How do I learn Guitar?

this is my advise to you..take a very simple song…
something like summer of 69 or so on

now may life or may death come in the way…if the string breaks or the note doesnt sound..do not let go the rythm

you may play wrong the first second 100 th time…but every time u go wrong..FINISH THE SONG …dont play for 1 minute then start all over again..

my style is a iterative progressive style of learning which i propagate to my students..u have to slog that part out

if you want to play covers well …play the song on ur music system and play the guitar from the amp..play along with it

make sure no one is disturbing you..off course dont do the drink and drugs as well..

in your practise area put up some photographs of your own rockstars..get a good gig set..if you dont have the money make do with what you have..but make sure your guitar is neat and clean..the strings are not rusted..make sure you are always in “tune” ..that is the guitar is in tune..

every single note that you play should sound correct..if it doesnt..dont learn the second note..

do some physical exercises as well..either run or go to the gym..you need to keep yourself fit if you are going to put in those long hrs..

at the end of the day..be positive..quit giving up ..and every single time you play it wrong go back and correct it

if u ask me the only road 2 success is practice practice and more PRACTICE …...as Sudiep says dont get disturbed while playing. take on simple songs at first. try to learn some scales and chords and by doin this try to memorize the notes fretboard. this will take a while and dont try to memorize this like learnin fr an exam…...believe me this will make u feel board and you will lose interest…..the way i memorize them is by remembering the root notes of many chords…..and yeah i still dont know ALL of the notes. but i’m gettin there:)....learn power chords and play chromatic scales to improve ur speed…..practice alternate picking as much as possible…becuz if u just do downstrokes all the time ur speed will not improve (trust me i hav experienced it)....well this is abt as much as i do…..and also try to get this software called guitar pro…...it really helps…..u can find all the chords and scales and u can see all the notes on the fretboard with it….......gud luk!

guitar seems like a tough instrument to learn at first. but it’s not. don’t be bothered too much about all those terms such as music sheets, staff, key signatures etc. just identify the type of music you want to play and focus on it. for example, being a blues fan, i don’t learn too much of metal. my friend akshay is a metal fan and he is good in that field. every field has its own songs which are easy and tough. just start with some chord simple strumming songs. practice as much as you can. don’t give up. don’t feel bad when you can’t get a song. just try playing it as slowly and accurately as possible at first. gradually build up speed. learn a few basic scales. i just learned 2 scales which helped me a lot. have patience. progress will definitely come. practice daily for a small while. but make sure that your practice is effective even if you are just playing for 30 mins. you’ll eventually become a very good player. akshay has told you to learn power chords, speed picking etc. learn those if you want to play metal. if you are like m, who likes simple blues acoustics, then you have to concentrate more on the accuracy of each note and achieving the bluesy effect even if you are a slow player. in the end, it comes down to the amount of effort and practice you put in. work and you get the result. good luck.

ps. i recommend www.justinguitar.com since he has free videos which are very good. i also suggest guitar.about.com since it covers a lot of basics. but justinguitar.com is very good and i recommend it more than guitar.about.com.

Here is my 2 cents on learning guitar:

1. The biggest hurdle i’ve seen for most ppl starting on guitars – switching between chords..this hurdle comes right after u r thru with by hearting the chord finger positions, next thing u wanna do is switch between two chords.. and u realize u can’t do it smoothly .. and i’ve seen ppl get frustrated .. trying for weeks and then finally give it all up. Don’t do that .. if u r thru this biggest hurdle ..u’ll see light at the end of the tunnel :) and within a few weeks u’ll be enjoying strumming 3 chord sequences on u’r fav songs. The first few songs that i have strummed when i was a beginner – Knockin on Heaven’s Door, Walk of Life, Summer of 69

2. Practice a lot of finger picking .. simple ones .. songs i started on were – Always Somewhere by Scorpions, Stairway to heaven (tough but i was bent on doing it right, it featured in the 1st black & white coverless edition of Rock Street Journal mag).

3. Take up and practice simple riffs – best song to start on ‘Smoke on the water’. I’ve read a lot of interview excerpts of guitarists who said they had beaten the shit out of themselves to play this riff perfectly when they were beginners.. so consider it a do or die type riff and get it right!

4. Read inspirational stuff .. about other guitarist’s initial struggles with the guitar and how they overcame it, lives and music of guitar gods – jimi hendrix, jimmy page, eric clapton, satriani, steve vai, stevie ray vaughan, mark knopfler, pete townshed and the likes .. i had this book called – ‘The Guitar Handbook – by Ralph Denyer’ which i often read to get inspired :)

Hope this helps !!

watch, copy and learn, very very simple!