General Anyone play guitar?

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kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
6,910
9,607
I have always wanted to learn. I have had many different guitars over the years and would just strum the basic smoke on the water. Never really got past that. At the age of 54 I really want to learn. Been looking at Justins Guitar online training. Is it worth doing or just say fuck it and take private lessons.

 

Papi Chingon

Domesticated Hombre
Oct 19, 2015
27,379
34,261
I have always wanted to learn. I have had many different guitars over the years and would just strum the basic smoke on the water. Never really got past that. At the age of 54 I really want to learn. Been looking at Justins Guitar online training. Is it worth doing or just say fuck it and take private lessons.

You may want to look in to tablature if you want to teach yourself. Easiest way if you can't read music.
 

HARLEM

Double-hard bastard
Feb 25, 2015
373
774
Honestly, teaching yourself isn’t that bad, if you have actual talent and an ear. But private lessons at this age will help because your learning curve will be slower.
 

kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
6,910
9,607
Honestly, teaching yourself isn’t that bad, if you have actual talent and an ear. But private lessons at this age will help because your learning curve will be slower.
My biggest issue has always been my catcher mitts for hands, so I bought a couple of big lou guitars.

I have been watching Rachels videos and she has made awesome progress over the years, she started with Justin


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2y9ldlgYNQ



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7weUewN9flI
 

MountainMedic

Rock Kicker
Sep 28, 2017
2,431
5,033
I have always wanted to learn. I have had many different guitars over the years and would just strum the basic smoke on the water. Never really got past that. At the age of 54 I really want to learn. Been looking at Justins Guitar online training. Is it worth doing or just say fuck it and take private lessons.

Privates from someone that understands the kind of music you want to play. Paying for their time is pretty motivating lol.

Before that though-
Learn all the basic cowboy chords.
When my dad got me my first guitar he taught me E, A, D, G, C, F, B and said "when you can play all those and transition, in any order, come back and I'll teach you a couple songs". He called it being able to jump around cleanly.
And some basic scales. You can find all that on the internet.

Hour a day, consistent, makes a huge difference.

Do it before the arthritis gives you claws....
 

HARLEM

Double-hard bastard
Feb 25, 2015
373
774
My biggest recommendation is to always find a way to play with people once you have the basic skills. Live play should always be a part of your regular activities. If you can’t find a way to do that, at least play to a time click/metronome.
 

Enock-O-Lypse Now!

Underneath Denver International Airport
Jun 19, 2016
12,227
20,283
This guy is solid.

 

CasketCaseZombie

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2024
284
450
Oh yeah... don't get hung up on "practice". It's just time doing something different with your brain, it doesn't have to be more complicated than that.
Sit around at night watching TV or whatever and just play around on the guitar. Playing chord changes and stuff while watching TV is a good way to learn to do it without really having to think about it. The more you do it the better you’ll get at it.
 

MountainMedic

Rock Kicker
Sep 28, 2017
2,431
5,033
Sit around at night watching TV or whatever
When I had knee surgery in 92 I didn't have much to do all day for a while.
Andy Griffith Show was on 4x during the day and again 4x at night on one of the 5 channels we had.
I learned every Dillard's/Darlins song that aired. I'd just be lurking until the next time they were on, lol. Guitar, pen & paper ready!
The vicodin helped, but you catch my drift.
 

Hauler

Been fallin so long it's like gravitys gone
Feb 3, 2016
47,558
59,450
Been playing most of my life. I'm not a seasoned player by any stretch of the imagination, and mainly just play acoustic anymore. I've never "played out" at bars or anything, but I can keep a campfire entertained for an entire night and that's good enough for me.

I never took lessons.
I taught myself the open chords (E, A, C, D, G), then started tinkering around with tab. I can't read music for shit, but - for the most part - I can read a tablature just as quick as someone who can read music.

It takes effort and you are going to SUCK for a long time. But at some point you'll put together a string of notes that sounds awesome and you'll be like "Holy shit! I got it!"

I've watched a few online classes and some of those guys do a pretty good job. Personally, I'd go that route rather than personal lessons. It's free. If you start to make decent progress - like you can strum the open chords in any order without looking at the fretboard - then maybe get a personal lesson if you feel like you hit a wall with your progress.
 

Hauler

Been fallin so long it's like gravitys gone
Feb 3, 2016
47,558
59,450
Sit around at night watching TV or whatever and just play around on the guitar. Playing chord changes and stuff while watching TV is a good way to learn to do it without really having to think about it. The more you do it the better you’ll get at it.
I used to try to figure out commercial melodies while I was watching TV. Or try to figure out the theme songs to shows. It's a good way to train your ear.

Actually I just did that the other day with the Joe Rogan podcast theme music.
 

Tom_Cody

Active Member
Aug 13, 2024
32
46
I've not done Justin's full courses or lesson plans that he offers nowadays, however I have used many of his song lessons in the past to see how to play a particular section of a given tune that I was struggling to dissect on my own/tabs I found don't sound right. (This was before YouTube started fucking him over via copyright bullshit).

His instruction is on point and he breaks down songs and techniques quite effectively, in my opinion. The only gripe I had, and in all fairness it's 100% a 'me' problem, dude is too happy and I find it disconcerting.

A few posts above,you mentioned struggling with chord changes/fretwork due to the size of your hands. To address that in particular, start doing a chromatic warm-up with a metronome for finger dexterity:

Starting at the 1st fret on Low E to the 4th, then ascend to the A string & repeat that pattern, and so on til you hit the 4th fret of high E.

Once you hit the 4th fret, shift up one position, and descend playing 5432, until you're back at 2nd fret lowE.

Iterate that pattern all the way up and down the fretboard, first playing to the beat of the metronome. Then do it again with 1/8th notes, then 16th, etc

As you build your library of techniques you can use the same pattern to practice them.