How to get better at guitar
by jwworth on 4/5/2026, 4:14:12 PM
https://www.jakeworth.com/posts/how-to-get-better-at-guitar/
Comments
by: freetime2
This brought to mind a quote from Ira Glass:<p>> Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.<p>I think listening and transcribing is great advice. Careful listening will help to improve your own listening ability and taste. It also helps to demystify <i>why</i> something is great.<p>But it's also going to be a struggle - especially at first. You have to be prepared to struggle, a LOT. Most people won't be able to keep at it, and that's one of the things that separates the greats from everyone else.
4/7/2026, 9:54:56 PM
by: H1Supreme
Recognizing melodies by ear is a hugely useful skill, but I can't help but think it's going to be nearly impossible to do without a sound foundation in music theory.<p>Tabs are, in large part, paint-by-number. Lots of guitarists out there are only interested in learning a song. Regardless of key, mode, or what the notes actually are. And, tabs satisfy that group by saying: "Play this fret on this string".<p>To write tabs, you'll need to be able to make an educated guess at what's being played. ex. "Is that a minor pentatonic scale? Or are they arpeggiating a minor 7th chord?". If terms like that aren't in your musical vocabulary, and you haven't played enough to recognize the difference, I don't see how a guitarist would even begin writing their own tabs. Maybe the author is assuming this skill set.
4/7/2026, 10:28:17 PM
by: crtified
One truth I've observed from decades of keen hobbyist involvement in guitar music and playing is that a lifetime of music is largely an individual journey.<p>The fact that some players learn by transcribing, while others learn by jamming, and yet others learn by rote theoretical study, or 10-hour practice sessions, etc, is a big part of the variety which results in the wonderfully varied tapestry of music styles and approaches that humanity creates and enjoys.<p>Not to take away from the age-old, valid advice in the link about the value of ear-to-fretboard work.
4/7/2026, 9:28:14 PM
by: beachy
Sting famously learned to play bass using this sort of technique with music on LPs, lifting the needle and dropping it back a bit in the track over and over again as he gradually worked out the notes and fingering.<p>Probably almost any method is effective at learning guitar, as long as it includes the key factor - time spent practicing.
4/7/2026, 8:38:36 PM
by: andrewvc
It’s a great article on something that’s useful, but a bit overconfident in its universality. Better at what? There are many dimensions to being a guitar player. Is it technique? Theory? Ability to pickup a song by ear (this article)? Better at playing in a group? Better at playing solo? Better at reading music? Better at accurate bends? Better at fingerpicking?<p>One of the nice things about music is you can’t get good at ALL of it. You have to pick where to focus. I’ll also say, you might need to ask yourself if you want to get better. I love relaxing by reading through the chords on a new song and playing it. I already have a job, and the time I truly have for intentional practice is like once a month. Most people are not studying to become guitar pros but to enjoy their time with the instrument. If that is your goal let joy be your guide. Perhaps some short term pain is part of that journey but really weigh out what you want out of the experience.
4/7/2026, 9:32:56 PM
by: senko
Wow, Justin with his hair!<p>Been plucking at the guitar (literally and figuratively - trying to learn) for a couple of years now and Justin's (free) course was the best I've found. His videos are compassionate, funny, explain things really well and easy to follow. He also dog-fed the instructions by learning to play left-handed (and posted those videos as well, hilarious to watch).<p>Compared to that, some time earlier I subscribed to a Berklee free course on Coursera (iirc) - Beginner guitar. Felt like a fumbling idiot, almost never touched guitar afterwards.<p>Really recommended: <a href="https://www.justinguitar.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.justinguitar.com/</a>
4/7/2026, 9:47:42 PM
by: __fst__
I started learning guitar using tabs. It's good for easily picking up a song, but I found it painful to learn new songs. Everything I played I simply memorized and learning a new song was always a start from scratch.<p>I mostly play classical guitar and now force myself to get better at sight reading standard music notation. I find it extremely hard but very rewarding because I'm now able to simply pick up a sheet of music and with a couple of tries figure out the basics of a piece. It opens up a whole library of beautiful pieces.
4/7/2026, 10:44:02 PM
by: jrop
Tommy Emmanuel apparently learned by transrcibing, famously thinking that both the bass line and guitar lines he was hearing were a singular "guitar part". Just by having his expectations (incorrectly) raised, he rose to the occasion and played both parts.<p>I forget where I heard this story -- it's probably either rather famous, or buried in an interview somewhere.
