How To Play Any Song On Guitar

Learning to play guitar is high on many people's lists of things to achieve. But most people give up because it's too hard, their fingers hurt, or it's just not fun. I quit a few times when I first started. It was so frustrating. But on my third attempt it finally clicked for me. I completely changed my approach to learning guitar, and now I've been playing for 20 years.

The learning process became fun and I progressed quickly. I wouldn't say learning guitar was easy, it was still a challenge, but the process was easy. I still had sore fingers for the first few weeks, but unfortunately that's inevitable. Not everything can be simple. The approach I used was to learn my favourite songs on guitar. I didn't get bogged down in theory, scales, and keys. That stuff can come later. But first you want it to be fun.

The Best Way To Learn Guitar

The best way to learn guitar is by playing your favourite songs. Once you have the easier songs worked out you can progress by playing more difficult songs. And there is one foolproof method for learning any song on guitar. You break it up into sections, learn each section separately, and then join the sections together. Here is my step by step method:

1. Listen to the song closely

Listen to the song closely at least 10 times. Really listen close. Turn off other distractions. Listen for the strumming patterns, the rhythm, the chord changes. Get a feel for what the other instruments are doing.

2. Break the song into sections

Write down the different sections to the song. For example:

Intro - V1 - Ch - V2 - Ch - Br - Ch

3. Learn the chord progressions

Write down the chord progressions for each section. If you can't do it by ear a simple Google search for "song name chords" should help.

4. Practice each section

Practice each section separately. Start with the intro. Don't go on to the next section until you've nailed the one before it.

5. Join the sections

Once you can play each section with error start joining them together. Play the first two sections first. Once you have that mastered add another section and so on until you're playing the whole song.

Start Practicing Today

Learning guitar doesn't have to be hard. And it doesn't have to be boring. By playing the guitar songs you love you'll never get bored. Sore fingers maybe, but it will be worth it.

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Why Basic Music Theory Is Essential To Any Good Piano Tutorial

Music theory, many would argue, is an essential part of playing any musical instrument. However, when once looks at many of the various piano tutorials out on the market and even online, they do not find a mere mention of the concept. The theory and study of music is one of the most essential elements to the growth of the art form. This article is in defense of theory lessons, rather than simple monotonous instruction of the piano or keyboard.

If you were to go to your local music instruction store and randomly pick out a set of piano lessons, you'd be shocked to see that music theory is a very little part of the subject. Granted, the lessons are about learning the piano, but there are still fundamental things one needs to learn to help their understanding of how piano (or any) music works.

The idea that one can simply learn how to play the keyboard and pay little attention to concepts of consonance, dissonance, and more advanced topics of harmonization is appalling. There can be no real mastery of any musical instrument if there is not attention paid to it's basic fundamental theory. Learning how music works (in time, space and on our emotions) is essential knowledge if one hopes to provide uniqueness to the art.

What you'll also find are lessons that focus solely on how to play piano by ear through a series of different tricks to skip over studying theory so one can apply principles many take years to learn. This could be considered a cop-out in one way. For instance, they skip over reading sheet music, when that is an essential skill for any musician.

Further, people who refuse to learn music theory will be a slave to their shortcomings as musicians. How can one begin to transpose songs and play in different keys if they do not know how this is done properly? Music theory instruction can do this. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to playing any instrument.

Another argument for including music theory lessons in any music instructional courses is that it can help with the ability to improvise. Although many modern genres of music do not contain elements of improvisation, there is something to be said about having the ability to do so. It can help in composition, live performance and many other areas of playing.

So it is clear that any musical instruction that does not strictly and thoroughly encourage the study of theory in music, is not complete. It's an essential part of being able to play music. Even on my piano blog, which does not really have any section for music theory, per say, I point people in the direction of websites that do. I truly think it's an essential part of playing the piano. And I hope that in the future, all piano tutorials will include sections on this important area.

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