I Got A Guitar For Christmas!

I finally got a guitar...I've wanted one for like 3 years now. But, to play it- its harder than it actually looks :eek: So can anyone tell me if its better to get lessons, or teach myself?

Do both if you can. If you want to go it alone this site is just about perfect. Welcome to GT by the way!

I accidently hit no so disregard that. Its a good idea to get lessons. But there are teachers out there that do more harm than good. So do some looking around.

There's advantages and disadvantages to both.
Being self taught I'd say I'm glad I never took lessons.
In the end I learned what I wanted to and wasn't forced to learn theory that I wasn't interested in back then. I developed my ear a lot better by being forced to listen to songs and figure them out myself.
The only disadvantage for me was that it took a lot longer to learn because I had nowhere to get information from.When I started there wasn't any internet so you either had to learn from friends or sneak a look at a book in the music store.
These days you've got video lessons on the web and tabs everywhere so you've got all kinds of places to get info.
I'd say, if you're a good self starter with a mind of your own and enough confidence, and you just want to play songs or join a band, then teach yourself. Maybe take a few lessons to see how you like them or to get some basic questions answered.
If you need somebody to show you how to do things, need somebody constantly pushing you to learn, or if you want to play professionally as a studio musician..take lessons... at least long enough so that you can start figuring stuff out by yourself.

I've never had a lesson in my life... I think I've came pretty far. A friend and I started playing at the same time and we learned together... But different people have different learning styles. Some people learn by doing and some people learn by listening. It just depends on how you respond to the two different ways of learning. If you consider yourself a visual learner then I would say get lessons... atleast until you feel comfortable with the guitar. If you prefer hands on learning and independent learning then I would say try to pick up some beginner books and start there.

Originally Posted by: schmangeThere's advantages and disadvantages to both.
Being self taught I'd say I'm glad I never took lessons.
In the end I learned what I wanted to and wasn't forced to learn theory that I wasn't interested in back then. I developed my ear a lot better by being forced to listen to songs and figure them out myself.
The only disadvantage for me was that it took a lot longer to learn because I had nowhere to get information from.When I started there wasn't any internet so you either had to learn from friends or sneak a look at a book in the music store.
These days you've got video lessons on the web and tabs everywhere so you've got all kinds of places to get info.
I'd say, if you're a good self starter with a mind of your own and enough confidence, and you just want to play songs or join a band, then teach yourself. Maybe take a few lessons to see how you like them or to get some basic questions answered.
If you need somebody to show you how to do things, need somebody constantly pushing you to learn, or if you want to play professionally as a studio musician..take lessons... at least long enough so that you can start figuring stuff out by yourself.

I'm going to have to pitch my vote here with Shmange. Being self taught, I pretty much looked into what I wanted to see and all the stuff that a teacher is going to teach you can be read about in a book or seen in a video and thanks to the said internet, it's even easier than ever to get that kind of knowledge. But then again a teacher is supposed to be there to monitor your progress and make sure you stay on track in a timely manner so it basically comes down what do you think will get you where you want to be faster?

> But different people have different learning styles. Some people learn
> by doing and some people learn by listening. It just depends on how you
> respond to the two different ways of learning. If you consider yourself
> a visual learner then I would say get lessons

It kinda reminds me of high school. Some people were really good at math Some were terrible at math but really good in art class.
The math people are usually the ones that get into the theory side of things and start talking about different modes and scales.
The arts people are the ones who just listen to the song and figure it out themselves and couldn't care less about the details.

i think its better to learn for a while first and get down the basics on your own then if u feel like u are making progress cary on teaching yourself or if u feel like u have stoped or are getting bored get a few lessons as a boost
iv found dvd lessons are very good iv just bought 2 new ones for rock guitar and lead guitar, the beginner one helped loads

i ahv done both, first my friend told me the basics, then started to go
to the internet, now im taking lessons,learning from boks and trying to find theory lessons

i got a guitar fer christmas 2

Wow, you had almost every option up there but the one I took to learn piano (I just started guitar :-P) I took lessons to get me over the "beginners hump" then took off on my own. I'm now playing Variations on the Kannon as done by George Winston and (If you ever saw "The Majestic" by Jim Carrey, this next one you should know) Boogie Woogie Stomp by the great Albert Ammons. All the original works, not some watered down easy versions. Think of a teacher as a booster seat. Use it until you’re big enough to sit at the table with the big boys.

Originally Posted by: schmange> But different people have different learning styles. Some people learn
> by doing and some people learn by listening. It just depends on how you
> respond to the two different ways of learning. If you consider yourself
> a visual learner then I would say get lessons

It kinda reminds me of high school. Some people were really good at math Some were terrible at math but really good in art class.
The math people are usually the ones that get into the theory side of things and start talking about different modes and scales.
The arts people are the ones who just listen to the song and figure it out themselves and couldn't care less about the details.

wow... never thought of it that way

im a 14 year old girl and i love playin the guitar more than anything haha but my dad has tought me more than i could ever learn out of some book or off tabs so i would ask someone for help but go with what you want!

COOL uh lol

i take lessons and yes im a beginner and i enjoy them at frst i taught myself everything like reading tablature but i have learned more by taking lessons

i started off learning by myself too...i reckon its better to get to know someone more experienced and jam together...instead of paying and going for classes... i feel most proficient guitarists learn on thier own...but mind you thats not why i did this by myself... u have your own time and you dont have to travel around...sometimes when you're busy and u can't attend class... then again i guess it boils down to personal preference really.. i feel really comfortable playing at home everyday... i pick up some songs i really like and try to learn playing them... and them its awesome sites like this one i have gained more knowledge.... and i'm still learning... i'm still far behind and there's a lot to learn..

just my two cents mate...

Originally Posted by: CW14I'd say take lessons to start with, to get the essentials down. Then you can start teaching yourself.

exact opposite of this. you dont need to pay 20 dollars for 30 minutes for a (usually) college educated music major to teach you how to play open chords, simple rythyms, and cheap things like pulloffs and junk like that. truuuust me, you can learn that on your own. get a teacher years down the road when (or if) you get in a rut and just want to give your playing more style, flavor, technique, ect. at your ability level, its a waste of money to pay someone that much for so little payoff. i learned with the internet, and moved onto books, and im thinking about lessons in the near future, and ivebeen playing for 3 years religiously.