How To Begin Playing Guitar So You Don't Quit | The First 6 Months Learning Guitar

[@atlasm6373]

Thank you for putting this up. I’ve stopped and restarted guitar probably 5 or 6 times since I was 18 (and I’m 27 now trying to get my stuff together). You make a excellent point about managing expectations. You’re not going to instantly sound like a guitar god on day one but you have to play enough fun stuff to make the value of practice worth it.

[@MusicWithMarky]

I'm happy to hear it makes sense to you. Keep at it and enjoy the process!

[@bishopbrathwaitee1734]

Thanks for putting this video out, many future guitar players will appreciate it! Started playing guitar in my late forties. Always loved the instrument, and had great respect for my guitar heros I grew up with in the 70's.....Got busy with life bringing up baby, etc. then all kids grewup and moved out, thats why my delay. Im in my mid 60's now. I would evaluate my playing at an upper intermediate level. I play in an older guys band. I would love to offer this advice if I might: 1 You must want to play. I mean, there must be somewhat of a burning desire. 2 Take lessons. Commit to 10 lessons. You need a professional guitar instructor to sit in front of you and correct your mistakes, provide you with a take home practise sheet. 3 Patience is a virtue. Yes, the first 6 months are critical. You are building finger strength, muscle memory and calluses, among others. 4 Understand this, you WILL get better. Stick with it. You will be glad you did! I truly mean it. 5 Dont buy really cheap gear. Ask your instructor for advice. He/she should be able to assist you when your ready to purchase, whats best for YOU. So, Best of luck!! DONT QUIT!!

[@MusicWithMarky]

Excellent advice!

[@ladydiana2008]

I’m very much a beginner and I appreciated this video. I need to play it and hit pause a lot but I enjoyed the lessons you gave.

[@MusicWithMarky]

So glad I could help!!

[@rorykranz7575]

Hi, I saw that you got several negative comments on this video for some reason and I just wanted to say that they are completely unwarranted. This is an awesome video and definitely very helpful for beginner guitarists like myself, especially as someone who has picked up guitar several times but never managed to make it past the first few months. Some people are just hating for no reason. Hope you continue to make videos like this in the future! :)

[@MusicWithMarky]

Thanks Rory. I don't ever mind negative comments. If they are constructive, I learn from them and work on improving. If they are just hateful to be hateful, then that is about the person who said them, not me. I love making these vids and when I hear from people like you, I know that it's useful to even a handful of people out there and so it's worth it.

[@rorykranz7575]

@@MusicWithMarky Sounds like a good mindset! And yes, the video was very useful, thanks again:)

[@jackmobley732]

Thank you Soo much for putting this out here. I’m new (again) played acoustic during High school 4 decades ago. Now I’ve got an electric guitar, playing some Tomo Fujita scales/fingering practice techniques and would really like to learn the beginning Riff to 3 Doors Down’s “I Feel You”. Love that riff, song and band. Also looking at some Staind riffs for a later date. One of Tomo’s Video’s sent me to you and so far so good as I love All genres of music. Everything from newer type Country (last 10-15yrs) and metal, classic rock, funk and even some jazz. I digress, I’d really appreciate any assistance with this and thank you again for ALL that you’re doing here.🙏🏼☮️🤙🏼☯️💪🏼😷

[@MusicWithMarky]

Thanks for checking it out and taking the time to comment! It sounds like you are further along than this video talks about and you have very specific goals which is great. My main piece of advice when learning other songs it to use a piece of software like Transcribe (I have a video on it at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/raS0Y2SaZ5xpqas) and learn the songs at slower tempos so that you REALLY learn how to play every nuance. Start at half speed and go up 8blm or so at a time as you matter it. Then go all the way to 10bpm faster. Once you can do that with a song, you still have it really mastered.

[@acousticresonance1]

The number one thing is whatever guitar you start on needs to have a good set up. I have seen so many kids get frustrated and give up simply because the guitar they were trying to learn on was near impossible to play

[@MusicWithMarky]

This is a very good point!

[@qmarmcdevy5080]

Awesome lesson! Very useful. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

[@MusicWithMarky]

Sure thing! Thanks for taking the time to let me know you liked it.

[@donkrause]

You had me at "get right to the fucking point".

[@MusicWithMarky]

Werd!

[@MiketheNerdRanger]

I realize now that it isn't songs that got me into guitar. I less want to learn songs and moreso techniques. The more blanket musical expression and techniques guitar present got me into it more than just about any song, if you can believe that.

[@MusicWithMarky]

Nothing wrong with that! One of my best in person students felt very much the same way. To this day we only ever chat about the really technical stuff as if learning the most difficult things on guitar is a sport. That's what it is for him and that's his enjoyment of it and so I'm happy to share that direction when we chat.

