How to Learn to Play Guitar Using Apps and Web Services

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-13 00:26

Learning the basics of playing guitar on your own is not a good idea. Relearning and kicking off bad habits along the way is more difficult than learning to play an instrument from scratch. But to turn from an amateur into a professional will help lessons on the Internet and special applications.

Web services

Online tutorials

As a rule, on request “a tutorial on how to play the guitar”, search services give out hundreds of roughly the same sites that represent Internet analogs of paper publications. There is nothing wrong with that: guides like these can give you the theoretical knowledge you need, teach you how to play songs with tabs and read chord fingerings.

• Self-study guide GuitarProfy. Here you can find all the necessary theoretical basis for further self-development, a table of correspondences of notes on the stave and guitar frets, as well as examples of classical guitar works.
• Tutorial GuitarUser. A small textbook written in simple language that will teach you how to accompany your favorite songs. Suitable for those who want to sing songs to friends with a guitar, but do not want to become a professional.

Youtube

There are probably no less self-instruction manuals on playing the guitar on YouTube than textbooks. We advise you to pay attention to those where the lessons are taught by reputable musicians, or channels with a solid following. For the rest, be guided by personal preferences, and we will tell you about two popular Russian-language channels about the guitar.

Pima live

Channel of Anton and Alexey - two Petersburgers who not only share tips on playing and learning, but also invite experts to give exclusive lessons, play instruments and upload guitars' video reviews. There are videos for both beginners and advanced guitarists.

Go to Pima Live channel →

GitaristTV

On this channel, guitarist Pavel posts a thorough analysis of popular compositions on an acoustic guitar. The repertoire is wide: from pop hits by Max Korzh to the soundtrack from Interstellar.

Go to the GitaristTV channel →

Interest clubs "VKontakte"

With VKontakte groups, everything is more complicated: many advanced guitarists do not communicate in the community for beginners, but there are a lot of amateurs who consider themselves professionals in such groups. We advise you to be skeptical about professional advice from groups and publics. But these hobby clubs can be very useful when looking for like-minded people, chords and tabs for songs. Also in such groups you can almost always find advertisements for the sale and purchase of instruments.

• Guitar Lovers. One of the most popular guitar groups is VKontakte, with over 120 thousand subscribers. There is a wall in the community where you can post your question.
• "Guitar player". Another band with an open wall and a variety of guitar and music related content.
• Guitar and Guitarists. Flamenco guitarist Alexander Kuindzhi's project. You cannot post a post on the wall, but you can ask a question of interest in the discussions.

Programs

Guitar Pro

Note editor, familiar to many who dealt with learning melodies from tablatures. You can record your own tracks of various instruments, export them to MIDI or print them. The program has a metronome, the function of displaying the staff and guitar neck, the ability to record any nuances of articulation and add effects. On the Internet you can find Guitar Pro tablatures for any famous song. Special sites will help with the search:

• 911tabs. Aggregator site that searches the largest libraries of tablatures and chords. Here you can find sheet music of all famous foreign songs and even many domestic compositions.
• GTP-tabs. A huge archive of scores of Russian and foreign songs.

Go to Guitar Pro website →

DAW software

A rewarding experience for any guitarist is listening to yourself from the outside. This requires special applications. DAW software (sequencers) will help you record your compositions, mix guitar tracks and create accompaniment from virtual instruments. There are at least a dozen decent sequencers out there. For beginners, we advise you to check out PreSonus Studio One, Steinberg Cubase and Ableton Live.

Applications

Yousician

An interactive tutorial that recognizes notes played on the guitar using a microphone. You can take lessons in stages or focus on learning songs from the library. The gameplay resembles Guitar Hero, only in front of you not colored circles light up, but numbers with the designation of the fret on the desired string. The free version of the game has limitations, a premium subscription will cost 332 rubles per month when purchased for a year.

Coach Guitar

This personal trainer will show you how to play your favorite songs from different angles and with notes on the virtual fretboard. Each composition is divided into fragments to make it easier to remember. Also, instead of learning songs, you can choose to learn the technique of playing. Unfortunately, full versions of such apps are expensive: a premium account costs 329 rubles per month.

GuitarTuna

An all-in-one guitar app that includes a tuner, metronome, playing lessons, chord guide and ear trainer. The tuner can be used to tune your guitar, bass, or ukulele. The free application has limitations and different types of subscriptions from 529 rubles (with a one-time purchase), but the tuner in the standard tuning can be used for free.