Playing Guitar...ah, something you can do from the time you're old enough to walk, until, well, you're almost old enough to not be able to walk. Regardless of how long you play, the most important thing about playing guitar, is...YOU HAVE to LOVE IT!! I
see kids get stuck into classical guitar lessons, as well as piano, violin, whatever instrument you wanna put here, that couldn't
care less about playing. It's probably a given that probably even most kids starting out, might not be sitting in their first lesson
had it not been for a parent. At some point you have to have a passion for it to reach your true potential. Yes, it's possible for a determined individual to play for a lifetime and gain considerable abilities on any instrument, but I'm willing to bet, all things being equal, length of time playing, difficulty of material etc., I could pick out a player that is playing because he/she loves it, over the player that is playing for anyother reason any day of the week..
If you're not passionate about playing guitar, or any instrument for that matter, why waste your time, energy and money doing something you'd rather not be doing ? I understand sometimes younger children have no choice in the matter, and I also believe that the routine and discipline having to study an instrument offers, can be beneficial to kids. However, if you're(16) years olds, and don't care about playing an instrument, WHY DO IT ?
If you do have the passion however, FANTASTIC, there's nothing better in the world than doing something you love, that offers such rewards in return. The music itself is obviously what it's all about, but there's also a great feeling of accomplishment, admiration from piers, and even monetary gain...if you reach that level by putting the time in.
One of the questions that gets ask most often, is....'how long do I have to practice ?'. Well, hopefully you're not feeling like you 'HAVE to practice', but I know it does get pretty trying at times. Just one man's opinion on practicing....PRACTICE as Long as It's Producing Results. If you tell yourself, 'I'm going to practice (4) hours a day', that's great if you do it AND do it productively. Why do it if it's just a waste of most of the time ? You could be out doing something else you enjoy. Obviously playing scales, riffs or whatever else hour after hour, over and over, may not be thoroughly enjoyable, there is some of that in playing guitar, if you want to achieve the most you can. My point, why do it until you start to HATE IT ? It's ok, I would say, even recommended to put the guitar down, after you've put in some good practice, while it's still producing results and even enjoyable. I've spent many hours 'practicing' when I should have been doing something else, as I was doing nothing more than wasting my time. For anyone reading this, don't confuse what I'm saying...you will HAVE TO put in a minimum amout of time in to obtain the physical ability. You have to have the mind body 'connection', to go with your passion. If it were a matter of being a good player just because you love it, I would have been a great player without practicing at all.
So, if you've read this much, I'm betting you're someone that loves the guitar and truly wants to play. You're past the first obsticle. It's just a matter of doing it.
If you remember, this is posted under 'beginners', therefore I'm going to assume anyone reading this is a beginer, and therefore I'll touch on selecting an instrument, 'how' to practice, aspects of playing classical guitar versus rock, blues or other types of electric style guitar, as well as anything and everything I can think of regarding the guitar and learing to play it.
I'm older (47) and have been playing off and on since I was (12) years old. I never received my true potential not because I lacked the passion, but because of an accident and some other problems that caused major problems in my life. I now have a (10) year old daughter that is taking classical guitar lessons at her public school, and that's what inspired me to start this site, and to offer any possible help I could to anyone that might want to read here.
Please check back when you get a chance, I'll update this as often as I can. I'm not trying to charge anyone any money as I don't consider this a professional site, which I'm sure you can agree with by looking at it now. I do however, plan to slowly, as time permits, put together a site with lessons that will take the absolute beginner up to at least an intermediate player. So, go grab the guitar, that you hopefully love, and play, play anything if you're just starting out. Anything to get you fingers moving and to get the tips conditioned to what you plan on putting them through.
Until Next Time...Play AND Enjoy
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