I still remember getting my first guitar. I think I was about six or seven at the time, and it was Christmas morning. I was so excited. I wanted to learn the guitar ever since I had my Dad serenade me every now and then. When I saw that $50 guitar sitting there, I saw so many possibilities. After I stared at it for a while, I wanted to learn how to play it.

I didn't really learn guitar the traditional way. I had my dad teach me the basic open chords, but after about three years, I wanted to get more advanced so I started taking lessons. When I started out, I learned how to read music. I just learned how to read about ten notes, and then I got bored.

After about three months, I started bringing in Cd's of my favorite songs to my teacher so I could learn how to play them. This taught me tapping, power chords, a little bit of theory, how to play fast, and how to read tablature. I encourage people who want to learn to play rock music to at least learn how to read tablature. It's very easy to read and a lot simpler than reading sheet music. Also, most rock music is written in tablature. However, if you want to play most any other style of music, you should probably learn how to read sheet music.

Anyway, after about three years of this, I wanted to learn how to improvise a solo. I knew the pentatonic scale, but I wanted to learn how to shred up and down the neck. So, I learned the five major scales. Then, I learned how to use them in a key. I also learned the seven modes. This really helped my understanding of theory and taught me how to create chords.

So that's about it. Right now, I'm just learning a little bit of everything: theory, songs, and techniques. If you want to learn rock guitar, I really encourage you to learn how to play like I did. It was fun, it taught me a lot, and it never got boring. So pick up your guitar and begin to shred.

Learn more about this author, Pierce Adler.
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