4/7/2026, 8:56:12 PM
by: RyanOD
Obscure "learn it by ear" guitar story...<p>Upon hearing Eruption for the first time, the story goes that Tony MacAlpine learned to play the finger tapping section by PICKING IT because he didn't know finger tapping was a thing. Only after seeing Van Halen in concert did he realize what Eddie was doing.<p>If memory serves me right, I read this in either Guitar Player or Guitar World magazine back in the late 80s or early 90s. Whether Tony was embellishing or not is unknown.
4/7/2026, 10:22:03 PM
by: RyanOD
I've been playing guitar for 30+ years. When I was a kid, I learned almost everything by ear - note by note by note...<p>In hindsight, once I had learned a song, I had actually learned MUCH more than just that song. It is that "extra" that adds up over time and makes one a guitarist and not just someone who can play some songs on the guitar.<p>Rock on!
4/7/2026, 9:42:41 PM
by: taylodl
It's still tabs, but marginally better because you're making your own tabs. Work on hearing the key and chord progression and you won't need tabs. You'll be able to jam with anyone, anytime. It'll take a couple months to get there, but you'll no longer rely on tabs - which I think is the goal.
4/6/2026, 10:22:51 AM
by: ben7799
All of it is good but none of it is a shortcut.<p>The greats who became so good doing this had massive amounts of time to do it and put in massive amounts of effort.
4/7/2026, 8:53:29 PM
by: kelvie
Are you telling me that spending time writing an app to learn the guitar neck isn't the best way?? Blasphemy, I tell you!<p>Anyway here is my app of shame:<p><a href="https://kelvie.github.io/chord-finder/" rel="nofollow">https://kelvie.github.io/chord-finder/</a><p>I also came to the realization after making this that my time was better spent transcribing, but I wanted to learn egui (and this was before coding agents, so it actually took some time).
4/7/2026, 8:50:37 PM
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4/7/2026, 9:06:25 PM
by: glial
I learned to play guitar this way -- listening to CDs and scrubbing back and forth, writing down what I heard. It's great, but it only gets you so far. Learning pentatonic scales was a step-change for me.
4/7/2026, 8:47:34 PM
by: exabrial
Practice a lot. Try things you "can't play" and do them a lot. Pick it up every every single day.
4/7/2026, 8:53:25 PM
by: RomanPushkin
I am playing for quite a while... Had private lessons with a coach to practice solo guitar, and general understanding for a couple of years. Before that around 10 years or more as amateur, now it's been 3 years since I spoke to a guitar coach last time.<p>I play every day, I do my solos, I play blues, I don't need chords. But it's hard.<p>Just don't underestimate how hard it is - to be able to play any solo by ear. I guess I just don't have any freaking talent. Pretty obvious at this point, since some people do a better progress in 3-5 years of work.<p>But for me it's not. I realized that for me something isn't just clicking. There was no breakthrough moment I expected all these years.<p>I invested a lot into playing guitar, but... meh. Honestly, I wish I spent all that time learning AI math or just math in general. Or spend my time on something that would have a better ROI.<p>Looking back I see how much effort it took, and how low my ROI is. I wish I gave up earlier.
4/7/2026, 9:24:52 PM
by: RickJWagner
Good advice.<p>I’m a banjo player. Starting with tab ( and playing for myself ) quickly got me to a certain level and then ingrained some bad habits. Playing by ear is much better.<p>One way that seems to work really well:<p>1. Listen to the song, tap the rhythm to learn it.<p>2. Figure the chord progression.<p>3. Using standard rolls ( sequence of notes, one measure ) find how to fit in melody notes
4/7/2026, 10:15:31 PM
by: dfxm12
<i>The Way I Learn Now: Listening & Transcribing</i><p>I lived near a music school and took proper guitar lessons. After getting down the basics from the Alfred Method book, this was the homework my guitar teacher gave me.<p>Coincidentally enough, I was also transcribing RATM back then too...
4/7/2026, 8:42:16 PM
by: merlin1de
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4/7/2026, 10:49:38 PM
by: douglee650
TLDR: practice. If you have sufficient natural talent xor will, you will eventually go past the canon of available material and begin to transcribe your own. Then there are those who move to creation, either immediately or somewhere in the path.
4/7/2026, 9:25:43 PM