8 Must-Have SELF-TAUGHT Qualities!

[@davecarsley8773]

Much like Mike, I was also self taught before the internet. And I always give these same 5 tips to someone starting out. These are just my opinion: 1. *_Learn other people's songs_* - Don't worry about trying to write your own songs at first. As a beginner, writing your own songs simply doesn't give you the same feeling of progress/reward that comes with being able to play something you've heard on the radio your whole life. When you figure out your first 3 chords and all of a sudden you're playing your favorite Green Day song or whatever, there's no better reward to make you want to learn your 4th chord so you can play your favorite Nirvana song next. This feeling will drive you forward. 2. *_Do NOT ignore (or simplify) barre chords_* - Yes, barre chords are hard to play, but learning that one shape is your key to being able to play any song you've ever heard (close enough to impress your friends anyway). Absolutely do not stick to only open chords! It's so, sooooo important that you learn barre chords... For instance, if you just struggle through and learn ONE barre chord, say... the G Major barre chord... guess what? Just slide the whole shape up one fret and you've _also_ learned a G# Major chord! Slide up another fret and you've suddenly learned an A Major chord! Another fret and you've learned a Bb Major! another fret and you've learned a B Major! And so on... And guess what else? Just lift up your middle finger... Boom! You've just learned a B _minor_ chord! Now slide that shape down one fret and you've _also_ learned a Bb minor chord! Or slide it _up_ one fret instead and you've suddenly learned a C minor chord... And on and on... One little shape for all those chords (and more). See why you absolutely should not ignore barre chords? 3. *_Don't take long breaks_* - When you start playing, it will be painful. After a couple weeks, it will no longer be painful at all, and your fingers will never hurt again for the rest of your guitar life if you keep playing... BUT, if you stop playing for a couple weeks straight, you'll have to go through that whole, crappy, painful-fingers thing all over again! So even if you're feeling uninspired (which happens to all of us), that's ok, but make sure you still pick up your guitar every day for 10 minutes while watching TV to _at least_ run through some stuff you already know. It'll keep your fingers in shape. And as a bonus, you may find that inspiration returns much easier if your guitar is in your hands instead of under your bed! 4. *_Make an effort to learn things BY EAR_* - This doesn't mean you can't watch KZbin lessons. You can do both at the same time. Say you're watching a video that teaches you a song. When the guy in the video says _"Ok, the first chord in this song is a D,"_ pause the video right there and see if YOU can figure out the second chord on your own. Take a guess, then un-pause the video. This will help you more than I can explain. You can even make a little game out of it. Do the same thing with solos. When you hear, _"We start by bending the G string at the 14th fret..."_ pause it! Now see if you can figure out the next 3 or 4 notes. Before you know it, you won't even need a lesson video to learn something. 5. *_Understand the existence of "the wall"_* - This is a tough one to explain. But there's something of a "wall" you'll run into in your guitar playing. A guitar journey is not linear. As you play week after week, you'll struggle, you'll think you suck, you'll struggle, you think you suck, you'll struggle, you'll think you suck.... Then one day... BOOM! You break through the wall. Suddenly, it all makes sense; your chords aren't buzzing anymore; you're muting strings you're not supposed to play without even thinking about it; you're not dropping your pick all the time; you're figuring things out by ear; you're recognizing patterns in all the songs you play... Sure, you'll still want to play faster and cleaner and better. But you'll find that you can suddenly play at least a _passable_ version of almost anything! When this happens, it happens very quickly. Depending on how much you practice, it might be that after 6 months, 8 months, 1 year, even 2 years of struggling, you'll break through the wall within a couple weeks! So do not give up! If you do, you'll have wasted all the hours you put into struggling, and you'll always know that you could have been only one short week away from breaking through the wall!

[@ReizokoRyu]

Underappreciated comment. Thanks for the words of support to all budding guitarists. What you say is absolutely true!

[@savinpetru6512]

Agree, never stop playing. At first my fingers were bleeding and it was painful as hell, but I never gave up. And after months my fingers got hard and never hurt again. I am that type of guitarist that does electric guitar techniques on acoustic and it's hard to do some vibrato or mindless bends or shredding out of the guitar ;D

[@MoneyShotSolo]

Or 15 years of plodding away, finally feel I'm back to making real progress. An hour or two a day and you'll improve in spite of yourself.

[@phantomlord5707]

dude you are awesome!

[@uhh4312]

i dont even know barre chord is difficult lmao

[@jamesmerritt5562]

I love this guy. It's freakin cool to be humble, people.

[@_.._guillaume_._x_._.]

You know nowadays it's kinda hard to draw the boundary of what a self taught guitarist even is. Back in the day, you'd figure it out with books and by ear and stuff but nowadays it's like, if you're sitting at home watching videos to help you learn, are you really self taught or are you taking lessons?

[@nikao7751]

I think you’re on to something here. For me with the drums I would go to shows or gigs and watch people play or listen to something on the radio and figure it out but with string instruments there had to be some lessons for sure and if I want to progress I need some more but yeah it’s more self disciplined than self taught

[@BodaciousWickerman]

Man you just blew my mind.

