It’s one of the trickiest instruments to master, but at the same time anyone who conquers the guitar is going to feel satisfaction beyond belief. Whether you want to sit in your bedroom playing your favourite songs, or go for the big stage – there’s no doubt that playing the guitar has a certain charm.
At the same time, this is an instrument which seems to prompt a lot of misconceptions. We’re not necessarily talking about one person calling it easy to learn, while another says it’s difficult. According to Tom Hess, the guitar can be learned comfortably by everyone, but we’re today going to be talking about some slightly different myths that have arisen from this instrument.
Sound intriguing? Let’s take a look at some of the most common guitar myths out there.
Myth #1 – There’s no point in learning music theory
Like a lot of the myths we will talk about, there will be exceptions to the rules. However, on the whole at least, music theory should be a core requirement for any budding guitar player.
There’s no doubt that attempting to learn music theory isn’t easy – but it can allow you to develop at a much faster rate than if you were to ignore it. The ability to know how music works is invaluable and will mean that when you come to more complex techniques, everything becomes easier to pick up.
Myth #2 – There’s no point in reading music
This next issue leads on perfectly from the previous one. While some people might tell you that learning to read music isn’t essential, let’s be honest – it helps tremendously. Again, when you become a more advanced player, you will pick up new techniques and songs a whole lot easier.
Additionally, if you do get to that advanced stage, doesn’t it just border on the ridiculous that you’ve become such an accomplished guitar player yet can’t read a line of music?
Myth #3 – You NEED to read music
Ok, let’s just make things completely confusing. Another myth in this industry is that you need to read music in order to learn to play the guitar. Most beginners instead rely on guitar tablature, which is regarded as a much easier notation to learn.
So, while in the end it will become useful to learn to read music, at the start of your guitar playing career you by no means have to know it.
Myth #4 – The acoustic guitar should always come first
Again, there’s some method behind the madness, as in an ideal world you will have some knowledge of an acoustic guitar before progressing to electric. However, it’s by no means essential and all this experience will do is toughen up your fingers, and get you used to the general basis of playing the guitar.
Let’s not forget that these two instruments are still different – so you don’t need to move from one to another to improve your chances of succeeding.