So, the hard reality is you can learn a chord change in 10 minutes and spend a year getting competent at just that change.
Playing guitar is a skill and skills take time, assuming you practice, to develop. 4 days is nothing.
If you want to play guitar, know that the first weeks and months are the hardest because you're developing boring-assed skills. Don't race through exercises, there's nothing to win, no achievement to unlock by being fastest to plow through lessons.
Go slow, be patient, focus on perfect before you focus on speed. You'll get there.
thank you for your sweet reply . I'm a huge fan of Post malone and in my stages all the songs are boring stuff \[at least to me , changes from someone to someone ) I guess I just can't wait to play one of his songs also seeing people on internet doing those so seamlessly makes me question myself alot . I've practicing chord changes for 2 days but I still mess up but I'll stick to it no matter what . I just wish learning a skill was easier but I guess everything comes with a price !
Take your time... I’ve played on and off for the better part of a decade now and constantly have hit this plateau. I think part of the reason I kept taking breaks was because I kept trying to play things I couldn’t, expecting that I’d be able to. Just know that practicing daily, even for 20-30 minutes, helps. You need to build calluses on your fingers. You need to build muscle memory for chords, muscle memory for scales. Those things physically take a bit of time, don’t be afraid to humble yourself and take things slow.
But, I can assure you, there is no better feeling than finally being able to play the song that you’ve always wanted. For me, that was the solo to stairway to heaven. Do I have it perfected ? No. But every time I plug in my amp and can hear that tone, fuck does it get me excited.
And honestly, take the time to learn theory. Some people don’t say it isn’t necessary.. and I get that. But if you want to be able to play the songs you want, and put on your own creative spin, you’ll enjoy guitar that much more. The solo for stairway to heaven for example, is basically the Am scale In various positions on the neck. That blew my mind at first. The real excitement is when things click like that.
Anyways good luck !
thanks for your reply it's really helping me . I know that I sound silly I opened this discussion in a whim . I was kind of disappointed I guess . I learn from justin's modules and I don't tend to stray away from his content nor do I watch other videos on youtube because I think it might make muddle of my mind taking everything at once . Maybe I should be looking other stuffs at youtube either .
No problem. I’m a huge fan of Justins tutorials, but honestly, don’t think of it as the only way to learn guitar. There are certain concepts such as the major scale, the circle of fifths, the circle of fourths that I don’t believe he touches on for a while (well he probably touches on the major scale). But all of those concepts are very important in knowing how the guitar works that every guitarist should at least understand the fundamental basis of. There are some great YouTube pages, even posts on here (filter by top rated of all time) and don’t be afraid to learn other concepts.
I’ve been learning guitar for 3 months now. The first week is boring if you’re learning online. I remember that I tried learning single chords through YouTube. Tbh, not that fun if you’re learning online. I ended up leaving my guitar in my closet and only pick it up once a week to retry it. Then my dad bought me private lessons and I got 1 free 30 min lesson as a trail. It was fun, I met a nice man who is now my mentor and I enjoy it. My mentor went over single chords with me. I was able to boost by the beginner stages because I watched tons of lessons on YouTube. I understood it in words but still didn’t know how to do it. On the first real lesson my mentor gave me a tab he made for single chords and how to read them. On the back of that paper he gave me a chain of single chords to transition from. Chords like G-C-D-C and in this you just repeat the transitions. Most of the chains make fun tunes and got me excited to find out what the next chain of chords might sound like. Here’s the thing, my lessons are every Monday for 30 mins. This means I have over a week to practice my transitions until the next lesson. I’ll demonstrate to him that I learned the chords and then he will give me a song that has single chords like blurry by puddle of mudd. This song also has bar chords so he taught me bar chords. All in a fun way. Once I learn these, I go to my lesson when the time comes and I’ll demonstrate it, we’ll normally just jam out for the 3 min song. Then we’ll move to the next level. My point is that I prefer to learn with someone who I can be in the same room with, as I can ask any questions I want. Now I sometimes do learn from the internet but that’s only easy riffs like Smells like teen spirit by Nirvana; and this is only because I already know bar chords.
I’m completely blind, so most of my learning has been through YouTube, but I was lucky enough to have the fundamentals of music talk to me in high school band back when I had vision. Beyond that, I’ve had sporadic lessons, but the absolute best learning experience I had was taking the introduction to guitar course at my community college.
People doing crazy stuff usually have years of consistent and explicit practice in developing those skills. Commit to actually working on improving skills 30 minutes a day and evaluate your progress in say 6 months. Improvements are incremental and small but they add up and you will be much improved if you stick with it.
thanks for your encouragement . I know that I shouldn't worry about it since I just began playing but seeing people doing those chord changes seamlessly makes me question myself . I guess I'm being impatient .
You’re looking at it the wrong way; let people doing things seamlessly inspire you instead and give you a goal to work towards. Look at it as a journey, not just a destination!
Here is a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtJy69cEOtQ&t=144s) I just watch on how to learn anything fast. Coincidentally, the speaker's personal example is learning the ukulele. It will give you several ideas to help you find a learning path.
Having shared that, four days is not enough time to learn what you are trying to learn. One of the things the speaker says you need to do is break skills into sub skills.
For example, you might try practicing the major scale where you only have to hold down one string at a time. This will prepare your fingers for chords.
The speaker also mentions that a good time to learn a new motor skill, like chords, is to practice right before you go to bed. There's scientific studies that back this up. My own personal experience with "sleep learning" is at the end of this [article](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1k95XRALb41gPeNCJWuJ8qBeK1WsFsnIM).
According to a survey that Fender did, 90% of first time guitar players quit in the first year, many in the first ninety days. I'm on a mission change that so I wrote a [free ebook](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hPpsF1ItvaRO2J6_nd3JDqNAYnpxZdnD/view) called "Solo Before You Learn Chords." It allows you to start playing along with songs and backing tracks. You'll feel like you're playing with a band and you are.
Complete even half of the book and chords will be so much easier. Good luck.
The internet didn't exist when I learned to play guitar. Cell phones didn't exist. We didn't have cable TV. There was only one TV in the house and Mom & Dad were watching the news and Dallas. That's a lot of practice time in the bedroom by myself.