[@_mootin6858]

You're self motivated

[@ErdemDerebasoglu]

There is one thing that videos cannot give you and that is feedback. Let's say you watch a video about pinch harmonics. You might think you are doing it correctly but still not getting the sound you want. It that's the case, your teacher can fix your minor mistakes to lead you to perfection.

[@saywhat9158]

This is applicable to just about any skill someone desires to learn to a competent proficiency. This is also why it is the duty of parents to help progress any signs of passion being shown by their children for an art or skill as they are already miles ahead to have the desire.

[@RC-dk4uk]

Exactly! That's why my younger daughter just got an acoustic/electric ukelele and why my older daughter will be getting an acoustic guitar. I have 3 electrics but acoustic is what she wants so acoustic is what she shall have. I'm so thankful to my grandma for buying my first electric guitar and practice amp when I was 13 years old. Early 90s and the only teachers in my town wanted to force an acoustic and shit like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on me. No thanks. I taught myself through tablature books and tabs in the back of guitar magazines. I learned music that *I* wanted to learn by practicing 2-8 hours per day, at least 5 days per week. Would I have done that if I'd done that on an acoustic and kids songs? Fuck no! I practiced like that until I hit 19 years old and got pregnant with twins--I blew up so fast and so huge that holding my axe was physically impossible. I always planned on jumping back into it when the boys were a few months old but tragedy struck--one died at 3 months old and life turned into a nightmare for a very long time. I did try to pick it back up over the years but something always made me put it back down. Without going into detail, my life has been a rollercoaster and I haven't always made the best choices. I'm proud to say that 2 months ago, at age 39, my love for the guitar came back to me and I began playing again. I have to relearn nearly everything I once knew and THAT'S OK! I'd rather relearn than never play again. As a motivator, I just bought a less expensive version of my dream guitar--the Gibson Les Paul. I grew up on a Les Paul knockoff and currently have one of the cheap Epiphone versions but I wanted the real thing. The standard is way out of my price range but I was able to get a used studio at a good price :) The Epiphone is going to a good friend who wants to learn and my Ibanez is being passed to my roommate, who has also become interested in the instrument.

[@hollowify_tensa_zangetsu]

I always said “ I forgot to practice” but I always played and learned more of what I wanted. Not so much what my teacher wanted

[@Anriuko]

It's kind of disrespectful to your teacher because they expect co-operation from you and the next lesson builds on the previous. If you don't put in the work you're both wasting your time on the lessons, in which case you should just end that relationship. If you don't like the content of the lessons or want to something very specific, then discuss it with your teacher and work together to create new plans with more interesting content.

[@rickfeith6372]

Haha...I've been drooling on my instruments for 25 years. Do yourself a favor all you 1 to 4 year hotshot players (we've all been there...lol...slow it down) and put your playing under a serious microscope, especially your bends, vibrato, and delivery of each note, along with your muting, dynamics and tone. The only technical difference between a good player and a pro is the quality and timing of their notes...be that guy, make every note count. For the rookies: Stick with it youngsters, the gear of the future is reason enough to push yourself, let alone how amazing guitar will make you feel inside. Its like a drug.

[@xG5YxShAttErZ]

I'm 25, finally picked up a guitar a few months back and now I'm fully obsessed, it's all I think about 24/7. I cant believe I've waited this long to pick it up. Thanks for your great videos, they're a massive help. Happy birthday to you!

[@Rob-qr2kn]

@Zoshyy LOL I picked it up for the second time at 47 years old Sir. You have plenty of time.

[@jefferyjones1812]

Playing full songs rather than just riffs really helped me keep my tempo (find my rhythm) and made it easier to jam... Creating riffs/progressions on the fly taught me how to find the 3 major and minor chords of each key (which can later be embellished into odd out of key chords that are super easy to remember (Major in between V and iv is super Nirvana sounding, doing a Major 3 chord rather than the regular minor 3 chord)). Learning a single song really well (I Heard Love is Blind by Amy Winehouse taught me so much about Jazz embellishments, many other good ones). Learning to play different genres (especially for other people), nothing wrong with playing poppy sounding music in the usual I, IV, V, iv, but also nothing wrong with going out of that box. Playing everyday for a few days, and taking a break for a day or two to get life experience outside of your house, crazy how going on a walk can be more inspiring and thought-provoking for your playing than playing sometimes... Really just keeping at it and being openminded to other musicians and styles of music.

[@aureliomartinez2633]

It's very hard when you want to start out knowing cero musical knowleage and also being over 50 very very hard but I'm trying

[@spiralflash6169]

I'm with you, brother, and we got this!!

