How did you learn guitar?

Philly_Q

Neil said:

I then bought this book, complete with record (still have it) and I was off.

Not much better now TBH!

I had that book too!

Very much "of its time", as I recall - even in 1981 when I bought it, pictures of Sam Andrew and John Cipollina (I think they were in it!) were a bit puzzling.

I don't remember learning very much, if anything, from it (which perhaps was foreshadowing the next 35 years, I should've realised and just given up then...).

I had another book called "Original Hendrix" by Steve Tarshis - I think I did learn quite a lot from that one although I've forgotten nearly all of it now.

 

scrumhalf

Neil said:

A lovely old chap who was a jazzer taught me A-D-E and left me to it.

I then bought this book, complete with record (still have it) and I was off.

Not much better now TBH!

That's the book! I may also have the flexidisc somewhere, I used it to tune the guitar before I bought an electric tuner.

Sassafras

Amazing!
The one time I make a serious comment, I get a LOL.

Vibetronic

I had a really good teacher at school from 11-18, then was lucky enough to find a teacher at university for a couple of years. He was an absolute genius and really helped my playing along; totally on a par with Dave Kilminster/Guthrie Govan at that time (and in Aberystwyth of all places). Since then I've learnt stuff from books, went on a course at the IGF a few years back, and watch instructional stuff on youtube (Paul Gilbert and Guthrie Govan talk a lot of sense, but there's loads more out there obviously). There's still so much to learn!

sweepy

I remember the excitement when the Korg GT6 tuner came out ! it was a revelation

FX_Munkee

When I was eight I wanted to be a cowboy (careers advice at Primary school was non-existent in those days).
So when the school offered music tuition I chose guitar. I then spent the next few years learning classical grades.
38 years later I am still not a cowboy.
What was the question again?

underdog

@Philly_Q  I have that Hendrix book in my music room

For me, I had an encore strat first (could explain my hate of strats to this day) plonked around and figured the odd melody out then a friend I met in my late teens showed me how to actually play as he was freaking awesome ( it turns out it's @thisisguitar  )then while he kept playing every second of the day and getting better I got found drink and women and was content playing the few bits he taught me (pearl Jam, nirvana etc)

Later in life it was actually Oasis that got me to actually learn chords after I bought a tab book, the. Stereophonics came after that. Now with YouTube etc it's so accessible it makes me jealous 

lasermonkey

I'm completely self-taught, which helps explain my lack of technical ability.
 Once I'd worked out a few open chords and how to move a barre chord, I started jamming with friends who could play. I don't think I can stress just how important that was to my progress. Once you've learnt the first few songs, your confidence increases, and I think this is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. Definitely learn some songs. Nothing too difficult, and something you like.
I also got into taping myself and playing along with that. I had one of those double cassette mini HiFis and I'd record myself playing, put that cassette into the playback only deck and then record myself accompanying that, building up layer upon layer.
It was very low-tech, but not only was it a good practice tool, I also learnt how to come up with complimentary guitar parts. Of course, it's much easier to do these days with cheap digital recording.

thermionic

Neil said:

A lovely old chap who was a jazzer taught me A-D-E and left me to it.

I then bought this book, complete with record (still have it) and I was off.

Not much better now TBH!

I think this was the second book I bought after Play In A Day. This was going to make me into a blistering lead guitarist, able to improvise fantastic solos at the drop of a hat! I think I learnt the Blues Scale and a jazz scale from it...

I then got a very poorly-transcribed Hendrix tab book (Purple Haze is F - G sharp - B flat... what?). Most of what I learnt was from staring at the guitar player's left hand at gigs and trying to recreate it when I got home.

Babyfrank

When I was 14 (1982) I asked for (and was given) an Acoustic for my birthday... didn't get the opportunity to choose it myself, it was obviously just what the guy in the local music shop recommended to my folks. No-name, awful action that made anything but cowboy chords a challenge. Was also given Vol 1 of "The Complete Guitar Player" by Russ Shipton.  Worked my way through that, then borrowed "Rush for Easy Guitar" from a mate, and figured out a  bunch of those songs.

After that it was all by ear; the first Rush album, Back in Black, Rainbow Rising.  Didn't graduate to Electric for another 3 years.... as others have commented there's a lot to be said for starting on a crappy acoustic - if you can play that, you can play anything that's thrown at you. You youngsters with your affordable low-action guitars and complete recording studios in your phone don't know you're born...  

MagicPigDetective

Some lessons at school for the basics, then tab books, guitar world tabs and lessons and playing along to nirvana, soundgarden etc. 

I've been playing for 25 but never got that good. Since last August I've taken weekly lessons and have improved far more in the last 8 months than I did over those 25 years. Also only started using youtube guitar videos last year; what an incredible resource for learning. 

Neil

Philly_Q said:

Neil said:

I then bought this book, complete with record (still have it) and I was off.

Not much better now TBH!

I had that book too!

