Everyone wants to learn to play guitar.
Okay, not everyone,
but if someone walked up and said they had a magic button that, when
pressed, would magically bestow guitar abilities, you'd be
hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn't push that button. Whether
it's the dream of shredding in front of a packed stadium, the idea of
strumming tunes by a fire pit with friends on a cool fall evening, or
the desire to strengthen one's mind through music, playing the guitar
is a skill that's on many people's bucket lists.
Learning guitar
isn't as easy as pushing a button, but the ability to play simple
songs, something most anyone would like to be able to do, is far more
achievable than one might think. Obstacles do exist, and overcoming
them is the cornerstone of effective learning approaches. As with
most things, there's a right way and a wrong way to do this.
The
advertising, marketing and publishing industries and
ever-popular YouTube videos collude to promote false ideas that have
become commonplace in the guitar industry. While on the surface,
these sources ostensibly provide easy, do-it-yourself solutions to
someone wanting to learn guitar, they are ultimately designed to do
one thing – generate sales.
The outcome is predictable – the vast
majority of learners come to the realization that the only realistic
way to progress as a guitarist is to have a teacher to guide them.
This is where the selection process begins. It is also the point
where many students unknowingly determine whether they will or will
not achieve their goals as a guitarist.