What is the best way to learn guitar?  

I would argue that there is no one best way but there are certainly better ways. One of those ways is what we call a 'Skills first' approach. Most guitar teachers promote the idea of learning songs which makes sense. They know it's what students want to hear. After all, who doesn't want to learn songs. It's the whole reason we learn guitar in the first place. When I started learning guitar I wasn't interested in skills like scales, reading music etc. "Just give me the songs" I would declare. I knew many famous guitar players who didn't know how to read music. Unfortunately what I didn't take into account was the fact that these guitarists had struggled for years to reach a level of skill they could have achieved in a lot less time with a lot less effort. Today we are seeing young guitarists ( I am talking young teens) who can play Jimi Hendrix's most difficult solos with ease.  These young virtuosos are almost certainly making skills a priority.   

I spent several years as a frustrated teen trying to learn my favourite songs until I discovered a teacher who set me straight. My  teacher taught me that skills are the tools we use to play songs so we need to start with them. He taught me the importance of developing what I now call the essential skills. Ignoring these skills will result in slow progress at best and at worst, years of frustration. Don't make the mistake I and 95% of guitar students make. While I fully understand why most guitar teachers avoid mentioning skills (they don't want to scare you off)  at G4 we prefer to be up front with you. We understand that your goal is to play songs of course but without the necessary skills you will only be disappointed. We want you to succeed not just turn up. Playing songs is why we learn guitar but it's not how we learn guitar. At G4 we focus on the 'how' (skills) so you can the follow your own 'why' (songs).  Skills are the tools we musicians use to play songs.   

  • Our teachers use the G4 GUITAR METHOD based on 30+ years of research and developed by our team of dedicated guitarists across the globe.
  • Our teachers use checklists to track student progress so you and your G4 GUITAR teacher always know where you are up to and how you are progressing.
  • Our teachers make it fun because we know it's important to balance work with enjoyment when it comes to learning guitar .
  • Our teachers will support you every step of the way, Learning guitar is not easy and takes time. Having support when you need it can be the difference between success and failure.
  • We supply the learning materials so NO additional costs for lesson books saving you money. The G4 GUITAR METHOD is all you need and it's included in your lessons.

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 The G4 GUITAR approach to learning guitar

We believe in a skills first approach. That means unlike most guitar teachers we don't just teach you songs. Look on almost any guitar teacher's website and they will promise to teach you the songs you want to play. That may seem attractive to the beginner guitar student but unfortunately there is a problem. Beginner guitar students don't have the skills required to play their favourite songs. It's like trying to speak in a new language before acquiring the basic skills of that language. Music is very much a language.

When I first decided to learn guitar at age 14 years old (many years ago) I tried to learn Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'. As a complete beginner it was basically impossible. I couldn't form the chord shapes or fingerpick the correct strings and there was lots of buzzing. After more than 2  years I was still struggling with the intro. I eventually found a great teacher who basically told me not to worry about the song for now. I spent a good 6 months working on fundamental skills and my guitar playing literally transformed from guitar hacker to serious intermediate. 

I also learned to play drums at the age of 14 but the difference was I went to a teacher. My drum teacher started me on two books from the very first lesson. A book of drum rudiments and a book for reading drum charts. For the first 6 months I worked on the exercises from these two books and gained a level of proficiency on drums that allowed me to join the school band and form a rock band with my brother and friends. 

G4 GUITAR Students in action

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