For me it has been a real battle. I have only played since March 09 and I have improved steadily. I've learned about 40 different songs now, continued to learn new chords and currently working on Barre chords and I am making good progress towards playing the blues. But it has been very difficult for me I have to admit. I was never a musically inclined person at all and played the drums for about a year when I was a kid before quitting. I had always wanted to play guitar for as long as I could remember. Last March I finally picked up a cheap Yamaha acoustic and started playing mostly because I was going through a really rough time and it gave me some outlet to get all the stress out (although it did create more at times!). I began with a chord chart on the wall and learned to play chords from there, practicing them every night for about 2 months. Then I started trying to learn songs and was able to pick up some tricks along the way. I recently took my first 2 lessons with a professional musician in my area and he has helped me out a lot and given me lots of practice material and tips. My worst habit was picking only going down so I have worked on and corrected that. Right now I am primarily working on the blues, soloing, improvising, etc...but also working on my youtube page and attempting to add a good version of every song I know how to play so that I can get a record of my current status and use it to track progress going forward. So to answer the topic question: It has been very difficult for me to make it to the point I am at, which is still the level of beginner.

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

hard

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Current Gear: Ron Kirn Barnbuster Tele,
Marshall: 1971 SuperLead 100>1997 1960-TV, bunch of pedals
and a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe named Veronica

Hasn't been easy for me at all. Everyone in my family plays the guitar and at least 1 other instrument professionally. They pick up a guitar and it is like their DNA tells them what to do with it. My brother and I both started at the same time but within a few weeks he was playing songs and I was still just making noise even though I practiced twice as much. After about 40 years I'm still working on it but the gene seems to have skipped me and I don't sound any better than most with less than 10 years of playing. Family get-togethers always turn into a jam session but I find a reason not to join in - too embarrassing!

So I'll never be asked to play in a band - I can handle that. I play for fun around the house or bring an acoustic to play around the campfire. Suits me fine. Hopefully one of my kids picked up the gene I seemed to have missed. Easy - not for me. Fun - definately!

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Stagemaster
Roadhouse Strat
Epi Traditional Pro Les Paul
Ovation Celeb
Esteban Celestial Night(nicely tweeked)
Blackheart tube amp

Chords came very easy for me from when my sister first showed me a G- Em- C- D progression and I realized I could play a ton of doo wop songs from the 50s. I spent years on an acoustic and took 3 formal lessons in my life from an 80 yer old teacher who had me playing Oh Susana and The Big Rock Candy Mountain from a book at 11. I wanted to play the Stones or Beatles but he never even heard of them and I have been self taught my whole life.

I have tremendous patience and a good ear so that was a big plus. Learning lead came much later on but I really had no one teaching me and became a damn good lead player on my own. My son who just turned twelve can play 3 string arpeggio's, tap,string skip and alternate pick. Now I have to admit he has God given ability and does not even take it serious yet but he is gifted. It is nice I guess to have someone show you what you want lol, but things did not come easy to me like they do him and I had to bust my butt. It is the best feeling watching him go though.

Think back to when you were just learning guitar. How hard was it for you?

It was brutally hard. But it was also the most fun I'd ever had, and it beat the heck out of flute.

Did you pick it up easily, or did you get frustrated? If frustration got the better of you, what did you do to overcome it?

I didn't learn how to play chords fast enough to make a coherent song until two years after I got my guitar. My Mom played some folk in the 60's and 70's, and she could nail "Three Blind Mice" on the first try. I couldn't, and I got very frustrated. But I never really practiced hard enough to actually get better until I was 13. I started teaching myself chords and lead and I just couldn't put the guitar down.

Did you "give up" at any point and if so, what brought you back?

When I was 11 and I had just gotten my guitar, I got guitar lessons. I told the teacher I wanted to learn to play riffs and lead like in 90's rock, but she started me off on open chords and Elvis. I hated chords, and I still dislike Elvis. I never went anywhere with those lessons, and I quit after a few weeks. When I was 13 it finally occurred to me to teach myself, and learn what I wanted to learn.

How long did it take for you to feel "comfortable" playing?

