Who plays music?

[BengalsRocker]

(09-27-2020, 11:35 PM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: It's funny you say this.  I started off with everyone telling me that you HAVE to learn acoustic first.  And then I got my first guitar, and it was a 3/4 size acoustic with the action higher than I've ever seen in my life on another guitar.  And I was told you HAVE to play with higher gauge strings to get the best tone.  But I got that guitar and was so committed, and practiced 1-3 hours every day for a year until I bought my first electric.  And you know, it sucked.  My fingers were in excruciating pain for a couple of weeks, it was hard.  There were days I didn't want to practice, or wanted to throw my guitar against the wall and quit.  But I learned open chords, bar chords, and so much else on that guitar.  And when I got the electric it was like playing the easiest thing in the world.  But that's a terrible way to learn, and I'd never recommend that approach to anyone.  At least anyone I liked and wanted to be successful at learning...   

My philosophy for anyone now wanting to learn is get a guitar that makes you smile (acoustic or electric) and want to pick it up.  Keep it accessible so you can grab it and practice for a few minutes here and there.  Play around and try to learn some things by ear.  Make it fun, make it comfortable.  Bar chords are cake on an electric.  It becomes more of the mechanics and muscle memory than anything.  Or learn on an acoustic and discover the power of dynamics (playing loud vs soft / responsiveness) and the fun of strumming along to songs (or singing while you play).    

One thing I wish I spent more time on when I was starting was theory.  Learning triads, understanding not just scale shapes but what it actually meant.  Learning modes.  It's so easy to learn the first position of the minor pentatonic and think you've got it all hacked only to get trapped in the box.  But then again, I get a little obsessive about my hobbies sometimes and it gets beyond just having fun and wanting to really crack it.  

So I'll go back to my last advice; get a guitar that makes you want to play it and just get rolling :) 

One of the things that accelerated my playing was this.  Playing guitar when watching TV.  It gets your muscle memory going.  Even if just switching basic chords and not actually playing a song.  Before you know it those chords will come and you will barely have to think about the placement of your fingers.

If you stare at the neck and remain too super-focused, it'll form a bad habit and make you frustrated down the road to break.

Learn a few chords.  Watch TV.  Try switching shapes without looking, or just glancing.  You'll start to understand muscle memory is happening. It'll build your confidence.  You can make those chord changes with barely thinking about it in time because you've loosened your thoughts with broadening your focus.

Now don't get me wrong here.   You'll focus to learn each chord.  Then put them into this process and in your chord switching rotation.

If you do what I mentioned above, playing/learning guitar won't be just a chore to do when you have time.  

It will be something you work on while watching a show. It becomes more of a natural habit before you know it.