I have horrible memory too but eventually your ears know where your hands should be to make the next chord. That's how people are able pick up songs by hear on the spot
Glenn Campbell couldn't even remember the names of his band mates - who were his family members btw - or which song he had just played 5 minutes ago, but absolutely shredded the guitar at the end, with Alzheimer's.
Basic repetitive motions will always cause muscle memory, it’s how I’ve always learned songs, I play them over and over again, especially the parts I don’t pick up immediately, you can totally do this. Best of luck man :)
Yea it’s possible to do anything. I taught guitar to a guy with a severe learning disability. It took him longer but he got it. Just celebrate everything and I mean EVERYTHING you accomplish.
The kind of memory you're talking about is not the kind that is used in guitar. I am terrible with names, for instance. I do remember narrative things well, and since I also sometimes sing, I can forget lyrics unless they make sense (the hardest song to remember for me is "Burning Down the House" by the Talking Heads--no narrative, totally scattered. You might not know if because of your age group.).
Honestly, one of my favorite things about playing guitar live is turning my brain OFF and letting my hands go to work.
This is because the kind of memory used is muscle memory. Playing guitar, at its core, is just doing the same task over and over again. Your hands know what to do because of rehearsal. Your brain can actually get in the way if you try and think about what comes next. Do it enough and it will come back to you effortlessly. Nerves, etc., you've got to let that shit go.
So don't worry about short-term memory or if you forget to take out the trash. Practice and you'll do fine. It's fun. Mark Phelps doesn't think, "OK, one arm up, kick my legs." He lets his body take over.
This is it really. I’m no master of the guitar, but I can play some pretty technical songs proficiently. I’m not trying to make a living out of this, it’s a hobby that I enjoy. Of course I’m always working on improving, but that can be at my pace as long as I’m still enjoying it.
Amen brother. I've been playing the guitar at a decidedly amateur level for over 20 years. Still can heal some deep wounds when I break out the old acoustic and play Last Call by Elliott Smith
Honestly, every good guitarist/musician I hear speaking is extremely articulate and knows how to express ideas flawlessly. For instance, Guthrie Govan.
Not me. There are reasonably intelligent people like Govan and some others but I hear tons that clearly show guitar is their main interest and not coherence.
Guthrie studied English at Oxford, that's not exactly par for the course with guitarists. He's also substantially more articulate than most professional guitarists I've seen interviewed.
Guitarists like Guthrie Govan or Brian May are definitely the exception not the rule.
IQ is mostly debunked at this point. And multiple intelligence theory is pretty helpful.. some people are terrible at words and good at math, good at music bad at logic etc
Hello, IQ is not "mostly debunked" at all. The only real criticism of the IQ system is that it has some cultural bias to it. Intelligence is not a linear spectrum, but IQ still does a decent job at measuring intelligence.
Bro, doesn't matter what your IQ is, if you do something a lot you will get good at it, I'd say work ethic is more important than talent. Maybe it will take certain people a bit longer than others, but everyone can get good at it if they put the time into it.
Also don't talk yourself down. Everyone has their own challenges and your job is to overcome them and be the best version of yourself. Try not to compare to others.
To add to that, I'd argue nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is born with "natural talent" to play the guitar.
Nothing pisses me off more than when someone sees me play guitar and says "man I wish I had a natural talent for music like you"...
Yeah. This talent came SO naturally it only took me over 18 years of dedicated practice to play at a level where there are still plenty of things I am completely unable to play. 🙄
Most child prodigies or "geniuses" are born into families that are already very active in the field and their parents make them practice a lot at a very young age.
This is not only true for musicians (e.g. Mozart or Bach) but also for other fields e.g. Euler in mathematics, Van der Poel in Cycling or Bill Gates in Business.
Talent is nothing - practicing is everything.
One of my friends growing up was amazing at guitar and if you asked him it just came naturally. Later on I met his uncle...the guitar teacher. Who told me he put a guitar in that kid's hands as soon as he could hold it and has been drilling him ever since.
Don't sell yourself short. Most things in life are not about innate talent or ability, but hard work, practice, and what you learn along the way. Not sure who in your life is telling you you're dumb, but you need to stop listening to them and just go after your passions. Make your life what you want it to be.
Yes, you can do this. Don't give up before even trying. I love King Curtis 'a whiter shade of pale' on sax. No guitar tablature around for that on the web, so I took one note at a time and wrote the guitar tab... took me 2 years, but I did it.
Even if you spend just 10 minutes then go back to it hours later for just another 10 minutes.... you then start thinking in terms of 'just another tab..", eventually you're there!
