Learning guitar for the beginner

Learning guitar is just like learning any other instrument: It takes practice, dedication, and time. Unless you're the one-in-a-million genius, you're not going to be able to pick up an instrument - any instrument, not just guitar - and learn it all at once. Don't be discouraged, don't be angry, and don't be impatient; none of that will get you anywhere.

The fist step, then, is to find an instructor and begin taking lessons. Many places will allow you to rent or lease a guitar while you learn, though others will expect you to bring your own. It's up to you which you choose - you'll likely play many guitars through the years if you stick with it, so it's not necessary to buy one right away and make it "yours." They'll all be "yours" if learning guitar is for you.

Once you've found the right instructor, it's important to pay attention during lessons and master the basics. Most instructors will start there: learning guitar is all about learning your scales, your notes, your hand position on the fret board. It's important to gain some mastery over all of these in order to properly learn the instrument, and only from that solid foundation can you go on to play your favorite songs and, maybe, write some of your own.

Of course you won't just be learning guitar during your lessons; you also have to learn guitar on your own, practicing for at least half an hour a day. This isn't just to make the fingerings and pickings instinctive, but to strengthen your hands and improve your ear.

Hand strength and flexibility is one of the often overlooked difficulties of learning guitar. Nothing about what you're doing with your left hand (if you're right handed, and vice-versa if you're not) is natural while you're learning guitar. It will take time and daily routine to build up the required muscle and flexibility needed to become the kind of guitarist most will want to be when the dedicate themselves to learning the instrument.

Once you have your scales down and a modicum of fluidity with your hand positions and picking, it's time to learn your chords. This is the base upon which most rock and jazz music is built; the chords that you play define the tone of the song, and how you'll relate to the other musicians around you. Mastering these chords is the last step of learning guitar for the beginner. From there, it's time to move onto the greater challenges and musical diversity of the intermediate stage.