Learning Guitar Difficulties

I think if you ask 50 people you will get at least 49 different answers because we are all different.

I play 7 instruments and for me the most difficult thing about learning the guitar was relating the string/fret position to a note name while reading music.

The piano keyboard is more visual, and the winds are all done by touch and muscle memory.

And I think reading music (not tabs although they can be added) is important and should be learned no matter what instrument you are playing.

Insights and incites by Notes

Hi, I don't think that many guitarist actually read music but tablitures instead. That being said, music theory is hard to learn by oneself and is best developed after playing a bit.

From what I can remember, in initial playing the fingering was kind of hard at first, as well as transitioning between chords. As I started to get better and learn more riffs it was very difficult for me to imagine where the notes were coming from. I think it would be great to teach new guitarists how a scale is relative to a song structure and its key.

Desire. When you build that device let me know, I'm sure we could market that one.

Not sure you can build something that's going to convince a new player that its going to take time and work. I think most people give it up because they want to be a good player in a week, month, year, whatever... and when they don't progress as fast as they hope.... they give up.

While tabs are convenient, they are no substitute for learning to read regular music notation.

Music notation is the lingua franca of the entire musical world. By learning tab only, you shut yourself out of this world. IMHO anyone who calls himself or herself a musician should learn to read music.

I've been a professional musician all my life and a band leader for decades. If two guitarists auditioned in my band, and only one could read regular notation, the reader would have a competitive edge for the gig.

Of course YMMV.

Well, I can read music Notes - however, I understand there have been brilliant musicians who cannot. Many early New Orleans jazz guys didn't read music (a book I am reading which is the words of jazz musicians in interview come across this point again and again). Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney (I think he can now) also were great musicians who couldn't read. I guess I just wouldn't build my dream team band based on those who need pieces of paper for every performance. Sometimes people get too tied down to having a written form, music is an aural experience.

I'm not saying people shouldn't learn to read, however I would say many people who take up guitar as their hobby don't instantly want or need that laid upon them.

P.S - by your reasoning here Eddie Van Halen shouldn't even dare to call himself a musician until he gets back into his practice room and learns to read. I guess Eddie is just a hack musician.