Originally Posted by: eusuntuncrocodiMy guitar teacher has died recently. He had teached me for 1 year. If I study guitar on my own, will I become a good guitarist?

Hi all,
If I can add to what's already been said- yes, practice, practice, practice. You don't say what type of music you like, but I'd say go across ALL types of music, even the kind you don't like. I took lessons briefly from Lenny Breau about 30 yrs. ago, and even tho he was a jazz guy, and I'm a blues/rock guy, he taught me some fingerpicking, and his artificial harmonics thing. I generally hate country, but the fingerpicking stuff I learned really made a difference in how I play. Either playing chords, or a lead, using a pick and fingers at the same time helped me develp my own style.

If practicing lead, I'd say using an acoustice steel string with a relatively high action will make you lots faster when you switch to electric; and use a hard pick so you're forced to play cleanly.

Side note/off topic: I've had about a 12 yr. layoff from playing, and just now am getting back into it- I dropped out of the Berklee College of Music around 1980-81 as a performance major. They forced me to pick a certain way- don't EVER let someone change your playing style if after awhile, you realize it doesn't add to your playing . I was already playing about 8 yrs. before going to Berklee, so I was set in my ways. But keep an open mind before you dismiss anything. Good luck!

This is my first post here, and I don't know if I get notified if there's a response, so I'll apologize in advance if I don't respond in a reasonable time. (I just found the subscription button.)