Questions & Answers with Neil Hogan - #17

Q. I have always been interested in learning to play guitar and am not really sure where to start. What are your main suggestions for an absolute beginner?

A. The absolute beginner has an incredible amount of potential in the quest of learning to play guitar. They also have a very precarious route ahead of them if they are not careful and meticulous in this pursuit.

Many teachers consider the beginning student the easiest to teach. On one hand this is somewhat true because everything you have to show them is new to them. On the other hand, this is the beginning of their most formative time to be learning. The foundation has to be rock solid before they can move on to the more adventurous and fun stuff. It is very important to move slowly and methodically through all the proper techniques and concepts. Too many students get caught up in the excitement of moving on to new songs before they have gotten enough out of the ones they have been working on for a while.

Most of my students really enjoy studying music. This is an important thing to keep in mind. The journey has to be fun and entertaining as well as educational to be considered worthwhile.

On last important thing to remember when you are learning to play the guitar is that there is no end to it. There are a lot of small goals along the way but it will become a hobby for life.

Take this link for more info on learning to play guitar.