# Teach me to play guitar.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-play-guitar/435097>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 26, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-play-guitar/435097 "2008-01-26T16:21:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-play-guitar/435097/1 "2008-01-26T16:21:24Z")

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So I dug up my old guitar from college. I screwed around with it a little 5 or 6 years ago. Made my way through a “Teach Yourself The Blues” but kinda gave up after that. Can anyone give me some recommendations  
Magic pills?  
Secret Potion?  
Good Teach Yourself the Guitar book?

I wish I had time for lessons but that just doesn’t fit into my life right now.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-play-guitar/435097/2 "2008-01-26T16:26:37Z")

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I took a Beginning Folk Guitar class at a community college back in the '80s. I found it useful. But I think I could have picked it up by buying a chord book (to show how to make the chords) and a song book (to play songs using the chords). You can do that online now.

FWIW we started out with _Rolling On The River_, which is a very simple song to play, and then went on to _Rocka My Soul_, _Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley_, and other such simple songs with only a few chords. We didn’t really get into picking, though we did do _A Soulin_ and (of course) _Stairway To Heaven_.

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**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-play-guitar/435097/3 "2008-01-26T16:55:49Z")

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If you want to learn how to play the guitar, as with anything, you need to spend time with it. Play it often, for at least 20 or 30 minutes a session. Learn the chords well enough so that you can change seamlessly. It’d be best if you didn’t just sit around practicing chords for half an hour either; learn four of five chords, then play as many songs using them as you can find (C, D, G songs are very plentiful).

Every now and then you’ll find a song with one chord you don’t know; learn to play that song and you will have learned a new chord in the process.

But if you want to learn guitar, the best advice I can give is just to practice.

Here are some sites that are good for songs, etc. They also have forums if you should happen to have any questions. Ultimate Guitar and Chordie

Best of luck!

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teach-me-to-play-guitar/435097/4 "2008-01-27T20:00:13Z")

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Excellent - tons of luck.

Please do a search on this board for “guitar” and other related search words - a number of Dopers have offered some great POV’s on this…