A year ago I didn't know a single song all the way through, I just knew an assortment of intros, solos and rhythm parts to different songs. Six months ago I knew two songs. But then I started attending open mic blues jams and making an effort to learn entire songs both blues and otherwise. I still don't feel 100% comfortable, but I can keep up well enough.

Was there a certain point where you had an "aha" moment, or was the ride simply a long and gradual one?

There were probably several "aha" moments, but the one that sticks out the most was what I going through my head the first time I saw SRV (on TV, I'm a 90's baby). I was thinking wow, I never thought it was possible to get that good on guitar! And at the time I really hated blues, so it was a miracle for me to think that. It made me realize I still had a long, long way to go and million more things to learn. And I knew I was going to have to work my butt off just learning something as seemingly simple as bending a note to the correct pitch.

Since then I've been practicing like a maniac, at first just because I wanted to be able to play SRV songs and now because I've found so much more in addition to that. I'm going to be busy for a long time.

Did you take lessons? How long? Or, were you self taught?

Self taught from 13-14, lessons since then. I have a really good guitar teacher and I would probably still be playing Green Day without him. He's opened me up to a lot of different styles I would never consider liking, much less playing back when I was 13. And it's amazing how much quicker and easier it is to learn with someone helping you along.

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Website: http://www.rebeccalaird.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccalairdmusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beckslaird
Instagram: http://instagram.com/beckslaird

I started around 12 or 13, I don't remember exactly which. A lot of my friends were taking lessons and a music store opened up right near my house. I remember going there and staring at the guitars. The shop was tiny, but it seemed like the guy had 100 guitars to my young eyes. I though guitarists were the coolest so that was the instrument for me. My dad bought me a Cort guitar that looked kind of like a PRS double cut. It was black with some gold stripes up the middle. I remember the music store guy setting up the intonation on his counter and making a really big deal of how important that service was to the customer. It looked like rocket science to me at the time.

My guitar teacher was a local guy who gave lessons out of his basement. He was a great player in his own right and made his entire living from music, either teaching or gigging. He also played wedding bands and parties. He was also a genuinely nice, patient and cool guy. He drank from a giant coffee cup and chain smoked through the lessons and I think he was charging $12 an hour which was a bargain.

He started out with the basics and tried to teach reading music. I was a lazy kid and didn't have a great attention span. But I have a pretty good ear and was able to fake it. I NEVER practiced because shoo fly was extremely boring for me. I also got very discouraged not to achieve instant success. I picked up chords relatively easy, but everything else was all but impossible. I was also a real joker and always screwed with this guy, looking back I don't know how he didn't kill me. He remarked more than a few times that with everyone else it was lessons, but with me it was babysitting. I would pick up a loose string off the floor and hit him on the shoulder with it to make him think a bug was landing on him, or I would "adjust" his cigarette lighter so that an 18 inch flame would come out and he would almost burn his face off (happened to him on a date once). Most of my friends progressed much farther much faster than me. But through it all I took the lessons on and off until I was about 19. I also became pretty good friends with my teacher and started going to his gigs and would help him set up and clean up after the set. I would catch other acts with him from time to time. By this time I had pretty much given up on playing and he always told me it was kind of a shame because I put about zero work in and had the ability to play with a little feeling which he said can't be taught.

Over the years I would always have a guitar or two and I would noodle around on it. I also saved a lot of the lessons he gave me. He wrote in tab for me and I also was able to tape a lot of the lessons on cassette. For some reason I had a hard time with pentatonic scales when he tried to teach them to me, but when I returned to playing it became much easier and my learning style had matured somewhat.

I still never put much of my time into playing until about 3 years ago. I was going through a divorce and when I separated I bought another guitar and amp. I moved in with a buddy and he only had room for me on his couch and I didn't have much to do so I started playing every day. It's hard to have much of a social life being 37 and living on a guy's couch

Last year I bought an amp with backing tracks built in and the combination of playing along to actual tracks and playing every day has paid off. I does not hurt that I also got a few quality guitars in the process. I'm still don't feel confident enough to gig, but I wasn't too embarrassed to put a vid or two on youtube. I also have been able to jam with friends without totally embarrassing myself. I think if I could get with the right bunch of guys I could hit a local bar or two for a gig in the future. I'm thinking of hitting an open mike one of these nights, they do one on Wednesdays at a bar that I used hang around a lot when I was a kid.

