How To Turn a Christmas Gift Into a Success

There are a number of different approaches you can take depending on what you want to accomplish. There are some excellent lessons here that most find very helpful, click the 'Lessons' tab at the top of the page.

It sounds like you want to learn to play guitar and not just learn a few songs. In that case, I would pick up a decent book and work your way through that. There are a number of good books the Hal Leonard Guitar Method and Hal Leonard Fast Tracks series are a couple of good one - there are others.

Of course, you've already found a great resource for questions you may have, there are all sorts of talented, helpful people here.

Good luck and enjoy your Christmas present.

1. Sort of... I start students off with some basic chords first, but you may remember those from your past experience. Since you already know how to read music, I'd get used to reading in the open position first, beginning with the C scale, then G and F (and their relative minors of A, E, and D). You might need a chart to see where the notes lie on the fretboard; for students who already read on another instrument, I use the Berklee books.

2. No and yes. The guitar is unlike other instruments in that the fingerings are moveable - learn the fingering for one scale pattern and you'll be able to play the other 11 keys by moving the finger pattern (I'm talking about patterns that don't use open strings here). Yes, because you'll need to know which note is which for reading, and for chord formation and placement as you advance.

3. No. You start with the open chords - there are only about 20-30 major, minor, and seventh chords in open position. After that, you'll learn basic barre chord positions. Once you have those down, then the fun starts with chords - there are an unbelievable number of chord voicings possible on the guitar.... in Ted Greene's book 'Chord Chemistry', he shows 124 different voicings for a major triad alone! Nobody has the memory bank required to hold tens of thousands of different fingerings, so you'll use your fretboard knowledge from #2 above, an understanding of chord formulas, and your basic barre positions to form any chord you want 'on the fly'.

4. Software programs can be useful to help your understanding of the fretboard, but nothing beats written music :)

Thanks PappaJohn, I'll take a look at the books you mention in your message.

Thanks NoteBoat for a very clear explanation, now I have a roadmap to start with. Being a medical researcher I'm used to follow precise protocols and your answer makes a good one. BTW I already ordered your book from Amazon ;)

There's a chance I might move to Chicago and if so, I would like to meet you and may be take some lessons from you ;)

Alberto

Great! Students are always welcome!! I live about 40 mi. SW of downtown Chicago, and teach from my home - but one day a week I also teach from a music school that's only 25 mi from downtown. Just let me know when you're ready :)

Guitar Pro is a good idea. It doesn't just have tab, but it also has standard notation so you can practice reading and then play back to MIDI to make sure you have it right.