, J.Geils Band, Blondie, REM, and the list goes on. I would hear the parts and then try and make them on my guitar. That’s the real teaching I gave myself. It is called learning how to play guitar by ear. How do you feel about learning how to play a guitar?
Before my self-teaching epoch, my dad taught me. We would sit and he would scribble out chords for me on a cartoon style guitar neck. I would strain to make the chords and after a lot of practice, I was playing Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.” I’ll never forget that amazing feeling of completion when one day I found myself switching chords with dexterity. Playing the guitar has given me something to do for years and I think that’s why I really started in the first place. Girls weren’t interested in me in my adolescence, so I wanted something to do! The guitar gave me that and so much more. So … how about you? Do you want to play guitar? Here’s some tips I will give you on how to get going in the right direction:
- Get a cheap (affordable) guitar for yourself. MAKE SURE someone who is pretty good approves it. You have to know about tuning and warped necks etc. to be able to decide if a guitar will be playable or not. Even cheap is expensive if the thing won’t stay in tune.
- Buy a course book of some kind. I have taught through the MEL BAY course with students. It is a good one but focuses primarily on acoustic. There are so many methods to choose from, just choose one method and stick to it. Ultimately they all lead to the same chords and fingering. You could learn how to play the guitar online.
- Make a regular time to practice. If hiring a teacher at a given hour each week is what you need to be regular and be disciplined, then do it.
- Set goals for yourself: ie; I will be able to switch chords with finesse and ease by the end of the week. These small goals make a great guitar player in the end.
- Learn to tune or get a device that helps you tune. If your guitar is out of tune, you will be miserable trying to learn
Ok, there’s a little advice. I hope it encourages you to start playing guitar! There are many guitar learning methods. If you start to play guitar as a result of this post, or if you just recently started, I’d love to hear about it.
2 Comments
Great you carried on with this, Damien. Similar to you, the master for all the great American jazz musicians was the ear.
@harvey: Yeah, that’s how I learned but many time I wish I had traditional training! Thanks for the awesome link and comment.