Lessons, or self taught?

[DMBfan41]

Good points about the free online tabs from Ultimate Guitar, etc.
I figure, you get what you pay for, and they're free, so......   
I don't assume they are very accurate, but they are one way to kind of start to figure out a song.
When browsing the selection, I look for the user star ratings and the number of ratings.  More likely to trust a tab with 200 4-stars than 7 5-star ratings. 

Every once in awhile someone has included fingering suggestions with the free tabs, but usually not. 
I look at free tabs as just one more tool to help me figure stuff out. 
-K

+1.

I always check UG first when looking for chords on songs.

[roadbiker]

For me it was/is both...

The best gift that my mother ever gave me was the gift of music. She did this first by giving me guitar lessons (I played the cello too) - and forcing me to practice 30 minutes per day, especially on the days I wanted go play with my friends. Then when I graduated college she bought me the acoustic guitar of my choice, which was the Guild that I still have and always will. It was the first really great guitar I ever owned.

I took lessons for about 4-5 years and they were great because I learned to read music. But over the years I got away from reading music and taught myself how to play the songs I wanted to learn. I was able to do so, because in addition to the gift my mother gave me, God gave me a good ear :-).

All these years later, I am starting to read music again, and thankfully it is coming back to me. My next frontier is mastering fingerstyle...

Merry Christmas!
Jim

[Iplay2]

I am self taught, but I really hope to take lessons some day so I will be able to play fingerstyle with the big boys.    Oh well, maybe someday.
I have a pile of books I have collected over the years that I never seem to make it all the way through.  I use tab, sheet music, chord charts, and videos.  I do like having a video now and then when I can't figure out how in the heck to get my fingers to do what the music says.  Its nice to see how others play it when I get stuck.  It tends to be one of those, "oh they play it up there" moments.

[Jack Sparrow]

Good points about the free online tabs from Ultimate Guitar, etc.
I figure, you get what you pay for, and they're free, so......   
I don't assume they are very accurate, but they are one way to kind of start to figure out a song.
When browsing the selection, I look for the user star ratings and the number of ratings.  More likely to trust a tab with 200 4-stars than 7 5-star ratings. 

Every once in awhile someone has included fingering suggestions with the free tabs, but usually not. 
I look at free tabs as just one more tool to help me figure stuff out. 
-K

That's cool, so long as your expectations for Ultimate Guitar are reasonable (and it sounds like they are) I think you should be okay. It's an okay resource for "for practice switching chords, I will learn a new chord progression that is pretty close to this song" but ... well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I have a thing about wanting to know the original artist's actual notes chords, not just for the sake of playing a better cover but also for study purposes. If the song is not a big deal to me I'll actually use Ultimate Guitar for a starting point sometimes in figuring it out, but if I want to learn about how the tune is written and why it works, I buy the official sheet music.

[DMBfan41]

That's cool, so long as your expectations for Ultimate Guitar are reasonable (and it sounds like they are) I think you should be okay. It's an okay resource for "for practice switching chords, I will learn a new chord progression that is pretty close to this song" but ... well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I have a thing about wanting to know the original artist's actual notes chords, not just for the sake of playing a better cover but also for study purposes. If the song is not a big deal to me I'll actually use Ultimate Guitar for a starting point sometimes in figuring it out, but if I want to learn about how the tune is written and why it works, I buy the official sheet music.

It's true there are tons of variations out there, to include UG.   However, UG also has versions that mirror original artist compositions.  Additionally, there are only a certain number of ways you can play a tune in the key of E.  UG might have the original but they also have other versions for folks that may not be able to finger a C#m.  In this example, they got a song with Capo on 4 playing G, C, D.  Doesn't change the song or even the tuning, but rather, the chords you are using and nut position (using capo).  This is just an example of what chord/tab sites like UG have to offer music lovers.  There are several out there in addition to UG and none should be used as an all exclusive resource.  Simple music theory will explain why chords/notes work together.  Neither UG or sheet music makes it any more clear.   

Just my opinion of course.

