Playing the guitar? help.?

Question

ok so i'm trying to learn to play the guitar, and so i asked my classmate to teach me, but he learned how to play thru his friends, no formal teaching or anything, he kinda self-taught himself with his friends' help. anyway, he's starting to teach me basic chords and we have a chord guide for the proper way, but he keeps saying that it's okay to not follow the exact way as long as it's comfortable for me coz i'm the one who's going to be playing. anyway, will it matter if the positioning of the fingers is not the traditional way? will people with formal guitar training (those who actually payed for lessons) look down on me or like mock me if i follow his style? and also, i'm right handed and he (my classmate teaching me) is left handed will it make a difference? im also confused on whether i should use my right or left hand when i play, help please P.S how long does it take to learn the notes, specifics i mean i want to know how it took for you, how many hours a day and etc. thanks :)

Answer 1

The best part of playing the guitar is that there are no real rules on anything. That goes with fingering too. Whatever sounds good and feels most comfortable to the player is good enough as long as it doesn't make it too uncomfortable to switch between chords. I myself have had guitar lessons for a little while in the past and I actually use different fingering from what I was taught for several chords.

Like your friend said, you don't have to play everything the same way as you were taught. Feel free to improvise on it and play it in your own musical style. Nobody should ever mock you for your playing style. Also, if you are right handed, you should play a right handed guitar. (Although I'm a lefty and I play a right handed guitar)

And as for learning notes, it shouldn't take too long. Maybe a week to two weeks. When I started playing guitar, I practiced about 3-4 hours a day studying note and chord charts and I learned all of the notes in about 4 or 5 days so it all depends on how much you study.

But the most important part of playing guitar is to have fun with it and to create a unique playing style like no other!

Answer 2

Yikes.  That's a lot.   If you're right handed, you should play right handed.  That is, the neck is in your right hand.  His will be in his left hand.

I make some chord shapes different also, because I have very short fingers.  Some chords are easier for me to make with my pinky finger, like G, because it's already in place to hit that high E string.   So, I think your friend might be right when he says it's okay to fudge on the finger positioning a little bit.  As long as a finger is on the right string and the notes are sounding clearly.

As for how long it takes, it's completely up to you.  How much time you are willing and able to put into learning a new language, because that's basically what music is, another language.   Time for practice each day is extremely important because your hands and fingers have to learn to move their muscles into shapes that they're not used to being in.

Practice, practice, practice.   Stick with it!!

Answer 3

My left-handed boyfriend is teaching me the guitar and im right handed too. honestly, some of it is easier to learn than other parts. if you practice for like 20 mins a day you should be retaining things. if i miss a few days in a row, sometimes i have to relearn things. slow and steady- practice, practice. :)

I play the g chord different too, whatever is comfortable

Answer 4

buang ka. use ur right hand. u cant force ur left hand if u cant controlle it. and it takes time to learn.