I’d say with the wealth of resources available today, moving into theory can actually be a temptation that you go into too early before the practical/physical guitar skills truly develop. I’m 21 and gen Z has almost too many resources starting out. If you look up how to play Seven Nation Army on YouTube, you’ll get bombarded by videos telling you that you need to know every scale and how to use them to be a “good guitarist”. It can lead to a lot of useless practice/burn out for those who can’t readily see what videos are meant for beginners vs advanced players.

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Posted by jdd48

Baton Rouge

Member since Jan 2012

22151 posts

Posted on 6/10/21 at 9:24 am to _Hurricane_

I cannot stress enough. Something I never did and really wish I did. Hire a teacher. I am still undoing years of bad habits from being self taught. While there are far better resources available now than when I started, nothing can replace being hands on with a teacher that can teach you all the tips and tricks that could literally take decades for you to discover on your own.

Just in my personal opinion, focus alot in your first few months on developing finger strength and getting your fingers used to awkward positions. While it may be tedious and boring doing the 1-2-3-4 exercise, it will pay huge dividends. It doesn't need to be hours on end of drilling either... just use 1-2-3-4 for 5-10 mins as a warmup & finger strength exercise. Once I finally addressed my finger weakness (especially my pinky), it opened up a whole new world for me.

This post was edited on 6/10/21 at 9:44 am

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Posted by dbeck

Member since Nov 2014

29453 posts

Posted on 6/10/21 at 2:10 pm to _Hurricane_

quote:
moving into theory can actually be a temptation that you go into too early before the practical/physical guitar skills truly develop

That's been my problem. I have an inquisitive mind and had to know why G Major is G, B, and D notes. So I ended up learning far more theory than actual songs.

Trying to go back and remedy that now. The only nice thing is theory translates to every other instrument.

As of now when people ask me to play guitar I ask them "what chords or scales would you like to hear?"