My guitar teacher died a couple of years ago, way too young at 52. I wish he was still around because my playing has progressed more in the past 2 years than in the 20 previous years. It would be fun to jam with him now that I have a little confidence. I think of him a LOT when I'm playing and that is pretty cool. I have a ton of great memories of the guy and even though it is cliche, I really never heard anyone say a bad word about him.

Hope I didn't totally put you to sleep with my boring ramblings.

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I found learning to play guitar very hard. I'm a visual learner and it took me years to learn how to use my ears.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

Wow! These are awesome posts, guys - thanks so much for sharing! I LOVE hearing these war stories about how you got started and the difficulties you overcame. It's really motivating for a beginner to hear first-hand that it's not a situation of "either you got it or you don't" and that patience and determination will pay off. And yeah, I know that the learning never-ever stops - that's just life. (EVH is probably practicing something he wants/needs to improve right now!)

There's so many of you I can relate to (including living on a buddy's couch, lol), and I'd like to respond to each and everyone of you but that would take me forever (I write so dang slow), so I'll do a few at a time in no particular order.


Not boring in the least! I appreciate you sharing that. In fact, while reading I was thinking that since your teacher was such a big part of your life, you should write a song about him. What better way to honor such an important mentor and friend. A real shame that he died at such a young age (my age actually).


That's where I am right now. I know bits and pieces and on a good day can sound decent at them, but other than a crude version of Jingle Bells (hey, you gotta start somewhere!), I can't say I can play a complete song. BlackCatBone is my hero since he can play 40 songs after only 9 months (impressive dude)! But the small successes do keep me motivated. I just learned the 12 bar blues in a little shuffle pattern using power chords. Baby steps ...

I've wanted to mention this for a while - I was still lurking at the time when you were going through GC's King-O-Blues contest so I know you have lots of talent with TONS of potential. I know you've heard this before, but what's also impressive about you is your maturity level. Whether you realize it or not, this will take you very, very far in life. You're an extremely wise young lady! Geesh - where were you when I was 17!

(Well, except for your dislike of Elvis. When I was 11 (1968-ish), I wanted to BE Elvis - lol!)

Thanks again, everyone! and keep 'em coming!

-phil

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Then again, what do I know ... I've only been playin' for 6 months ... !

started at 5yo when you start playing at that age confidence is in you, as I got older and met musicians that practiced more than I did and sounded better playing lead I would step up to the mic and get the attention back. Guitar players who sing have an advantage. I play bass now my voice has changed so more back up vocals instead of lead vocals.
to sum up:
teach your children music early because it does help
practice singing, then you will play what you sing and vice versa
lessons are a big help because you can get through the hard parts with help

I hope that, being a Fender Forum member, you will have fun playing guitar and learn/write all of the songs that you want to.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I first picked up a guitar - a battered nylon strung accoustic - when I was 12. I had a book in front of me called 500 chord shapes and I went straight for the C chord almost forcing my fingers into place and all of a sudden it rang out and that was it guitar mad from then on.
I didn't ever get frustrated at learning but more frustrated trying to find something new to learn. I never gave up but over the past 15yrs I have not touched my guitars untill now. I have 2 accoustics 6 and 12 strings and 2 electrics that are Fender copies strat and tele that I built myself.
Last year my step daughter became interested in guitar playing and I fixed her up with a strat copy and a good 40watt amp. That was the moment it all came back. I was that rusty that I could hardly play anything or even tune the guitar.
I live just 200yards away from a local music shop that happens to be a fender dealer and nowadays I can afford a Fender mex Strat so I've ordered the midnight wine and it's coming next monday.
I have started learning again with greater enthusiasm than ever before. There are so many songs and sounds that I can't yet play and want to learn em all.
I feel that there are 3 stages to learning a piece of music:
First, you learn all the ins and outs of the song so that its in your mind.
Second, you can now practise and practise the whole piece checking for any mistakes untill you can play it on anything.
Third, you play and improvise on the piece at this point its coming out your mind through your body and soul and thats the aha moment.

