How To Guitar

How To Guitar

Are you trying to learn to play the guitar? Are you looking for REAL answers? Are you frustrated? If so, then this website WILL help you!

Hi, my name is Dirk Johnson, and I specialize in teaching beginners how to play the guitar, with private lessons, in Northern Virginia. I know what works.

Maybe you can't afford private lessons, or you can't find the right teacher. Then what? You will have to rely on guitar instruction books and DVDs.

There are hundreds of them. I own dozens. Most are a waste of money. I don't want you to waste your money.

We do not sell our own instruction materials on this website. Instead, we review and recommend the commercially available product that is out there, and we provide advice about how to use it effectively. Please have a look around.

Most "beginner" books for guitar are not written for beginners at all. I've wasted money on dozens of them.

Instead, most of them are published to make money for the book publisher. The publisher "hires" a writer/guitar player, pays them a writing fee, and publishes the book. In some cases with famous players, the attributed writer my not have even "written" the book. A staff person at the publisher may have actually written it.

I swear, most of these books were written people who have NEVER sat down and taught a complete beginner how to play the guitar. They might be famous, and they are probably very good players, but you have to actually TEACH BEGINNERS to know what really works.

I teach beginners, daily.

If you have any beginner books that start off with chords, you might as well throw them out. They are probably useless.

I know from experience that beginners have enough of a challenge fretting single notes on single string with one finger, let alone multiple notes on multiple strings. Chord-based learning for beginners is the equivalent of torture for most students. It's nothing but frustration.

There are ways to learn to play chords properly.

Strumming is great. It's good to learn. Most people can do it, quickly.

But if that is all you learn to do, your playing will probably become monotonous, very quickly. Unless you also sing, or back up someone who does, then strumming begins to sound, well, like constant strumming.

Trust me, nobody, anywhere, wants to hear anyone strum a guitar (without vocals) for more than ten minutes. Think about this...there is not a single famous guitar player that just strums. Instead, the most famous solo guitar players are "melody monsters".

The real key to playing the guitar is learning to play melodies, and doing it with a metronome. That's it! It is that simple!

Once you learn to play melodies as "single note melody lines", in time to a metronome, then you can begin to add harmony notes, bass notes, partial chords, and then full chords.

As you progress, and your fingering skills (with both hands) develop, your playing becomes fuller sounding, and more interesting. That is because you are now playing REAL SONGS that other people recognize.

Your friends and family will sit and listen to that. Later, you can "go public" if you like, and expect a good reception.

The "Pop Musician" Confusion Factor

Occasionally, students will want me to teach them how to play like John Mayer, Dave Matthews, Eric Clapton or James Talyor, etc. That is certainly a worthy goal, and we do aim in that direction.

But please realize that those are all very talented, very experienced players. A beginner player will not sound like them for quite some time, even if they have the right sheet music. A beginner's skills are simply not developed to that level.

The top-level players that you hear in pop music all started at the same place as everyone else. That is, with no skill and a guitar. They simply applied themsleves (i.e. they practiced!) diligently, and they advanced their skills, in a structured, organized way.

The Right Attitude

Here's my advice...stop using famous musicians as your benchmark for success. That is, if you don't sound like them right away, don't sweat it. Instead, learn to ENJOY THE JOURNEY, just like the pros did on their way to the top.

Playing the guitar is really not about "dazzling people" with your skills. For most players, it's more about learning about the whole culture of playing the instrument, and constant learning.

With that approach, you can advance your skills every day. Then your benchmark becomes your own skill level, not that of some famous player that you can't possibly copy anytime soon.

You will develop your own style, and have the tools to go any direction that you like.

Basics, Basics, Basics...

First, learn to play simple melodies, on the top strings, first. Learn to "read" music while doing it. Then it becomes second nature, not a task. Use the metronome, so that you play "in time". Then add more complex songs, more complex rhythyms, and more fingerings, and then whole chords.

Then when someone says.."play me a song", you can do it!

The following books are my primary instruction books. They provide a very graduated method of instruction that allows the beginner student to build real skills and confidence.

These books are only the foundation.

Here are more beginner/intermediate guitar instruction and song books that I recommend:

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