LEARNING GUITAR FROM VIDEO AND/OR NOTATION

Here are some of my thoughts about learning guitar ideas and techniques from a video, from notation, etc. These ideas reflect a lot of my experiences trying to learn from pre-recorded material; I'm also dealing here with a lot of the difficulties my students have had learning this way. I hope that some of the ideas and tips below will help. Please feel free to post comments with questions, suggestions, etc. I want the material here to serve the needs of guitarists out there-- and I don't know what you need if you don't let me know!

(PLEASE NOTE-- THIS ARTICLE WILL TAKE ME A LONG TIME TO FINISH. I'LL POST IT IN BITS AND PIECES-- FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ALONG THE WAY.)

The following are in no particular order, and can be related to various styles/skill levels etc.

NOTATION VS. TABLATURE

Standard musical notation and tablature both have their pros and cons. My preference generally is standard notation, but I've certainly used tablature a lot in my own learning and with my students.

Notation (using notes on a staff) has only one disadvantages over tablature, and this is the reason why most guitarists out there choose to avoid it.
It takes a lot of work to learn it. (Even if you already read notation, the guitar has special reading challenges due to the repetition of many notes in different places on the neck.)

I'm going to talk in a bit about what you can do if you want to avoid reading notation. There are, in fact, some advantages to avoiding it, and I know some very fine, even brilliant, players who don't read. That being said, I think that most students avoid reading for the wrong reasons. Most of my students through the years have preferred to avoid tedious work in general when it comes to learning the guitar.

I hope it doesn't come across as righteous when I explain the following crucial concept-- IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK TO PLAY THE GUITAR, AND BY WORK I MEAN WHAT YOU PROBABLY THINK WORK IS-- BORING, TEDIOUS DRUDGERY. I know there's a danger that this statement will turn off a lot of you. I hope it won't drive you away, but I need to make this point clear to all. (I've had a lot of students who were absolutely unwilling to do certain kinds of work to learn the guitar, and I have often felt like a doctor writing out prescriptions for patients who are unwilling to take the medicine.) If you see me recommend something that sounds boring or hard or both, and you're wondering if there's an easier way-- the answer is most likely no. Certainly I've tried to avoid work myself as a player, mostly with weak results. I do design exercises as efficiently as possible, so you get the most back for the least amount of time and boredom invested. Whenever possible, I try to design exercises to benefit you in more than one area. I do this for my own use as well as for students-- I don't like tedious exercises any more than you do, and I don't have tons of free time to waste either. But there are simply some things you need to do to progress on the instrument.

At any rate, I'm trying to say that avoiding notation because of the work involved is not out of the question if you're serious about being a serious player. You should, however, be honest with yourself about whether you are avoiding it as a practical, well-reasoned decision, or just through laziness. I have a principle that I tell people about the guitar, which probably applies to much of life as well.

IF YOU AVOID WORK IN ANY AREA OF GUITAR PLAYING OR MUSIC, IT WILL PROBABLY CREATE OTHER WORK FOR YOU IN ANOTHER AREA.

LEARNING LICKS FROM A VIDEO

I've probably watched at least forty full-length instructional videos, most of which I own. Typically, I watch them over and over obsessively. Sometimes I follow the actual lessons note-for-note; other times I just watch them without a guitar, hoping to pick up ideas or understand a concept better. I've watched videos in various styles (country, jazz, rock, blues, etc.) and at various levels of difficulty. I've spent many hours with videos that were over my head-- sometimes way over what I was capable of at the time. Many times I only learned something after many viewings, and many attempts. I am a big advocate of studying videos that are over your skill level, as I believe you can benefit over a long period of time this way. I don't consider an instructional video to be useless if I can't immediately understand everything the player is doing.

Apparently, judging from the comments of guitarists I've seen online, this attitude makes me unusual. Many people watch an instructional video, have initial difficulty, and pronounce the video worthless. I just read a review of an Albert Lee video where the viewer was frustrated because he couldn't follow any of it. I haven't seen this video; I don't doubt that it could have been made more accessible in some ways. I do say this, though. Even a self-described "intermediate" player is not always going to be able to play or understand everything a world-class technician can do. I have had the experience as a teacher of explaining a lick multiple different times, and multiple different ways, to the same student with no effective result. There are a lot of technical and fundamental things you must master before you can play anything on the level of an Albert Lee. If you haven't done this foundation work already, no amount of slowing down and explanation will enable you to play like a world-class virtuoso. I often run into the phenomenon of the student who thinks that playing advanced music is largely a matter of learning certain "tricks" and shortcuts. Certainly there are some shortcuts, and even some tricks, that advanced players learn. But if you are thinking in this way, I predict you will be sorely disappointed as you try to spend money on lessons/videos etc. under the assumption that there are magical skeleton keys that unlock the guitar. I have definitely learned many particular things that had a miraculous effect on my playing, but without exception all of these things were difficult. Generally they involve, at minimum, learning to think and play in some counterintuitive way. Often an unwillingness to work is the obstacle to progress, but many times I find that the more insidious and crippling factor is the unwilingness to think in a new way. (I should point out that there are many guitar "teachers" out there who encourage students to believe in the short-cut model of learning. No doubt some of them are sincere, even helpful; nonetheless, in general I put these people in the category with the pitchmen who tell you you can lose weight without eating less or exercising. Good luck with that!)