Is it possible to play guitar well without knowing what notes your actually playing?

Question

like, I know how to tell which notes I'm playing but it allways takes me a while to actually count them out so I know which one I played. I also don't know the cage system or any of that.

Answer 1

you can start practicing and learning the technique without knowing the notes you're playing, but if you want to be really an expert, with a lot of practice you'll have to be able to know the chords and notes you're playing so you can make new songs and write them down as partitures easily and play them in different parts of the guitar...

Answer 2

The jazz guitar player Wes Montgomery, arguably the greatest jazz guitarist or plain old guitarist in modern time did not know how to read music.  Jimi Hendrix couldn't read music either.  So, yes, it's possible, but not itf you want to play classical, in which case you pretty much need to know how.

Answer 3

Just look at Slash.  Yeah, you can memorize patterns.

Answer 4

yea it call playing by ear u eather brough up that way or learn it over time keyboard is a better way to learn at first if u want a pointer

Answer 5

It sure is it's called playing by ear.   As you progress with you skills you will learn the jargon and identify the individual notes and chords you are playing.  Keep strumming!

Answer 6

I know some people who can really jam on the guitar and have no clue what they are playing (not even by counting the frets, they know that little).  But who wants to be like that?  I definitely recommend learning the caged system. It's fairly simple and really shows you how the whole neck is integrated.

If you don't mind spending a few bucks, pick up a cd-rom called "CAGED Cracked" at truefire.com.  This guy explains things really well.  There are a few demo videos you can check out at the website as well.