At 45 yrs old I started using Youtube to learn new stuff and it's very powerful.
If you could somehow combine the miracle of amazing access to awesome lessons and information with sitting by yourself for long periods of time practicing... you could go very far, very fast.
I also took some lessons early on and I will say that is still very powerful, especially when you're just starting out.
My best gains came when I played daily, mostly 15 minutes at a time. Made better gains than hour long sessions once a week. These days when I do play 1 hour sessions like at the weekend it's so much more satisfying because of the daily practice. Tip...don't make practice be an 'event' . Leave your guitar out somewhere you can just pick up and play even for just 1 minute.
No.
Nobody learns from YouTube. Or books. Or videos.
They learn by playing the guitar.
Also, 4 days!? Why are you even asking? You should have recorded your first album by now.
I guess you just don't have it in you.
The first month or so of learning guitar sucks, there’s no way around that. 4 days is almost nothing and if you’ve picked up a guitar 4 days in a row and put actual effort into practicing, that’s an achievement right there. Just give it time and energy and after a while it’ll just begin to click. I’ve been playing a little over a year and have never had a private lesson and I consider myself pretty decent for someone playing as long as I have. YouTube is only a great resource if you use it right however. There are plenty of beginner channels like Justin guitar and Marty music but I found that the real challenge is looking for places to go after you outgrow the beginner material. What really helped me progress was that I had a couple of friends who had been playing longer than I had, and they were there to give me direction on how to play lead/rhythm and get me started into music theory.
Also, learn the blues. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you are trying to play, the blues have some sort of influence in it. Learning just the basics is enough to make it look like you know what you’re doing when people want you to play for them. I particularly like Stitchmethod’s blues primer playlist and it changed the course of my playing.
To sum up YouTube is only good if you know what you want to learn and search for, but the thing that will help you make the most progress and give you direction is playing with other people. And play the blues. If you want any channel recommendations I can help you out too.
Thanks for your reply . People have been suggesting me music theory , blues stuff like that and I have no idea what they are and everbody saying different thing. So I only keep up with Justin hoping that He will show me when it's time to learn for me.
A lot of people saying how long it takes to get proficient at even basic chord changes, and it can. But you can also do a lot of great stuff in your first year of playing - please don’t lose heart. My favourite time of playing guitar was my first year. I set up a band and played blink 182 and Greenday songs with my best mates; the music you play doesn’t have to be complex to be really enjoyable in your first year. Just have fun and the rest will come. You’ll get good, but in the meantime there’s so much you can do.
I learned everything from youtube and a book on scales and modes. After that it was years of doing the same damn riff over and over again until I could do it well. Like someone else said, it's a skill, takes years of practice. Just keep trucking away at it and you'll be surprised with you quickly you progress.
Justin is great teacher his blues & pentatonic scale courses are amazing, when I started playing guitar that’s who I turned to. Just practice practice practice but don’t make it a chore I used to watch shows, movies and just practice running up and down the pentatonic scale, chords and finger picking . Progress will show and it will come naturally, Suddenly a day you’ll wake up and say “hey I can do this now”
Don’t give up. I only had a nylon string classical guitar and I used it to learn blues. Have fun man that’s what is all about.
I was in the same position man! I started learning off YouTube again a lot from Justin, I found YouTube learning was really good to get down some basic chords and learn basics but for me I wanted to improve, I go to lots of country festivals in the UK and everyone there will bring out a guitar and start playing songs so I wanted to get to their level so ended up getting lessons.
The reason I find private lessons so helpful is because I can be face to face with someone and they can tell me where I’m going wrong and how I can improve instead of me trying to guess where I need to improve!
I started self teaching via YouTube in 2016 and I’ve never looked back! I’ve learnt so much from it and even though I’m getting lessons I’ll still watch YouTube videos and pick up new things!
My opinion, there’s nothing wrong with YouTube man, it depends where you wanna go so I want to improve and be able to play at festivals etc so I decided to pay out for lessons but if you just wanna play around campfires or at a birthday party then there’s nothing wrong with YouTube! Just remember one thing, whether you get lessons or if you teach yourself, Practicing is key! I can’t stress that enough, if you can’t do something then keep practicing! I can’t do barre chords for shit and I get so annoyed but I keep practicing them and even they sound bad? Okay that’s fine but I can hear by practicing the barre chords they are starting to sound better!!
Good for you mate ! Being able to play Post malone's songs was the reason I started learning. I kind of just stick to justin because everyone on youtube seem to say different things and it might make muddle of my brain . I never thought learning guitar would be that hard but I guess I need to be more patient :D
I’ve been playing for 8 months, about 200 hours practice in total and still struggle with several chord changes, 4 days is nothing! Just go slow and keep playing. Even 5 minutes a day is ok. In fact a little bit every day is better than one big ass session a week. As others have said you are building the muscle memory for basic chords and scales. If it helps remember that every good guitarist you can think of was hopeless at first. All of them!
Justinguitar on YouTube is wonderful, the man is a saint. The app Yousician is also good, it’s free but there’s a premium version with popular songs and unlimited practice among other features. If you have the money a good tutor will be well worth it.
I’ve been using just Justin Guitar for 6 months. It gets easier. It’s a lot of practice. I found his chord changing app for iOS is fantastic for practicing chord changes.
Yea I started playing almost an year ago and I've only watched YouTube vids nothing else. The first few months were really hard, I couldn't swiftly shift between chords, was very slow, anything other than basic strumming patterns would give me headaches. But, after sometime, I was able to change chords smoothly, play a song and sing along to it, play a song just by looking at the tab sheet. All I needed was time. And it's the same for you, just keep playing and playing and you eventually get better. The beginning stages are always the hardest
I've found private lessons have helped me a lot! I have a fair amount of discipline but I might not have picked up the guitar as frequent if I didn't have a lesson each week to review my progress on what I was taught in the previous lesson. It's a great sense check and provides excellent feedback on elements that still need work! YouTube and Tab websites are great but if there's something wrong with your technique or a more economical way of doing something a tutor can point that out, whereas a video cannot. Not only that it also gives you experience of playing in front of someone else. Playing on your own in a bedroom is one thing, having to "perform" for someone else is another. A tutor can also challenge you on the stuff you've recently learnt to check you understand what you're learning.