Hardest thing for me (still and probably always) is finding enough time to get away and be left alone with my music.

Next up is going slow enough when practicing.
It is better to go at maybe 40bpm (you do use a metronome ?) and get a passage perfect many many times in a row before trying to speed up. If what you are practicing includes mistakes, and you repeat the mistakes over and over your muscles build memory remembering the mistakes. Then it becomes really hard to get rid of the errors.
The natural tendency for some reason is to want to go faster before you are ready

Just a couple of my findings over the years..

Let me add a bit
Before picking up the guitar early on I started off with a synth and got interested in music theory. I think that helped me a lot.
So does being able to read notation, though I know many people differ on the need to know theory and read music for playing guitar.

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Keep on Truckin, Going full speed ahead down the highway to hades.

A good portion of the songs I know (and even songs I didn't know I knew until I played them) involve 12 bar patterns. If you've got that down then there are literally hundreds of songs you can play all the way through.



Thank you!



I just like Buddy Holly better.



+1
It seems like you tend to forget half of what you know when you're on stage because of nerves, so it's good to really nail things into your head as best you can to avoid a train wreck. By the way, welcome to the boards!

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Website: http://www.rebeccalaird.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccalairdmusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beckslaird
Instagram: http://instagram.com/beckslaird

Its a journey with no destination!

When you first start, changing smoothly between two chords is an achievement, as is co-ordinating picking and fretting of single notes. The first pentatonic and 12 bar are great moments. Don't underestimate what you've achieved.

Now I feel the same 25 yrs on when I nail a tricky solo passage, or learn a new chord.

It brought it all back recently teaching a novice friend the basics of sitting right, getting hands in the right position, and then watching him begin to get the hang of the intro to Daytripper.

My point?

It never gets any easier, but the goals move. Hang on to the sense of achievement at every little stage, and just enjoy- its supposed to be fun!

Why does everybody think a Piece of Cake is easy? Baking a good cake takes a lot of Patients, Practice and no small amount of Talent.

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"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training

I started playng when I was 14 back in '94. I had allways hassled dad to buy me a guitar because I wanted to learn how to play.

My Mum was diagnosed with cancer, and Dad being Dad, bought me my first guitar. I never thought much of it, but I guess he knew that it would be good for me while my mum was in and out of hospital. I was taught Guns 'n Roses 'Paitence' as my first song and I dived straight into it. The guitar was hard to play and I found that a frustration in itself. The rest- I was self taught by listening to songs on radio and cassette, also buying Guitar Magazine and reading the little exercises in the lessons section by Kirk Hammett.

Because at a vulnerable age, I found that emotionally I found shelter in playing as it was my escape from the lonliness I felt as I hardly saw mum, and my step father started work really early and got home very late at night. I could have really gone off the rails, but I vented through the guitar, if you will- I went through a stage where I was practicing 4-5hours a day. I became good real quick and Dad bought me a secondhand Vester stage series strat copy. It was a good guitar but it was beat up like anything you ever saw.

I had that for 10months, then I got a Fender Floyd Rose MIM Strat for my birthday and I played it and I played it as much as I could- that was my first fender.

I have played on and off for years now. My Father has since passed, and I am ever gratefull to him for buying me my first guitar. I would not be the person I am today without it as it helped me through a very dark period. Funny though- if it werent for Fender inventing the strat, who knows what I would be like today...

I allways made sure that what I was learning was challenging me, but within my grasp. The next thing I learnt was allways a little harder than the last song or scale/chord I learnt last week

One thing is scales are your friend. learn as much as you can. You are lucky you have youtube, and podcasts to learn from, some of us didnt have the internet, cellphones or anything that exists today.

I had my doubts and fustrations, but honestly man- be like Nike and "Just Do It." Im still learning today like anyone else is, the guitar is an ever-lasting journey

Oh and another thing.. Improvise on those scale patterns. Keep doing it- that is how you can show off in front of your friends when you get real good at them. When they comment on how cool it was, just say "Meh.. that was just a little sumthing sumthing ive been working on... it's nothing" Ive done that many times, it has raised many a girls eyebrow lol

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