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Five Easy Ways to Help You Learn The Guitar

Learning to play the guitar can be a long and frustrating ordeal. Some people have natural talent and can pick up techniques quicker than others, but most people struggle when trying to figure it all out. Here are five tips to help you learn guitar faster:

• Find a good teacher
  While it is possible to learn on your own, having a guitar instructor that has experience can greatly accelerate your learning and make it more enjoyable. Get references from friends or other musicians to help select a mentor.
  
  
• Resist using guitar tablature
  Learn how to read standard notation and know where everything is on the fretboard rather than using tab. While it is true that many musicians use tablature you will thank yourself later on and you will have a better foundation.
  
  
• Setup times to practice and stick with it
  In the beginning it may be easy to skip practice and do other things, especially if you are struggling. Like anything in life, practice and consistency leads to success.
  
  
• Learn basic scales
  Learning scales is a good basic building block for becoming a solid guitar player and will help you develop speed and advanced playing techniques down the road.
  
  
• Learn to play by ear
  Some people have a natural talent for this but it can be learned over time.  If you can recognize the melody and figure parts of it out on your own it becomes much easier to learn the exact notes.