[@Unmaleable]

Okay, so when I first started people kept pushing *LEARN CHORDS BROOOO* So what happened was of course I went down the path of...Cowboy Chords...then "gee how do I move these chords" Then you find out about BARRE CHORDS. Thats where I quit the first time...My fingers had not built ANY dexterity on the fretboard yet to play Barre Chords. So after not playing for a while I got back into guitar but with *SCALES FIRST*... Then all of a sudden I was actually making music and recording things. I also learned how to connect chords to scales. Then I dug into music theory and what do you know...theory started with notes, SCALES, then chords. Of course it depends what kind of music you wanna make. But I couldn't play barre chords until had build dexterity with scales first. I feel like the tradition of throwing students right into barre chords is like a "right of passage" game to see if you'll quit.

[@MusicWithMarky]

That's a rate entry point for you. Although I worked on lead stuff right away (and have students do it), I definitely got barre chords more easily. Usually I see that with students too. That you got to making music of your own is great, though! How long have you been playing now?

[@Unmaleable]

@@MusicWithMarky 3 Years now regularly. I would be on my 7th year had I not gotten discouraged LOL. I really have to work on getting every chord around the neck seared into my memory bank. Its rough because I've seen some 7th year guitarists REALLY shredding it up so now Im practicing 6 - 10 hours a day.

[@MusicWithMarky]

@@Unmaleable my follow up video might be better for you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaKuaYmQdrN8f7M

[@blijevis]

Hi Mark, how are you doing? On your reddit post on this video, you advised me to have a look at The Trooper. But I've never done any pull-offs or anything, so I'm struggling with that. I couldn't find any lessons about that on your channel, is that correct? Is it possible to give some tips on how to do them, without also touching other strings and things like that? A second thing I'm having problems with is my position, both guitar itself as well as my hands and arms :-) When I try an accoustic guitar, everything feels natural, but playing electric guitar always feels forced or not relaxed. Any tips on that? Anyway, thanks for all the video's on the channel. Been going trough them, but didn't had the chance to see them all, so if you already answered my questions in another video, my apologies :-) Kind regards, Eric

[@MusicWithMarky]

Hi Eric. I haven't done a hammer and pull off lesson yet, but I can make one and jump the queue to have it up next week for you. I'll message you here when it goes live. On the electric, are you standing when you play, but sitting when you play the acoustic? If so, it would be the different arm angles that give you difficulty and you make that easier by adjusting the strap so the electric is much higher up your body.

[@blijevis]

@@MusicWithMarky Thanks, that's great! Looking forward to the lesson. Actually, I'm sitting down with both guitars. I think it's because my arm is resting on the body of the accoustic, and everything falls into place automatically. I will try to make some different angles with my arm, that could be indeed the issue. Maybe I'm holding it to parallel to my body, because my right arm isn't supporting it the right way. Or I need to tilt it some more so the neck is higher. Anyway, thanks for the advice, and always responding. Just by explaining the issue to you makes me think about it more, something I might not be doing without the interaction 🙂 keep up the good work. Have a nice day and many thanks again. Greetings, Eric

[@MusicWithMarky]

@@blijevis I oftenFigure out the solution to a problem when I'm explaining to somebody else. Happens with computer programming all the time. :)

[@blijevis]

@@MusicWithMarky 😀 I can totally agree, as I'm a programmer myself 🙂

[@MusicWithMarky]

@@blijevis I posted it today for ya. =] kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGavpKamj5KIo80

[@Some1Something]

Thanks a lot. I'll hopefully get my first guitar in about 4 months. Hope I stick to it.

[@MusicWithMarky]

Best of luck to you!

[@madhavsingh7345]

Thank you for this video. I'm 4 months in and, honestly, I started to feel the burnout.

[@MusicWithMarky]

So glad you found it then and I hope it helps you get to that next level.

[@lancethrustworthy]

I agree with you...and yet after talking to us about what to do to not quit after 6 months, your further presentation is not very appealing. Sorry. I recommend a whole new re-think about lecture, camera placement and editing so we can really see where your fingers are going on the fretboard. Good journey.

[@MusicWithMarky]

Sorry this one didn't work well for ya' :(

[@kvin9210]

I'm going to donate or throw my guitar away in the garbage bin. I honestly don't know why people think learning music or an instrument is an essential life skill and important to be successful in life.

[@MusicWithMarky]

I've not heard anyone say it's essential to life. It's just a fun thing to do if you are inclined towards it. There's nothing wrong with finding something else you enjoy and take to naturally if music doesn't't work for you.

[@pcmountaindog]

You say you don't want to spam it up and add minutes then that's exactly what you do. The first 5 minutes are nothing but talk and S P A M.

[@MusicWithMarky]

I don't think making the point that you have to work on stuff you like to play is SPAM. It's the single most overlooked aspect of teaching. The other way to do this was to give the exercises first and say, "wait till the end for the most important lesson of all." That would have felt like a gimmick to me.

[@MusicWithMarky]

I wanted to add this link to a discussion on Reddit as well. It further illustrates my point about the speaking part of the lesson being so important: www.reddit.com/r/guitarlessons/comments/fd7kh0/im_once_again_asking_for_your_guitarlessons/

[@sedanmage531]

Where the fuck is the "SPAM"?

[@lancethrustworthy]

FORGET about/pay no attention to what other KZbin producers are doing! What they do has nothing to do with you! Stop mentioning spurious others. Focus on the Lesson! Sheesh.