Quick results

Learning songs by ear is great, but it is unlikely that a complete beginner will see it through to learn an entire lead.

Try mixing up what you learn: some open chords, an "easy" scale like the minor pentatonic in only one position, a little theory, etc.

In fact try using David Hodge's beginner lessons, which are right here on this site. It will get you playing actual songs right away.

There are no "quick results" with any instrument. Getting good takes a lifetime . . . we're all still learning all the time.

Not learning something because it's frustrating to you that you're not good at doing something you've never done before is not a good sign.

All roads may lead to Rome, but only if you keep on walking along them. Dedication and perseverance trump all.

Good luck.

I second what Kingpatzer said! I've been playing for 15-16 years and I'm still learning. The guitar isn't something you master in a year. It takes a lifetime and sometimes you don't master it even then! Patience is definitely a virtue when learning the guitar.

I agree. there is no easy way to knowing how to play guitar.

you could do it your way. learn how to read Tabs. but then all you will be able to do is play Tab.
you won't understand anything about the guitar.

your approach is all wrong. and is beginning to piss me off.

I'm having a very good experience with books. They include all the components that CFB said and usually the info is organized by a teacher. It could be compatible with your thoughts and if you select the correct level you will not get frustrated.

There's no such thing as quick results, but there ARE a few quick fixes.....

Learn the G, Em, C and D chords. Practise those for a few days, practise changing between them - after you've got them down, there are HUNDREDS of songs you can play with just those few chords. Brown Eyed Girl and Stand By Me are just a couple. Then every new chord you learn will open up previously unseen horizons....

:D :D :D

Vic

NOTE: None of this is meant to sound harsh or condecending; it's just my advice, but it's things that everyone here will agree with (I'm sure enough to say that).

ColoradoFenderBender and Vic have good advice.

First thing you have to ask yourself; are you the kind of person who, at the first sign of something being hard or requiring a lot of practice, gets quickly frustrated and gives up? If you are, then you need to seriously consider if guitar is for you; it is one of the most frustration-inducing and practice-requiring instruments there is. It is also one of the most rewarding instruments to learn, and is enormous fun once you are on the learning curve.

your idea of...
What I am planing on doing is trying to learn a lead guitar part by using guitar pro and running it at its slowest speed until I get it and then speed it up bit by bit until one day I can actually play that part. I figure that once I can play something I know and like I will be more interested in learning chords and doing theory work.

...is both good and bad. The process of slowing things down and learning them is absolutely the BEST way to learn something. However, once you learn that one thing, that's ALL you'll be able to play; if you learn the THEORY of playing a solo, and work on your finger skills, then you'll be able to play so much more.

Your approach is back-to-front, especially this;
once I can play something I know and like I will be more interested in learning chords and doing theory work

as you need to learn the theory and basic skills FIRST; you then USE those skllls to learn to play songs / solos etc.

Yes I want to learn a party piece and I realise that it is not a great foundation for learning the guitar

It's fine to want to learn a 'party piece'; make that one of your goals. However, don't make it THE goal. Otherwise, you arn't looking to learn to play the guitar; you are looking to play that one piece (and I suspect that is why you are getting frustrated). In order to play this "party piece", you'll probably have to put in at least a few months solid practice, depending on what the piece is.

One of the "party pieces" I wanted to learn when I started was "Time of your life" by Greenday; it was only at the end of my first YEAR of playing that I could play it (yes, an entire YEAR of practicing my playing skills for at least an hour, every single day)
A guitar teacher is out of the question at the moment

This is just as well, as I suspect that no teacher would suit you, as you are not looking at learning in the correct way.

the fact that your thread is called "Quick Results" is evidence enough that you didn't realise what was involved with learning the guitar, and that's perfectly fine, as we all had to learn this stuff.

I hope this has helped to shed some light on your situation :)

Pete

Hi Black Rat!

I knew you'd come back to me, mum must have lied when she said you'd probably been eaten by a neighbours cat! All we need to do now is wait for brown rabbit to come back and we can get down to the serious business of finding out exactly what dad has been burying at the end of the garden!

Back on topic...

I know exactly how you feel with regard to wanting to get quick results. I spent several years hoping for quick results and trying to learn a party piece. I learned part of Daytripper by the Beatles and it was great until I found myself at a party with genuine musicians :oops:

I've been playing and practicing regularly for about 6 months now and only wish I'd given up on quick results 10 years ago. Playing a party piece just doesn't give you a fraction of the satisfaction that you will gain from learning something properly.