[@chawk_]

One of my family members is turning 75 soon. Last year he started playing the guitar after never having picked one up before. No, hes not as good as mark knopfler but damn that guy has learned a lot in the span of one year. All self taught, with hard dedication. From a 19 year old who’s also learning... and struggling. I may not be as wise as you but what I do know is that you’re never too old to learn something new. You got this

[@aureliomartinez2633]

@@chawk_ some of us we're born with special talent that is been dorment for years but is there just waiting to wake it up for other is going to be harder but if it's what we really want go for it be great

[@blueone2952]

Just keep playing

[@MoneyShotSolo]

I didn't really start playing until I was around 37, 50 now and somebody who didn't know better might say I'm ok. If you want to really make a jump on things, get set up with an actual online course, learn the basic music theory first and play for a minimum of 15 minutes a day. That will quickly become an hour or more, and you'll miss it any day you have to skip. The theory will give you a framework to identify what you're hearing and make all music more fun to listen to as well as make it easier to figure out songs or play what you hear in your head.

[@MrMrPomki]

It's my birthday as well! 🎂

[@krushgroovin7513]

Pomki Happy B-Day Cheers

[@morielchukrun5574]

Happy birthday!

[@dabird2120]

Pomki happy birthday!!!!

[@ratleygoo-eaters7097]

Though I've been self-teaching guitar for about 4 years now, something I only learned recently has helped me tremendously: Learning to play entire albums! Not only does it give me a specific, realistic, and often challenging goal to work on, but it helps me develop in ways that a lot of solitary guitarists might not be able to otherwise. For example, sitting down and playing along to an album the whole way through will not only supplement the feeling of playing with other people, but it can also help build endurance to play song after song, which is quite handy if/when you start to play gigs. It also gives me a lot of insight into the different techniques my favorite musicians use commonly in their songs, and I often gain a new appreciation for the music itself. (Bonus points if you ditch the tabs and learn by ear, or by watching videos of live performances!)

[@vzm4663]

Brilliant idea!

[@Squoski93]

My dad taught me chords when I was a kid and then I learned from tabs throughout my teens and into my early twenties. Last year, at 24 years old and with 12 years of playing by tab and not having had any real training, I was fed up with my playing. So I opened my university trombone teacher’s daily routines and decided to learn them on the guitar. I learned my major and minor scales, started attempting to piece together my knowledge of music theory from my time as a music education student, and just connected as many dots as I could. I’m still not as good of a player as I want to be, but I can see just how much I’ve improved just by doing those few things over the last year.

[@nigelmascarenhas9907]

Seriously....how do scales even help? I really don't get it...a scale is just a piece of a few notes arranged in some systematic order....but how does it benefit when arranging songs on fingerstyle!!???

[@markrogers7304]

@@nigelmascarenhas9907 I know this is an old reply but helpful for someone reading. Scales are more than systematic order. Knowing scales allows you to set the tone of your music creation. Example would be iron maidens wasted years. That song gives a sort of far off in time Egyptian feel cause they use the mixolydian scale. They take their chord progression from there and use the scale in solo also. But also knowing your scales makes it much easier to learn cover songs. Knowing the mixolydian scale allowed me to learn wasted tears solo in a couple hours, enough that I could play with the song. Also combing scales together moves you around the neck easier. Another example is in Mr crowely 2nd solo, randy combines the Ionian and Dorian mode to move continuously from 1st fret down to the 7th fret area fluidly. There's much more to it,I'm fairly limited in my music theory since I only had 4 months of lessons,everything else since 1991 has been self taught for me.

[@natashab8110]

i would say i'm proud of myself for practicing everyday since November 2019 even when my friends told me to stop because i practice too hard :)

[@Killah-AJANI]

I’m 45 years old and I’ve recently picked up the guitar. I’m a month in. I’m very motivated to be able to learn some technical skills and eventually rock out in front of a crowd small or large. I came across your page and I’ve already learned some good practices

[@Marten_Broadcloak]

I'm still very early game. I have been going through these videos, MartyMusic, JustinGuitar, MusicIsWin and other guitar youtube lesson groups. I've been spending about 1-3 hours daily playing the guitar as an older learner, and honestly enjoying the hell out of it. This and other channels have helped a LOT and hearing some progress has been very, very rewarding. I just started some in person lessons, which I figure I'll use sporadically to course-correct and occasionally make sure I'm not picking up any bad habits. But seriously, this channel and some of the other resources out there have been invaluable. Thanks!

[@blend43]

When I'm feeling the pain, I sit down and watch all my favorite bands on KZbin (and you of course!). That usually gets me in the mood again. Happy Birthday. Thank you for all your great content.

[@danr5105]

