Can anybody learn to play the guitar?

FunAdvice is a social question and answer site where you can find discussions on all kinds of topics. Here’s a few responses to the question, “How hard is it to learn to play the guitar?”

“Learning anything depends on the person. Each person has a different level of difficulty for learning different things. Some people find it easy to pick up playing the guitar while others require extensive lessons and years of practice to be able to play even the simplest things. In any case, to make the process easier for you I would check out the local music store and see what their rates are for guitar lessons. Not only because a professional instructs you, but because you learn more than just doing it yourself (there’s nothing wrong with it because that’s how I learned how to play) like how to read music and tabs etc..
However, if you do plan to do it yourself, start off on an acoustic guitar. I found this out the hard way. Electric guitar strings are easier on the fingers to play or ’softer’ than an acoustic. So if you learn how to play on an electric and decide to try playing acoustic, you’ll rip your fingertips to bits. So play on an acoustic (it doesn’t have to be a really expensive one either) and get your fingers callused so that you’re better able to play (and yes, that process will be uncomfortable).”

“You should learn to physically play the guitar. Simply get a few chord diagrams of the internet, and if you must, get a few song tabs. Plenty of people will teach you to read tab. Then after you’ve learnt a few songs and you can play a few chords, seek lessons. Guitar teachers are more intent on teaching the theory side of music, for eg. Scales, intervals, modes, notation etc… And when beginners get this stuff thrown straight at them, they easily become bored and discouraged.
After a while of playing stuff you taught yourself, you’ll actually want to learn theory. And believe it or not, you’ll get bored of learning songs by tab that other artists have already created, and you’ll start writing your own stuff.”

More of this fascinating discussion at http://www.funadvice.com/q/guitar_2500

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