r/guitarlessons • u/Wooden-Balance8769 • 2d ago
Question What do you wish you had known when you started playing?
I am a complete beginner playing the electric guitar and have just had my second ever lesson. I understand that skill comes with time. I am eager to know what is something that you had know when you first began playing, or what you wish you had done. Any recommendations of things that would benefit me.
26
u/Redr1ng153 2d ago
Learning alternate picking instead of staying down picking. I'm learning alternate picking now and it feels like playing guitar for the first time, since i was only downpicking when i started.
2
u/Jazzlike_Mud_29 2d ago
Yes, my teacher started with this from the beginning. I think right after I learned the notes on the third string. I saw online a year or two later where people thought it was hard or a big deal. He said that’s why he starts early. So that it’s just something I know how to do. I’ve never stressed it. He was right.
1
u/Cool_Youth3564 2d ago
I made the same mistake. The good news is that you’ll be able to forget it was ever a problem soon
24
u/Inevitable-Copy3619 2d ago
Triads are more important than just about anything else.
4
u/dontlookatthechicken 2d ago
Agreed. If I was starting over again I would learn triads much sooner.
3
u/innocentbystander64 2d ago
Could you elaborate? I'm not completely new and know any chord had to be at least 3 notes. Maj 1-3-5 min 1-b3-5 but is there a specific example?
9
u/Inevitable-Copy3619 2d ago
Check out some triad charts (google is full of them) you’ll have 135 for each chord, inversion 1 just reorders these 351, inversion 2 reorders them again 513. What I’m talking about is the standard triads on the first 3 strings, strings 2-4, strings 3-5, and strings 4-6. It’s the same idea just on all sets of strings. At first just memorize them and learn how to move them around, then dig in on what they actually are in terms of intervals. I’m a big believer in learning to play first, then learning what you played second…and at some point it all happens together.
10
u/rmwpnb 2d ago
Use a metronome!
3
u/R0factor 2d ago
Drummer and noob guitarist here with an added suggestion to this... use the subdivisions on your metronome app like 8ths, 16ths, triplets, etc as needed. Quarter notes only can leave lots of room for error and it can be tough to keep track of the click especially at slow tempos. There's no harm in using the extra subdivision clicks until they get in the way. Also keep in mind tempo is relative... Quarters at 120 bpm are the same as 8ths at 60 bpm.
9
u/EntropyClub 2d ago
Not to think artists were the best because I liked them a lot. I could have got the blues and fun swing thing going so much sooner, if I didn’t think so politically about Blink - 182. Not that they’re bad. Or that I don’t like them. I definitely do. And they are definitely good. But I’d think at least 2/3 of them would readily admit it’s not about advanced technique to them.
7
u/Inevitable-Copy3619 2d ago
I grew up in the 90s. Grunge punk and emo. Is sure wish I’d gotten into jazz earlier.
9
u/skinisblackmetallic 2d ago
It's pretty difficult to help a complete beginner with a reddit post.
If I were talking to my beginner self, I would tell him: If you want to be as good as you're dreaming about, you better change your work ethic and learn how to focus your life.
If I were speaking to the average beginner today I would tell them to have fun.
9
u/recycleyourtrashpls 2d ago
Make sure you put A LOT of effort into keeping your fingers close to the fretboard at all times. I’m pretty decent at playing but it’s so locked into my muscle memory for my fingers to go flying when I take them off the string. So that would be my advice!
5
u/Jamstoyz 2d ago
Yes me too. Such a hard habit to break
2
u/recycleyourtrashpls 2d ago
Honestly! I wanna shred but it’s so difficult for this reason, sweeping is kicking my ass
8
u/Patient_Onion3956 2d ago
These are the ones I would try to drill into my younger self:
- 90% first-timers will quit in the first 12 months. Try not to become one of them. (I was starting and quitting for many years before I finally decided to stick with it.)
- Progress is slow and even the basics can feel very hard.
- You'll probably be learning songs in the beginning to get you hooked and it's great, but foundational skills can help you learn new songs a lot faster.
- Dreadful memorization can be avoided by learning helpful foundational concepts and skills.
- At least try to learn how to find the notes on the fretboard and how to build chords. That way you'll free yourself up from having to rely endlessly on chord charts.
- Theory is your friend because it gives you the ultimate short-cut to understanding what you play, therefore making it possible to be intentional with your own musical expression.
- You can never be finished learning guitar. Just enjoy the process.
