Best way of learning to play Guitar? ?

Question

Our son was given an acoustic guitar, and he would like to learn to play it. Can you recommend how he should begin learning?

Thanks!

Answer 1

videos, lessons and practice, practice, practice.

But don't force him. maybe you can barter with him

Answer 2

if there are songs that he likes he can try playing them.

Lazy Eye by the silversun pickups was my first song and it got me started pretty good.

Hey there delilah is a starter song by most who were kicking off in '07. helps build up your chord progression pretty dam fast.

Getting a music teacher at this point would be great. Probably the best.

They can show you how to hold a pick and hold the neck properly to avoid developing bad habbits which could slow down your child's learning process and cause ALOT of fustration later on

Answer 3

--He must learn to keep a beat, just like 1,2,3,4 in a consecutive pattern, they make devices that do that automaticly to help maintain a beat

-- Learn Basic Musically Theory

this is just the base of all of it

the notes go A, A# , B , C , C# , D , D# , E , F, F#, G, G# then it repeats itself,  notice how B and E dont have sharps

Also notice that Every 5 notes = the next string , so that means every 5 Frets = the next string, with the exception of G to B thats 4

for example on the E string (top) if you hold your finger on the 5th fret you are playing the same note as the A string

-- Next is picking when you pick you can do all downward strokes (towards floor), upward strokes, or Alternate picking (both up, down, up, down etc.)

-- Important that at first he learns to use 1 finger per fret, index = 1st fret, middle = 2nd fret, ring = 3rd fret, and pinky = 4th, really important at first to practice this it because it will pay off after he gets better

Also its really important he isnt substituting his pinky with his ring finger or any other becasue that will cause sloppy ness, and in the end a bad habit to break

-- Hammer Ons and Pull offs are another thing to learn, A hammer on is a technique in which you strum a string and without stumming again you take one of you fingers and hit a fret and hold it, basicly your getting more than 1 note out of 1 strum, you can do this as many times as you want as long as the note is sustained (keeps ringing)

And a Pull of is just the opposite, hold your Finger on anyfret, and you strum then Pull Off your finger from the fretboard with the note sustained

You can do this Repeatedly by this : H being hammer on, p is Pulloff

|1h2p1h2  or  1h2h3h4

--Bending, pluck a sting while fretting it, when you have the note ringing bend the string slightly up or down, meaning towards the top of the neck, or the bottom towards your hand

You can do this while moving it up and down Rapidly

--Learn a Few Basic Song Riffs such as Smoke on the Water, which is really easy , on the Low E string go>>> 0  3 5 0 3 6 5 0 3 5 3 0 <<<

look up Tabs for it online if you couldnt understand meh cheap tabs

may seem like a lot but once you get it down you dont even think anything of it

Also his hands and fingers will be hurting afterwards

Look on youtube or the internet for Online Lessons, dont ever take a online guitar lesson that cost money

Books to have :

-'Guitar for Dummies'

-'Rock Guitar for Dummies' (really is a great book with a lot of humor in it to keep to motivated)

-'The Guitar Grimoire' (REALLY indepth book on musical theory, kinda be in high school to read it because of its vocabulary but check it out)

Lessons would be a great way to learn from a Teacher in person to point out any flaws or Errors your making, i never took any, i taught my self, in my opinion you get more Creativity when learning youself, but its a lot faster to be taught

and the last thing , Practice a lot , the more you practice the faster you get out of the beginner stages and can play ANYTHING you want, its really good feeling when you can play your favorite song, music just sounds so much different and better onc you learn to play :D

Good luck bro

Answer 4

If they offer lessons anywhere, do it. I've been taking lessons for 7 years now, and I've been told I'm quite good.  I learn something new every lesson, and it's great.