Learning Guitar Starts With Listening

Listening is severely underrated when it comes to learning to play guitar. If you truly want to succeed on guitar you must be an active listener of guitar music. As a guitar teacher I have even found myself neglecting to both listen and to advise my students to listen. There are two types of listening and both are important so let me explain in more detail.

Type 1. Listening for inspiration

In this case you are listening for the pure enjoyment and inspiration the music brings. The idea is to find guitar music (when I say guitar music I mean anything with a guitar in it which could be a band, singer/songwriter, solo guitarist etc) that you personally like. It does not matter what others think. It only has to inspire you. Music should also be a journey of discovery. When I hear something new and fresh that inspires me I can't wait to jump on my guitar. Start with the music you already like and search online to find similar music or perhaps look at who influenced the artist.

Type 2. Listening to learn

When we listen to learn we are basically trying to understand the elements of the music. Firstly we want to identify the guitar and whether or not there is more than one guitar. We need to work out the tuning of the guitar, the key of the song, the chords and scales being applied etc. The aim is to take what we hear and transferred it to the guitar. The difficulty of this exercise will depend on your experience and the complexity of the song itself. When I started learning guitar in the 80's I would listen to AC/DC working out the riffs, chords and scales literally one note at a time. At first it was difficult but the more I did it the easy it got.

How much listening should you do?

With type 1 listening you should do this whenever possible. Music should be a passion for you so this should never be a chore. I think most days I spend time just listening and becoming inspired by music and if I miss a day I actually feel something was missing so daily type 1 listening is my preference. With type 2 I believe you should spend about 20% of your practice time listening and trying to work out what you hear. I strongly recommend finding a teacher to help you especially in the early phases because they will be able to correct and guide you either way make sure you do it every few days if possible.




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When is the BEST time to START learning GUITAR?

I love this question because the obvious answer is RIGHT NOW! The problem is the 'right now' answer does not always feel right wouldn't you agree? Perhaps you are moving house, about to go traveling, having a baby, have no money or are just not in the right head space. Well let me give you my reply to all of the above and just about any other reason you can think up.

 Is there ever a good time?

Think of guitar like a relationship. When you find that special person do you say "Sorry but I am busy at the moment so let me get back to you when I have more time." The guitar love affair starts now and you need to adjust your life to allow for it. If you keep putting guitar off it will probably never happen. Guitar is something that we do or don't do. Life is not going to be any less busy tomorrow or next week or next year. Life will always be busy.

Dabbling doesn't cut it.

I am not a fan of dabbling especially with guitar because you will only be disappointed. It pains me to see guitar students who dabble for years only to end up frustrated. They never do enough practice to make any meaningful progress. In some cases they realise dabbling is the source of their frustration and become committed to daily practice but in most cases their guitar playing dies a slow death.

Step up or step off.

My advice is to put aside 30+ minutes a day to do what is known as 'deliberate practice' and commit for 6 months. After 6 months reassess whether or not you want to continue playing guitar. If at anytime in that 6 months you decided to quit early give yourself one more week. Say to yourself "I have decided to quit guitar but I will make practice for one more week and make my final decision in a week from now." You will be surprised what a week will do. The reason I say to commit for 6 months is because if you practice everyday for 6 months you will feel real progress. You will find it difficult to quit at this point because you will feel like you are halfway up the mountain so to speak. You will want to keep going and it will feel a lot easier.

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"When will I be able to play a song on guitar?"

This is the question almost all guitar students ask their teachers. Lets face it, we learn guitar to play songs. Most students initially don't mind if they are easy guitar songs as long as they sound like something they know. 

The answer to your question

My answer to guitar students is simple. You can play a song on guitar right now if you can strum. Simply tune the guitar to any chord you like and play a one chord song. The real question you should be asking your teacher is not when but what can you play. Your guitar playing will evolve with practice. There is no end point. The skills you posses now will allow you to play certain songs and as you develop more and more songs will be within your skill set. 

