It is NEVER too Late to Start Learning Guitar. Start NOW.
I started guitar later in life, not long after I turned 50. Don’t wait. Don’t listen to other people telling you it is a waste of time or that you’ll quit. Don’t worry about it being hard. Don’t second guess yourself. After a lifetime of singing along to the radio in my long drives to work and dreaming of playing in a band, I finally decided to learn guitar with my wife’s encouragement. I never learned an instrument or any kind of musical education before starting guitar. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner.
I didn’t think I’d ever post my guitar journal publicly. This post is a look back at how I got started and a summary of the things that learned or wished that I had done sooner. So, with the benefit of some hindsight, here are some things that I’d suggest that newcomers to learning guitar do.
Get a Teacher, If You Can
I can’t afford in-person instruction. I’ve got a family to support and kids to put through college. But I do have a friend who is a bassist and a long-time guitar player. He’s someone who has shared tips and lessons with me from time to time. His help and comments have been far more impactful to my learning than any one thing I’ve done on my guitar journey. A good instructor will take you faster and farther along on your journey than any other suggestion I can make. If you can afford one, get one.
Try JustinGuitar.com – Great Free Guitar Learning Resource
JustinGuitar.com is a great guitar learning resource. It’s FREE. Justin’s lessons are available on YouTube. I first discovered him on YouTube, but I highly recommend that you start with his website. The JustinGuitar.com site groups and organizes his YouTube videos into chapters which make tracking your learning path easier to view and understand. I looked at the site in the beginning of my journey but didn’t start with it. If I was to start over again, JustingGuitar.com would be one of the first places I’d start.
Justin does have a paid app with additional features. I haven’t tried it, but given the richness and quality of his lessons, I’ve given it serious consideration once I feel that I’ve gotten all I can from my Fender Play subscription.
Try Fender Play: Paid Learning App
Fender Play is the learning app that I finally landed on after downloading and trying several online guitar learning apps. It really suited me and my learning style. I find it methodical, step by step paced and carefully thought out. The lessons feel like the build upon each other and aimed squarely at the guitar beginner. It carefully screens you from what it feels is unnecessary detail.
The downside of Fender Play is that I sometimes feel that it has been oversimplified and that they lessons could benefit from challenging students more than it does. I’ve often found myself pushing the difficulty of the lessons and going to outside sources for more challenging, advanced lessons. Sometimes the practice songs / exercises have been simplified down to the point where I can’t recognize the actual song the practice exercise is based on.
I’d definitely sign up for Fender Play if I had to do things over again. I paid the full annual subscription price of $149.99, but you can frequently find discounted subscription offers online. A Fender Play subscription may also come with a new Fender or Squire guitar. If you do find a discount, updating the subscription in the app will also rebate you back the remaining price difference from your earlier subscription. If you have the chance, give it a try.
Should I Start Learning on an Acoustic or Electric Guitar?
There is no need to learn acoustic guitar before learning electric guitar. Acoustic and electric guitars are very similar in basic overall function. Acoustic guitar doesn’t teach you techniques that are required to learn before learning electric guitar. Start learning the kind of guitar you want to play. If you want to learn acoustic guitar songs, learn acoustic guitar. If your favorite music is electric, learn electric guitar.
I started on acoustic guitar, thinking that I had to learn the basics on acoustic before going on to electric. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m playing and learning on both an electric and acoustic guitar. I find that acoustic guitar is the more difficult of the two types. Acoustic guitars are less forgiving. The strings tend to be harder to fret (press) and the sound doesn’t ring out as well when you don’t place your fingers in the optimal position. That can be great for pushing you to perfect your technique, but it’s disappointing to hear during practice.
If you’ve got any questions or have any comments or tips to add, put them in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.
Resources
- Justin Guitar: Free Guitar Learning Resource – Justin Guitar is highly recommended. It’s not perfect. You have to search the internet for guitar tabs to his practice song suggestions. There isn’t much in terms of timed exercises in his free lessons, but his free lessons are excellent.
- Fender Play: A paid guitar lesson service from one of the giants in the guitar industry. Fender Play is heavily weighted towards the complete beginner to guitar. It’s what I started learning guitar with. The lessons can be slow paced and the practice songs are sometimes oversimplified, but I still think it’s an excellent service, especially when combined with free lessons from Justin Guitar and YouTube.