Songs for guitar with chords and lyrics, but not only: how to structure learning to play the guitar

Learning to play guitar on your own can be very fun and effective if you organize the process correctly. What does this “correct” include? Buying an instrument that will become your friend, finding good songs for guitar with chords and lyrics on the Internet, connect to a community of similar interests… There is a lot of advice here, of course.

If you were to describe the strategy for learning guitar step by step, it would look something like this:

Selection and preparation of the tool

• Quality guitar: Make sure you have the right instrument. A well-adjusted guitar with a comfortable neck will make learning easier.
• tuner: for tuning the guitar, especially important for beginners.

Fundamentals of Music Theory

• Sheet Music and Tablature: Learn the basics of reading sheet music and tablature.
• Chords: Start with simple chords (E, A, D, G, C).
• Rhythm and Meter: Understanding basic rhythms and meter will help you play songs better.

Educational resources

• online courses and video lessons.
• mobile applications.
• Books and tutorials: classic books such as Guitar for Dummies.

Practice

• Regular exercise: It is better to exercise a little every day than for a long time once a week.
• Warm-up: Start your workout by warming up your fingers and hands.
• Techniques: Work on different playing techniques such as picking, arpeggios, and legato.

Game songs

• Simple Songs: Start with simple songs that include basic chords.
• songs to your taste: choose songs that you like. This will increase motivation.

Feedback

• Game Recording: Record your performances to hear your mistakes and successes.
• lessons with a teacher: even occasional lessons with a professional teacher can be very beneficial.

Community and Support

• Forums and Groups: Join guitar forums and groups on social media.
• Meetups and Jams: Participate in local music meetups and jams if possible.

Continuing education

• expanding your repertoire: gradually make your repertoire more complex by adding more complex songs and techniques.
• Music Theory: Dive deeper into music theory for a better understanding.

Rest and motivation

• Don’t overdo it: Make sure you give yourself rest so you don’t get overtired.
• Track your progress: keep a diary of your activities and mark your achievements.

By following these steps, you can organize the process of learning to play the guitar as efficiently as possible and enjoy the process.

How Internet Resources Can Help You Learn to Play the Guitar

• practice real songs: Playing popular songs will help you learn chords and how to switch chords faster. This is especially useful for beginners.
• motivation: Playing your favorite songs increases your interest and motivation to learn because you can immediately see the results of your efforts.
• diversity of repertoire: a large selection of songs of different genres and difficulty levels helps to develop a variety of playing skills and techniques.
• Feedback: the ability to read comments and ratings from other users helps you choose the most accurate and convenient versions of chords.
• interactivity: Many of these sites offer interactive features such as playing tablatures, slowing down the tempo, which helps in learning difficult parts of songs.

Tips for using resources:

• Start with simple songs: Choose songs with a few simple chords.
• Listen to the original recordings: this will help you understand the rhythm and dynamics of the song.
• Practice regularly: Regular play will help reinforce the skills.
• Use a metronome: to maintain the correct rhythm.

Knowledge and playing ability of basic chords

• you confidently know and play the basic major and minor chords (for example, E, A, D, G, C, Em, Am, Dm).
• You can switch between these chords quickly and accurately.

Rhythm and Strumming

• You can play a variety of rhythmic patterns with your right hand (strumming), including basic 4/4 and 3/4 rhythms.
• You can maintain a steady rhythm while playing to a metronome or along with a song recording.

Basic Tablatures and Notes

• You can read and interpret simple tablature and sheet music.
• You can play some basic melodies or riffs from tablature.

Basic playing techniques

• You have mastered basic playing techniques such as downstroke and upstroke, arpeggios and legato (hammer-ons and pull-offs).
• You can perform simple techniques such as slides and bends.

Knowing the tuning of a guitar

• You know how to tune your guitar yourself using a tuner.
• You understand how notes change on the guitar fretboard and can find the root notes on each string.

Game of Songs

• You can play a few simple songs from start to finish, including the intro, verses, and choruses.
• You play songs confidently without pausing too long to search for chords or notes.

Fundamentals of Music Theory

• You know basic musical terms such as chord, key, rhythm and meter.
• you understand how chords are constructed and how they are related to each other within a key.

Comfort and confidence

• you feel comfortable with the guitar in your hands and do not experience much difficulty when playing.
• you do not have pain or discomfort in your hands or fingers after practice.

Feedback and self-analysis

• You can record your game and analyze your mistakes yourself.
• You can receive and take into account constructive criticism from other musicians or teachers.

Regular practice

• You have established a regular study schedule and you stick to it.
• you see progress in your game compared to the starting level.

If you meet most of these criteria, then it’s safe to say that you’ve mastered the basics of playing guitar. From here, you can continue to progress by learning more complex techniques, songs, and musical styles.