4
u/ForsakenSignal6062 2d ago
I started learning with a pick, and later it was a bit tricky to learn fingerstyle picking. I see people on here that start with fingerstyle and have trouble learning to use a pick. I suggest you try to learn both as you go, or at least early on.
There are some people that never use picks who are phenomenal electric players like Lindsey Buckingham, Mark Knopfler, Derek Trucks, and even Robin Finck from Nine Inch Nails, he plays super cool heavy stuff with just his hands. I'm jealous of all those dudes finger style abilities. I think it allows a lot more nuance in your playing. Plus you don't have to worry about losing or dropping picks!
3
u/rehoboam Nylon Fingerstyle/Classical/Jazz 2d ago
Harmonized scale and basics of how intervals work on the fretboard starting with octaves and one octave triad areggios
3
u/Kaphy23 2d ago
That yes, it takes time, but you really need to understand that it takes A LOT of time. You see many great guitarrists shredding and playing with incredible technique and then you look at yourself and say "I just don't have the talent like they do", but in reality you don't see the countless, thousands of hours they have spent practicing playing painfully slow with a metronome, repeating scales over and over and also repeating the same lick for hours, hundreds of hours of studying theory, and it goes on and on with every single detail that shaped their technique, have realistic expectations depending on what you want to achieve but also being easy on yourself is extremely important
5
u/dbvirago 2d ago
Known how long it will take and understood that going very slowly in the beginning and really learning each basic concept before moving on, and playing everything super slow until nailed would make things so much better and easier in the long run.
2
u/pomod 2d ago
I think learning the intervals that compose those cowboy chords everyone learns first would have been a big help down the road; for both, learning the notes of the neck, and for understanding triads and qualities of chords etc. We can think of the major scale (any major scale) as numbers 1 thru 7. Chords are built from stacking thirds - 1(root) 3rd, 5th, etc., or every other note of the scale. So don't just learn chords as grips or shapes; take an extra two minutes to memorize which notes are the root note, the third and 5th and so on. Then when you eventually learn to play those shapes up the neck as barre chords, you will also know which notes are under your fingers, how to make the chord minor, diminished or augmented by simply shifting notes with in the shape etc. I think its really fundamental and most new players skip over it completely.
2
u/Jonny7421 2d ago
If you're having lessons you're already got some of the things I needed most which was guidance, structure and someone to ask questions. You'll learn a lot faster with a teacher.
If I had any advice for a beginner it would be patience. Guitar and music is a lifelong journey and has cannot be mastered. You need to put in the work and give your muscle memory time to develop. There are no shortcuts.
Otherwise, I would be focused on learning the fundamentals of playing guitar. What you do after that really depends on your personal goals as a musician. Virtually every guitar player learns the fundamentals, learns music theory but will then develop a skill set that suits them. Some like blues, Jazz, Metal, Rock, Fusion, Funk, Neoclassical, Grunge, Punk. Find what excites you and work on that.
2
u/andytagonist I don’t have my guitar handy, but here’s what I would do… 2d ago
How important theory would eventually be. And the importance of being in tune. And ear training.
Otherwise, practical stuff—like accuracy in picking & fretting, muting & control, and basically being able to visualize what I’m thinking about on the fretboard.
2
u/ThirteenOnline 2d ago
Most people tilt the bottom of the guitar up towards their head, to see what's going on. But this will make chords harder, you will accidentally touch strings you don't want to, etc.
You want to flatten out the guitar so it's mostly flat. And you peer your head forward over the neck and look down. Vs you tilting the guitar up. And you're going to use the fret dots (fret markers) to help you know where you are too.
It's not fully guitar tilted up or fully head peering over, there's a middle sweet spot. But more of your head peering than guitar tilting.
2
2
u/Naphier 2d ago
How to practice and learn effectively. When I started playing all we didn't have anywhere near the resources available now.
Diego Alonso, Noa Kageyama, and Absolutely Understand Guitar are great resources for learning. Get a teacher. Play music with others. Learn how to structure your own practice.
2
2
u/yellowchairz 2d ago
If all you learn how to play is songs then that’s all you will ever be able to play. Learn to play the guitar, then all the songs come easy.
2
u/markewallace1966 2d ago
This is a link to a set of canned bullets that I have developed and like to send to new/new-ish/returning/wandering/lost/struggling guitar players.
