What you can do on your own
- Play when your day allows. A guitar on its stand and ten free minutes are enough for a session, with no appointment to keep.
- Get feedback on every note and chord. Your iPhone or iPad microphone is all it takes: tonestro shows right away whether you played the right notes in time.
- Follow a path. A Beginner course built by music teachers takes you through your first months, and an Advanced course follows when you are ready.
Typical self-study mistakes on the guitar
- Stopping the strum at every chord change
On your own, it is tempting to wait until the new chord is in place. The beat breaks, and songs never start to flow.
What helps: Keep your strumming hand moving in time, even if the new chord isn't ready; strum the open strings for a moment if you must. tonestro shows whether each chord came in time.
- A squeezing thumb
Many self-taught players squeeze the neck like a handle. Their hand tires fast, and the fingers lose their reach.
What helps: Let the thumb rest softly at the back of the neck, and loosen your grip between chords; shaking the hand out during a rest helps.
- Strumming from the wrong bass string
In their usual open shapes, D starts on the fourth string and C and A minor on the fifth, so the root sits in the bass. Strum all six, and a different note takes over the bass.
What helps: Learn on which string each chord starts and aim your strum there. A chord diagram marks the strings to leave out with an X.
Your practice week
- Every session: tune and warm up
Tune all six strings, then play frets 5 to 8 on one string with fingers 1 to 4, slowly and evenly, string by string; up there, the frets sit closer together.
- Two days: one new chord
Learn the next chord from your course at a slow pace, then play it in a song that uses it alongside chords you know.
- Two days: chord changes
Switch between the new chord and one you know, four strums each, slowly and without stopping.
- One day: a song at 60 percent
Set a song to 60 percent speed. Once the chord changes feel secure, move up to 80 percent.
- One day: just play
Play whatever you already know, purely for fun. Day seven is free.
Questions about tonestro
- Can I learn an instrument without a teacher?
- How does tonestro hear me play?
- Learn guitar with tonestro
Questions about learning alone
Can you really teach yourself guitar?
Yes. Many guitarists started on their own; a fixed order of steps and honest feedback on what you play make it easier. How hard the start is: Is guitar hard to learn?
How do I tune my guitar by myself?
Standard tuning, from the thickest string to the thinnest, is E, A, D, G, B, E. Tune each string with a tuner, turn the tuning peg slowly and come up to the note from below.
How do I know if my chords sound clean?
Hold the chord and pluck one string at a time: every string the chord uses should ring. tonestro hears every chord and shows whether it came in time.
Should I take guitar lessons or use an app?
Both have their place. tonestro is there whenever you want to play and gives you feedback on every note and chord. More in Music lessons or an app?
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