What are some common mistakes made by self-taught guitarists?

Question

I have been teaching myself guitar for the past six months and I'm wondering what bad habits I'm developing because I haven't been trained.

What are the most common mistakes made by self-taught guitarists?

Answer 1

neglecting F and Bb chords.
playing three chord songs (mainly punk) with three fingers instead of two (index and pinky, its much easier).
not using all your fingers on solos.

Answer 2

More so than other instruments, guitar players tend to be self-taught. As a result, many guitarists don't know how to read sheet music, or know basic music theory. Despite this, self-taught guitarists frequently have great technique and are proficient players, performers and even songwriters. What is it about the guitar that lends itself so well to self teaching? Are the gaps in guitarist knowledge mentioned above necessarily such a bad thing? We're probably seeing the influence of the cultural mystique of the guitar. When we look at popular culture, we see there are no "French-horn hero" video games and you don't see people performing "air violin" while blasting their favorite classical music. Thanks to rock music's cult of personality and the fact that most popular musicians play the guitar, no other instrument really has the same exciting aura of artful sexuality. This results in tremendous motivation for learning, and with the guitars relatively low barrier to entry (unlike say, the piano or drums) and the image of the rebellious, maverick guitar-slinger, self-learning can seem almost preferable to formal training. I think that if any other instrument enjoyed the same cultural role, you would see self-teaching of that instrument bearing similar fruit. I've heard that some self-taught guitar virtuosos have said that formal music training would only stifle their creativity, and there are obviously plenty who have been quite successful without such training, but I feel like music theory is just a tool that can potentially help, but not hurt ones ability. I`ve taken and am currently still taking formal lessons to improve as I felt I learned as much as I could on my own and knew that I would improve drastically if working with someone with more experience. I think in a certain way guitarists are more respected if they are self taught but to be honest as a guitar player it doesn't matter to me. If you want to play the guitar and learn and improve as much as you can formal lessons so help a lot fo some people. I love playing the guitar and have done for a long time and that itself should be respected by my fellow musicians,the passion I have for it. Not the fact that I sought out help to improve at something I love.

Answer 3

I've been playing for 35 years. I'm self taught. I think the biggest problem with being self taught is that you can get into a rut playing the same things over and over without learning anything new. There are so many different styles out there. I'm thinking about taking a few advanced lessons just to get a different slant on things.

Answer 4

It isn't so much an error in technique, but when I taught myself guitar and when my brother taught himself drums, we both tended to have this notion that we'd never succeed without more equipment. i.e., I was convinced that I needed effect pedals to be able to play well, he was convinced he needed new cymbals. You have to just find something that you're naturally good at (for me it was the G-D-Em-C chord progression) and work from there.

Answer 5

Search>>>> Kentucky Windage for an example to possibly relate to.

BUT, some of the best guitarists are self-taught.

Play it by ear and see what happens.

Answer 6

Pride is the biggest mistake. You should humble yourself and learn from somebody. I'm not saying you are prideful, just that you might benefit from instruction.

Answer 7

for 2 months i learnt the wrong way round.... Like holding it to the right rather than the left.......
in the end i had to get the strings all changed to make it half normal.

i;m not making sense but you know what i mean!!??! right..!?! hmmm......