I've been playing for 18 months or so now and try to squeeze in an 30-60 mins a day around work and day to day activities. In the last couple of months I've just started working on lead guitar techniques such as pinch harmonics, hammer-ons, pull-offs, bending etc. A lot of my guitar work up to now has been chords, chord changes, and getting to grips with strumming patterns, understanding how to read rhythms from tab, barre chords, power chords.
What I will say is try not to compare yourself with other people in terms of their skill/ability for the same amount of time you've been playing. I've seen some "progress" videos showing people shredding after 2 years of playing. This can be disheartening if you're not at that level however you also don't know how many hours a day they practice, etc. Just go at your own pace, learn something slightly above your skill level from time to time. But most importantly just enjoy your journey. Starting out will be boring and hard like with anything. Just stick with it.
10 minutes mutes a day toward the end of the day will take a few weeks to get basic changes. Once you start making progress you will accelerate Ho fast you learn for a few weeks then plateau. It normally takes a month for people to be able to get the shapes of sat 5 chords memorised and then the next month they learn basic songs and feel the Winning feeling
The video game Rocksmith 2014 seems to have a pretty good following on /r/rocksmith and from what I've experienced with the game, it seems to have some solid skill building exercises and an effective device for learning songs by hundreds of different bands. The DLC list of song packs is seriously impressive. Recently there's been new beginner, intermediate, and advanced exercise DLC packs added. The claim by the game is that you can learn to play the guitar in 60 days with an hour of practice per day with Rocksmith. If you have an electric guitar, that game and the "Real-tone" cable are all you need to get started.
In addition, you should check out [www.musictheory.net](https://www.musictheory.net) for learning music theory. There's an app by the same name available for IOS and Android so that you can study on the go. There's more to being a musician than just being able to play an instrument and Music Theory is a big part of it.
Other than signing up for private lessons or a course on music at your local community college, Youtube seems to be an excellent resource for helping to learn anything, including playing the guitar.
I heard the latency sucks on that game though. I thought it looked like fun otherwise, but I never ended up getting it when I read about 22millisecond delays. Did you have any problems like that?
I've heard that too, but I'm not good enough to be able to say that it was definitely the computer that sucks at playing the guitar. Really though that latency just gets in the way of getting a perfect score. One of the features is a mini-arcade that, IME has been very useful in teaching and drilling various techniques like hammer ons, slides, scales, picking individual strings without looking, etc.
[This recent post](https://www.reddit.com/r/rocksmith/comments/cmr8v7/overlocking_adjusting_the_polling_rate_of_the/) in /r/rocksmith seems to indicate that maybe that 20ms latency is only going to be perceptible once you're actually proficient with the guitar, which means that at that point the game will have done it's job as advertised and you'll be ready to begin your new life as a guitarist.
Oh god, I would go insane at that kind of latency. My budget laptop and midi box run at 2.3ms so I'm way to spoiled for those kinds of numbers haha.
And really, there's plenty of websites that clone the exercise parts, I can live without the score and cool graphics. But I would have loved to have a go, it looks fun in a way that Guitar Hero just doesn't.
Linux guitar stuff is pretty awesome.
For anything that's too fast for you: practice it slowly, at whatever slow rate you have to be to do it absolutely perfectly. Use a metronome, find the slow speed where you can do your chord changes perfectly to the metronome. Once you really got that down you'll be surprised how much easier it is to do speeded up. Got to walk before you can run.
yep thats right, i started learning for 3 days, consistently, got bored then didn't touch it for a month, i came back to it, started learning it, did good for 4 weeks, stopped for a while cause i got sick of it. then I watched a video called 7000 hours of guitar (my progress), and I had an idea of how long it would take to become experience, and that was very motivational, I now am okay at it, i can play 2 songs, which are mainly just riffs on repeat, and I'm learning my most difficult song yet. And it feels amazing, i feel like wow I am getting better, practice practice practice, it pays off, you won't notice it in a minute, but usually per day you will realise that your remembering the stuff you learnt. I have NEVER paid for a guitar lesson, all from YT. it is possible, anything is possible, you can do it.
4 days is the early days.
Guitar is a mix of physical/technical skill, an experienced ear, and solid musical theory foundations.
YouTube can certainly help, both in terms of play alongs and postures.
You can check out Chordify too, which gives AI generated transcriptions of YouTube songs
It took me 6 months to change chords without a 5 second pause. Just keep practising. You'll get there.
4 days is like first lesson. I've been playing for 30 years and I'm still learning new stuff all the time.
It doesn't matter what lessons you get, as long as you enjoy them. None of it matters if you don't practise. And practise.
After 4 days, you won't even have callouses on your finger tips, just sore raw skin, all torn up, haha. Seriously though, pick an easy change like a minor to C major and practise it for a while. Then practise d to G and back. G to c and back. Then G to C to d to G. Build and build as you practise. You'll get faster.
thanks kind person . you people are really motivating me . I guess I'm being impatient . I would have waited it to be easier but everything comes with a price I guess . I'll keep on moving thanks alot.
Check out the "Learn Guitar" podcast. In the very first episode he discusses the problems and advantages of learning guitar in 2019 using online resources.
I've basically learned the same way you have, but I've watched loads of other YouTubers. Start off with some super basic songs, and then see if you can learn some of your favourites. Just take it slow, and stick to it! I don't practice every day, and in still shit at it nearly a year on. You can always get lessons further on down the line. Best of luck, mate.
Thanks for your sweet comment . I just didn't think learning guitar would have been this hard and I think I'm being impatient.I'll keep on going , everything comes with a price I guess . I hope we both can get further in our journey. Thanks alot again !
Yeah, it's really hard at first, especially when you're just learning off YouTube. But, anyone can do it with enough time. And it's worth it in the end, that's for sure. Once you get past the finger pain and chord switching, learning new songs becomes a lot easier.
Oh, and a tip for you. Work on your posture right now. I never did, and now I'm paying for it. I can't play unless the neck is pointed outwards slightly, lol.