Lots of good "stuff" here. I started a year ago, I was 65. I had never even held a guitar before. It was online instructors that helped so much. I believe I am right where the average person is, 1 year in. At first it was "no way this is going to happen" Slowly it turned into "wow this is starting to happen". I would print out chord finger position guides,they were everywhere. Soon it was slowly moving from one chord to the next. Then I started concentrating on strumming (wow it sounds different when I upstrum). I can do the DCG EADA progressions, backwards and forwards. The finger pain will hold you back, work past it in small steps. It will be amazing when you manage to put something together. Avoid the pressure of "you need to learn a song" "play me a song" People (non students/non players) just do not understand how it is not about "playing a song" at first. I look at my music theory lessons along the lines of learning algebra. It is simply an agreed upon system, it takes time to learn the system. Ah time. I have both unlimited time to practice (I get in right at 3 hrs a day) and limited time here on this earth, don't waste time but try not to stress over it. Wondering about having enough time left on this Earth to get to where you want is non productive. Oh, having someone knowledgeable look over the ways life (and your life's work) have bent and formed your hands is important. I am not saying hand and finger issues are totally limiting but you need to develop a way around hand and finger problems. I turned wrenches for 40 years (I was an auto mechanic) Using my hands (and abusing my hands) for so long at work has bent them and made certain moves difficult. My screen name at one site is "Clawhand" (the fingers on my left (fretting hand) are pretty bent. Oh, 'first song" Neil Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry". I did not realize I was picking such a fast chord change song. EADA is pretty easy but you must move those fingers to make it work.

[@toteeicke7325]

All Kool man. I took lessons as a kid in 1966, half a year and quit. Still have my 1965 fender mustang. Started back at it off and on about twenty years ago, the internet has been a great source for learning. . Just bought a Taylor 416 yesterday. Happy Birthday. Mine is October 6th. Right on.

[@noir371]

I am self taught and extremely dedicated. I practice as much as I can every day

[@AdamJWM]

My daughter was born 7 weeks ago and I have discovered this channel since then. Many times while I am hanging out with her I will be watching one of Mikes videos. I will put her in her basket and play around and Mikes voice is soothing and nice so my daughter is always calm. Edit: Happy birthday two years ago

[@jsr-uz3oj]

I bought my first guitar in 1988 when I was 25. I was a maintenance man for 178 apartments, on call 24-7 never had time to practice, and I was afraid to even change the strings there was no internet then, so I eventually gave up fast-forward I'm 59 now retired, and I'm going to learn I'm no longer afraid to work on it, I bought a Jackson js32 dinky and replaced the saddles with stainless steel ones the guitar feels great, and I practice several times a day it sits next to my recliner, so I can pick it up and practice anytime, and I am really enjoying playing it having KZbin really helps out I really like your videos you do a great job I should know I watch a ton of them.

[@yourlocalgrungekid9472]

Hey nice dude I self taught myself too

[@williamschletzer4516]

I don't have a lot of talent but I have stuck with it for fifty years just because of love I guess. My daughter started playing violin in grade school and was very good. Her dexterity by the time she was in high school was amazing to me. But she stopped in college and I fear it is gone forever. I think for her it was about acheivement and not a passion for music. As inept as I may be at times I still love learning about technique and theory. I still love to hit a sweet note or phrase or new chord inversion. I had two lessons fifty years ago from two different teachers. One taught me the blues pentatonic scale and the other taught the diatonic scale. I memorized those patterns, taught myself how chords are built. Sometimes I try to learn a new song or technique but mostly it is just undisciplined banging and exploration for the joy of playing. Some people can't stick with it? I can't stop. I watched of few of this guy's videos today and enjoyed.

[@mwc6849]

#7 is the biggest reason I think formal in person instruction makes you a better player. An instructor can watch you and give you feedback.

[@bluevoodoo60]

First, happy belated birthday Mike! And being self-taught does have many obstacles but in today’s world, you’re right, if you have the self motivation to pursue this, there is a multitude of options available that many are certain to be ideal for you to learn from. When I started (in 1978) I found a book that showed me first position chords, but the rest was music theory that at the time was like a foreign language! Haha! And I had a brother-in-law who wanted to learn which kinda made us not wanting to fall behind from other, and trying to figure out a song from a record album was a difficult task and I had to get a cassette player which at least had a counter to rewind to! And when we finally got a guy that he knew that knew a few songs and he came over and showed us was like a miracle of fortune to happen to us! Haha! Because this was before MTV or tablature even existed. But all your points hit home and I like the way you present things and your explanations make sense and I at times listen to, even when it’s not something I am working on, I get it on what you’re teaching. And while I no longer drive myself on rigid practice anymore and no longer pursue jamming with anyone, I have finally in the past five years or so decided to learn music theory and so much of the stuff that I would play all connect and makes sense on why and broadens what I want to learn or figure out next! Keep up the good work and rockin’ out!

[@nikao7751]

That last one I like to call it dogged determination. This is really good what you’ve laid out and if truly followed I believe will be satisfying. I’ve been doing some of this in the two years I’ve been an autodidact at guitar and I’m really grateful to you for helping me in this grand adventure especially at my age which is now 53.

[@Krullmatic]

You came up in my recommended about 3 hours ago, and ever since then, I've been binge watching your vids. Absolutely love them, so I finally subbed. Keep up the good work, and keep on rocking, my dude! 🙏♥🎸🤘😝🤘. Btw, I was self-taught, have been playing for 39 years and still very eager and willing to keep learning and practicing.

