[chorizo]

Sort of leading on from the question by noodley in the "playing the guitar" section about why people start and then give up guitar...

I was thinking the other day about stuff i've read and seen about guitar historically always being an instrument which was very accessible to the masses, bearing in mind that "the masses" often don't have time to spend learning the details of music theory and assuming they just want to get enough understanding to be able to enjoy their guitars.

So, thinking in terms of a MINIMALIST approach, What are the minimum requirements to be able the play

(and enjoy) guitar???

It easy for me to remember because its still recent but For me the breakthrough came with learning how the locate the key of a piece of music and then knowing what chords would be possible in that key and how to find them quickly. Learning Barred chords helped with this. so for me:

1st. Locating the key
2nd. Knowing the basic chord possibilities in that key
3rd. Barred chords

Many other things fell into place after these.

[MalcolmAmos]

Agree -- A large number of people never go beyond that and love their guitars. You could sit on the back porch and play music for your own enjoyment or function in the rhythm section of a band with just that level of understanding.

I'm amazed how many people use a capo and play everything in G. If they are happy, I'm happy.

[Kirk Lorange]

I think you should just continue to learn as much as you can, chorizo. I think you'll find that each level you reach will be satisfying for a while, then you'll realize that there are gray areas you need to clear up. This happens for ever, it's a continuous learning process. I learn new things every day, still, after 47 years. Your finding out about keys and the chords therein was a big one, though.

[chorizo]

I totally agree with you Kirk, and one of the "dangers" with guitar is stagnating and i do intend to keep adding to my knowledge. But now that i have a "core understanding", i can "bolt on" relevant bits of knowledge as i come across them, and i can see where they fit in, a bit like a snowball growing as it rolls down a hill. You need set the ball rolling initially, it doesn't get rolling by itself you need an initial push.

I guess i what i was trying to figure out is - what this initial push needed to be - i.e the minimum requirement to get the ball rolling, because i think many people give up before they even get the ball rolling.

(Thats a lot of rolling balls)

[scotty_b]

Originally Posted by chorizo

So, thinking in terms of a MINIMALIST approach, What are the minimum requirements to be able the play

(and enjoy) guitar???

That is a very subjective question. For some a few chords is all they will ever want, for others they will work at it for their whole life.
Only you can answer that.

[Stratrat]

Originally Posted by scotty_b

That is a very subjective question. For some a few chords is all they will ever want, for others they will work at it for their whole life.
Only you can answer that.

+1.

As a teenager, I knew my open minor & major chords and the 'E' and 'A' -form barre chords - that was it. I knew absolute ZERO about theory. It was enough for me to jam with my buddies and play rhythm guitar in a garage band for a couple years - and at that time, it was all I wanted/needed. Fast forward to last year when I picked the guitar back up, and I immediately realized how little I knew and how limiting it was to me as a guitar player....I'm at a point now where I'm not content to merely play simple chords without any idea of what I'm doing or why I'm doing it.

[felixdcat]

I was really into it - to understand music and guitar, and I did it. I got PlaneTalk. After buying it, I feel like I know the rules, and more I play, better I'll get - and always know what's up.

[st_jo]

Kirk,
"I learn new things every day, still, after 47 years."
can you site today's or yesterday's example of what you newly learned?
thanx

[felixdcat]

Originally Posted by st_jo

Kirk,
"I learn new things every day, still, after 47 years."
can you site today's or yesterday's example of what you newly learned?
thanx

Not sure that is to be taken literally.

[st_jo]

felix,
yeah i know. but i read it, so literal it is.

teehee

i love words nearly as much as music: they both can make such funny sounds.

[chorizo]

Felix, PlaneTalk was another breakthrough for me because up until then books about playing guitar had left me more confused than when i started them, but the way PlaneTalk is written and presented could not have been more suited to me, almost as if it was made for me. Only regret is not buying it sooner, for me it gave me confidence with improvisation and more importantly provided plenty of ideas to further my knowledge.

[solidwalnut]

How Much Do I Really NEED to Know?

Like Scotty is saying, only YOU can answer that. The rest are suggestions on how that might be answered.

It really depends on your goals. Some are more musically inclined when they start, some are not.

When I started, I was musically inclined. I didn't know that at the time, but that's the way it worked out. When I started, I was 12 (man, I thought I'd been playing a long time until I ran into Kirk!) and I taught myself. I decided that my goals (are you kidding? I didn't have all my goals figured out, but they eventually went that way) were to be able to play chords and sing in front of people.

So that's what I set out to do. And I began playing in public three weeks after I picked up a guitar. Did I sound great? Are you kidding??? The point is that I had a broad goal and went for it.

What are the minimum things to know??? Chords and rhythm, if you ask me. Hey, the whole world of guitar is wrapped up in learning to play chords and learning to play rhythm. All the rest is a break down of the chords into their musical components from there? Why not concentrate on the larger picture right off the bat???

I learned very minimal theory and concentrated on chords, chord formations, CAGED and how to play different strumming patterns. I didn't play anything resembling single notes for the first five years of playing. I was too busy playing rhythm and singing.

But that's just me. The thing is though, this works. The guitar is logically and mechanically layed out. Conquer the mechanics so you can spend more brain power on theory later on down the road. It IS a journey, and you're not going to arrive in one year or ten of playing.

Learn how to sing. Either to yourself or out loud, but this will help make you a musician and pique your interest for learning more about theory. Plus it's a huge benefit for training your ear and learning how to transfer what you hear to your hands.

Just make a goal for what the journey might be about for this year.

Have fun with it,

Steve

[Noodler]

For me the bare minimum to play and enjoy the guitar was just about the first thing I ever learned. A blues riff E-A-G-E, as single notes on the low E string. It sounded so cool it made me smile every time I played it. I still love it. (I'm a Man by Bo Diddley)

For me, a basic guitarist should be able to play the basic 15 open position chords and strum in time to make a song. Nothing fancy, just not having to stop strumming to change chords. To be able to strum in time but not monotonously. If you can sing as well, then you can entertain. That's it!

[chorizo]

OK. I think it was just my way of learning the guitar. I couldn't REALLY enjoy it until i understood which chords worked together in a key and i could begin to improvise, create or change music. Once i got to that point i could really have fun with it. Because i am self-taught (and had no set learning plan) that took quite some time.

[namiguShin]

Just a thought... I think that you don't just need the initial roll... Down the hill you'll find some "terraces"... And your snowball will slow down, and eventually stop... And melt down... You'll have to motivate yourself now and then, and if you love music and your instrument, this self motivation will be more seldom...

And your question is, as most of us said here, individual... I have a friend who is playing like 10-15 chords (don't count barres moving up and down the fretboard) for like 10-15 years... He doesn't even know what is the key and how are chords connected within a key... And when I tell him that he should learn a bit more so that we could play together, like improvise and make music, he tells me that he knows just about enough... And he is happy with his playing... It's individual, I tells ya...