How Long Does It Take To Play Guitar

Learning to play guitar is a process, and there is no finish

line. How long does it take to play guitar, is a question

students often ask their teacher. How long it takes to play the

guitar depends on what your definition of guitar playing

is!

The last few decades has seen a remarkable growth in the

popularity of rock music and guitar playing has become pretty

attractive for many.

Today the guitar is everywhere; a versatile instrument - adapting

itself to almost any kind of situation, Victimized by it's own

success, it has become something more than a musical instrument -

like the swastika before it, it has become the symbol of a social

revolution! The ultimate emblem of grooviness! It is now an

object unto itself!

Guitar enthusiasts are so often blinded by the symbol that they

remain deaf to the world of musical wonders that lie beyond their

blinkered six-string field of interest.

Many teenagers exist who aspire to become rock superstars, but

there is also a section who wants to learn guitar playing just

for sake of it. But many of them end up losing hope of learning

guitar since they don't find the best way to learn guitar.

How long does it take to play guitar? If you can answer the

following questions and make these important distinctions you

will have a good idea.

QUESTION ONE: How do you view the instrument?

Do you want to be (a) guitar owner, (b) guitar player, (c) a

musician who uses the guitar for musical expression?

Essentially there's three levels of involvement with the guitar:

1. Guitar owners - to qualify you need only to have enough funds

to purchase the instrument, for these people the guitar is simply

a toy, like a computer game, or fashion accessory. How long does

it take you to play the guitar if you're in this category? About

5-10 minutes max. The important thing here is to "be seen to be

playing the guitar"!

2. Guitar players - players in this category are often very

dedicated and speed many hours practicing their instrument.

Mostly self taught, they learn almost exclusively from guitar

tab, and their friends. How long does it take to play guitar in

this category?... these players understand it's a lifetime

journey.

3. Musicians who play guitar as their chosen instrument- players

in category two focus on guitar playing skills, whereas

level three players understand the whole scope of the musical

landscape. A good musician not only plays their instrument well,

they understand and can intelligently discuss all music.

These players:

(a) listen to all types of music

(b) read about all types of music

(c) study all types of music

How long does it take to play guitar in this category? Again,

it's a lifetime of hard work and discipline. What's the

difference between category two and category three?

Level two players must have their instrument in their hands to

communicate ideas, whereas, musicians who play guitar as their

chosen instrument know and can discuss, the qualities which make

Herb Ellis or Barney Kessel a great jazz player; why Duke

Ellington is a jazz innovator; Michel Legrand a great composer

and orchestrator. They know why good symphonies are good and bad

symphonies are bad; they know why good pop or country songs are

good (musically) and bad songs are bad.

QUESTION TWO: Are you internally motivated or externally

motivated?

Externally motivated players usually give up playing the guitar

once they realize that they are responsible for their progress.

these players quickly move on to the new 'hip' fad (only to give

up on that as soon as things get a bit challenging).

An obvious example of this type of externally motivated player

and their associated problems and disappointments is with the

recent popularity of computer games where people pretend to play

the guitar.

Despite PR claims from computer games companies

that their computer guitar games improve the player's rhythm

and hand dexterity, professional guitar teachers worldwide have reported

that guitar computer game veterans have been disappointed when

confronted with the real-world requirements of hard work and

delayed gratification. They expect to jump into it and learn it

as quickly as they learned the game, and they realize that they

can't.

I'll assume if you have read this far you're more interested in

category two or three!

needless to say that only internally motivated players make it

into category two and three.

QUESTION THREE: What is the source of your information? common

knowledge or specialized knowledge?

Today it is not a question of information on any particular

subject, after all we live in the information age, don't we? To

accelerate your progress on the guitar and rapidly decrease the

time it takes you to play the guitar, what we need is specialized

knowledge to help us assemble the relevant knowledge to achieve

our goals.

The first thing to understand is that learning guitar is

something that takes a long time. how long it takes to learn

depends on what you want to learn.

Learning guitar is hard work but it's really important to have

fun and have your guitar make cool sounds while you're learning

all the hard bits. The main thing you have to consider when

learning how to play guitar is who is teaching you how to play

guitar.

How long does it take to play guitar? It depends on what you want

to achieve.

Mike Hayes is a teacher, author, speaker and consultant. Get his tips and tested strategies proven to boost your guitar playing his membership site at http://www.guitarcoaching.com today.

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