[@sid35gb]

Having to teach myself at the moment. When I have something I’m working on that’s not coming together and I keep making mistakes I slow it right down to the point where I play each note correctly. Doing this makes it sound nothing like the song but it just makes it clear in my mind where my fingers must go, once I have is down literally playing in slow motion each note correctly I start speeding up and then it comes and if it doesn’t I just slow it down again to recheck I’m doing it correctly then bring the speed up. If it’s really tricky and I feel Myself getting tired, frustrated I’ll leave it and go play a piece I’m good at then try again the next day.

[@seanmcallister6574]

I am a lifetime mostly self taught guitar player who has seen thousands of instructional videos. This is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Glad to hear I’m not the only who has drooled on their guitar in concentration. I wish I had seen this when I was 13!

[@tunesarms2586]

Happy B- day Mike ! Have a good one. Thanks for the great videos 🎸

[@Wiplash12345]

Happy Birthday Mike, oh and btw for us self taught guitarists people like you make a HUGE difference in helping us hone and get our techniques/riffs etc right! Keep up the good work! :D

[@scottmckenna9164]

Easy going manner, excellent advice, what's not to like? In the past I was mesmerized by your video on Beatle licks and embellishments.

[@RodneroZ]

Stellar thoughts. You have given me much to think about. 4 yrs with the guitar, started at age 50, one year of that with lessons, then my instructor retired. I want to live my life without regrets and one regret I am determined to avoid is wondering if lessons would have helped me enjoy the guitar more. You have convinced me to do the work necessary to clearly answer that question. So I can put that wondering to bed once and for all. Thanks.

[@MajorUpgrade]

When I wrote these down I put "8 qualities needed for a self-taught guitar player... Or WHATEVER". Really, this is good advice for anything you are pursuing on your own. Freaking awesome lesson. DIG IN. Don't give up. YOU'VE GOT THIS! I have a small white board I keep next to my desk. It's not in the wall. I use it to take notes, draw out scale shapes, create chords, whatever. It helps me a lot to get my ideas down, and to remember them. Another one is to just remember... This is supposed to be fun! Go be awesome people. Thanks Mike, you ROCK man! Happy Birthday!

[@jwalters8498]

Excellent lesson, I am self taught for over a year now. I don’t feel self taught because I joined the art of guitar. However, this video showed me that I am doing all these things plus I have played on stage once already. Thank you very much, and Happy Birthday Sensei!!!

[@annabelle3864]

Thank you, Mike! I'm going to show this video to my students!

[@felixramirez6898]

Happy birthday young Man , Your a class act . I,m a 62 year old grandpa and finally retired . Since the age of eight , all I ever wanted was to play my instruments . So now I get to do just that , all day , every day . 30 years ago I heard Sting say , " The ability to make music is it`s own reward ." That`s one of the things that make Me a very lucky person in this world . You give very sound advice . Keep it up . Cheers !

[@RainStickland]

Totally self-taught, with the exception of KZbin videos. It wasn't until I was 47 that I developed the drive to really learn how to play. Been maniacal for over a year now, though, and that works well for me. Bought one 7-string and that wasn't enough, so I got a second. Different tunings now, though. One is dropped to A-tuning. I've learned a lot from your videos, as well as many others on KZbin, so thank you for that.

[@mr23mickey]

I am self taught and have struggled to find friends to jam with. I have several riffs written but kinda don’t know how to resolve them into a song. You are awesome and wish I could have been one of your students

[@nocturnalmadness9517]

Mike, I'm grateful for your lessons and advice. I wish you, KZbin, and the Internet were around a lifetime ago. I started to learn guitar in second grade with Sister Pierre (no lie) and I gave up. Fast-forward fifty-plus years and I have the will to learn. And you get to be part of the journey (even if it's through a comment). Thanks for all you do.

[@DannyGz99]

4:15 me literally learning thunderstruck and master of puppets before anything else

[@lovzygaming3144]

this is so relatable. I learned the enter sandman solo and monster by skillet before i knew how to play smoke on the water lol

[@the48thvain]

@@lovzygaming3144 I just learned how to play Horizons by TheDooo and I still dont even know how to play Smells Like Teen Spirit.

[@notacrew69]

I started learning guitar by myself cause im bored still to this im practicing like 10-12 hours on free days with breaks on between especially when im learning new songs and techniques it’s like a drug for me learning some new Lindsey songs Great job on this mark keep em coming

[@johnnytruck2009]

Happy Belated Birthday! I bounce between being taught and trying to learn on my own. Teacher's are a valuable asset...

[@viennapalace]

Regarding number 5 - The main reason I started on guitar was so I wouldn't have to deal with other musicians & their egos. I'm gonna have to think about this... Great list.