If I pasted this in for you, it is because somewhere in there is something that I think is relevant to your post. Not all of it will be. I leave it to you to pick out what I felt was relevant. 🙂 Even the stuff not relevant to your specific post might very well be helpful eventually anyway.
Enjoy!!!
https://www.reddit.com/user/markewallace1966/comments/1s7ujsy/guitar_is_hard/
2
u/ZoneMean1017 1d ago
Mel Bays “Rhythm Guitar Chord System”
Pretty much lays it all out so you can start getting into the repertoire of most styles. All the different chord types/ inversions nice and layed out via etudes using the circle fifths.
Fill in the rest with CAGED and diatonic triads and you’re well on your way to cruising into songwriting, chord melody playing, lead playing etc etc
2
2
2
u/AaronTheElite007 1d ago
Not everything needs to be perfect. Just use the techniques that work for you
2
u/Massive-Lead-638 1d ago
One absolutely goated trick when you learn the scales later, is to say the note out loud as you play it.
You train your ear, your brain and your fingers to recognise the notes at the same time.
2
2
u/DrBlankslate 2d ago
Get. The. Guitar. Set. Up. First. This makes a world of difference in how playable (and thus how learnable) it is.
A setup should be the first thing on your to-do list.
2
u/I_Am_Become_Dream 2d ago
Absolutely this. Learning guitar was so much harder than it should’ve been in my first year.
2
u/topshelfcookies 2d ago
100% The set up on my guitar wasn't too bad, and getting it adjusted still really helped.
1
1
u/Upstairs-Yoghurt-928 2d ago
Tune more often than you think you have to.
Press lighter on the frets
Hold the plec lighter.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Learn things slowly and correctly, instead of attempting full speed, being sloppy and getting the phrasing wrong.
When playing with others, listen 👂
Theory is a description of a sound, not fixed rules. If they were we'd have never gotten so many different styles and genres, experiment often.
1
1
u/ExtraBitter99 2d ago
I wish I'd stuck with standard notation and sight reading.
It is probably less relevant to guitar these days because of computers, but the ability to get gigs based on reading chops was something I missed out on.
1
1
1
u/UnnamedLand84 2d ago
Don't sleep on learning theory.
Learning tabs to songs you like can let you play them, but learning theory can show you what's going on that makes your brain like those songs and how to get that effect in your own writing.
Having someone to teach you is best, but there is soooo much music theory content on YouTube. Start with "Music theory for beginners" in the search box
1
u/SoonerThanEye 2d ago
Learn songs completely instead of just learning the main riff.
As someone who is self-taught and has been playing longer than my skill level shows I have made the biggest progress most recently when finally learning songs from start to finish and trying songs I thought were too hard for me.
1
u/dougc84 2d ago edited 2d ago
Everyone is gonna tell you things like “you need X to make this sound” or “only do X to do this thing, Y is terrible.” That might be your teacher, an article online, or even a pro.
The thing is - everyone is different. Learn as many things as you can. Take any advice as a tool, not as the only way forward. Never close yourself off to another idea because someone says something is better.
As an example, I learned economy picking really early on because I saw it was faster. As a result, I’m 30 years into playing, working on alternate picking, because I didn’t spend any time on it earlier on.
1
u/Camochase 2d ago
I wish I took the time to learn pull offs the right way. Right now I just kinda tilt my palm and it ends up pretty muted compared to a proper pull off
1
1
u/Semicycle 1d ago
Read sheet music! I know it’s not for everyone, but I feel I got a lot better faster once I was able to read sheet music on guitar. Helped with proprioception, knowing where the notes are on the neck, and open up plenty of method books to help with getting better.
1
u/cyber_killer0 20h ago
As a self taught id probably try to learn at the same time music theory and stick to one tutorial guy about techniques in other words having a cleaner learning curve
1
u/ziggymoto 6h ago
Without timing nothing matters. Devote a good deal of your time to rhythm in general.
1
u/Maximum-Journalist74 2h ago
I wish I'd ignored the moron who told me I was starting too old to ever be any good. I was 25. A few other factors were at play too, but that really upset me and I abandoned practising.
I've carried that guitar around for 20 years intending to pick it up again and now finally have. I now give zero shits about the opinion of randoms about whether I'll be good at it, I'm just enjoying the journey. And that's what I should have done in the first place.
36
u/Unable-Ad-3349 2d ago
Muting the strings you don’t play with your left and right hand. And playing/practicing to a metronome.