While watching a master playing the guitar, it is easy to get lost in the music and dream of following in the artist’s footsteps. However, learning to play the instrument yourself can be intimidating once you have a guitar in front of you. It requires sustained commitment to putting in the effort and time needed to acquire the necessary skills. We look at the advantages and disadvantages of learning to play guitar.

Deciding Whether or Not to Take Guitar Lessons

There are pros and cons to learning to play a guitar. While these may sway your decision, if you enjoy listening to guitar music, you are more likely to enjoy taking lessons. However, if you don’t get pleasure from listening to the guitar being played, then you are unlikely to stick with it.

Advantages of Learning to Play a Guitar

We will review the advantages of learning to play a guitar first, and in the next section we will explore the disadvantages. 

1. Coordinating both hands to act independently of each other is a necessary skill for guitar players. As you master this ability, you will find that learning the skill boosts hand to hand coordination in other activities too.
2. The hours long daily practice requires your utmost concentration. However, the latter becomes a habit, which also spills over to your non-musical tasks. If you are still a scholar or student, you will find that this growing concentration improves your subject scores.
3. Learning a new skill will enhance your thought processes and. The changes may only become noticeable to you when you pause for a moment to take stock of your achievements. This is due to small, incremental improvements that reach a critical mass before the changes are visible.
4. Your musical ears will become ever more attuned to your music and will enable you to discover subtle details in your favourite songs. This will increase your appreciation of the music genre you listen to most.
5. Playing music is a fun activity, whether you jam alone or with friends. Your guitar is always ready to be picked up at the end of a demanding workday and soothe your tensions as you get caught up in the music. A group of friends who are musically talented may decide to start a full-time band. While this won’t happen to every person who learns how to play a guitar, new groups are coming out constantly, thus, this form of success is a possible future to dream about. You can get advice on the best instruments for beginners from a guitar shop Worcester.

Disadvantages of Learning to Play a Guitar

1. The beginning stages of learning to play a guitar are difficult for everyone. It will take many hours of learning and practising before you will be able to play properly. Unfortunately, you cannot skip this stage.
2. The hands and fingers will be stretched to new positions that the body is not accustomed to. Previously unused muscles come into play. You will have to exert a fair pressure with your fingers, and all of this will hurt in the early days. Over time, the muscles develop, and you can play without pain.
3. Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) affects many guitar players. You should place a greater premium on your playing than on the gear, which adds up. 

Put in the time and effort and it will pay off with being able to play well.