[@elsalves]

Started learning guitar 4 months ago with KZbin videos first time I picked the guitar and play was with you :) at first I really wanted to play songs that I like but then Guitar changed me a lot I wanted to know more learn some theory understand why things work like that my guitar is in front of me in my bedroom I picked her every day practice every day with KZbin books as well and like to do challenges to myself and sometimes I try hard songs for me I get to learn in Facebook groups and show videos of me and people that plays for years get to help me a lot and see where I should work more and now I decided to get lessons from your website cause I need to have some order in lessons search a lot of teachers in KZbin although there good don’t know why I prefer your lessons o just think we just connect more with some teachers and persons than others 🙂 I really did learn a lot of things to see where o came from even in the theory and it’s really amazing 🤩 even I’m not a master of course I mean I didn’t know absolutely nothing about guitar and I still have a lot to learn it can be overwhelming sometimes all the knowledge we need to learn

[@shredbacca]

ever since i started playing ive picked up the guitar once a day for at least 6hrs still do just learn my favorite songs learn my idols inspirations so i can play more like him but also learning my inspirations and finding new things to learn

[@romaholcomb7768]

I started three months ago. It took two just to find the ones to trust, and this channel has proven to be top notch. Thanks.

[@elektron2kim666]

At least have/find someone or more to "look interested" sometimes for your own good. My goal was creating melodies (not even good melodies) and it all worked out over time. Everything comes in layers and bubbles where ones own urges are important. Even the piano helped me with guitar and back. Now that I CAN create a bit of melody, it's time for others to be involved both ways; Like exchanging goods. Maybe some are 9 at my current level and can go to a music school, but I feel it's working fine as it is.

[@PictureMaker22]

Great words of encouragement and reality. Thank you. ...and Happy Birthday!🎉

[@MoneyShotSolo]

I first started learning how to play guitar from Mel Bey chord books in the eighties and it worked, but all I knew a ton of chords, not how and why to use them. Then, 15 odd years later I picked up an acoustic and started over as self taught and progressed to youtube, not so structured instruction, so I could write songs. For the last fifteen years I've usually played one or two hours a day. The biggest breakthrough was learning theory at which point a whole lot opened up, but honestly I think there's a good bit to be learned by just plunking away. Sometime in the next ten years perhaps I'll even make it out of the wood shed. 😉

[@brionhannan1204]

Thank you! I have been trying to teach myself for almost a year, now I have some additional information to work with. I have been drumming since 4th grade, when I started learning about some of my favorite drummers I learned they were self taught. When I decided to pick up a guitar, I learned a lot of my favorite guitar players were also self taught. I will be using your channel and site to help me going forward. Happy belated birthday 🍻

[@robertcaffrey6097]

Going to live gigs and studying the guitarists hands during his/her playing is great for working out stuff.

[@antonlillerup-rasmussen4245]

Playing with people better than me really helped, also just doing bands. Wether they be serious or not it just elevates you playing with others, creating stuff, especially if youre a little in over your head, where you have to push yourself

[@chadharland7700]

I was just told today that people that live close by an have listened to my practice habits. Are amazed that I can sit there for hours an play the same bar or 2 whatever the case an difficulty level. I dont shy away from the very difficult things I encounter. When I picked the guitar up I told myself there is no quit! An I resemble a lot of things you through out there, good an bad. The one thing I am missing is getting out the bedroom an playing with other people. I just dont know anyone who plays.

[@MatmanPDX]

One of the things that I struggle with when practicing is that I don't want to do the boring exercises and stuff using the limited free time I have, instead opting for playing covers. I figured that the artists who play those songs did the practice so that they could play the song, so then it's like practicing scales, only it sounds super cool! Little did I know I would pay an astronomical price for that logic.

[@Fantastic_Coder]

Just need to pace yourself in all areas and enjoy it... make it So Fun.! Learning or knowledge is powerful! Beautiful thing!

[@superfit60]

Lately, i have been making a log of what I practiced, and metronome speeds...and how many hours a day i have been practicing. This has shown me what i need to spend more time on and what is progressing well...

[@aleksandarnikolov144]

I've just picked up the guitar as I've always had the longing to learn how to play an instrument. The guitar is something that I've always loved the sound of so here I am... The struggle is real but I am determined. However, the road ahead is thorny and I hope I maintain the perseverance to keep going.

[@napesdrk1174]

Great vid Mike. I always try to have a few projects going, a cover, a few in the back logg to add a bit of pressure, some originals, recording I believe is a major motivation to keep the ball rolling. I spend all my free time in my studio, I know I am playing enough when the wife gets pissed because I am not around.

[@yudipitre5720]

Great advice thank you Always love checking out your videos and learn from you.

[@drcuda71]

Wow i have the same bday as well and have been self taught since 84’ i did a lot of practicing wrong over my years but developed the ability to self examine and be brutally honest with myself. And I’m eight for eight on your things you need to be able to do. So i guess I’m qualified to keep teaching myself! So keep shreddin’ cuz i am!!

[@carltaylor4942]

That's a good, well-balanced, complete video that covers a whole load of information. I couldn't agree more about recording yourself and then listening/watching your performance. It's so important to vary your practice, too - not jut repeat stuff you already know.

