Guitar?

[Cognizant]

Just a question for my fellow guitar players - how easy of an instrument is it to learn? The last time I played an instrument was back in middle school, but I've been thinking of putting my dad's old guitar to use.

I suck at learning new things though, so I just wanted to know if it's an easy instrument to get accustomed to, cheap to maintain, etc

[Vilnius]

I'm beginning learning guitar (I only know enough to play chords right now) and so far it's been pretty easy to play. I know you have to replace the strings fairly often (depending on how much you clean/play it). Old and rusty strings can snap on you more easily, which is never fun, and new strings sound great and are easier to play once you put them in.

There are tons of songs which only take a few chords to play, so I think that's good to get started!

[Melodic]

From other opinions I know of, It takes a bit of practice and lessons like any other instrument, but it's fun to learn.

[Karkat]

It depends :P It's fairly easy to learn the basic mechanics, especially if you have patience and practice a lot, but the great thing about guitar is the possibilities are endless.

[eli_w]

Takes a long ass time- piano an guitar specifically. You can get good enough to play most cheesy teen love songs within a month though id say. Basic ass chords, nothing else

[Babs]

It's not the hardest to learn, certainly. It's pretty easy to learn the basics of it, but it does take a lot of work to get really good, as with most things.

[dirtyboxer55]

easy
it will probably take a week or so to get your fingers used to fretting strings though

[amgb]

It's not easy learning an instrument, but once you get into it and keep practising it becomes like second nature. For me I learned the piano first, and then when I started learning guitar I found it easy because I already knew how to read music. But just be prepared to be really committed to your instrument, because it takes practise, and with guitar your fingers will hurt a bit for the first few weeks but then they harden and you'll get used to it. Best of luck!~~

[ImCoolBeans]

It is frustrating as hell, requires endless amounts of patience, and dedication. When they say you have to practice every day, they really mean it.

[Daniella98]

Ive started playing a little bit. Can I just point something out that Ive noticed.
Its a lot easier to learn on an electric guitar. I feel it sorta works with the fingers.

[ImCoolBeans]

Ive started playing a little bit. Can I just point something out that Ive noticed.
Its a lot easier to learn on an electric guitar. I feel it sorta works with the fingers.

While it is definitely a bit easier to learn and play on electric guitar, I would definitely say it is better to learn on an acoustic guitar for the fact that it's a little tougher to play. That way when you move onto electric the neck will feel like butter, and you'll be able to do a lot more.

[sisu]

It really depends on the type of music your looking to play. Basic pop and rock music and that isnt too hard once you get the basics down and learn your chords. But all those progressive, technical and fast music styles take a long ass time to learn at least from my experience. Ive basically given up guitar and decided to learn bass instead and that also is ridiculously difficult.
My best advice is to keep learning new stuff and keep exploring and practice everyday systematically.

[Sugaree]

Stick to basics before you do anything else. Get to know your guitar physically before you get to know it aurally. Get used to holding it and positioning your hands correctly.

From the basics you can move to basic theory and then get to advanced theory pretty quickly. Learn chords, variations, and all the technical stuff in stride. Don't push yourself to do something quickly; the quicker you go, the longer it will take to make perfect.

[ImCoolBeans]

Stick to basics before you do anything else. Get to know your guitar physically before you get to know it aurally. Get used to holding it and positioning your hands correctly.

From the basics you can move to basic theory and then get to advanced theory pretty quickly. Learn chords, variations, and all the technical stuff in stride. Don't push yourself to do something quickly; the quicker you go, the longer it will take to make perfect.

Very good advice for any beginner. When I first started playing I didn't take the time to get the basics down because I wanted to be able to jam with my friends, but as I got started I realized that you really need to take your time, and learn everything the right way before moving ahead.

[xXl0sth0peXx]

If you play, I'd recommend an actual book as opposed to online tutorials and whatnot. A book will actually make sure that you start correctly, get through the basics and learn the chords in the proper order.

It will take time, but it will be worth it. It's a lot of fun to play. Your local community college or something might have a beginners class which I did when I learned and it was totally worth it, but you can easily learn on your own.

Good luck. It's a lot of fun!

[gothy]

Learning guitar is easy. Learning to play well isn't.


Start with the G major scale chords. They are the easiest

[Magenta]

I may be biased because I can play just about any instrument that doesn't require you to buzz a mouthpiece but I find it easy. The problem I have is having very short fingers that can't reach all the strings for more complicated chords.

One thing is just to stick with it. Your fingers are gonna hurt and if you don't keep practicing, you're never gonna build up the callouses that make it easier to play. Start with the basics, like everyone says, and try doing rhythm exercises without the guitar to get a feel for how well you can repeat simple clapping exercises. They really help with strumming and some of the more rhythmic techniques.

[Excalibur]

Well, learning the Theory and HOW to do chords and tabs and such is actually relatively easy, but it is very physically trying and hard, especially for your fingers. Also it's very easy to, when you get to a certain point, just want to stop learning new stuff (that's what happened a couple years ago for me, I mastered Em-C-G-D and I stopped for a while then), but even the professional guitar players are constantly learning new tabs and riffs and variations. When you get to the point where you can easily play and know a lot of chords, including bar chords, and when you get the general theory of how bar chords and different frets and keys work, I would suggest to go into learning tabs and finger-picking. One huge thing to remember is you can never know all there is to know about guitar. Trust me. Keep learning and practicing, and good luck. :)

[Guitarguy9]

It takes time. Have patience.