Can I learn guitar without a teacher?

Question

Is it possible to learn guitar at home without a teacher? Or is a teacher vital?

If it's possible, can anyone direct me to a guide/tutorial for learn guitar?

Thanks

Answer 1

I think it depends on how far you plan to take it, and also if you want to learn classical style (finger picking) or just to strum chords (rhythm guitar), and whether you want to play electric, acoustic, lead licks, etc.

I pretty much taught myself to play simple country/rock acoustic guitar using what was available at the time (books & cassettes).  My daughter has taught herself with help from the internet & being shown things by some friends.

Answer 2

Ever hear the joke " a person who represents themself in court has an idiot for an attorney and a loser for a client"????

Now apply that logic to your question.

a good teacher can be a huge difference in your learning curve. They are there as a ready source for answers, they analyze your personal learning problems and give solutions. Did you read the answer that Kab gave? Lots of wisdom in very few words!

Answer 3

You can certainly teach yourself how to play the guitar, but having a teacher is always a goods thing too.  If you want to try to teach yourself, ultimate-guitar.com not only has a wealth of guitar tablature (music), but some pretty good lessons as well.  Wholenote.com also has some good online lessons. Both websites are 100% free. There are also many books you can purchase to teach yourself, Hal-Leonard publishes many books of this nature as well as Mel Bay.  You can find them on amazon.com, at Borders, etc.

Answer 4

Yes, but it depends on your passion and if you know something about music.

I taught myself but I knew how to play the piano so I just used the internet and books. You should also get around guitar players to learn new things.

I took 2 months of guitar class because I was bored with what I knew and wanted to learn new things.

Answer 5

When I saw the question I knew that there would be lots of (Yes) and bragging about doing it themselves.

You can learn to fly an airplane without a teacher, but I don't recommend it, for obvious reasons.

Learning to play well with no instruction is more  likely to lead to bad habits, discouragement and frustration.

Usually the person who claims to have done it without a teacher, just means they did not pay for it.

They spend tremendous amounts of time watching others, asking advice from other players and still develop bad habits.

(Jeda K just tried to teach you. or give you a lesson. Did you understand everything?)

It will be well worth your time and money to find a live teacher, to get you through the beginning stages and then to decide if you need help going on.

The question that I would like to see is

Did you try to learn without a teacher and then give up or get frustrated etc?

Answer 6

Yes, definitely can. Just as long as you have the interest to learn, just go to any website providing free lessons from the internet. One I recommend is Ultimate-Guitar.com. The website provides lots of tips, lessons as well as chords and tabs for you to learn. They've become very helpful to me up until now.

Good luck to you!

Answer 7

Not only is it possible, it is the best way! I taught myself the basics, using guitar chord charts and by just google-ing the song i wanted to play. Chord charts will show you where to place your fingers on the Fret board. The most important thing about learning to play guitar is that you need to be patient. It wont happen over night. Like anything, you need to practice, practice,Practice! Your finger tips will hurt like h**l! But u still need to practice. Push through the pain and u will see the benefits sooner rather than later. To start, set yourself the goal of learning 3 chords. Keep to open Chords to start with. I recommend starting with Em, which requires only 2 fingers, C which is a 3 finger chord, and D which is also a 3 fingered chord. Keep practicing them until u have them right. Every string should ring clearly if you play it right. That means no fingers should be touching the string apart from the correct finger. When the chord rings out correctly, you will hear it. Strum each string individually at first, then all together, gently. After that, try changing to the next chord as quickly and cleanly as you can. Once u can change to each of the chords cleanly and in time with the song u are trying 2 play, Try it in the dark. That way, u train ur hand to move to the correct chord fingering. Once u have mastered this, Its time to add more chords. I would recommend going for the next open Chords. Try A, E and G. Once u have mastered them, its time to try a wrist killers. Bar Chords. This involves using your index finger to "bar" and entire fret whilst your other 3 fingers form a chord. I recommend learning Bflat, B, and Bm. Once you get these down, theres no chord u cannot play. For instance, an F chord, will use the same finger formation as say a Bm. a C, played on the 3rd fret as a Bar, will be the same finger formations as playing a Bflat or a B.

The most important thing i can tell u though, is to never give up.

The second most important thing is to spend as much money on a good guitar as you can. $1000 guitar will always sound better than a $100 guitar. Why is this important? Because if you sound c**p, its not gonna inspire u 2 keep going. And a cheap guitar is just a cheap guitar. Theres a reason why us Professionals use Quality Guitars. All my Acoustic Guitars are Takamines Ef series including the 12 strings. Don't wreck your chances, Get urself a decent guitar. Never give up and Best of luck!