Learning to play the guitar will require a great deal of dedication if you want to do it properly. After all, what’s the use of learning to play the guitar if you quit after a few weeks.
Realistically, it will take at least a couple of months to play the guitar comfortably. To make the process go faster, it would be best if you could pinpoint the reason why you want to begin learning to play the guitar. This way, you can target specific goals. For instance, would you be interested in playing for a band? If so, then you should take lead guitar lessons.
In a band, there is the lead guitarist and the rhythm guitarist. They both use the same type of guitar – there is no difference. The difference lies in how the guitar is played. The rhythm guitarist is support to the vocals and provides the structure for the song. His role in the band is very important because a weak rhythm would not be able to draw out the crowd, and make the band seem like a backyard kiddie band.
The rhythm guitarist is also most often the person who composes the song, or helps compose the band’s music. If the lead singer is also a guitarist, most often he is the rhythm guitarist as well.
The lead guitarist is your rock star. He’s the guy with the solo, and has the freedom to do a lot of improvisations during a song. While he may be the “star”, he can never work as a solo because he needs the rhythm guitarist to give him the good foundation for a song.
If you can select between the rhythm and lead guitar, then you can decide if you want lead guitar lessons or not. The difference in the lessons for a lead guitarist would be the free-flowing style a guitar tutor would encourage. The opposite is true for the rhythm guitarist. He must stick to the rhythm because the band depends on him.
One idea that you might be interested in is to learn how to be a lead and rhythm guitarist. With this kind of skills, you can be both star and singer, and this is the stuff dreams are made of – when you become recognized for your talent and ability to carry a song, re-invent it, and bring it home.
Learning to play the guitar as a lead guitarist is an awesome experience, but only after you have mastered the basics. Just like anything else in this world, it starts with basics. Spend a lot of time learning these because it will dictate the kind of guitarist you will be.
If lead guitar lessons is your objective, then make sure that you get a good lead guitarist as a mentor. If you are a minor, make sure your parents support your dream, or at least one adult member in your family.