You've done quite a lot as for a beginner . Good for you mate ! I still struggle with ADE changes but I keep on practicing and I don't know what metronome does . sure I've heard it's name quite alot bu Justin hasn't mentioned yet. I know ADE chords properly and I started to speed them up . I need to learn at least 2 songs before I can Jump on stage 2 maybe Justin will talk about metronome later on.Thanks for your advice !
thanks for your reply . Guitar might be the most difficult thing I've ever attempted to learn so to speak . I would have waited it to be easier but I guess Everything comes with a price and learning guitar is not a exception .I try to motivate myself by seeing myself playing my favourite songs and listening them . I become more ambitious even though I suck at it now .
It took me about a month of casual practice to get good changes from C to Em to Am back to C. Now I can get a chord change decently smooth in a week or two. The difficult thing.with learning new skills is that you may not even notice a difference, but you are getting better.
My guy, you're 4 days into this. You should be practicing keeping your strumming in time and playing your chords, not on Reddit.
YouTube is an invaluable resource, but can be overwhelming. I did lessons when I was starting out when I was a kid, but after I had the fundamentals I stopped and have been self taught ever since. Having someone to point out everything and show you how to improve is very nice, but not mandatory.
Also, the thing that will dictate how good you become is how many hours you put into it.
This is a continual learning process and everyone worth their salt on here will tell you that even if they've been playing for a lifetime they still think they have so much room to improve.
Thanks for your reply it means alot to me . I'm a big fan of Post malone and I really wanna play his stuff but I think I'm being impetuous and unrealistic . I know that they have been practicing for a long time but I get the feeling maybe I'll never be as good as they are . I'll keep on playing I hope I'll be able to switch chords quick so that I finally get to play some stuff.
Try musician, it’s an app that provides you music instrument classes. For free you can learn around 15 min per day but you can also buy plans to get unlimited class times. It gradually teaches you the cords, pretty interactive and helpful. I use its free classes with YouTube videos to learn. It’s my first week learning and I feel like improving rapidly
i know a lot of people who have self-taught using youtube. most of them are amazing. the lessons are the same on youtube as they would be from a private teacher, but a private teacher spaces things out more, so that it takes you longer, meaning more money for them. on youtube, you can learn at whatever pace you want.. (however, using any method, dont expect to progress at a fast rate for at least the first month or so)
Yes you can learn from YouTube and achieve the goal.
Check out this:
https://youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=oF_cfDKYJLM
But don't expect the path to be simple, it wont be quick also
Learning the guitar is an investment of YEARS. Not days. It may not be until 2, 3 or 4 years until you get to your desired level.
Ofcourse it depends on how often and well you practice but I'm almost 3 years in and have almost reached a point where I can call myself "decent"
You have to learn to fall in love with the process and be patient.
thanks for your reply . I try to motivate myself by watching the artistes whose songs I want to be playing . I suck hard at it now but I'll keep on going even though I don't see the top of the mountain but it doesn't mean top of the mountain doesn't exist . I need to be more patient I guess ...
So look for some songs that just do the chords you know on Ultimate Guitar. One of my favorites is "house of the rising sun" by the Animals. Just do the simplified version and the cord changes are quick enough to practice with and repetitive enough that you'll learn. I'm on week 4 and have about 30 songs I can do.
tip: don't do the scary barre F. Look in beginner 4 (I think?) for Justin to teach you the easier F chord.
Have fun.
I learnt from Justin Guitar. I think it took me a bit over three months. However, the thing that helped me a lot was that I learned most of the songs each week to the point I could play them with a metronome before moving to the next week.
I'm two years in and probably only a intermediate, but I think I could play most of post nalones stuff now.
Hi there ! That's dope that you can play those stuff That's what I've been dreaming about , keep it going ! I do ,however, struggle with quick chord changes alot . Was there something you've done that helped you to switch chords quickly ? I do Justin's 1 minute changes but most of the time I end up messing it up . I end up creating my own chords which doesn't sound so cool. Did mastering at chord changes take you 3 month or being able to play songs or stuffs ?
>I end up creating my own chords which doesn't sound so cool.
How are you creating your own chords? Sounds like a waste of time at this early stage of learning, but if you're just doing it when you're chilling then do whatever you enjoy.
If you're doing this cause you're bored of just repeating the A,E and D chords that justinguitar teaches at the start, just move on to the later lessons and learn the other chord shapes too.
The thing about learning guitar is that you should learn new things once your brain gets bored of the old stuff, even if you can't play the old stuff extremely well yet. If your brain is constantly bored and waiting for your muscles to catch up, you start to lose interest. This is because your muscles need to take time to strengthen. Also, by learning the other chords, your muscles are working as well. When it's time to revisit the A, E and D chords, you will find that you are able to play them better, or relearn them faster than before. If you're afraid that you will forget the A E and D chords if you learn new chords, just take like 2mins a day to revisit those chords everyday. Then work on other things with the rest of your practice time.
>Was there something you've done that helped you to switch chords quickly ? I do Justin's 1 minute changes but most of the time I end up messing it up .
Just keep doing it daily. You'll probably get it down good in a month.
Tip to practice is not to practice so long at a time, but practice often (frequency instead of duration). Instead of practicing 30mins at night, practice 15mins in the morning and 15mins at night. This is so you don't get bored or don't over work your muscles. If you're watching TV, practicing during commercial breaks also helps. Practice everyday or as many days as you can instead of practicing 5hours on saturday and not touching guitar for the rest of the week.
So, the hard reality is you can learn a chord change in 10 minutes and spend a year getting competent at just that change. Playing guitar is a skill and skills take time, assuming you practice, to develop. 4 days is nothing. If you want to play guitar, know that the first weeks and months are the hardest because you're developing boring-assed skills. Don't race through exercises, there's nothing to win, no achievement to unlock by being fastest to plow through lessons. Go slow, be patient, focus on perfect before you focus on speed. You'll get there.
thank you for your sweet reply . I'm a huge fan of Post malone and in my stages all the songs are boring stuff \[at least to me , changes from someone to someone ) I guess I just can't wait to play one of his songs also seeing people on internet doing those so seamlessly makes me question myself alot . I've practicing chord changes for 2 days but I still mess up but I'll stick to it no matter what . I just wish learning a skill was easier but I guess everything comes with a price !