[not darth]

Another thing about UG that a friend has mentioned, and that I've felt too, is that you can find free tabs that allow you to 'get the feel' for a song, and then become motivated to learn it the 'right' way, and have gone out and purchased the official artist sheet music. 
I think in this sense, UG helps market the real deal.  Sure, it's not a replacement, but it's a taste.
-K

[Jack Sparrow]

It's true there are tons of variations out there, to include UG.   However, UG also has versions that mirror original artist compositions.  Additionally, there are only a certain number of ways you can play a tune in the key of E.  UG might have the original but they also have other versions for folks that may not be able to finger a C#m.  In this example, they got a song with Capo on 4 playing G, C, D.  Doesn't change the song or even the tuning, but rather, the chords you are using and nut position (using capo).  This is just an example of what chord/tab sites like UG have to offer music lovers.  There are several out there in addition to UG and none should be used as an all exclusive resource.  Simple music theory will explain why chords/notes work together.  Neither UG or sheet music makes it any more clear.   

Just my opinion of course.

I think a lot of it, with UG, comes down to one's school of thought in regard to learning songs: if you are okay with learning a version that is probably not what the original artist actually plays, then UG could be an okay resource (but even then, watch out for the many tabs where the intervals are simply wrong and the song will not sound right in any key you transpose it to).

However, if you like to learn technique, theory as it applies "in the wild", and the song itself by studying the original song, UG is not very useful. You're obviously not going to learn much about a particular song by studying a version which is not actually that song.

I'm with Schooner on the intellectual property rights issue, but it is some consolation to know that there is a sort of "karma" aspect to that too: anyone who learns songs purely off of free online tabs, well, you'll know it when you hear their covers.

[not darth]

Was browsing tabs again tonight, and one big downside to UG (even though I do like it for some things) was that there is no really timing notation or even separating the songs into bars/measures. 
If you already know the song you are trying to play, well, this might not be as much of an issue, but I've found, especially with fingerstyle songs, the timing and choice of fingers on each hand is crucial, both of which are usually clearly described in the copyrighted sheet music.

-K

[MRMTAYGA]

I probably fall into a familiar catagory in that I had started the guitar in college with no lessons. Just some friends that knew some songs to get me on my way. I think Brown Eyed Girl was the first song I learned. Anyway that was the case for years. Just picking up things here and there. Then life got in the way with marriage, career and kids. Finally about 4 years ago I decided that I really wanted to try and get better and started getting into a practice routine. Between Youtube and TAB sites I was starting to learn at a faster pace. Still nowhere near where I wanted to be but it was a start. Now before I go any futher I must say that I seldom advocate/push a particular website. However in this case I think it may be of some value to share. About 3 years ago while looking up some songs on YouTube I came across a website called Totallyguitars.com. The guy teaching (Neil Hogan) was very engaging and pretty entertaining as well. Anyway I took the next step and went to the site. Long story short is that I actually became a paying member. 1st time ever for me for anything. You can be a FREE member as well. What you get for free is probably about 100 lessons to date that have about 5-10 video segments going over the song. In addition you get a PDF music score and TAB or a Guitar Pro file to download. The forum is all geared around learning guitar. People will put up songs for review by their peers as well as by Neil who will record a review and post on the forum. There is also a "busking" section where folks can just show others what song they have learned, etc. Now for a paying member you'll get access to 100's of songs. From folk rock to classical and everything in between that is suited for acoustic guitar. The value that I got from this site was I really wanted to open up my skill set with fingerpicking. I could strumm a few songs but really needed to get more out of the guitar. For me, this site has been wonderful. Now am I about to start playing Tommy Emmanual songs? Ah no not anytime soon. However I have gone from having zero skill at fingerpicking to now being able to Travis pick pretty well in addtion to other forms of fingerpicking. There is also a tremendous section of lessons on guitar theory from a lesson perspective.

Sorry for the ramble here. Again I don't normally do this sort of stuff but I figured I'd pass it along. Great site. Great supportive community. If you get a chance go and check it out.

www.totallyguitars.com

[not darth]

MRMTYAGA, thanks for the post!  I'm always looking for more online guitar instructionals, I'll go take a look!
Brown-eyed Girl is a great song, too!

-K

[outsidenote]

If you get a good instructor, lessons can really help you.  In truth nobody can teach you how to play, you actually teach yourself, but a good teacher will help you overcome problems faster, and you will advance more efficiently.

