Senior Instructor at Halifax Guitar Lessons
Learning to play the guitar can happen in many different ways and take different lengths of time depending on the approach.
You can do it the long way, like I did, by trying to teach yourself, or you can do it the shorter way, by finding a qualified teacher that can help you every step of the way.
I don’t know about you, but if I were doing it all over again, I would choose the second option!! It would have saved me so much time, energy, money and avoided many frustrations!
Here are 3 things that will help you learn how to play the guitar in less time than it may otherwise take if you go another direction.
1. Make A Clear Commitment That You Will Learn How To Play No Matter What
If you start here, the rest will be easier.
When you make a clear commitment to do something you start a process in your brain that is geared towards achievement. When you decide to go for it and not allow anything to stop you, then you will reach your goal.
This is literally how I learned how to play the guitar.
However, I did it the hard way. I had to overcome a lot of challenges and frustrations because I taught myself how to play and used the trial-and-error approach. I was clueless and my early progress proved it!!!
It took me years to get to a level that I can get my students to in a few months now. However, I can only help them reach that level if they are committed. That is the golden key to success on the guitar and in life.
2. Take Guitar Lessons Instead Of Trying To Figure It Out Yourself
This is where most beginner guitar players go wrong. You do not want to repeat the same mistake I and so many others before you have made.
Although it seems like it should be easy to teach yourself, with a ton of free materials online to help you, most people who try this end up frustrated and many quit. That is not what we want for you.
The biggest problem with trying to teach yourself either online or through books and DVDs is that you have no feedback from the people who created the materials.
There is no one to watch you to make sure you are doing things the right way. There is no one there to make sure you are not doing things the wrong way and developing very bad habits that could hold you back and frustrate you.
It is much better to find a local guitar teacher, someone you can see face-to-face, and get instruction that way. You will make a lot more progress in a lot less time by the very fact someone who knows how to play is showing you the way.
3. Find A Professionally Trained Guitar Teacher
Not all guitar teachers are the same so you need to look for and find the best option that will help you reach your goals.
If you are looking for the cheapest guitar lessons, you will get what you pay for. If you want convenient guitar lessons you may not get the best return on your investment either.
Anyone can advertise that they teach the guitar. They do not have to have any formal training or even know how to play the guitar very well. So, you have to be careful how you choose because it will affect your time, energy and money as well as your success at learning how to play the guitar.
If you want to learn how to play in the shortest amount of time, if you want to avoid frustrations, bad habits and get results very quickly, then you need to look for a professionally trained guitar teacher.
They may not live close to you, they may require you to invest more of your money, but you will get what you pay for and it will be more than worth it.
Can’t I Teach Myself To Play Though?
Sure, you can learn how to play the guitar on your own. There are many people who have successfully taught themselves.
However, when you listen to their stories, you will quickly find out they were extremely dedicated and spent considerable amounts of time over many years to learn to play well.
The sad story behind this is that many of these people could have reduced the amount of time and energy required to learn how to play had they sought out someone to help them learn.
You do not have time to waste trying to re-invent the wheel and learn how to play on your own.
Find a professional guitar teacher and learn how to play the guitar the right way the first time and in much less time!