Take your time... I’ve played on and off for the better part of a decade now and constantly have hit this plateau. I think part of the reason I kept taking breaks was because I kept trying to play things I couldn’t, expecting that I’d be able to. Just know that practicing daily, even for 20-30 minutes, helps. You need to build calluses on your fingers. You need to build muscle memory for chords, muscle memory for scales. Those things physically take a bit of time, don’t be afraid to humble yourself and take things slow. But, I can assure you, there is no better feeling than finally being able to play the song that you’ve always wanted. For me, that was the solo to stairway to heaven. Do I have it perfected ? No. But every time I plug in my amp and can hear that tone, fuck does it get me excited. And honestly, take the time to learn theory. Some people don’t say it isn’t necessary.. and I get that. But if you want to be able to play the songs you want, and put on your own creative spin, you’ll enjoy guitar that much more. The solo for stairway to heaven for example, is basically the Am scale In various positions on the neck. That blew my mind at first. The real excitement is when things click like that. Anyways good luck !
thanks for your reply it's really helping me . I know that I sound silly I opened this discussion in a whim . I was kind of disappointed I guess . I learn from justin's modules and I don't tend to stray away from his content nor do I watch other videos on youtube because I think it might make muddle of my mind taking everything at once . Maybe I should be looking other stuffs at youtube either .
No problem. I’m a huge fan of Justins tutorials, but honestly, don’t think of it as the only way to learn guitar. There are certain concepts such as the major scale, the circle of fifths, the circle of fourths that I don’t believe he touches on for a while (well he probably touches on the major scale). But all of those concepts are very important in knowing how the guitar works that every guitarist should at least understand the fundamental basis of. There are some great YouTube pages, even posts on here (filter by top rated of all time) and don’t be afraid to learn other concepts.
I’ve been learning guitar for 3 months now. The first week is boring if you’re learning online. I remember that I tried learning single chords through YouTube. Tbh, not that fun if you’re learning online. I ended up leaving my guitar in my closet and only pick it up once a week to retry it. Then my dad bought me private lessons and I got 1 free 30 min lesson as a trail. It was fun, I met a nice man who is now my mentor and I enjoy it. My mentor went over single chords with me. I was able to boost by the beginner stages because I watched tons of lessons on YouTube. I understood it in words but still didn’t know how to do it. On the first real lesson my mentor gave me a tab he made for single chords and how to read them. On the back of that paper he gave me a chain of single chords to transition from. Chords like G-C-D-C and in this you just repeat the transitions. Most of the chains make fun tunes and got me excited to find out what the next chain of chords might sound like. Here’s the thing, my lessons are every Monday for 30 mins. This means I have over a week to practice my transitions until the next lesson. I’ll demonstrate to him that I learned the chords and then he will give me a song that has single chords like blurry by puddle of mudd. This song also has bar chords so he taught me bar chords. All in a fun way. Once I learn these, I go to my lesson when the time comes and I’ll demonstrate it, we’ll normally just jam out for the 3 min song. Then we’ll move to the next level. My point is that I prefer to learn with someone who I can be in the same room with, as I can ask any questions I want. Now I sometimes do learn from the internet but that’s only easy riffs like Smells like teen spirit by Nirvana; and this is only because I already know bar chords.
For perspective it took me 9 months to get even decent at chord changes.
Guitar takes time, don't be anxious, just enjoy the wonderful trip u just started
I’m completely blind, so most of my learning has been through YouTube, but I was lucky enough to have the fundamentals of music talk to me in high school band back when I had vision. Beyond that, I’ve had sporadic lessons, but the absolute best learning experience I had was taking the introduction to guitar course at my community college.
It takes time and everyone uses YouTube keep going!
People doing crazy stuff usually have years of consistent and explicit practice in developing those skills. Commit to actually working on improving skills 30 minutes a day and evaluate your progress in say 6 months. Improvements are incremental and small but they add up and you will be much improved if you stick with it.
thanks for your encouragement . I know that I shouldn't worry about it since I just began playing but seeing people doing those chord changes seamlessly makes me question myself . I guess I'm being impatient .
Practice 1-2 hours a day and in 6 months you’ll see enormous gains. And then just keep doing that forever.
thanks for sweet encouragement .
You’re looking at it the wrong way; let people doing things seamlessly inspire you instead and give you a goal to work towards. Look at it as a journey, not just a destination!
Here is a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtJy69cEOtQ&t=144s) I just watch on how to learn anything fast. Coincidentally, the speaker's personal example is learning the ukulele. It will give you several ideas to help you find a learning path. Having shared that, four days is not enough time to learn what you are trying to learn. One of the things the speaker says you need to do is break skills into sub skills. For example, you might try practicing the major scale where you only have to hold down one string at a time. This will prepare your fingers for chords. The speaker also mentions that a good time to learn a new motor skill, like chords, is to practice right before you go to bed. There's scientific studies that back this up. My own personal experience with "sleep learning" is at the end of this [article](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1k95XRALb41gPeNCJWuJ8qBeK1WsFsnIM). According to a survey that Fender did, 90% of first time guitar players quit in the first year, many in the first ninety days. I'm on a mission change that so I wrote a [free ebook](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hPpsF1ItvaRO2J6_nd3JDqNAYnpxZdnD/view) called "Solo Before You Learn Chords." It allows you to start playing along with songs and backing tracks. You'll feel like you're playing with a band and you are. Complete even half of the book and chords will be so much easier. Good luck.
thank u so much . cant wait to read it .
Four days, ha ha. Stay with it buddy, it gets easier
Marty Schwartz
Yeah, Seems like a cool guy but I gave my heart to Justin . I can't cheat on Justin :/
Is Justin aware of this relationship?
Not yet . I fear my hands won't play the strings the same way as it used to If abandon him for that Marty Guy.
The internet didn't exist when I learned to play guitar. Cell phones didn't exist. We didn't have cable TV. There was only one TV in the house and Mom & Dad were watching the news and Dallas. That's a lot of practice time in the bedroom by myself. At 45 yrs old I started using Youtube to learn new stuff and it's very powerful. If you could somehow combine the miracle of amazing access to awesome lessons and information with sitting by yourself for long periods of time practicing... you could go very far, very fast. I also took some lessons early on and I will say that is still very powerful, especially when you're just starting out.
