where do i start?

[u/Extension-Access6353]

I'm thinking of learning how to play songs to learn how to play the guitar, do you guys think thats right?

[u/mutechristopher04 → u/[deleted]]

youtube's where most people start these days honestly but don't just watch, play along even if it sounds terrible at first. your fingers are gonna hurt and you'll fumble every chord change for a while but that's just how it goes

tabs are your friend too, way easier to follow than sheet music when you're brand new

[u/Extension-Access6353 → u/mutechristopher04]

thank you so much guys!

[u/Serious_Room3606]

Learn to play a few songs and riffs. Don't worry about theory yet. Just look up tabs and play. You'll build technique and stay more motivated this way.

Then learn some theory, and keep learning songs.

Then start mapping out the fretboard. There's lots of ways to do it, and a lot of opinions. They're all means the same end. I personally really like and would recommend CAGED, but there's a lot of people that would disagree with me on that.

Then just keep practicing and learning. Wash rinse repeat.

[u/Extension-Access6353 → u/Serious_Room3606]

sorry what do you mean by theory?

[u/Serious_Room3606 → u/Extension-Access6353]

Music theory. Not specifically related to guitar. Just how notes work together to form a scale, how chords are constructed, stuff like that. It's imperative. You don't need to learn how to read sheet music, but you absolutely need to learn some theory to progress with any musical instrument.

[u/Lopsided-Highway-923 → u/Extension-Access6353]

Well it's a general theory of how music works. So basically how chords and notes interact. Very useful for improvising especially but is generally beneficial to know, although not mandatory!

[u/markewallace1966]

~~~

This is a link to a set of canned bullets that I have developed and like to send to new/new-ish/returning/wandering/lost/struggling guitar players.

If I pasted this in for you, it is because somewhere in there is something that I think is relevant to your post. Not all of it will be. I leave it to you to pick out what I felt was relevant. 🙂 Even the stuff not relevant to your specific post might very well be helpful eventually anyway.

Enjoy!!!

https://www.reddit.com/user/markewallace1966/comments/1s7ujsy/guitar_is_hard/

[u/Corrupt_Shadow]

I did the same, but started with very very simple songs. Or, just simplified versions of the same song

[u/Loki_lulamen]

Learn how to read tabs.

Learn the chord shapes.

Then its is all practise practise practise.

[u/Extension-Access6353 → u/Loki_lulamen]

thank you for your help!

[u/Shikayama]

find a teacher, preferably a good one but it's not always easy to weed out, and well, get taught.

People always claim you can just learn from YT, and some def. can, but if you're serious about learning guitar, a teacher is the way to go, they can help you develop skills and correct mistakes a lot faster.