Regarding quick results - I suggest you join a part time college course, a couple of hours a week of dedicated practice for about ten weeks - thats as quick as it gets I'm afraid and you'll still have only scratched the surface

Hi,

the trouble is I get bored of learning a few chords and get frustrated because I cant change between them and before you know it the guitar is back in its cover and another couple of years have passed (long enough to forget the previous frustration)

A guitar teacher is out of the question at the moment.

Any thoughts on the above?

Blackrat

The trouble is that guitar, or any instrument for that matter, involves mostly training the muscles of your body to do what your mind instructs them to do. There is no quick way to accomplish this. It requires hours upon hours of practice. Theory is the easy part. You can memorize that.

Once you've learned to play, you'll still have to commit yourself to regular practice if you want to maintain your level of skill. If you don't your skill will degenerate astoundingly fast.

I picked up my first guitar 42 years ago. There's been a guitar in my life ever since. I play every day, even if all I have time for is a few minutes of strumming chords or running up and down a few scales.

Yes it's boring at times. The payoff is worth it though.

Blackrat

I started to write a long lecture, but Ringo Starr said it about as plain as it gets.

YOU GOTTA PAY YOUR DUES IF YOU WANNA SING THE BLUES, AND YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY

There is incredible wisdom in that simple line of music.

There are all kinds of other sayings as well like, "you get what you pay for". That not only applies to material objects, it applies to life too. You get outta life just about what you put into it.

Now really, your plan to slow down a party song and learn it is completely ok. Any method you choose to learn is ok, because you are DOING something. And if you keep doing things to learn guitar you will learn guitar.

The problem is you keep putting the guitar in the case and forgetting about it. Do you really expect to learn to play guitar like that?

Playing guitar is not magic. You don't wake up one day and have the instant ability to play guitar. No, the only way to play guitar is sit down and try to figure out how to play it. Put your hands on it. Put your fingers on that G chord. Now put your fingers on that D chord. Now change back and forth between them. That is how you learn to play guitar. You just keep doing that. And if you keep doing that you will learn how to play.

It ain't easy. But you have to decide if you are a person who does things he dreams of, or a person who watches other people do what they dream of. One is easy, one is hard.

Doer or watcher, which are you?

+1 on what everybody else said. If you absolutely had to learn something fast work on power chords, but realize that they're very limited in what you can do with them.

Hi,
Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. I guess deep down I already knew the sorts of reply I might get. Well ....I have a few books and of course the online stuff and I'm going to start again from scratch with all of it but also plug away at the party piece at the same time and see how it goes.
Cheers,
Blackrat

Well, you've got the guitar, the books, Guitarnoise (and anywhere else on the internet if needed....) and the motivation - all you really need is the dedication.

I had a similar experience to Embrace The Darkness with MY party piece - ever since I first picked up a guitar, I wanted to play "Nantucket Sleighride" by Mountain, but it sounded fiendishly difficult. I got absolutely nowhere with it for years and years. A couple of years ago I bought a bass, and my way of practising bass is to put the Windows Media playlist on shuffle and play along to whatever comes on. A few months ago, I decided to have another go at NS - I'd pretty much got the bassline down by then, which gave me an insight into the chords I'd need. A LOT of practise, a lot of trial and error and a lot of reading tab later, I finally cracked it. It's not horrendously difficult - but there were some chords I'd never seen played with those particular voicings before. There are a few places where the timing is strange - it takes real practise to get it spot-on. But like I said, I finally got it, and I can play the whole thing all the way through virtually note-perfect. And it's taken about 6 months of playing - or trying to play it - every day! The bonus is, I've learned a few new tricks I can use elsewhere. I've got a LOT better at barre chords, and built my hand strength up in the process.

And in all those months when I've been learning NS, I've played more guitar - when I've got bored with NS, I've played something else.

The point I'm making?

Learn that party piece - it won't hurt you to practise it. But don't dedicate all your time to it - learn other things as well. (BTW, you haven't told us whether you've got a particular song in mind - we may be able to help!) Learn FROM it as well - there may be chords, or fills or licks or runs, you can use elsewhere. Make it your goal for now, by all means - but when you've mastered it, set the bar higher. Set yourself other goals, and apply yourself to reaching them with the same diligence you attack the party piece.

Best of luck!!!

:D :D :D

Vic

Lots of good advice already mentioned. Big debate a while back about learning methods too, but I ain't opening up THAT can of worms again. (Oh, and KP, you'll be proud. I ordered noatboat's book)

My only advice is to NOT do what I did. I've been playing almost 4 years. Out of that 4 years, I bet I MIGHT have 24 months into it. I get in a nasty habit of getting busy and forgetting about it. It's set me back a ton.