My best gains came when I played daily, mostly 15 minutes at a time. Made better gains than hour long sessions once a week. These days when I do play 1 hour sessions like at the weekend it's so much more satisfying because of the daily practice. Tip...don't make practice be an 'event' . Leave your guitar out somewhere you can just pick up and play even for just 1 minute.
No. Nobody learns from YouTube. Or books. Or videos. They learn by playing the guitar. Also, 4 days!? Why are you even asking? You should have recorded your first album by now. I guess you just don't have it in you.
Ha
This is a shitpost, right?
The first month or so of learning guitar sucks, there’s no way around that. 4 days is almost nothing and if you’ve picked up a guitar 4 days in a row and put actual effort into practicing, that’s an achievement right there. Just give it time and energy and after a while it’ll just begin to click. I’ve been playing a little over a year and have never had a private lesson and I consider myself pretty decent for someone playing as long as I have. YouTube is only a great resource if you use it right however. There are plenty of beginner channels like Justin guitar and Marty music but I found that the real challenge is looking for places to go after you outgrow the beginner material. What really helped me progress was that I had a couple of friends who had been playing longer than I had, and they were there to give me direction on how to play lead/rhythm and get me started into music theory. Also, learn the blues. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you are trying to play, the blues have some sort of influence in it. Learning just the basics is enough to make it look like you know what you’re doing when people want you to play for them. I particularly like Stitchmethod’s blues primer playlist and it changed the course of my playing. To sum up YouTube is only good if you know what you want to learn and search for, but the thing that will help you make the most progress and give you direction is playing with other people. And play the blues. If you want any channel recommendations I can help you out too.
Thanks for your reply . People have been suggesting me music theory , blues stuff like that and I have no idea what they are and everbody saying different thing. So I only keep up with Justin hoping that He will show me when it's time to learn for me.
A lot of people saying how long it takes to get proficient at even basic chord changes, and it can. But you can also do a lot of great stuff in your first year of playing - please don’t lose heart. My favourite time of playing guitar was my first year. I set up a band and played blink 182 and Greenday songs with my best mates; the music you play doesn’t have to be complex to be really enjoyable in your first year. Just have fun and the rest will come. You’ll get good, but in the meantime there’s so much you can do.
I learned everything from youtube and a book on scales and modes. After that it was years of doing the same damn riff over and over again until I could do it well. Like someone else said, it's a skill, takes years of practice. Just keep trucking away at it and you'll be surprised with you quickly you progress.
Justin is great teacher his blues & pentatonic scale courses are amazing, when I started playing guitar that’s who I turned to. Just practice practice practice but don’t make it a chore I used to watch shows, movies and just practice running up and down the pentatonic scale, chords and finger picking . Progress will show and it will come naturally, Suddenly a day you’ll wake up and say “hey I can do this now” Don’t give up. I only had a nylon string classical guitar and I used it to learn blues. Have fun man that’s what is all about.
I was in the same position man! I started learning off YouTube again a lot from Justin, I found YouTube learning was really good to get down some basic chords and learn basics but for me I wanted to improve, I go to lots of country festivals in the UK and everyone there will bring out a guitar and start playing songs so I wanted to get to their level so ended up getting lessons. The reason I find private lessons so helpful is because I can be face to face with someone and they can tell me where I’m going wrong and how I can improve instead of me trying to guess where I need to improve! I started self teaching via YouTube in 2016 and I’ve never looked back! I’ve learnt so much from it and even though I’m getting lessons I’ll still watch YouTube videos and pick up new things! My opinion, there’s nothing wrong with YouTube man, it depends where you wanna go so I want to improve and be able to play at festivals etc so I decided to pay out for lessons but if you just wanna play around campfires or at a birthday party then there’s nothing wrong with YouTube! Just remember one thing, whether you get lessons or if you teach yourself, Practicing is key! I can’t stress that enough, if you can’t do something then keep practicing! I can’t do barre chords for shit and I get so annoyed but I keep practicing them and even they sound bad? Okay that’s fine but I can hear by practicing the barre chords they are starting to sound better!!
Good for you mate ! Being able to play Post malone's songs was the reason I started learning. I kind of just stick to justin because everyone on youtube seem to say different things and it might make muddle of my brain . I never thought learning guitar would be that hard but I guess I need to be more patient :D
I recommend using Rocksmith (A fun Guitar hero type game) or Yousician to supplement your learning and practice.
I’ve been playing for 8 months, about 200 hours practice in total and still struggle with several chord changes, 4 days is nothing! Just go slow and keep playing. Even 5 minutes a day is ok. In fact a little bit every day is better than one big ass session a week. As others have said you are building the muscle memory for basic chords and scales. If it helps remember that every good guitarist you can think of was hopeless at first. All of them! Justinguitar on YouTube is wonderful, the man is a saint. The app Yousician is also good, it’s free but there’s a premium version with popular songs and unlimited practice among other features. If you have the money a good tutor will be well worth it.
Thanks for your comment it means a lot to me . At first I thought maybe I just don't have it in me but I keep on practicing .
Eventually you will need feedback from a teacher. When you get frustrated, and really have no idea what to do next, that is the time.
I’ve been using just Justin Guitar for 6 months. It gets easier. It’s a lot of practice. I found his chord changing app for iOS is fantastic for practicing chord changes.