[@minipict1759]

Self taught for the first two years of guitar.. now at intermediate level. I'm a teacher by profession, so I know about how to structure my own learning and I've got a good idea of how to reinforce established skills and how to accept the challenge of doing stuff that's totally new and very difficult. What's made the difference for me is a) learn guitar books, they give structure and a progression of skills. b) KZbin videos to watch over and over top pick up good technique. c) making guitar practice part of my daily life, regular, structured, doing reinforcing skills in process, acquiring new skills, mastering established skills... d) video myself, watch, learn e) two online resources. Yousician and Guitar Tricks. f) good friends in online guitar forums and support groups. Lots of very useful advice. g) love the learning process. h) go use books and KZbin to learn basic theory, scales etc Now I'm going to weekly lessons because I reckon I've got to intermediate level and I am really enjoying just talking to a guitar expert about where to go next in more advanced skills, what to try to keep working at just ahead of my current level, and to get instant feedback... Outside of my guitar lesson (20 minutes) I'm working on my set pieces but I'm also going off exploring other things doing my own learning..... I think tho it's simply enough to really really enjoy playing guitar, whether it's a few notes or a whole combo of super hard riffs... It's not about getting complex, it's about enjoying the fun of playing.

[@greggw890]

Great session mike I do maybe half of what you takes about I'll work on the other more ofen

[@the48thvain]

Im self taught, been playing for over a year and Im very happy with how far I have come. Id say im high intermediate and im getting pretty far into learning some of the songs I wanted to learn back when I first started playing. Im getting to the point where im starting to tune by ear on occasion. Very nice video.

[@TheGhostOfFredZeppelin]

Before watching, I suspect I possess about -2 of the 8 qualities I need.

[@Beer-can_full_of_toes]

I’ve been having that issue with the piano since I started high school and stopped taking lessons. I wasn’t really interested back then but have had a recent burst of wanting to play. I’m currently restoring my piano since it had been painted by the previous owner and is a 1907 Melville Clark. My goal is to reach the skill level required to play Claude Debussy’s Claire de Lune. I’m almost finished with it and am stoked to get my fingers back on real ivory!

[@guitarwins1896]

But no matter what I do play everyday! I need to play for longer and learn full songs. I always focus on learning new technique's. I can finger tap, play harmonics, pinched harmonics...not well yet...but don't know a song. As far as that goes I learn a part or two from a song them another song. I do LOVE trying to be creative though. Coming up with your own material is the best feeling to me

[@jadm110]

I keep a log book and write down the day and the amount of time I practice. I average about 1 1/2 - 2 hourd per night "on the guitar" ( no phone-no utube )

[@mauriciolozanodamm3893]

Happy birthday!!! I have beentrying to teach myself to play for a while now and I sometimes find it hard because of my job. I travel a lot and sometimes I’m away from my guitar for days and that is something that I feel is keeping me from progressing

[@darioalemanno4600]

quality advices for self taught players! Thanks for sharing with us and wish you a happy birthday

[@drfisto8212]

Thanks for being alive.

[@benearhart1224]

Who would bag on self-taught guitarists? Surely there are reams of famous guitarists that have never taken formal lessons.

[@yudipitre5720]

Being self taught is 🤪 crazy and not easy. I love the 🎸 guitar .

[@Birkguitars]

I am self taught and I now enjoy practice more than I have ever done because I have the confidence to know that good practice will yield results. For a beginner it can be hard to see why endless repetition is anything other than mind crushingly dull but once it starts working and real progress becomes visible it can be addictive. And after years of being a bedroom warrior I finally joined a band and did THAT ever push me to improve still further. The band decides that we are going to do Number of the Beast - I have to learn the solo. Back to the practice room...

[@CoryDAnimates]

Happy Birthday!

[@jsam4462]

Mike. Success! With your help, advice, and videos. It was like college algebra, bam! It clicked! I can now find and hit all the notes on the fretboard, so exciting! Thank you, all. Reading threads helps, from many encouraging folks, really helpful. Excited! It's really cool, learning my way around the fretboard. Use 12 as a way to get back on track, sound out and repeat the notes as I go. So Cool! Hope I'm thinking on track. Thanks.

[@gregbaker6215]

Happy Birthday! I am mostly self taught as well and fall into a couple of categories you mentioned. The one thing that I have never had an issue with is desire, passion, fortitude to continue. Ok that was more than one thing. You know what I'm sayin'. I'm still completely lazy as far as theory, but I have several instructional books on guitar, music, ect... So it's not that I don't look at those, I'm not consistent at going cover to cover within the book. So any way, I have figured out my lacking and where to improve but haven't hacked my lazy ass to get past it. 🎸🤓🎸🇺🇸☮

[@Cymanytb]

Have fun on your birthday! I like you really pointed out everything about teaching yourself how to play guitar as I'm the same :)). And I could really tell you are talking from experience. You're amazing!

[@ding210]

Thanks for the video Mike. I am self taught/teaching and you are spot on. While I am a lot older than most beginners(60) I love to practice. I have the time to spend learning to play that really does not feel like practice. I am still waiting on my Ah Ha moment with theory. Have not had the chance to jam with other players yet but looking forward to the day. Thank you for the great content.

[@Anarcath]

I pick up the guitar religiously 4 to 6 times a day, half hour each, 7 days a week. 1. Cords of the songs that I’m learning or learned. 2. Scales, modes, arpeggios. 3. Licks from the songs I’m learning, 4.strumming patterns, legato, hammer-ons, pull offs, slides, bends, vibrato, etc. I spend another hour learning theory. My guitar is always in my field of vision. Everything else is organized around it.

