When people ask me whether it’s possible to teach yourself the guitar, my reply depends on the mood I’m in. You see, I am a self-taught guitarist, so my honest answer is always yes, since I taught myself the guitar without any instructors guiding me. However, back when I was learning, teaching yourself the guitar wasn’t as simple as it is today. I learned from guitar books and from video recorder tapes, and it took way too long, as the information available wasn’t as abundant as it is today in the world of the Internet.
Nowadays, if you decide you want to learn the guitar (or anything else for that matter), what do you do? Google it! You’ll find an overwhelming amount of information, articles, videos, learn guitar products and guitar lessons for beginners. In fact, you’ll find so much, it will become burdening, as you’ll end up jumping from one place to another without sticking with one program consistently.
Don’t forget that when you start looking for the right tutorials, it’s advisable to stick to a single lesson plan once you start. Make sure you choose your site carefully, otherwise you’ll end up restarting at another guitar lesson site. Beware those websites, that promise to teach you the guitar in an absurdly short amount of time. There are many online beginner guitar lesson sites promising this, and even more ridiculous things, so know that when you see a promise of mastering the guitar in 1 day, you’re probably up against a fraud. Teaching yourself the guitar takes time, as with all things worthwhile in life, but the payoff is huge.
There will be ups and downs, but if you keep at it, you’ll get better and better. One great way to keep yourself motivated is to learn beginner guitar songs at an early stage already. Playing songs is much more exciting than practicing simple exercises, since you’ll be playing songs you’ve known for years.
For example, have a look at how I’ve been teaching beginners for many years:
1. Teach my students the most fundamental guitar techniques
2. Refine and advance the basic techniques by using the while learning beginner guitar songs
3. Learn chords and tablature
4. Again, don’t just play chords randomly, practice them by playing songs
5. Learn more techniques
6. Practice these techniques by playing more songs
In short, I’ve found that rigorous practice routines kill all motivation a beginner guitar pupil has. However, practicing any given technique in the context of a song, a song that is popular and will cause the student joy when playing, will motive the student to practice the technique. And as we know, practice something enough, and you’ll be able to do it soon, guaranteed. This method of learning the guitar works, no question about it.
Teaching yourself to play the guitar online is very possible nowadays, there’s no doubt about it. Make sure you find a site that offers a structured method of learning, and you’ll be off to a good start already.
TheGuitarLesson.com provides high quality video online beginner guitar lessons, including beginner guitar songs you can start playing quickly.
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