Hi everyone. I'm considering learning guitar recently but dont know how. several years back I actually did try to learn but give up cos I found i could learn very little from the tuition center. I also tried to teach myself but it seemed inefficient and not systematic. Back then I was busy so I quit learning.
So can anyone share some experience how you learnt to play and give some suggestion? I'm not to be an expert I have work I cant afford the time and energy. I just want to play some melodies or riffs. Tons of thanks.

Get someone competent to teach you one-on-one, you know like a guitar teacher....that's what I did and now I'm pretty damn good on guitar. On the other hand if you're too cheap to pay for something like that and wanna learn all by yourself, the internet is your friend

First try to figure out how to play some really simple music like Smoke On The Water or Paranoid then work your way up from there

I'm not an expert either, but it is possible to teach yourself with a book, the Internet and sites like youtube and ultimate-guitar.com both for lessons and tabs and some common sense. I use two approaches at the same time, techniques/exercises and songs. If all you're doing is trying to learn scales and memorize stuff, you're going to be bored out of your mind before you learn anything. Practice everyday starting with some exercises and then play songs. Watch covers of your favorite songs on youtube, then check out the tabs, starting with easy songs of course. If you get to a point were you don't know where to go, get a lesson.

It would be best to get a teacher who can work with you one on one, but I taught myself just by reading books and looking online. Anything and everything related to guitar techniques and music theory can easily be found with a Google search. However I think you'll progress faster and have a better idea of what to work on if you get a teacher. After the first 6 months or so you'll progress much faster, so it's important to just stick with it.

Find a teacher who will start by showing you something simple, that you will like. That's what I had.

At first, I tried to learn theory and music reading, and I just got bored. But then I found a teacher at a local music store, and he had me put away the books and showed me a couple songs that were popular at the time, and easy to play. That's when it clicked for me, and I was hooked. I've been playing ever since.....30 years and counting.

Eventually I did go back and learn some theory, and even some music reading. But to me, you should try to connect with the instrument on a personal level first, and that's SONGS.

Just my opinion. Good luck!

I just started playing a few days ago (at only a few minutes a day though), what should I play/train at right during the beginning?

Right now I'm trying to play the first riff to Sleep - Dragonaut, which is:


The good part about it is that it's obvious where the fingers are supposed to be (you only use the index and ring finger): otherwise that's the main problem I've had when trying to play simple riffs. Mostly I have no idea which finger is supposed to go where, and what special things I might need to do with the rest of the fingers. Maybe there are some videos out there that shows in great detail how to play some simple riffs?

I learned almost entirely by myself. I'm still not the best guitarist around (only been playing for about 14 months) and I can't shred or sweep pick, but I can play some pretty speedy thrash songs at the level I'm at right now.

I had no help from anyone in person and used virtually nothing on youtube. The only 'external' help I had was looking at tabs online until I got to the point where I could play a song by ear. Tabs helped me understand how certain sounds are made (like a palm muted 3rd string, an alternation between muted and muted 6th string, etc), certain techniques to use (a 3-4-5 string power chord muting the 6th string with your index finger, string skipping, etc) and generally what the best way to play certain riffs are (switch strings as opposed to sliding, etc)

You could try doing what I did, but know that I was EXTREMELY driven to learning how to play so I needed no push. Also, I'm a drummer so rhythm, patterns, and strum speed in general haven't been a big problem for me.

Finger placement is somewhat intuitive, by looking where to go next you sort of decide which fingers to put where, so that you can easily continue playing the rest of the song. What do to with the other fingers- nothing really. In some cases you'll have to use fingers, even the active ones, to mute the upper strings while you're playing.

Pick a riff that you like, look a video on youtube, but search for lesson or cover of that song. Some folks are good about explaining things, or even just by looking at a cover you get a sense of what they doing and how.

Like I mentioned before, take a look at

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/

there's a beginners section on the left menu

Just keep at it. I'm 100% self taught and I've been playing for 7 years now, but I only play for personal enjoyment. I don't consider myself very good at all, but I can play most metal music pretty easily, except for difficult solos or songs from particularly technical bands. Most metal music isn't very hard on guitar (aside from the solos). I'm also a left hander playing a right handed guitar, so that may effect my learning speed, but honestly I'd never practice more than an hour per day, a few times per week. I just do it for enjoyment. It's fun learning songs via tab (or attempting to learn how to play by ear, which I've been practicing for many years and can do extremely well now), and then advancing to harder songs. Right now I'm working on Techkinox Wormhole from the new Wormed album. It's going to take me awhile...

The main thing is to not get discouraged and just keep practicing. I know it doesn't feel like it, but you will get better. You just need to keep playing. That being said, it's definitely helpful to find a good teacher in your area. Even if the teacher doesn't play metal music, guitar is guitar. You need to learn the basics before you can start developing your style. Try to find a good teacher who can keep you on track.

Sometimes all you need is just a little accountability to stay focused and work through the hard times. Really all you need is a couple months of good practice to start with. Then you should have the basics down enough to actually feel like you are playing music instead of fighting with your guitar.

You can also check out some Youtube vids as well. There are tons of metal songs that people break down, so you can learn them slowly. The main thing is just to practice and keep progressing every day. You'll get there.

After you get past a certain beginner phase, you won't have to worry about doing the exact right things at all times with your hands, fingers, etc. You will be able to play basic stuff confidently enough to focus on what your playing sounds like. Then you will be able to pinpoint things that don't sound right, and try to fix those things in your playing. You won't always figure out by yourself how to fix things, but then it's easier to ask for help, because you'll know what to ask (instead of being a total beginner, and asking "how do I do everything?"). Until you reach that phase in your skill, you should concentrate on being able to play simple riffs correctly, without worrying too much about whether your inactive left hand pinky is doing the right thing when switching between power chords from strings 5 and 6 to 4 and 5, or whatever.