[@madamefeast4824]

You are among the best of all guitar tutorials. Thanks my man

[@MatmanPDX]

About the whole collaboration thing. I used to have a group of friends that were all about the same stuff I was into. Those were the best years of my life so far, and that was when I was 15. Well I'm almost 40 now and I have become a hedonistic recluse because of several traumatic events that I've really struggled with. So I never get to actually sit down with someone face to face and just jam or whatever. I just find that there's always some aspect of social interaction that I don't really know how to navigate, and this often leads to embarrassment or undesirable frustration and so I've just decided that I guess I'll always be a bedroom guitarist. Which I thought would be fine, but I as there's no reason to really help me push myself, the intervals my instrument spends gathering dust grow ever wider. I can't even describe the depths of my lamentation and self-loathing for pretty much giving up the one hobby I vowed to NEVER stop working on.

[@UmarKhan-iw8md]

I just started learning on my own

[@eugenecheong3269]

Huge fan of your online lessons dude...I've been learning music since I was 3, and yet I feel like I still know absolutely nothing about the guitar... I was classically trained on the piano...but I had a stroke at 31, which made my right appendages really weak...so I have the musical theory background which has helped a lot with guitar playing...eg how scales are constructed... I love music...and in order to go back to piano playing, it requires a pretty high level of dexterity from the right hand...so I figured the guitar would be the next obvious choice, cause it's easier to train the right hand to strum, cause the left hand does most of the work... Following your lessons intently...I'm just applying everything I did in piano practice...scales, chords, and in this case, finger speed and strength exercises... As oppose to most other lessons that focus on sounding good like teaching power chords and riffs...I find your lessons really practical, like finger stengthening and other life lessons...awesome stuff man... Keep up the excellent work...

[@UNGETABLE7]

Number 3 was so frustrating! Great vid!

[@Hippiedudeman]

Honestly, when I first got a guitar, I was 10 too. I also didn’t pick it up until I was 12, but my learning experience didn’t really kick in until I forced myself to learn the intro to welcome home sanitarium. Afterwards, I started learning a bunch of bits and pieces of songs that are played in standard tuning from stuff that everyone knows like don’t fear the reaper to songs like deep six by Marilyn Manson. Eventually I started experimenting with other tunings and getting into other songs like whale and wasp which the acoustic for is played with a finger style method. Watching vids like these and covers and just people explaining the intricacies of guitar playing has always kept my attention on continuing to learn guitar lol some can say I’m obsessed but I’d rather say I’m dedicated

[@matthewguarna2975]

Lol, as a self taught guitarist for three year I can't help but thinking about guitar 24/7...I mean... Ambition is everything... After just 1 year of guitar I started a band with people who all could play much better than me and pushed me to learn and learn, and now, after 3 years I can say I can play Judas Priest and Gamma Ray songs in a band as the lead guitarist... Maybe I will never be able to become someone, but I think there's nothing more I could do... Even while studying at the university and having to keep my means to have my studies financed and teaching subjects to kids to have some money for me... Guitar is all I can think of

[@Waltzhybrid92]

Happy birthday! Cheers for all the tips. Wish you well!

[@gsmay73]

Your awesome dude. Gotta say not a member but the fact that you said "whether you find that out from me here OR SOMEONE ELSE" says your not in it for the money. Yeah everyone needs money, and is in it to some extent, but the sincerity is there. Think I might do your course

[@Subhabrata]

Belated happy birthday, Mike.

[@jamesslater8435]

happy bday man! and thank you for sharing your wisdom and talent! you rock brother!

[@vzm4663]

This is so relevant to me- been playing acoustic guitar for 4 years now (will get an electric soon) and I feel like I havent made much progress as of late. Thanks for this video, will really come in handy =)

[@gnomeam]

I've been sporadically picking up and dropping guitar for the past few years, with only a few stretches of extended practice. My biggest problem is definitely No. 3, where music theory just seems so vast that I didn't really know where to go. I'd watch a video on some piece of theory, they'd refer to another piece that I didn't know, and I'd feel lost and demotivated. Oh, and a belated happy birthday to you

[@jsr-uz3oj]

Right now, my goal is to get use to playing it and feel comfortable playing I'm on disability due to my back but my hands and fingers are strong I can play for 90 with no problem I'm just playing for fun and getting my fingers use to playing and picking, and it's easier every time I pick it up my goals are to learn how to play and how to work on it, I love a good challenge and my back limits me, so I have a lot of free time to learn I am no longer afraid to work on it.

[@charliesharitz3162]

Happy birthday!

[@thetruthseeker8841]

self taught here too... :) And oh !! HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

Happy Birthday. And many thanks for your thoughts. My experience: always have a guitar at hand and not in the case helps a lot for practicing more often.

[@crisj1621]

Thanks for the motivation!

[@TheEleventeen]

Happy birthday and thank you for the time and effort you put into making these wonderful videos !