What to expect when learning how to play the guitar

Learning the guitar can seem like a daunting task to some people. And it’s certainly not something that can be mastered in one sitting – that’s for sure… But, it’s not impossible either. A lot really depends upon:

• At what age are you finally realizing an interest in learning the guitar.
• How much time do you have to lend to learning how to play the guitar.
• How persistent are you when it comes to learning new things.

First off, you are never too old to learn how to….. to do “anything,” really. I mean, I guess, I wouldn’t really want to learn how to become a better soccer (football) player at fifty-years-old but, learning the guitar doesn’t come with the same amount of risks overall. The only reason I stated that in the beginning is because (from my experience) it seems we stay more fascinated with tasks such as this when we are younger. We also do not seem to be frustrated as much when we are not learning something at a faster rate.

For further reading: “Am I too old to learn how to play the guitar?”

I can remember back in my late teens when I started learning how to play the guitar, that I didn’t realize that some of the notes I would improvise while attempting a lead to a song didn’t really fit into a particular scale. They just sounded good (to me) at the time, so I continued to play certain notes and / or phrases. Later on, after learning some proper scales, I was able to adjust my playing a little. Again, the point being, I was waaaay too exciting about playing to give too much credence to the fact that I wasn’t playing everything correctly.

When we get older, we (most of us, I think) become more critical of ourselves and others. We tend to let our mistakes and / or short comings get us down – hold us back from future progress…

So, if you let the “age thing” NOT stop you from learning how to play this, or any other instrument, here are a few things to look forward to (or, not look forward to)…

So much to learn, so much excitement

Although, you will find that there’s sooo much to learn on the guitar (or any instrument for that matter), surprisingly, you will gain a sense of satisfaction with every new tip / trick that you learn. Whether you’ve learned a new scale, or a cool riff, or just a couple of new chords for singing around the camp fire… Like anything else you learn in life, you won’t be able to contain your excitement with your progress – even the tiniest of steps makes you feel like you’re in a “new club” of sorts…

Music appreciation on a whole new level

My definition of music appreciation is that it’s the practice of listening to music while being able to detect the different elements present in that music – being able to detect the different instruments and how they fit into that piece of music – being able to discern where the emphasis is placed, etc. …

Once you’ve spent some time learning some of the basics of guitar, you won’t be able to help noticing certain elements of the guitar in the music you are listening to, whether in a friend’s car on the radio, on the television, or at home in the living room. Certain chord changes, riffs, and / or notes in a guitar lead will start to jump right out at you…

A new commitment of time

The time you have to spend on learning the guitar (obviously) affects your future progress. It’s very simple, the more time you spend each day (not necessarily the time spent in one day) the more progress you will make. Most of us that are still in our “working prime” are still maintaining our day jobs, tending to our families, etc. There might not be a great deal of extra time in your schedule to devote to learning the guitar.

This is, of course, completely understandable; however, the truth still stands, that in-order-to learn this instrument, you need to find some extra time somewherezzz… Maybe give up some of that television time, social media browsing time (I love the random animal videos), etc. … It’s difficult, but doable…

Consistency is “key”

My playing over the years has not been as consistent as I would’ve liked – NOT AT ALL. In the beginning, I played almost everyday. Then, over the years, well… I’ll just say that it became less, and less frequent. I’m a pretty decent if I do say so myself; however, I could’ve probably been a professional studio session player at 30yrs had I spent just a little more time in my earlier years.

My consistency level is summed like this… Whenever I would be asked how long have I been playing the guitar, I would say:

How long? Well, I’ve been playing the guitar for nearly thirty (30) years. I started playing in my late teenage years…

Now, when I answer that same question, I reply with:

How long? Well, I guess I started playing roughly thirty (30) years ago…

There IS a difference. If I had been playing the guitar CONSISTENTLY for 30 years, I’d probably be SOMEBODY in the “Guitarists Who’s Who” by now… But when you play everyday for a week, then don’t touch it for two more weeks, there’s no consistency there…

Blisters / Caluses on your finger tips

Even if you play the guitar for only about twenty (20) minutes time, you will start to feel the effects on your finger tips, especially if you are playing an acoustic guitar. The strings on an acoustic guitars are a little harder to press down hard enough to sound the notes properly.

You will actually see the indentations from the strings on your finger tips >>>

Don’t let my dilapidated fingers scare you. Results differ from person-to-person and your fingers go back to normal in a day-or-two of not playing (again, results may vary)…

back and shoulder pain

Proper posture (Whether seated, or standing) will help with this one. However, if you let yourself get lazy (like me) you will (on occasion) experience some back and shoulder pain with decently long playing periods. Leaning over the guitar for long periods of time, despite the fact that most guitars are not that difficult to hold, and are not that heavy, can still prove exhausting and painstaking after a while.

A desire to spend more money

Like any other new toy, when you become better at using it, you’ll start to desire other versions of it, or newer (better) versions of it. Even though the beginner guitar you started out with is still just fine, you will start to notice the advantages of more expensive, better quality guitars, and begin to have ever increasing thoughts of purchasing one of those “machines.”…

As with any other product on the market, well built guitars have some great advantages like:

A Desire to play with others

And finally, once you’ve achieved a certain level (doesn’t have to be that advanced, of course) of playing and confidence, you’ll start to wonder what’s its like to play along-side other musicians. Let me tell you, it’s fun and exhilarating. Being able to do this (sort of) signifies the fact that, “now I’m a ‘real’ guitar player.”

I must admit that over time, I don’t exactly crave that feeling anymore. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a blast every time I’m able to do it. It’s just that I prefer being in a studio environment (by myself) rather than live playing events. That being said, I will NOT join another band again, but will probably also NOT turn down opportunities for “jamming” with others, or working in the studio with others…

Whenever two-or-more musicians get together, there’s always a learning opportunity that is present. I’ve acquired the musical abilities that I have from a variety of sources: Well, God, of course… Family, a weeks worth of guitar lessons (4x 30 minute sessions), books, and fellow musicians while playing together and asking each other questions like simply – “How did you play that?!”…

In Conclusion

Playing the guitar is definitely a fun thing to do. It’s also a quite challenging thing to start to do – to learn. All I can say is that there are no real down sides to attempting to learn the guitar. Sure, one may experience some frustration along the way, but in the end, if you stick with it for enough time – nothing but pleasure filled moments will follow…

Until Next Time…