Learning to play guitar is different than most instruments. The guitar is harder than piano. The guitar is harder than violin. The guitar is harder than drums. Why is that? The answer goes back to how difficult it is for a beginner to start to sound musical, and once you’re able to make some music, how hard is it to advance? The guitar is a difficult instrument to start and anyone who makes it beyond beginner is to be applauded. The further you go, the harder it is to advance. This is often due to psychological and emotional resistance not to train because you can already make music. That means you don’t advance, or you don’t advance very quickly. So, let’s dive into the top 10 myths of guitar playing and let’s get YOU playing guitar the way you have always dreamed!

Here are ten myths that hold guitarists back:

1. You Need to Start Young: While starting young can be beneficial in developing skills over time, it’s never too late to start learning guitar. Many people pick up the guitar later in life and do very well. With 20 minutes of training a day, you can play in a band, onstage at a late beginner level, sounding good, after several months—you don’t need years of training. Every day we get guitarists who play at a late beginner or early intermediate level who ask us to help get out of their playing rut so they can play guitar the way they’ve always wanted. When asked how long they’ve been stuck, many say they have been playing guitar for “10, 15, 25, or even 40 years.” They’ve been playing that long and are still at a beginner level. This goes to the psychology of guitar: Without a good coach, consistent progress is difficult, if not impossible for the majority of guitar players.
2. You Need Long Fingers to Play Guitar: This is not true. Regardless of the size or shape of your fingers, with practice and proper technique, you can learn to play the guitar effectively. These are the most important metrics: sitting or standing properly (depending on how you will be performing—if you will be standing while performing, practice standing, and vice versa), how you hold a pick, hand position and muscle tension. These determine how good you can get at guitar, not the size of your fingers.
3. You Must Learn Classical or Acoustic Guitar First: While classical guitar can provide a solid foundation, it’s not necessary for everyone. You can start with any genre that interests you. For example, many people think that you should play the acoustic guitar before you play an electric guitar. Or playing the acoustic guitar will “build character.” These two statements are absolutely false. You play an acoustic guitar because you want to focus on the acoustic. Playing an acoustic just to build character is a huge time waster for the average guitarist. And if you don’t want to play an acoustic in the first place, you will likely quit. And you develop a much heavier hand when playing an acoustic, if you want to play fast, you need to be able to control volume and have a feather light touch to make those heavy 1000 note per minute riffs sound good. Playing the acoustic should be done AFTER you play the electric and that is IF you want to play it.
4. Expensive Guitars are Always Better: Higher-priced guitars can offer better build quality or materials, but a cheaper guitar can still sound great. Your skill level and comfort with the guitar matter much more. Find a guitar that you like. Try it out and see if it feels good. Do you like the look? Don’t look at the price first. If you play the guitar for a lifetime, even if the guitar is $1000 it will be pennies a day—IF YOU PLAY IT. If you get a cheap guitar, less than $100, it will likely be difficult to tune, don’t buy one of these. You can get a great guitar for $250 to $500.
5. You Have to Read Music to Play Guitar: Many successful guitarists cannot read traditional music notation. While it can be helpful, especially for classical music, tablature and by-ear training are also very effective ways to learn guitar. You should be able to read guitar tablature, and as guitar becomes more important in the realm of the electronic world guitar tab is increasingly seen as sufficient and regular music notation is becoming less important over time.
6. Practicing More Means Getting Better Faster: Quality of practice often outweighs quantity. Mindless practice for hours can lead to less improvement than focused, purposeful practice for a shorter period. Beginners don’t need to practice more than 15 or 20 minutes a day. Developing a guitar habit is more important for a beginner. For the intermediate guitarist, 20 to 30 minutes a day is more than enough, IF you have the appropriate exercises. The advanced guitarist will train for 20 to 40 minutes a day in addition to performing or practicing a set.
7. Beginners should play with a thin pick: This is completely false, it teaches guitarists to be imprecise and sloppy. If you really want to get good fast, spend two to three months using a thick pick (1mm or thicker) and develop the capacity to find the strings without looking. Your playing will sound MUCH better and you will have much better control of the guitar.
8. Playing 1000 notes a minute isn’t for me: Speed doesn’t equate to musicality or skill. Expression, feeling, and technique are just as, if not more, important. However, the capacity to play fast will allow you to spend more time on musicality versus rushing to play a note. If you think that country guitar players don’t need speed, listen to Glen Campbell. Give each note it’s due and learn to play fast, if you do, your playing will sound relaxed, and you will make it look easy whether you are playing heavy metal or blue grass.
9. You shouldn’t use guitar effects as a beginner: If you are an electric guitarist, half of your playing is in getting used to your effects chain. If you don’t do this, your playing will suffer. Learn how to use effects early on and you will be a master of your instrument in no time.
10. The best guitarists are self taught: Would you say that the best way to become a MMA (mixed martial artist) is to teach yourself? What about being a brain surgeon—want to go to one that is self-taught? Why do high level Olympic athletes seek out high level coaches? Why do professional vocalists seek out expensive vocal coaches? The answer is that personally reinventing the art of guitar playing skill is the SLOWEST way to learn guitar. If you invest in a good teacher/coach, who understands physiology, psychology and caters to different learning styles you will progress quickly. If you are learning on YouYube, count on a lot of frustration. Or if your guitar “teacher” says, keep working on it and you’ll get it eventually, or “you need to practice more” as the solution to a sticking point. A good guitar coach/trainer will tell you exactly what you need to do in every situation. A good guitar coach/trainer will change your training regimen every week to two weeks. A good guitar coach/trainer will motivate you and provide places for you to practice your skill. Knowledge needs to be applied. For example, let’s say you want to be a world champion bodybuilder. You can have all the knowledge in the world about weightlifting and bodybuilding, you can have a Ph.D. in exercise science, but if you never train a day in your life that knowledge will not help you grow muscle. You will STILL have to train the same amount of time that someone with zero knowledge to look like a bodybuilder.

That is our list of some of the myths that exist in the guitar world. Make sure you make it easy on yourself to play guitar. We’ve shown in our studio, time and time again, that the ‘average’ person who decides to play guitar, and follows our program of 20 minutes a day, can become advanced guitar players who are happy to play guitar. Make it easy on yourself and you’ll be much happier.

You may also benefit from professional guitar coaching. At Peak Music, we offer the best guitar lessons and instruction in the Capital District. We serve Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Watervliet, Clifton Park, Niskayuna, Cohoes, and surrounding communities. Contact us now to schedule a free consultation to see how we can help you reach your guitar-playing goals!