With so many guitar lessons DVDs out there, it can hard to know where to start as a beginner. Never before has there been so much information from so many great guitar teachers readily accessible to new guitarists, which is an advantage that many older musicians would have loved when they were learning, but it means that finding where to start becomes more difficult. The best way to figure out what lessons are right for you is to evaluate just what you want out of playing guitar.
The very first thing a guitarist needs to decide is whether to play an acoustic or electric guitar. This can be quite important in this instance since some guitar instructional DVDs are particular for one type or the other. Technically, both are the same instruments, but they aren’t played exactly the same way. The common electric lead guitar techniques can come off as muddled on an acoustic guitar, but it would be difficult to play an electric guitar like a classical guitar since an electric guitar might have feedback issues.
A common thing many new guitarists here is that acoustic is easier to start with than electric. Acoustic guitars are much more forgiving instruments than electric, which is part of the reason this is a common view. That isn’t to say acoustic guitar doesn’t require the same level of skill to play well, just that not having to deal with issues like feedback make the basics easier to pick up. However, switching from acoustic guitar to electric guitar is actually more difficult than learning an electric style from scratch. The two project sound so differently that playing the two the same way can lead to unpleasant results.
When looking for learn to play guitar DVDs, it is quite important to consider which type of guitar that you wish to play. Changing between the two and learning the nuances of each can slow your progress a bit early on, which is inconvenient for a person that only wants to play one or the other. You can quite easily learn both through guitar lessons dvd , but focusing on one or the other as a new guitarist can be more enjoyable and quicker.
While the same instrument may be used for metal, rock, blues, jazz, pop, etc the way it is used actually varies quite a lot from one style to another. A metal guitarist running through a distortion pedal and a high gain amp has a whole different area of issues to address than a pop guitarist running on a clean amp. Knowing what kind of music you want to play will let you develop the appropriate techniques you need for that kind of music.
It is customary for most beginner guitar instructional dvd to start with the usual assortment of open chords, strumming, and other techniques that see the widest usage among guitarists. This is a good starting point for many new guitarists, particularly ones not focused on a genre, but some people may not find it as good a place to begin training.
Despite this, many styles of music, such as funk, metal, classical, or blues don’t use these general techniques much, if at all. Thankfully, guitarists focused on these styles will be able to find a variety of lessons tailored to these styles. That isn’t to say guitarists shouldn’t become well rounded, but learning to focus on what you want is important, as well. A guitarist working on learning something they enjoy is going to be a lot more motivated and willing to put the time into it, even if they have to work harder to master those techniques.
Taking the time to think about your goals is a good way to make the right selection of guitar lessons DVDs. As helpful as the advice of others can be, deciding what you want out of your guitar playing will help to ensure you can learn to play what you want in far less time than you might expect. For more information on the lessons available, be sure to visit our website and see what fits your goals.