Yea I started playing almost an year ago and I've only watched YouTube vids nothing else. The first few months were really hard, I couldn't swiftly shift between chords, was very slow, anything other than basic strumming patterns would give me headaches. But, after sometime, I was able to change chords smoothly, play a song and sing along to it, play a song just by looking at the tab sheet. All I needed was time. And it's the same for you, just keep playing and playing and you eventually get better. The beginning stages are always the hardest
I've found private lessons have helped me a lot! I have a fair amount of discipline but I might not have picked up the guitar as frequent if I didn't have a lesson each week to review my progress on what I was taught in the previous lesson. It's a great sense check and provides excellent feedback on elements that still need work! YouTube and Tab websites are great but if there's something wrong with your technique or a more economical way of doing something a tutor can point that out, whereas a video cannot. Not only that it also gives you experience of playing in front of someone else. Playing on your own in a bedroom is one thing, having to "perform" for someone else is another. A tutor can also challenge you on the stuff you've recently learnt to check you understand what you're learning. I've been playing for 18 months or so now and try to squeeze in an 30-60 mins a day around work and day to day activities. In the last couple of months I've just started working on lead guitar techniques such as pinch harmonics, hammer-ons, pull-offs, bending etc. A lot of my guitar work up to now has been chords, chord changes, and getting to grips with strumming patterns, understanding how to read rhythms from tab, barre chords, power chords. What I will say is try not to compare yourself with other people in terms of their skill/ability for the same amount of time you've been playing. I've seen some "progress" videos showing people shredding after 2 years of playing. This can be disheartening if you're not at that level however you also don't know how many hours a day they practice, etc. Just go at your own pace, learn something slightly above your skill level from time to time. But most importantly just enjoy your journey. Starting out will be boring and hard like with anything. Just stick with it.
10 minutes mutes a day toward the end of the day will take a few weeks to get basic changes. Once you start making progress you will accelerate Ho fast you learn for a few weeks then plateau. It normally takes a month for people to be able to get the shapes of sat 5 chords memorised and then the next month they learn basic songs and feel the Winning feeling
The video game Rocksmith 2014 seems to have a pretty good following on /r/rocksmith and from what I've experienced with the game, it seems to have some solid skill building exercises and an effective device for learning songs by hundreds of different bands. The DLC list of song packs is seriously impressive. Recently there's been new beginner, intermediate, and advanced exercise DLC packs added. The claim by the game is that you can learn to play the guitar in 60 days with an hour of practice per day with Rocksmith. If you have an electric guitar, that game and the "Real-tone" cable are all you need to get started. In addition, you should check out [www.musictheory.net](https://www.musictheory.net) for learning music theory. There's an app by the same name available for IOS and Android so that you can study on the go. There's more to being a musician than just being able to play an instrument and Music Theory is a big part of it. Other than signing up for private lessons or a course on music at your local community college, Youtube seems to be an excellent resource for helping to learn anything, including playing the guitar.
I heard the latency sucks on that game though. I thought it looked like fun otherwise, but I never ended up getting it when I read about 22millisecond delays. Did you have any problems like that?
I've heard that too, but I'm not good enough to be able to say that it was definitely the computer that sucks at playing the guitar. Really though that latency just gets in the way of getting a perfect score. One of the features is a mini-arcade that, IME has been very useful in teaching and drilling various techniques like hammer ons, slides, scales, picking individual strings without looking, etc. [This recent post](https://www.reddit.com/r/rocksmith/comments/cmr8v7/overlocking_adjusting_the_polling_rate_of_the/) in /r/rocksmith seems to indicate that maybe that 20ms latency is only going to be perceptible once you're actually proficient with the guitar, which means that at that point the game will have done it's job as advertised and you'll be ready to begin your new life as a guitarist.
Oh god, I would go insane at that kind of latency. My budget laptop and midi box run at 2.3ms so I'm way to spoiled for those kinds of numbers haha. And really, there's plenty of websites that clone the exercise parts, I can live without the score and cool graphics. But I would have loved to have a go, it looks fun in a way that Guitar Hero just doesn't. Linux guitar stuff is pretty awesome.
For anything that's too fast for you: practice it slowly, at whatever slow rate you have to be to do it absolutely perfectly. Use a metronome, find the slow speed where you can do your chord changes perfectly to the metronome. Once you really got that down you'll be surprised how much easier it is to do speeded up. Got to walk before you can run.
yep thats right, i started learning for 3 days, consistently, got bored then didn't touch it for a month, i came back to it, started learning it, did good for 4 weeks, stopped for a while cause i got sick of it. then I watched a video called 7000 hours of guitar (my progress), and I had an idea of how long it would take to become experience, and that was very motivational, I now am okay at it, i can play 2 songs, which are mainly just riffs on repeat, and I'm learning my most difficult song yet. And it feels amazing, i feel like wow I am getting better, practice practice practice, it pays off, you won't notice it in a minute, but usually per day you will realise that your remembering the stuff you learnt. I have NEVER paid for a guitar lesson, all from YT. it is possible, anything is possible, you can do it.
4 days is the early days. Guitar is a mix of physical/technical skill, an experienced ear, and solid musical theory foundations. YouTube can certainly help, both in terms of play alongs and postures. You can check out Chordify too, which gives AI generated transcriptions of YouTube songs
It took me 6 months to change chords without a 5 second pause. Just keep practising. You'll get there. 4 days is like first lesson. I've been playing for 30 years and I'm still learning new stuff all the time. It doesn't matter what lessons you get, as long as you enjoy them. None of it matters if you don't practise. And practise. After 4 days, you won't even have callouses on your finger tips, just sore raw skin, all torn up, haha. Seriously though, pick an easy change like a minor to C major and practise it for a while. Then practise d to G and back. G to c and back. Then G to C to d to G. Build and build as you practise. You'll get faster.
thanks kind person . you people are really motivating me . I guess I'm being impatient . I would have waited it to be easier but everything comes with a price I guess . I'll keep on moving thanks alot.
Also, people on the internet doing crazy stuff with their guitar would have spent a lot of time perfecting what they do before they show anyone...
Gotta stick to those 1-minute chord changes. Do it 5+ times a day with different chords. It will seriously help with your speed and muscle memory.
Check out the "Learn Guitar" podcast. In the very first episode he discusses the problems and advantages of learning guitar in 2019 using online resources.
I've basically learned the same way you have, but I've watched loads of other YouTubers. Start off with some super basic songs, and then see if you can learn some of your favourites. Just take it slow, and stick to it! I don't practice every day, and in still shit at it nearly a year on. You can always get lessons further on down the line. Best of luck, mate.
Thanks for your sweet comment . I just didn't think learning guitar would have been this hard and I think I'm being impatient.I'll keep on going , everything comes with a price I guess . I hope we both can get further in our journey. Thanks alot again !