[dangrunloh]

I had lots of music lessons decades ago but never on any stringed instruments. I can sight read conventional notation but never spent much time on tabs, just melody and chords.  Learning music and songs is one thing but learning to play the actual instrument itself is another.  In 40 years of plunking I've never had a proper instructor coach me on holding the pick, on wrist action, strumming, anchoring, on using the fretting hand and all the myriad others that fall under "technique".  Most musicians are helped by such advice and I know I would, but friends scoff and look quizically when I suggest I might take some lessons (I'm 64).

You tube videos and sample lessons there have taught me much but you have to wade through lots of chaff.  Folks say whatever works is fine but I don't believe it.  Proper correct playing technique works better that clumsy misguided attempts on all other instruments I have played.  In some respects I consider the guitar to be my teacher.  Treat it wrongly and you will be punished by bad tone.

Lately I have tried to catch up on oldtime flatpicking and found this great platform called TablEdit.  It's free, you can download the player and the files.  The tabs and notation are fine, run it at different speeds and prints nicely too.  Works great for me.


http://www.kimandmikeontheroad.com/music.htm

http://www.tabledit.com/tefview/index.shtml

[Scriptor]

If self taught, did you set up any sort of curriculum for yourself or have you just worked on random things each time you practice?

My mom "made" me take piano as a kid .... something I hated at the time but have come to appreciate over the years because I learned how to read and understand music theory.  My dad wanted me to take on guitar so he learned along with me.  He helped me get started with basic chords.  Then I was drawn to singer-songwriters who finger picked so I bought albums and made these folks play the songs over and over again until I could figure out how to do this thing (this was a great school to learn in because I could play by ear and didn't need too much help to figure things out; providentially, there was a guy across the street who was an advanced player and could show me a thing or two when I got stuck).  This was sort of my early "curriculum" if you will.

Once I got into high school, it was band after band, Bluegrass, Gospel, Rock, anywhere they'd take me.

My first bonafide formal lessons came in college.  This opened up a lot of information to me about how to do things right (it was also at times a humbling experience); these lessons exentuated and expanded my playing and helped me understand better how to be a good guitar player

I'd say the 2 most important aspects of my journey were playing with the albums and playing in bands.  The albums exposed me to advanced artists and their approach to playing and the band settings taught me how to be tasteful in my playing (as someone put it "when to play and when not to play; the latter being more important than the former").  Good bands should always challenge and stretch you as a player.

2 tips I'd give to anyone learning guitar:  1)  Be purposeful (and realistic) in your practice and goals (something as simple as "I'm going to learn this song today/this week" can be sufficient)  2) Also have times when your only purpose is to enjoy expressing yourself through the instrument (this will help you remember why you took on the guitar in the first place)

[Saxacat]

I only started a few years ago and arranged my first lesson before buying a guitar. I really struck lucky with my first tutor who was an experienced teacher as well as being a professional musician. He had his own little studio set-up and provided a CD with the pieces we were covering; he also encouraged, but did not force me, to learn some music theory and how to read music. He used a very structured course, which I found suited me. Unfortunately, I moved away from the area where he lived. I tried to just progress on my own, but felt I needed some direction and have since tried two other tutors who were less successful, due mainly to a lack of structure and planning to their teaching methods which seemed directionless.

I have recently started attending some group lessons which I am really enjoying and find I am progressing again.

I obviously do better with lessons at the moment, but also prefer to have some plan as to were the lessons are leading.

[kbob]

Lessons or not I am getting so discouraged at 64 yrs. ! I have had guitars for two years and could not afford lessons until now, however I got a chord book and just learned to finger chords from the book with no particular goals. I have started to take lessons now and have had 5- 1 hour lessons and  I feel so disappointed to date! After having guitars for 2 yrs. (but never played them much at all until now). I practice somedays hour or so and skip some days! But I can't move to different chords well at all. I feel I should be better along than I am now. try to play chords to some various songs and I can't even play at a slow pace. I have given myself til June and if I am not progressed enough, then I quit! But I love the guitar sound so much I do not want to quit now! What to do??? Woe is me!!!