Learning the guitar
Playing the guitar is about playing songs to the entertainment of others and for your pleasure. To achieve this, first, some basics need are learned along with some techniques and how to apply them. Some songs are then learned using these basics and techniques. From this starting block, the student develops how to perform the songs. The circle then starts again moving on from the basics and utilising more knowledge of the instrument and further techniques. The success of achieving playing a few songs leads to growth in a fun and exciting hobby or career.
Is it easy to learn guitar?
The guitar is not the easiest of instruments to start playing. On a piano you are shown where the first note is, you press down on the key, and the pitch you want comes out. To move on to the next tone, you move the required finger over it and press down. Now two notes have been played and sounding good. On the guitar, this is quite a different task. You learn where the first note is, you then have to balance guitar, push the finger down at that correct fret, coordinate the other hand to pluck the right string. Even then it may not sound correct due to how we are holding our fingers, our hands, not pressing hard enough, plucking wrong string etc. Then we move onto the next note.
You should not be put off; these very things are what makes the guitar a pleasure to play and to listen to when being performed well. The very fact that a guitarist directly affects the sound they are producing from the guitar by the fingers in both hands makes it a very expressive instrument. It doesn't have to be mastered to sound right either. Once a player can master the first few notes, development is quick. For a while that is, as with everything we humans learn, we appear to reach a plateau, and this can be frustrating. A good teacher will take you beyond this point and take steps to limit the effect of any plateau.
You should not be put off; these very things are what makes the guitar a pleasure to play and to listen to when being performed well. The very fact that a guitarist directly affects the sound they are producing from the guitar by the fingers in both hands makes it a very expressive instrument. It doesn't have to be mastered to sound right either. Once a player can master the first few notes, development is quick. For a while that is, as with everything we humans learn, we appear to reach a plateau, and this can be frustrating. A good teacher will take you beyond this point and take steps to limit the effect of any plateau.
The Beginner Student
The beginning guitarists are not just those who have never played. They also include those up to a level that can change between open chords fluently, strum simple rhythms, play simple melodies and may know a few scales. A beginner needs to practise nearly every day, if not every day, and get guidance on proper technique before any bad habits become their norm. In the early stages, there is a bit of physical development to take place. Strength needs built up in fingers and calluses need to grow. The beginner needs to learn how to practise. It is not picking up the information and going away to work on it. Knowing how to master the guitar is the "wax on, wax off" aspect of guitar playing. You can learn guitar and reach a high level without learning how to practise correctly, but you can get there a lot faster if you have the know-how. At the end of the beginning stages, most of the physical development required has taken place; the majority of the remaining growth is the control of the fingers and hands.
The Intermediate Student
The intermediate guitarist can play Major, Minor, and Dominant Barre chords, including the 7th chords all over the neck. The can strum more complex rhythms, playing melody lines adding expressive techniques of vibrato, bending, slides, muting, rakes. Know the Major, Minor, Pentatonic, and blues scales, Some arpeggios and can improvise using these scales and arpeggios to some extent. The last major part of the physical development takes place here learning how to bend strings and playing Barre chords. The intermediate player faces a lot of challenges. Learning to play Barre chords correctly can feel almost like being a beginner again. Learning to bend strings and do vibrato seems sore and hopeless at the start. Not only that but the intermediate guitarists get bombarded with conflicting information from all sources which can lead to them getting lost on their path. For this stage, the dynamic between teacher and student must change for the student to develop; this is where the coaching part starts to come into play. The information the student is picking up must be explored together with the teacher to look into it's practical uses and whether it should be incorporated into the students playing. Like learning to practise, learning to incorporate or disregard alternative techniques, styles, ideas into a persons guitar playing is a must in the development of the student.
The Advancing Student
The advancing student is those that can pick up the guitar and play. The guitarists that know the standard scales in every position on the guitars neck, the structure of chords, how to create chord shapes, and altered chords. They can play intricate rhythm patterns, use advanced techniques as part of their playing. The Advancing student can learn songs quickly and play along with other musicians to a reasonable level without having to learn a song first. Generally, Certain guitar playing aspects have been ignored or pushed to the side and need to learn to progress further and are missing from their repertoire. At this stage, the student needs significant coaching, discussions on the various techniques, observations of the students playing. Very often, the student needs someone else to identify the holes in their playing and provide solutions to make their playing cleaner. Support and mentoring are essential at this point as the student is getting into areas of playing where there are fewer people to ask for advice.
The Expert Player
The experts know the fretboard inside out, they know the chords, rhythms, techniques and would be classed as a top-level guitarist. However, with the guitar, there is always something to learn or improve. Read an interview with a top-level guitarist. At some point, they will talk about spending time working on this or that aspect of playing to keep improving, or how they combine different techniques to try something new or different. Sometimes you hear mention of their discussions with other guitarists and what they have learned from them. The learning never stops.