new guy

i am new here and it looks like a great site. i just wanted to introduce myself and hopefully get some advice. i have been twanging around on an acoustic guitar for about 5.5 years. i have never taken any lessons because i am scared it will turn into work if i do and for now i really enjoy it. i know parts to about 4 different songs (yeah i know not much progress for a guy thats been piddle-farting around with the thing for 5 and a half years!). i was hoping to get some advice from some of the more experienced people on this form. i would really like to progress alot faster than i am. should i take lessons? what should i be practicing? any advice (including go jump in a lake) will be taken very seriously. thanks.

Depends on what kind of music you want to learn to play better. Since we already know you're playing an acoustic, are you wanting approach it at a fingerstyle point-of-view? If you're wanting to go this way, you may want to look into attempting different songs by Doyle Dykes, Leo Kottke, etc... All just depends on what you're going for. If I think of anything that can help I'll try to put it up here, nothings comin to my head right now though, hehe.

Hi there.
Just about your lesson thing and how your afraid it'll turn into work or something, that couldn't be further from the truth.
I haven't been playing as long as you, but I have taken lessons, and in my two years of playing I have taken a lead and rhythm guitar position in a band that was featured on the Juno awards. (Big Canadian music show) And my lessons have been great. I've picked up so much theory and technical knowlege that it makes learning songs a lot easyer.
So dont worry about lessons turning into work or not being fun or anything, they can really help you.

Hello Larry,
I was in your position X years ago having been fiddling with my guitar and teaching myself for 5 or 6 years..well,when i got to uni i met some guys who just floored me, these were students too, after that i can tell you i took lessons and after 5 or 6 lessons i was ready to play,could jam a lot better and had the rhythm skills (heavilly into J. B./Jimmy Nolen at the time) polished up to play in public,which i would never have done otherwise.

If you get a good teacher it can be fun and, often, if you ask "how do they do that bit" you'll be surprised how simple it is, a good teacher can show you how to "fake" hard bits too - that is to find a way of getting round a difficult passage to play it using easier fingerings.

Cheers.

Listen Larry,

I was in the same boat once, having owned a guitar for a few years but only playing little pieces of simple songs, like Sweet Home Alabama and Stairway to Heaven. Problem was, I was a big jock-type and spent all my high school days on the practice fields. Now I wish I had been playing guitar!

Here's what you gotta do to get good on the guitar:

(1) Stop playing those little intros and start practicing ALL your chords until you get proficient with fretting them clean and changing them fast. You can make simple chord progressions sound different (like G-D-C) by lifting a finger here, hammering on a finger there, etc.

(2) Get some tabs from the millions of web sites out there. Learn to play your favorite songs--all the way through. What kind of music do you like?

(3) Experiment with sliding simple open chord positions up and down the neck, like C or D or E or F. Or make up your own using two or three fingers in a manageable position. You can get some cool sounds that way and you feel like you're being innovative.

Let us know how it goes, buddy. You are not alone . . .

DC

thanks so much for all of the replies! it is really great to know i am not the only one out here struggling along. anyway, i have decided to check into lessons. it seems that the vast majority of you think it would be a good idea.
as far as the music i like to play. well thats kind of tough because i enjoy a huge variety. i like heavy metal, alternative, country, and boy that classical guitar stuff is really cool. so i guess that is why i am kind of confused on which way to go.
one more thing though. a few of you mentioned that a key thing would be to get a "good teacher". anything in particular that i should be looking for? are we talking just experience teaching? should i worry about what style of music the teacher knows well?
p.s. to david c. i hear you about the tabs off of the net. my problem is that i will start to learn a song, and get past the first 4 or 5 bars, and then i like to mess around with those bars and by then i have been messing around for a couple of hours.
so anyway, again thanks again for the advise.

if he is a good teacher, he will get you into other styles that you before havent really either a.) liked, b.) never tried, or c.) didnt understand.

in other words

Any Guitar instructor is better than No guitar instructor.

In most cases.

Its been my experience that most teachers are good teachers, but one thing that is really good to have is the skill of reading music, not tab. Tab is like painting by numbers or something. Get yourself a teacher who can teach you to read, and it will help you in so many ways. It also makes learning songs easyer, cause if you read the music, you know your right!

hey there, I just thought I'd offer a little advice, I've taught guitar, often as a favour, sometimes for money and it's a very rewarding experience. I would go with everyone else and check into lessons, guitar teachers usually will help you improve in areas you are interested in, and wont force you to play music you dont want to. I would also advise learning music theory as well, that way you'll be able to understand what a lot of the guys in here are talking about when they mention diatonic scales, ionian modes and such.
You may also find guitar addictive, I know I did, when I first started playing, I learned the A, E and D chords and i would play the 12 bar blues to the point where my dad threatened to throw my guitar on the fire if I didnt shut up. I had blisters all over my fingers and they hurt like hell, but the next day I was playing again. It's like learning a new language and learning a new trade all rolled into one. When you start to get good, you'll realise how much fun it is, and carry on!
Dont look at it as work, that's the first step in becoming more proficient!

yeah! guitar is fun. i look forward to my lessons.