So in short, just play a lot, listen to what your playing sounds like, and when you don't like something about the way it sounds, experiment, practice, and ask for specific help.

Electric guitar technique is not that strict. It's fine to use left hand index and pinky fingers for power chords. It's ok to have unorthodox techniques that help you play and feel the guitar better. When you've learned an inefficient technique for something, you can unlearn it just by practicing patiently.

I've just started learning guitar, too. It's been a month. Still struggling with ring finger and pinkie placement in general. It's a tough instrument to start playing for sure, and expect the skin to peel off your left hand fingers. Still thoroughly enjoying the process though. I do think motivation to practice is the most important element of getting better at guitar, but in my limited experience, a teacher is also important, because then they can correct your posture, hand position, etc. Knowing good habits for when practicing makes things much easier and less painful.

I started in 1987 with a cheap guitar and a VHS tape that taught me the basic chords. I don't play as much as I used to, but I used be a decent player. I always tell young players the keys are the basics. Eventually after playing for some time you should progress to a level that doesn't frustrate you anymore. With the age of internet it is so much easier. I wish I had it when I started. I would start off with the most basics. Search Youtube beginner guitar. Chords, tuning (if you don't know how to do that), strumming. The key though is you have to practice. Even if it's just a little a day, but you have to have a structured practice. Practice until you have the open C chord down. Then practice until you have the open G. Then practice switching between the two. It's exactly how I started and its how the video I had taught me. A lot of people get frustrated because they aren't playing lets say Metallica in a few days. Very rarely does that happen unless you are born a virtuosso. Even better is to take lessons if you have the means.

Two years ago I started learning to play the guitar. Firstly, I tried to teach myself, but I gave it up fast, because I wasn’t constant enough to get the result I wanted. I couldn’t do it systematically, because I’d always found something more important than playing the guitar. So I took guitar lessons twice a week and that gave me a big boost to the development.

Learn all the chords you can. Then learn bar chords. Then learn the pentatonic, major and minor scales. Pick your favorite songs that aren't too difficult and find some tabs. Then learn some Metallica rhythm riffs.

I started back in the early 90s, and at first I learnt a lot from combining the tablature in guitar magazines with figuring out simple riffs from bands I liked on my own. After I got access to the internet (through a friend) more tabs became available, though obviously for free now. Today I guess everyone has that option. Another resource is the tab/song books for albums, which tend to only be for more mainstream bands, but you can get them from eBay; getting something like Sabbath's Paranoid, Metallica's self-titled or Megadeth's Youthanasia (if you like them) would work as they have riffs easier to learn for beginners. I took guitar lessons for a while, but that approach wasn't for me--I just wanted to mess around on the guitar and jam, not actually learn the music/theory side of things.

Thread is old as fuck lol, but I figure I might share some of experience for any new guitarists coming into this thread. I used to play a ton of guitar during my teenage years up until like 21ish. I stopped playing for like 6 or so years until I borrowed my friend's Les Paul a week ago. Not back at the level where I'm playing spastic technical death metal, but I feel like I'm a "smarter" player than I was before.

A lot of important stuff in regards to learning guitar was mentioned earlier, so here's some things I wish I could tell my past self.

-Making theoretically correct riffs is cool, but knowing when and where to break the rules takes your riffs to the next level
-Don't worry too much about learning solos composed by other guitarists note for note. Rather, learn which licks and moments catch the listener's attention, practice them, and play the solo in your own unique way. Every lead guitarist has their own vibe/style, and you should too. The only people you're really impressing by playing a solo exactly as it sounds on the recording are a few dumb fucks on YouTube.
-Tighten your rhythm and play as part of the band. When playing along to a song or backing track, the main thing to ask yourself is, "am I making this song sound better?"

Bumping this old thread up because guitar is new to me too, relatively speaking. Anyways I recommend the game rocksmith, the pc version has a community that is constantly uploading new songs. There's tons of extreme metal available. Once I started playing along with songs I was totally familiar with and loved I started having a lot of progress and can now play whole songs. There's a lot of ways to adjust the difficulty too and make it as easy as you want. There's also a lot of basic guitar tutorials on there too. I definitely recommend it for new players teaching themselves. Btw first song I learned on there was Groza IV by Mgla but there's lots of nice slow doom and stoner songs on there that are easy for beginners.

I played some Rocksmith with my friend years ago, and it was a lot of fun, but we had some pretty terrible input lag. I think he, owning the game, had learned to play the songs quite correctly in spite of it, but I was struggling to get stuff right even though, by ear, it was obviously correct.

I know what you mean but after playing it so much I think it's more of an issue with the gameplay interface being implemented awkwardly. When I look at the screen and try to play it like a video game its hard to pinpoint the timing for notes but if I'm just looking at my guitar and playing along in my headphones I notice the game is pretty spot on if I'm playing decent enough. It's more of the game confusing the player to hit the notes a little too early or late than an actual input lag issue in my opinion

Honestly, just learn songs. Forget about meaningless exercises that lock you into a specific way of playing. Find a band or a genre that you enjoy and learn as many songs as possible. Start slowly and just have fun, but remain diligent.

Overtime you will develop confidence, and eventually you may be interested in writing your own riffs and tunes.

When I first started playing, I'd spend my nights playing Metallica's Kill em All and Megadeths Rude Awakening, until my fingers were sore little nubs.