Very much "of its time", as I recall - even in 1981 when I bought it, pictures of Sam Andrew and John Cipollina (I think they were in it!) were a bit puzzling.

I don't remember learning very much, if anything, from it (which perhaps was foreshadowing the next 35 years, I should've realised and just given up then...).

I had another book called "Original Hendrix" by Steve Tarshis - I think I did learn quite a lot from that one although I've forgotten nearly all of it now.

 

I've got the hendrix book too!

Pretty good book for Hendrixy chords.

Philly_Q

Did anyone have a book called the Heavy Guitar Bible? 

It wasn't "heavy" at all in the sense we'd understand it today, it was (if I remember right) another early '70s effort not a million miles from the Harvey Vinson book, with lots of scales and stuff but with strange line drawings rather than photos. 

Again, I don't think I actually learned anything from it.

Rocker

I played accordion, mouth organ, tin whistle and piccolo in a trad Irish group in or around 1968 and decided one day (around 1971) to learn the guitar.  I started on an acoustic and similar to @Sassafras, there were no electronic tuners in those days.  I tuned from a set of pitch pipes and it took me about six months work to be comfortable tuning my guitar.  There were very few 'how to play' guitar books in Ireland in the early 1970s and absolutely no guitar teachers in the Midlands.  None.  So I learned from friends and they learned from me.  A self help group!

Then I started to try to sing.  At that time the pub music scene in Ireland was pretty strong, pubs had music on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.  Without really trying, I got to play with a lot of local pub bands.  By this stage I had stopped playing the accordion and learned very basic drums.  Being more than a singing(??) guitar player made me more employable!

Then I went electric!  By this stage I had befriended a lot of the guitar players in Showbands.  They showed me chords I had never heard of, how to get a good sound from my amp and how to tune my guitar by ear.  At one stage I was playing with a resident rock band on Wednesday nights, weddings most Saturdays and pubs every weekend night I was available.  Great fun but very hard work.

It all came to a sudden end when I was loading our gear into a trailer after a pub gig.  A drunken driver crashed into the trailer, smashed me up (I was very very close to death for three or more days).  I did not pick up a guitar for perhaps fifteen years [actually around the time Princess Diana was buried] and am now playing bass too.  I started playing bass last year, mainly to see what a bass brings to a band, and loved it.

When I played in the 1970s, I had one electric guitar and a Suzuki acoustic.  A Marshall 50 watt non master amp and a Marshall 4 * 12" cab served me well after I got shut of a Carlsboro combo.  Everything was so much simpler back then.

thomasross20

Folk are always quick on the news to call themselves experts but on guitar I still feel a novice!!

Kebabkid

Largely self-taught (used my ears, if you know what I mean) but started on an accordion, moved to a bouzouki and then to guitar when I was 17.

The 2 albums that taught me loads were Thin Lizzy's "Live and Dangerous" and Santana's "Moonflower" and I used to play along to the Top 40 every Sunday which developed my ears, timing and improvisational skills. It also taught me how to learn songs quickly and recognise common progressions, circles of fifths etc.

I also did a course at The Guitar Institute, Acton in 1989 with Shaun Baxter and Alan Limbrick - hated it and can't say I learnt anything from it, even the legato and sweep picking which everyone was hungry for at the time.

Quite happy at where I am now but could've done better!

mellowsun

I learnt from the Russ Shipton books, they were really good. There were 4 books and by the end of book 4 you'd learn how to play Stairway to Heaven all the way through, including the solo. It was a very well structured series.

Then I learnt Brothers In Arms by ear and used to jam this with a friend on piano. After that I got the Phil Hilbourne 'Solo' book of transcriptions, although most of these were too hard!

I did a couple of the Guitar Institute Saturday courses with Alan Limbrick in Acton, but thde theory and modes stuff didn't really take until after I learnt CAGED. 

I'd say learning CAGED had the biggest impact on my progress 

Philly_Q

Kebabkid said:

I also did a course at The Guitar Institute, Acton in 1989 with Shaun Baxter and Alan Limbrick - hated it and can't say I learnt anything from it, even the legato and sweep picking which everyone was hungry for at the time.

I did one of those courses, I'd completely forgotten - probably around the same time or maybe a year or two earlier.  Sounds like yours was much more advanced though, mine was just the beginners' one with Alan Limbrick.  Shaun Baxter would be way beyond me, then or now, there was no legato or sweep picking in my class.

I didn't enjoy it much either, but I did learn a bit - mostly theory, I don't think my playing actually improved at all.  And it was a pain lugging my guitar (gosh, I only had one or two at the time) to work every week then travelling to Turnham Green and back.

menamestom

I started twenty odd years ago by learning the minor pentatonic scale.  Which concludes the story and brings us up to the present date.

Philly_Q

menamestom said:

I started twenty odd years ago by learning the minor pentatonic scale.  Which concludes the story and brings us up to the present date.

Beautifully put.