“I couldn’t possibly play guitar – I’m too old / not talented enough / no-one in my family plays / my hands are too small…”
There are many excuses for not trying, but here’s the good news.
In 25 plus years of teaching many hundreds of students, I can count on one hand the people who I genuinely felt couldn’t learn guitar.
Of those, one is still having lessons with us nine years later and sounding great!
Let’s debunk a few myths.
Don’t you have to start really young?
You can… but you don’t have to.
Maybe you’ve always wanted to play guitar but not had the chance – the beauty of choosing to play later in life is that you have more control over your time, and with the right guidance, you can make the most of it!
We have many older adults and retirees who are making exceptional progress.
Surely you need to be really “talented”, or “musical”?
In short, no. There isn’t space here for a long explanation, but I’d recommend reading the book “Bounce” by table tennis champion Matthew Syed, which explores the myth of natural talent through examples in all disciplines, from Tiger Woods to Mozart.
In my experience, becoming a good guitar player takes three things: the right guidance and support, commitment and perseverance.
Put simply, with the right teacher and the right attitude it is amazing what you can achieve.
Can’t you just learn guitar online?
You might be lucky – you might just happen to find the right content online and choose to go looking for it at the right time, in the right order, and you might (by chance) practice it all correctly and make progress.
That’s a lot of ifs! In our experience, most people make very slow and patchy progress when trying to teach themselves.
Put simply, having a good teacher will help you make faster, more certain progress and you’ll have more fun in the process!
I heard that you have to start on acoustic guitar and can then move on to electric?
This is a common misconception – actually, if you want to play electric guitar, you’re much better off starting on that from the beginning (and in some ways, it is easier to play an electric guitar in the initial stages, because of string height, neck width etc).
A similar misconception is that you should start on a nylon string acoustic, “as it will hurt your fingers less” – but these guitars have much wider necks and often are just unplayable hand-me-downs.
Starting with the right guitar is essential to keeping motivated during the crucial early stages of your guitar journey – get advice from a good teacher before you make that all-important purchase.
The more you practice, the better you get?
Yes… and no… It’s the quality of your practice that counts.
If you’re picking up numerous bad habits and reinforcing these through hours of practice, this really will do more harm than good.
Once you learn/are taught the correct way to practice, you’ll find that you get far more effective and efficient with the time you spend practising and the good news is that this leaves more time for playing.
The first-rate teachers at Auckland Guitar School help guitarists of all ages and levels make real progress every day of the week.
With its friendly, supportive atmosphere and an unparalleled range of opportunities for students to apply what they’re learning, the school is able to provide a unique experience for Howick guitarists from its Uxbridge Road teaching studio.
Visit www.aucklandguitarschool.co.nz, or call on 533 5246 to book a free intro session and find out how to transform your guitar playing!
- Dylan Kay is the owner/teacher at Auckland Guitar School in Howick
