So you want to play guitar?

(CU Independent graphic/Adam Milner)

Along with the cool-looking blisters and the creative process of learning to play the guitar, there are many bonuses to the craft. Boulder offers many student-friendly locations to buy a guitar, learn to play the instrument and buy books to elaborate on skills with the strings.

Renting or buying a guitar

H.B. Woodsong’s Music Center, located at 2920 Pearl St., was voted the “Best Place to Buy a Musical Instrument” by the Boulder Daily Camera. This locally owned store offers both electric and acoustic guitars for students to rent and buy as well as instrumental CDs to instruct beginners. The store fixes damaged string instruments and also sells guitar amps, strings and tuners to players of all skill levels. For more information, visit Woodsong’s Web site.

Robb’s Boulder Music, located at 2691 30th St., sells acoustic, acoustic-electric, electric, bass and classical guitars. Robb’s also carries recording products — microphones, interface software, headphones and portable recorders. This store rents out its guitar accessories, but advertises that it will match or beat any price on a guitar that a customer can find at a competing store. Robb’s also offers guitar repairs and lessons. For more information, visit Robb’s Web site.

Learning to play the guitar

The Lesson Studio, located at 3200 Valmont Road, provides lessons for students of all ages and skill levels. The studio offers clinics and workshops to improve guitar students’ singing and songwriting abilities as well as classes to learn varying types of music (bluegrass and folk, among others). The studio also advertises on its Web site many music stores and repair shops both locally and in surrounding areas as well as music camps and recording studios to get in contact with.

Gary Gutierrez, a guitar teacher on-campus with the applied music program and owner of The Lesson Studio, stressed the importance of having beginners take lessons to really learn the art of guitar.

“I suggest that students just starting out don’t [self teach],” Gutierrez said. “Beginners need guidance and 10 to 15 weeks of lessons is the minimum amount that I suggest for students to improve their skills.”

Gutierrez also offered advice on how to continue playing the instrument once a person has started.

“I advise splitting practice time up throughout the day,” Gutierrez said. “College students have hectic schedules and finding a large amount of time to practice is hard. Getting good at an instrument will take years, but if a student could practice for 10 to 15 minutes in the morning, 10 to 15 minutes in the afternoon and 10 to 15 minutes in the evening, they could improve their skills in a realistic way. Plan something reasonable.”

For more information, visit the Studio’s Web site.

Lee Johnson, a local guitarist, singer and songwriter, gives lessons at the Boulder Guitar Studio. Johnson has studied guitar for over 30 years and has given lessons to all ages and skill levels for almost 15 years. He teaches all styles of guitar, and said that there are two primary components to learning to play and sticking with it.

“First of all, making short and frequent practice a part of your daily routine,” Johnson said. “Secondly, learning to play songs that you’re familiar with and excited about is the best way to learn the theory, techniques and fundamentals [of guitar].”

He also added his experienced insight on how to stay motivated to play once a person has started.

“What I try to do is create an environment where my students select the songs that they enjoy the most and I teach the theory and technique inherent in their favorite style of music,” Johnson said. “Since students get to choose the style, I may have one student studying rock, one country, one classical.”

He described the importance of students being directly involved with their learning process by picking and learning from their favorite style of music and how this is what helps them to stay motivated to play.

For more information, visit Johnson’s Web site.

The School of Continuing Education also offers students an opportunity to learn to play the guitar on campus. The school has a guitar group class for beginner and intermediate guitar students, an intermediate class and a section specifically for electric guitar. The classes are two-credit hour courses that can be taken for a letter grade or in pass/fail format. Private lessons can also be scheduled between the student and their instructor. To learn more about the programs available through Continuing Education, visit their Web site.

Online resources and guitar literature

There are many Web sites that both beginners and more advanced students of guitar can use to find guitar music and look up keys, notes and tablature.

Ultimate Guitar is a Web site that allows guitarists to type in artist names or search through artists alphabetically to find tabs for favorite songs. This is the Web site that Elena Schmeising, a 19-year-old freshman English major and self-taught guitarist, said she uses to find online tabs for her favorite guitar artists.

“I’ve been playing guitar for three months,” Schmeising said. “I had one of my friends teach me the basic chords and I’ve taught myself the rest on Ultimateguitar.com. I play a lot of Pink Floyd and I’ve been learning ‘Tangerine’ by Led Zepplin.”

Another Web site created for students is 8Notes.com. Here, guitarists can search through pieces and download free guitar sheet music. Chordie.com is another online database that offers access to hundreds of artists and guitar tabs for players.

There is also a bevy of guitar literature for all skill levels. The National Guitar Workshop Series is a workbook set that Gutierrez said he likes and recommends to non-beginners.

“It’s academic but at the same time it really speaks to a guitarist,” Gutierrez said. “It’s comprehensive and easy to follow. The CDs come along with [the books] and the lessons are very easy to follow. It’s a step-by-step guide.”

Amazon.com also sells many books on learning the fundamentals of guitar music and memorizing the notes on a guitar’s neck. The cheap prices of the books on Amazon make this a very student-friendly choice for guitarists.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jenna Fredrickson at Jenna.fredrickson@colorado.edu.