Avoiding Information Overload

Are you suffering from TMI? (Too Much Information)

There are literally thousands of resources for learning to play guitar. Beginning guitar players are being bombarded with information, opinions, learning methods, DVDs, you name it. There's really way too much to choose from, so your progress stops because you don't know who to listen to.


What should you learn first?

Some guitar teachers advise you to learn notes, some think it's chords, other think it's songs, and still others think it's technique. Here's how I approach teaching a beginning guitar student. Keep in mind that I don't engage in "cookie cutter" lessons where I teach the same way whether you're 8 years old or pushing 80.


There are things you should think about.

Even though you're just starting out, you should give some thought to what you're trying to do. For example, if you goal is to play and sing, you should probably start out by practicing chords. As soon as my students can play 4 or 5 chords I get them working on a song. It's a lot more fun to practice chords when they end up sounding like something. Don't buy a chord book with the intention of just memorizing all the chords. Unless you have a use for a give chord you're not likely to remember it.

Note reading, tabs, and chord charts.

While it's easy to find tablature, or tabs, for songs, it's still a good idea to learn at least a little about standard notation. Reading music is not as difficult as most people think it is, and there are lots of times when it's more useful. Tabs are not standardized, so most of them don't indicate rhythm. To use a guitar tab you'll need to have a recording of the song and preferably a way to slow it down. The program we use to slow songs down is: RiffMaster Pro. (Affiliate link.) The advantage to tab is that it's a number system so it's easier to read sometimes. Most songbooks come with the chords listed at the top of the 1st page and placed over the correct words.

Find yourself a teacher, at least in the beginning.

A professional, experienced teacher can help you sort through the choices available as well as answer questions. One of the problems with teaching yourself to play guitar is that it can take a long time to learn what a teacher could show you in a few minutes.

The main thing is to get started doing something!

After reading this post, I'm hoping you're ready to get started. Another negative from too much information is not knowing where to start, and putting off learning the guitar completely. Once you're on your way to playing you can make educated decisions about what to learn and in what order.

Any questions or comments? Post them below this article and I'll be happy to reply to them.

Tablature vs Notation

Learning to play using guitar tablature (TAB for short).

We're seeing more and more music publishers using TAB as a way of showing you what to play. Learning from TAB is good news and bad news. The good news is, it's easy to learn how to read it. The lines represent strings instead of sounds, numbered from the bottom up. So in guitar music, the bottom line would be the thickest (6th) string, the top line would be the first. The numbers are the frets, and that's the basic concept. The bad news? No one's decided to standardize tab, so there's no agreement how to show timing. Most of the TAB you find either has regular notes above it, or there's no indication of rhythm at all. The other problem is that if the TAB is computer generated, there are times when it will have the right note but in the wrong position on the guitar. On guitar, unlike piano, you can play the exact same note on more than one string.

Learning to play using standard notation.

While it's an easy concept, there are lots of complications. The easy part is that the lines represent sounds and each line has a letter name. The letter corresponds with a note on the guitar. Beginning students have hard time, especially when they get to the low notes. Guitar notation is written one octave lower, so the C that we show as middle C in notation is actually 8 notes below where it would sound on the piano. As a result, all guitar notation is in treble clef, but we use lots of ledger lines which make the note reading more difficult. The good news is that standard notation is much more accurate since it's all universally the same. There are tempo markings, dynamic markings, ways to show the different positions on the guitar, and ways to notate the length of the notes.

So, which one should you use?

If you're heavily into rock or popular music, there's a good chance that TAB can work for you. Having a recording of the version of the song you're learning, and a device like the Riffmaster Pro to slow songs down, you can probably learn the song without reading music. There are even books of classical and jazz songs now that use TAB, so you may want to check it out.

Isn't it "cheating" to not learn to read music?

There are people that definitely think it's cheating, but I've always thought the best method was the one that works for you. I know how to read music and TAB, and to be honest, I usually find myself reading the notes. The best thing to do is to try out both ways and see which is most effective for you and the style of music you want to play.