Guitar lessons - I have questions

Feel free to come by. We can swap out the guitars.

Thanks. I should add-I have no desire to learn entire songs. I just want to play intros and riffs, like Driver 8, What Is Life, Don't Fear The Reaper etc. I have kinda made a mental list of the ones I want to learn.

I found practicing cowboy chord progressions worked best for me. Finger memory and rhythm is key imo.

E, A, D chords and their variations will allow you to play about 5000 songs.

G, C, D and the occasional F will add about 5000 more.

Also, I try to play standing up most of the time.

It’s not for everyone. World needs drummers too.

quote:

---

Thanks. I should add-I have no desire to learn entire songs. I just want to play intros and riffs, like Driver 8, What Is Life, Don't Fear The Reaper etc. I have kinda made a mental list of the ones I want to learn.

---

YT is your friend. Enter "how to play..." into the search box. Profit!

ETA: Don't Fear The Reaper

AlxTgr -- I teach kids/teens guitar one night a week. My thoughts on your questions, even though I'm no pro and know my limits:

A. I am simply not comfortable. I try to mimic the positions I see the instructors in, and I feel like the guitar is too low, too far rearward, and the neck not angled right.

---Hold the guitar as is comfortable for you. BUT, try your best to have a little space between your fretting hand and the neck. Point your knuckles to the ceiling, not to the wall.

B. The best I can do is a simple chair with a box to prop my right foot on. Any help here would be great.

--- So do that. If you're not comfortable you won't play it, so get comfortable. I go through periods of only sitting and then only standing while playing at home or with friends; on stage I only sit if its a long set or with the dobro. But until you get some fundamentals down, just stay seated, less to think about and more control of the guitar.

C. The instructors go back and forth between acoustic and electric. Should I use what they are using or just stick with my electric? I have an old Ibanez I could use.

---Electric is going to be easier to play due to it being easier to fret and thus easier learn on. That being said, if you can play barre chords on a steel string acoustic you'll have no issues doing them on an electric.

D. How much time per session should I dedicate?

---Well, that depends. Don't confuse "learning" with "practicing" Being taught/learning? 30-45 minutes is plenty. But practicing what you were taught/learned? As much as you can, as long as you can, until your form/technique starts getting sloppy then stop. So much of it is muscle memory (chord shapes, changing between chords in a progression, scales) and the only way to get there is to just do it over and over and over.

E. How many sessions per week?

---Tough to say, but I'd base it more on not taking the next step until you're comfortable with the one you're on. Example, you can't really move on and learn the standard 12 bar blues progression until you know how to play G, C, D (or whatever the 1-4-5 chords of the key are) and change between them quickly and accurately.

F. Should I repeat lessons or just push through them?

---repeat until you do it 80% or so correctly. I do a review at the start of each lesson, if they don't have it like 80% down we don't move on. "Just pushing through" leaves information and skill on the table and makes it tough to learn the next step (see above comment). Break the lesson down into small phrases or pieces if you're struggling with it.

G. Should I try to learn riffs/intros I like on my own in addition, or just stick with the Lessons for now?

--- absolutely learn all the intros, riffs, and melodies you want to and can while working through your lessons. You're learning to play the guitar, so play it. There's plenty of easy cool things to learn via YouTube and GuitarETab. Plus by doing that you'll start seeing how certain chords usually show up and work together, get your changes down, and build confidence. Just don't slack on the lessons.

My favorite tip - DO NOT store your guitar out of sight at home. Leave it out and easily accessible. If you put it up and out of sight and you won't play it often. If it's right there, you'll find you'll pick it up often and noodle with it. You can not get better at playing a guitar by not playing a guitar.

Hope this helps!

quote:

---

TheCurmudgeon

---

An instructor/teacher will give you a forced time frame. You would be expected to actually complete something, not that something has to be huge, it could be just a phrase or two. While at the moment you have no time constraint at all, which is not actually getting you anywhere, and leading to undue questioning.

Otherwise ease up on your expectations, if you're not willing to put in the time.

I've known a lot of people that have wanted me to teach them and I'm hesitant because I'm self taught and probably have horrible habits. I just learned how to read tab and started with the easiest thing possible and went from there. I still remember the first thing I ever actually played was a few individual notes all on one string from Riders on the Storm. I never tried chords until I had built up enough dexterity to play single notes on single strings. After that I started playing single notes on all that strings, after that I had enough strength in my fingers to actually fret chords, and from there I just learned songs.

I've always started by showing someone Satisfaction by the Stones. Get that down then maybe play around with something like Crazy Train, then move into chords. But like I said, I learned arse backwards apparently