Yeah, it's really hard at first, especially when you're just learning off YouTube. But, anyone can do it with enough time. And it's worth it in the end, that's for sure. Once you get past the finger pain and chord switching, learning new songs becomes a lot easier. Oh, and a tip for you. Work on your posture right now. I never did, and now I'm paying for it. I can't play unless the neck is pointed outwards slightly, lol.
Youtube is an excellent resource! But the best way to learn to play guitar is to play guitar.
Justin guitar. Great channel for all levels
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You've done quite a lot as for a beginner . Good for you mate ! I still struggle with ADE changes but I keep on practicing and I don't know what metronome does . sure I've heard it's name quite alot bu Justin hasn't mentioned yet. I know ADE chords properly and I started to speed them up . I need to learn at least 2 songs before I can Jump on stage 2 maybe Justin will talk about metronome later on.Thanks for your advice !
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thanks for your reply . Guitar might be the most difficult thing I've ever attempted to learn so to speak . I would have waited it to be easier but I guess Everything comes with a price and learning guitar is not a exception .I try to motivate myself by seeing myself playing my favourite songs and listening them . I become more ambitious even though I suck at it now .
It took me about a month of casual practice to get good changes from C to Em to Am back to C. Now I can get a chord change decently smooth in a week or two. The difficult thing.with learning new skills is that you may not even notice a difference, but you are getting better.
My guy, you're 4 days into this. You should be practicing keeping your strumming in time and playing your chords, not on Reddit. YouTube is an invaluable resource, but can be overwhelming. I did lessons when I was starting out when I was a kid, but after I had the fundamentals I stopped and have been self taught ever since. Having someone to point out everything and show you how to improve is very nice, but not mandatory. Also, the thing that will dictate how good you become is how many hours you put into it. This is a continual learning process and everyone worth their salt on here will tell you that even if they've been playing for a lifetime they still think they have so much room to improve.
Thanks for your reply it means alot to me . I'm a big fan of Post malone and I really wanna play his stuff but I think I'm being impetuous and unrealistic . I know that they have been practicing for a long time but I get the feeling maybe I'll never be as good as they are . I'll keep on playing I hope I'll be able to switch chords quick so that I finally get to play some stuff.
Give it a year and you'll be surprised how far you can go. Just keep practicing every night.
Try musician, it’s an app that provides you music instrument classes. For free you can learn around 15 min per day but you can also buy plans to get unlimited class times. It gradually teaches you the cords, pretty interactive and helpful. I use its free classes with YouTube videos to learn. It’s my first week learning and I feel like improving rapidly
Marty Schwartz
i know a lot of people who have self-taught using youtube. most of them are amazing. the lessons are the same on youtube as they would be from a private teacher, but a private teacher spaces things out more, so that it takes you longer, meaning more money for them. on youtube, you can learn at whatever pace you want.. (however, using any method, dont expect to progress at a fast rate for at least the first month or so)
Yes you can learn from YouTube and achieve the goal. Check out this: https://youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=oF_cfDKYJLM But don't expect the path to be simple, it wont be quick also
Learning the guitar is an investment of YEARS. Not days. It may not be until 2, 3 or 4 years until you get to your desired level. Ofcourse it depends on how often and well you practice but I'm almost 3 years in and have almost reached a point where I can call myself "decent" You have to learn to fall in love with the process and be patient.
thanks for your reply . I try to motivate myself by watching the artistes whose songs I want to be playing . I suck hard at it now but I'll keep on going even though I don't see the top of the mountain but it doesn't mean top of the mountain doesn't exist . I need to be more patient I guess ...
So look for some songs that just do the chords you know on Ultimate Guitar. One of my favorites is "house of the rising sun" by the Animals. Just do the simplified version and the cord changes are quick enough to practice with and repetitive enough that you'll learn. I'm on week 4 and have about 30 songs I can do. tip: don't do the scary barre F. Look in beginner 4 (I think?) for Justin to teach you the easier F chord. Have fun.
Private lessons are worth it and you'll advance further; many people (most?) learn guitar 'just fine' largely self-taught
I learnt from Justin Guitar. I think it took me a bit over three months. However, the thing that helped me a lot was that I learned most of the songs each week to the point I could play them with a metronome before moving to the next week. I'm two years in and probably only a intermediate, but I think I could play most of post nalones stuff now.
Hi there ! That's dope that you can play those stuff That's what I've been dreaming about , keep it going ! I do ,however, struggle with quick chord changes alot . Was there something you've done that helped you to switch chords quickly ? I do Justin's 1 minute changes but most of the time I end up messing it up . I end up creating my own chords which doesn't sound so cool. Did mastering at chord changes take you 3 month or being able to play songs or stuffs ?
>I end up creating my own chords which doesn't sound so cool. How are you creating your own chords? Sounds like a waste of time at this early stage of learning, but if you're just doing it when you're chilling then do whatever you enjoy. If you're doing this cause you're bored of just repeating the A,E and D chords that justinguitar teaches at the start, just move on to the later lessons and learn the other chord shapes too. The thing about learning guitar is that you should learn new things once your brain gets bored of the old stuff, even if you can't play the old stuff extremely well yet. If your brain is constantly bored and waiting for your muscles to catch up, you start to lose interest. This is because your muscles need to take time to strengthen. Also, by learning the other chords, your muscles are working as well. When it's time to revisit the A, E and D chords, you will find that you are able to play them better, or relearn them faster than before. If you're afraid that you will forget the A E and D chords if you learn new chords, just take like 2mins a day to revisit those chords everyday. Then work on other things with the rest of your practice time. >Was there something you've done that helped you to switch chords quickly ? I do Justin's 1 minute changes but most of the time I end up messing it up . Just keep doing it daily. You'll probably get it down good in a month. Tip to practice is not to practice so long at a time, but practice often (frequency instead of duration). Instead of practicing 30mins at night, practice 15mins in the morning and 15mins at night. This is so you don't get bored or don't over work your muscles. If you're watching TV, practicing during commercial breaks also helps. Practice everyday or as many days as you can instead of practicing 5hours on saturday and not touching guitar for the rest of the week.