Find guitar songs around your level

There are always more guitar songs out there to challenge you so all I can say is enjoy the current challenge. If you feel frustrated chances are you are trying to play songs on guitar that you are just not ready for. If you really want to play a song on guitar now just ask your guitar teacher to show you a song within your current range of guitar skills.

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5 Tips to Get the Most Out Of Your Guitar Practice

1. Stay organised. Keep everything you need in one place so you it can easily be found. You want to be able to get into a rhythm (pun intended) with your practice. Spend a few minutes before you start guitar practice organising your space and checking you have everything at arms length.
2. Set time limits. I work in 10 minute blocks. For example I will start with one picking exercise for 10 mins and then perhaps one scale for 10 mins followed by another skill for 10 minutes and so on. I will do the same with a song working on a small section of a song for 10 mins. This stops me from wasting time and drifting from one thing to the next.
3. Track and log your practice. Be aware of exactly how much time you are practicing and what you are practicing.  When you track your practice you become more aware of your progress. Its actually hard to explain but this raised awareness will make you feel more confident about achieving your goals.
4. Prioritize. Like most of us there are probably thousands of songs you want to play and you are anxious to learn them all but will they make you a better player? Learn to put what matters first. What is the one thing that you most want to be able to do on guitar in a year or 5 years from now? Put on top of your list.
5. The big picture. Knowing your ultimate goal gives your practice meaning. I recommend all students write out an Ultimate Song List of no more than 25 songs they hope to one day play. This gives students a clear direction.

You might also like the following blog:

*WHY MEASURING YOUR PRACTICE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

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The Flintstones Theme

One of those tunes everyone seems to know and is good for learning syncopation. Enjoy.




The G4 Guitar Method

The G4 Guitar Method is a structured method of learning how to play guitar. Its a unique system built on 27 years of research and experience based on a proven strategies. To view a video and learn more please visit our website at http://www.g4guitarmethod.com. 

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How do I get my child started learning music?

Many parents ask the question of when should their child begin to learn music. The short answer is 'As soon as possible'. Even before we are born we are able hear sounds. Researchers found that music played to babies after 20 weeks from conception caused a response in the womb and even recall after birth. Although science still has much to learn about the full effects I can personally vouch for the value of starting to learn music early as many of my best students over the years were introduced to music at a very early age.

Where do you start? Music learning is similar to language. Its starts with listening (exposure) by playing music at home, playing an instrument or singing songs. A musical home environment is really the best way to inspire and introduce your child to learning music.

What songs should you play or sing? Remember its like learning a language so although most music will be good they recommend more relaxing music. Babies can be sensitive to loud sudden noise as we all are if we were not expecting it I guess.

I found a great website full of children's songs called BusSongs.com As far as I can tell its free and will give you access to lots of children's song and includes the lyrics, melody and even some videos.

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Are you a parent?

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How Children Learn Guitar

Children learn music very differently to adults. I have been teaching guitar and studying teaching for close to 30 years. What I have found is children learn primarily by association. That is they associate some kind of meaning to learning music. If that association is positive they will most likely continue to pursue music their whole life. If it is negative they will probably give it away at the first opportunity. This means that its vitally important that we build positive associations to music early and yes I understand this is easier said than done.

The parent's challenge
A parent's challenge is to a build this positive association to the experience of learning guitar. The good news is what matters most to children are their parents. Parents who work with their children especially in the first 6 to 12 months will generally have far greater success because this builds the positive association. Learning guitar = happy times with Mum and/or Dad. The benefits of working with your child go beyond just the ability to play guitar. In most cases your relationship with your child will grow and strengthen as a result.


The secret to your child's success on guitar
The secret is practice of course be this comes from parental support and guidance. If your child has recently begun lessons or seems to be losing motivation try sitting with them when they practice and help them work through the challenges. Leaving a young child to learn guitar by themselves is akin to giving a 3 year a book and telling them to teach themselves to read.

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The G4 GUITAR METHOD
The G4 GUITAR METHOD is a structured method of learning guitar. Its a unique system built on 29 years of research and experience based on a proven strategies. To view a video and learn more please visit our website at http://www.g4guitarmethod.com. 
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If you are a parent check out the ParentalGuidanceInfo.com website.