subject: Learn Lead Guitar Without Paying A Fortune In Music Lessons [print this page] Learn Lead Guitar Without Paying A Fortune In Music Lessons
So you want to learn lead guitar? You have dreams of being on stage, lit by a thousand lights, watched by ten thousand screaming fans and dwarfed by speakers only slightly larger than the average tower block? Or perhaps you simply want to learn lead guitar so you can enjoy playing some of your favourite songs with a few mates down at the Dog & Bucket on a Friday night. Whatever your reasons for wanting how to play lead guitar, and whatever your ambitions, there are a few steps first of all to get through.
After you have made your choice of guitar, which in itself will make a huge difference to the ease with which you'll be able to learn how to play guitar, the next decision to make is how exactly you'll learn the basics. People often say that in order to enjoy getting started playing guitar all you need to know are a half dozen tabs. Perhaps this is slightly optimistic, but the truth is that an amazing number of popular hits can be played by knowing only eight tabs, and if you can learn eighteen then really that's about all you'll need for a full repertoire in most cases.
So you might start thinking that if you only have to learn six or eight tabs you don't need to spend money on a tutor. This probably sounds like good news because, let's face it, music lessons are expensive. If you want to learn lead guitar then you're probably looking at weekly lessons costing twenty pounds or more, and that adds up quite considerably - well over a thousand pounds a year.
That kind of commitment isn't easy for many people, at least to begin with, and so you may want to know what your options are. Can you learn to play lead guitar by teaching yourself the first few tabs? Almost certainly your guitar will come with a manual that will list the most popular tabs, and even if it didn't you'll be able to pick up a book fairly easily for a couple of pounds at any music store. You look at the tab illustrations, which will be printed with dots over the strings and frets to hold down with your fingers - it seems easy enough.
That is, until you try stretching your fingers into position. If you've never held a guitar before then one of the first surprises is just how difficult it is to hold the guitar properly, and contort your fingers into the first tab position. You might well not make it the first few times, but eventually you'll find a position that will allow you to make a passable sound when you start strumming. The trouble is that you'll probably find it difficult to keep your fingers in that position for very long, and when it comes to moving from one position to the next you'll find your fingers aching, and your playing becoming increasingly patchy.
This is normal, and it is to be expected that when you start playing lead guitar your fingers will feel uncomfortable after a while. It's at this stage that many people give up their dream to learn lead guitar and decide to opt for something a little easier, like a kettle drum or the triangle.
But the thing is, you can have the best of both worlds. You can enjoy the benefits of a professional teacher, without having to pay a fortune for the privilege, and you can be self taught without making all of the usual mistakes. The secret is to take advantage of the many guitar video tutorials that are now online. These video tutorials teach how to play guitar in ways which make much more sense than line drawings and tab diagrams, with professionals offering guidance and advice. By watching a few guitar video tutorials your dreams of learning to play lead guitar could be a good deal closer than you might think.
