How Long Does It Take To Learn The Guitar?

[Impostor]

So totally legitimate.

[bluzee]

There is always more to learn.

[GMaq]

Hmmm,

Will be interesting to see what people's goals are..

I've been playing semi-professionally (ie not a full time job, but playing regular paid gigs) for 37 years and of course I've been interested in improving my skills and expanding my musical knowledge but at some point I realized I'm not a shredder, nor do I particularly enjoy super guitar-focused music and I decided instead of getting "good" maybe I should work on other things so I have tried at least in my own compositions to write songs that are the type of things that I enjoy listening to but with a unique twist, perhaps that is the chord voicings or tunings, maybe it's an added bridge part, maybe it's playing a riff instead of a solo or introducing another musical idea. Sometimes it is soloing and that's fine if it serves the song. I'm more motivated by interesting songs than great guitar playing at this point in life. I can see doing some more solo performing in the future and to that end I'd really like to improve and further develop my fingerpicking skills..

Something that I really miss and fear to lose if I were to get too focused on being a good guitarist is the joy of 'reaching and discovering' in a performance. I see a lot of flashy guitarists like Joe Bonnamassa, Robben Ford, Tommy Emmanuel that are technically brilliant but they also never look like they are reaching or facing any unknowns, they know what every note is going to sound like and they know every scale that works with every chord so after a while it becomes less engaging to listen to because they are not not breaking new ground and there is no sense of discovery. On the other hand are those special rare few that seem to simply commune with the Angels and plug directly into the divine (Derek Trucks, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and their power is a mix of technical skill and at their best being able to become fully present in the moment without being self-aware and somehow channel the music without all of the intellect getting involved.

I think this puts many of us in a weird spot in-between and I think it also leads many into misguided goals. I think all I can hope is to balance the acquiring of technical skills with the discipline of being in the moment while performing and hoping that as much music comes through me as from me, of course I'm only speaking for myself.

[glowrak guy]

@ Gmaq: This interview of a pair of guitar legends has some interesting insights, that I think concur with some of your sentiments.

https://youtu.be/_1bkZIDuGBU

My goals are to create music that some people would want to hear multiple times, or that might at least stir the pot for them,
to experiment, record, edit and release their own music. Beyond that, I consider creating music to be an extra, and crucial language,
for communicating things that might not easily fit into words and lyrics. The (perhaps) americana phrase, 'get it off your chest' comes to mind.

For those of us learning guitar, I suggest getting some sounds combining digital delay, and rich ambient reverb, to fill in the gaps, concentrating on all the various harmonies that can be done with just two strings, memorizing their position on the neck, noting enjoyable scales and interactions as you go. Discover what you love, and pursue it, without trying to be anyone else. They already did that.

Mix in the stringbends, hammer-ons, trills, string-muting etc. Using Hydrogen drum machine or other percussion tools, with various tempos and kits, will be good discipline.
have a great weekend!