7 Reasons You'll Never Learn to Play Guitar

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I hate to be negative, particularly since this blog is supposed to be about success and motivation. I’m just trying to save you time, money and frustration. Many people say they want to learn to play the guitar. Few succeed.

The following is a list of the reasons people fail. The good news is that if you can honestly go through this list and acknowledge that none of these reasons apply to you, then you have a good shot at success.

I have a Bachelor of Music degree as well as graduate music studies. I taught music for a number of years before turning to computer science and writing.

Photo by Joanna-M

1. You Ain’t Got Rhythm
Actually, the problem is the lack of a steady beat in your head. This is important for all musicians, not just guitarists. For example, Common Time (4/4), has four beats per measure. If your internal metronome is out of whack, you’ll lose track of the beat. The rest of the band and/or your audience is on beat three, but you’ve already raced to beat four. Whether you’re in a rock band or playing solo, this does not make for good music.

Now, if you’re only going to play for yourself, in private, you might be okay. Maybe you won’t know the difference. But otherwise, you’ve got a real problem.

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2. You’ve Got a Tin Ear
You certainly don’t need perfect pitch, but you will need a good sense of relative pitch. Otherwise it will be difficult to know when you are making mistakes.

Test your ear with this little free online music matching game I created. (You’ll need to use Internet Explorer or Firefox with the IE Tab plugin to play the game.) How did you do? You should be able to score at least “Fair” after a few tries.

3. Your Hands Can’t Handle It
Your hands are going to get sore. You’ll be stressing certain muscles in new and painful ways. And your fingertips will get raw. But if you stick with it long enough, the pain will dissipate and your fingertips will turn hard with calluses.

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And I hope you didn’t want to keep those fingernails on your left hand (assuming you’re right-handed). They’ve got to go. Your fingertips will need to press the strings down firmly against the frets. Long fingernails will prevent you from doing this.

As for the fingernails on your right hand (left hand if you’re playing the guitar left-handed), you don’t have to cut those short if you’re playing with a guitar pick. If you play classical guitar, you’ll need to file them down to just the right length, since classical guitarists typically pick and strum the strings with their fingernails.

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4. You Just Don’t Want it Bad Enough
I got my first guitar in 1963 at age 13. I bought it from a classmate for $7.50. The neck was warped, which put the strings too far off the fingerboard. I cut my fingertips to shreds playing that thing. But I loved every second of it.

At that time there was nothing else in the world I wanted more than to learn to play guitar—except to kiss a girl. But I figured that learning to play the guitar would lead to girl kissing. (I was correct.)

That’s the level of desire you need to learn guitar (or any other musical instrument really). I probably averaged three or four hours a day working at it. I neglected my homework, stayed up way past my bedtime, and drove my sisters crazy.

Are you prepared to make that kind of over-the-top commitment? Admittedly, it’s easier when you’re a teenager. But even as an adult, you’ll find the time if you want it badly enough.

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5. You’ve Got No Songs You’re Dying to Play
Do you have a favorite band or musician? Are you dying to play their music on guitar? Great. You can skip to Reason No. 6.

If not, what are you going to play—after all the work of learning guitar? It’s just no fun unless you have music you really want to perform.

For me it was Beatle songs. I wanted to play every one of their songs exactly the way they played them. I wanted to BE a Beatle. So, my friends and I started a band. The fun times we had became the best memories of my high school years.

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6. You Don’t Have Money for Guitar Lessons
Can you learn to play the guitar on your own, without guitar lessons? In theory, yes. But it would be difficult. And you’d probably pick up some bad habits that you’d need to unlearn later.

I would advise lining up some type of guitar instruction, whether it’s online guitar lessons or private guitar lessons.

It really depends on your personality. You might feel more comfortable taking lessons online—particularly if scheduling music lessons is a problem. Maybe you work a variable schedule. With online lessons you could proceed at your own pace.

Get home from work at two o’clock in the morning, and want to take your next guitar lesson? No problem.

But some people prefer personal instruction. They need their teacher sitting across from them, to tell them when their fingering is wrong, or that there’s a problem with how they’re strumming or picking.

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7. You Don’t Have a Guitar
If you already have a good guitar, and you made it past all the other reasons (for failure) above: congratulations! Line up a guitar teacher or online guitar lesson software and get going!

If you don’t have a guitar or a good one you can borrow, better start shopping. I think it’s better to learn on an acoustic guitar (metal strings or nylon). With an electric guitar there are too many knobs and other controls to distract you.

And there’s the guitar amplifier, effects pedals, and other electric gear. You’re likely to get so caught up in the technology that you forget about learning to actually play.

But, having said that, I’ve known people who learned on an electric guitar with great success, in spite of all the gadgets. So, it is possible.

Did You Pass the Test?
If none of my seven reasons above applied to you, then I believe you will be successful. And I hope you’ll enjoy playing the guitar as much as I do. Now, go for it!