well i would disagree whole heartidly about the whole forget lessons bit. not everyone is blessed with a natural ear for music. especially those at a really young age. secondly a teacher can show you weeks worth of material in a half hour and place a student waaaaaay ahead of the learning pace in a very short amount of time. a teacher can also show tachniques that could take a student months and months to learn or realize or even if they could discover them at all.....but i would agree that the back in black album is a good album to start off with. very basic patterns throughout the whole album. as is sabbath.

I concur with Bachmirage. Lessons are not just for "learning songs". There are things like theory, proper technique, etc etc that are difficult (if not impossible) to learn on your own.

This is coming from someone who never took formal lessons until college...I wish I had've. I have a few bad habits that have been hard to break because I didn't let someone show the the right way.

I consider myself a moderate beginner and i think this is the dumbist advice I've ever got sure tabs are great in all but they don't really show much and are full of mistakes the best thing for a beginner to do is to find someone else whos good or at least decient practice as much as you can and learn all of your chords then the basic scales. Have fun and try to push yourself to get better.

One more thing don't listen to sully you'll learn so much faster with a good teacher as long as your willing to learn and i don't care if people think in a jerk to say this if it saves a few people from sully's bad advice I'd love to be seen as a jerk.

Guess there's no need to say this advice is more than bad. But I did it anyway.

If you want to be a hack, don't take lessons. If you don't really care how you sound, don't take lessons. If you don't want to advance, learn easy stuff. If you have no intention of ever being at the top of your game, ignore all GOOD advice and just do it yourself.

Then remember that Tiger Woods has a coach. In fact, those who are the BEST at ANYTHING have a coach! Tommy Iommi, when on tour, would book lessons in every town they'd stop in. He was probably better than most of his "instructors" but his view was that there's something to learn from everyone, so HE TOOK LESSONS!

You can be good without lessons too, but that's far more luck than certainty. Pete Townshend can play and write music, but did you know that he doesn't have a clue when it comes to theory? Did you know that Entwhistle had to write it down for Pete because Pete couldn't read? He may be good, but when you go to him for answers on your music theory class, your instructor will laugh at you if you repeat what he said. Pete's a nice guy, but he doesn't have a clue when it comes to theory and that just makes him look stupid, because you expect more.

And "FREE" tabs are generally wrong! You get what you pay for there.

I'm self taught 100% and think that I should have gone with some lessons. I've had to fill some serious gaps in my playing these past few years [been playing for just over 15 years now]. Taking lessons early on would have allowed me to see these gaping holes that made me less than versatile. I can play rock and metal like a madman, but take me out of my element and I'm like a small child. Only these last few years have I began breaking out of that shell by forcing myself to write in different styles - and to do so had me researching other said styles, breaking them down and re-learning my technique to be able to play them.

Taking Lessons is NOT about learning songs or "just reading music". Bad Habits/Bad Technique once picked up are almost impossible to break. Lessons WILL help you (or Force you) to drop the habits and get a passable technique (the rest of the technique is up to you.. no teacher in the world can force you to do anything).

Using TAB's... While an okay learning experience not that great for actually learning to play. I've seen WAAAY to many people that are completely lost without a TAB to follow. Believe me, when you get to a certain level no one is going to wait on you while you find the TAB. I've actually seen guys come into the studio to sweeten a track and then want to work on the part overnight or for a few hours and then come back.. Suffice to say they didn't get the call back.


One other thing from your original post "My favorite song to play/teach " .. You teach?? OMG..

Bad advice here?? That's not even the start of it. Try WORST advice ever

"Does that mean they couldn't 1) sight read a part pre-written for guitar, 2) follow a chart, or 3) use their ears to improvise a guitar part over a prerecorded backing?"


Yes.. pick one.. :-) Basically the one guy came in.. Got a chart, asked for a TAB, was met with bewildering looks, Said he couldn't read charts (just a chord chart at that) and wanted to tab out the changes..

Oh NOOOOOo...

Well, I am not a technical player, but I aparently know that scales, and placement of chords with scales is extremely important. This guy is obviously not a guitar player. Maybe a hack, but no player.

"Sight reading on the guitar is really hard. Lots of great players can't do it to save their life"

Yes it is. however; a simple chord chart should be IMO a no brainier. Maybe Xark has a different take on this since he owns a studio but I have never seen a producer that will buy into someone wanting tabs on their (the producers) dime.

Like I said.. TAB can be an effective learning AID but too many people are using them as a crutch to not develop their ear or lean anything past that.

We see it sometimes. Typically, when there's a pro in the studio it's no big deal. They've all got charts, (yes, even the pros who have it memorized, still carry charts,) and it's never a problem. When it is a problem is when you have an outsider to the group adding to a recording and they're NOT a pro. It's an immediate recognition.

I don't improvise. I only read. Charts are extrememly easy because I can also deal with full notation. There have been more than a couple times where a player just can't seem to lay anything down because they don't understand the chart, tab or notation if available. Others think you can just bring someone in and have them play. Well, you can, but it needs to be someone who has some real skills. My brother and I have added guitar, bass, sax and drums to some clients work, but this is also rare. We both do it without thinking and the clients we do this for are typically those who are just starting out, only have an acoustic guitar or keyboard, and think this is all they can have. Usually it's just to give a client a warm fuzzy about their work, knowing that it can be a COMPLETE production without a lot of hassle seems to give them a boost.

In the studio it's about efficiency. At least that's how we view it. Wasting time is frustrating for everyone and asking for a TAB when a chart is available is a waste of time that most producers won't stand for. At the least it's going to cost more money, (and if you're paying that player to lay down a track, they should be able to be professional and just get the job done,) in ANY case it's certainly going to cost more time. That's just not acceptable. If I hire a musician to lay something down, I expect they're going to be professional and come in, lay down their tracks, and be done.

Probably off topic but...

"In the studio it's about efficiency. At least that's how we view it. Wasting time is frustrating for everyone "

EXACTLY right.

Studio work I do the standard 3 hour block but.. I do my best to get in and outta there in half that time or less.
Plus.. I'm a three take wonder. If I don't have it in the first 3 to 5 takes I'm probably not gonna have it. Seems to me that after those first takes the spontaneity and excitement is pretty much gone and it starts to sound like it.
I have been known to show up, listen to what they want and tell them straight up that they have the wrong person. I ALWAYS turn them on to someone I believe can do the part and I NEVER charge them.

That has gotten me more work than struggling though and making a half assed track ever would have.

True, I took lessons for eight months. And i learned iron man and enter sandman. Not one thing about techniques, scales or chords was learned. And I asked to learn chords and learn scales so i learned a major scale. I picked up a scales and theories book, and taught my self different techniques. I do agree that alot of younger players need lessons and all that. I play with alot of my friends. im better than them only two people i play with can keep with me. BUT i do give advice and pass down stuff i did pick up to them and they get better. sorry it was horrible o voice my own opinion. My teacher was only five years older than me, i should have stayed with the one that was thirty years older. He knew much more, and I learned faster under him.