Is music knowledge must for learning a guitar?

Question

I have no idea what are the notes and all but I want to learn guitar.So do i have to have basic music knowledge to learn a guitar?

Answer 1

No, you don't.  I had absolutely no knowledge of music theory when I began playing guitar.  I simply learned the chords (only 3 to start with), and progressed from there.  As I played more and more, I learned more chords, and eventually learned some (very little) music theory.  Today I know hundreds of chords, how to strum, how to finger pick (Travis style), etc., etc.  It's been a fun journey.  Hope you enjoy it.

Answer 2

Hello Knight S.,

What a great question! Will need to know about music knowledge i.e. how to read notes, hospital records, etc., before I can learn to play guitar? No, you do not. Many many years ago, guitarists came up with tablature, a clever method for learning to play guitar, both melodies and chords, without needing to know how to read a single note. In addition, even without tablature, guitarists and all kinds of other musicians have been playing and continue to play all kinds of instruments, simply by watching each other, and learning to play. And nobody can say that any of these musicians is not playing music. They are, and they are having fun. Now, at some point, you might decide to acquire some of what you call "music knowledge" that is note reading and understanding chord structure and other aspects of what musicians generally refer to as music theory. And in the process you might find -- like so many others have -- that this knowledge enriches your experience. But there is no right or wrong here.

Take care and I look forward to meeting you,

Steven Elster, PhD, guitarists and guitar teacher.

Answer 3

No, you do not have to have any knowledge of music to learn guitar. I get many complete beginners, and they learn music at the same time. You learn music by learning guitar.

Answer 4

Not at all! You can learn about music theory as you go. It certainly is an advantage to already know a little bit about music theory, and if you want to move beyond chord shapes and TAB you will have to learn it at some point. But it is not required knowledge before learning to play.

Answer 5

No you don't, I always suggest to get more comfortable with playing chords to begin with and move forward from there.

Answer 6

No, there are plenty of people that can play guitar that don't know what the notes are. Based on my experience, you get more familiar with music theory when you become more comfortable with your instrument. Having an instrument to refer too will make learning music theory a lot easier. It is a lot harder for example, drummers and vocalists that don't play an instrument involving actual notes to understand because they don't have anything to help them visualize it.