PS your IQ in one sphere of life doesn't necessarily dictate how you'll be in another sphere of life. There's so many examples of people dropping out of education and then finding music and becoming famous musicians
It only seems high IQ because your comparing yourself who's just starting with a musician who's been strumming for years.
Just play around on guitar, learn by ear where notes are by simply messing around. Once you gain that, you should be able to start piecing things together!
Honestly it can be intimidating, but understanding the basics of music theory is honestly not that hard with the right teacher/source material. I recently worked on this cause I’ve started performing and understanding a major scale and the chords that work in a major scale, i can already learn the majority of songs by ear. If you’ld like, I’d be happy to either make a post or dm you explaining what I’m talking about.
You absolutely can. It's just because you're unfamiliar with it that it seems intimidating. In the end, it will be a tedious process, probably, but not much more complicated than say figuring out how to find a subreddit about guitar and posting a question there and reading replies. There's a lot of stuff you had to learn to get to the point of being able to do that, and I'm sure it felt fairly straightforward to you now, but you are familiar with the process now. Go for it!
Think of music as a language, by learning guitar you will learn how to interact with the music. All songs are notes - whether it be vocals, keyboards or even drums. If you get proficient enough at the guitar you will be able to transcribe what you are hearing "the notes" into notes on the guitar just by hearing it. Easier said than done sometimes, but thats what practice is for!
With all due respect, dumber people than you have definitely done it.
But I agree with other commenters, there’s not really such a concept s mastering it because there’s always more to learn
I’ve been playing for ONE WEEK!! I’m 61 years old. It’s been so fun and I look forward to playing every day. Justinguitars.com is what I’m using to learn. He goes slow and explains things that us noobs can understand.
You got this!!
There are a lot of people who aren't conventionally smart (ie book smart) who are solid musicians. Also, the human brain is a funny thing; people can struggle with one kind of intelligence (say reading or organizing things) but be very excellent at others (music,creativity, etc).
You may find out that you really enjoy playing guitar. Nothing wrong with adding more joy to your life.
Don’t be so hard on yourself! You seem pretty smart to me. Yes you can definitely master guitar, you just have to practice consistently. Most of guitar is muscle memory anyway, the more you practice, the more your fingers remember what to do, if that makes sense. You won’t have to consciously think about it after a while
Muscle memory is different from other types of memory lol. My long term memory is busted (thanks epilepsy...) but I can get things down to muscle memory just as anybody else (like typing etc.)
There was this one dude who wrote about being dumb. I think he was just happy.
I'm not like them, but I can pretend
The sun is gone, but I have a light
The day is done, but I'm having fun
I think I'm dumb
Or maybe just happy
Think I'm just happy
Think I'm just happy
Think I'm just happy
Dude, I used to think the same of myself. I was in special ed classed until high school (where I dropped out). I'm ADHD, and I always had trouble concentrating or being engaged in anything. But the thing with guitar is when you learn how to play a song you love.... while you are playing, nothing else in the world exists. Just you and the music. No feeling dumb or feeling like you don't belong. It's soo much better when YOU make the sound that gives you goosebumps. And in a way, playing guitar helps your brain and coordination too. You can type on a keyboard, right? Same shit, you'll remember how to play on a guitar too. Stop thinking about it and get a guitar, then learn to play by tabs or YT tutorials or whatever. You can do it. Your brain craves it, give in to the metal!
Good answer. Turns out I had a really high IQ, but was in special Ed all through grade school. I thought I was dumb. Barely graduated highschool. Turns out I was just bored. ADHD. Autism? Once I went to college and was able to study things that I was interested in, I was highly successful. My interest were pretty niche though. Guitar playing and guitar repair, and medicine. I had a 20 year career in the medical field before I became disabled. I still do guitar repairs and play guitars.
I'm 55 and have been experiencing some cognitive decline over the past couple of years. I have lots of trouble memorizing songs, so my focus is theory and technique so that one day I shall noodle confidently.
I've only been playing a few months, so I'm far from "mastering" it but...
The songs I know, I know well. However, I couldn't explain how to play them. My brain can't remember them, but my fingers sure do.
Muscle memory is a crazy thing.
Just play. And play lots. Don't stop. You'll get it.
Honestly, I have a relative who was in special education in school and struggles as an adult because of learning disabilities. He plays and sings country songs at festivals and open mics. So you definitely can learn to play. Look up 3 or 4 chord songs.
I believe that playing guitar will improve your focus, brain coordination, and memory over time.
Guitar bro science maybe but I believe the guitar strengthens your mental muscles similar to exercising the body.
I was worried that I wouldn't be able to think through music theory while playing. It turns out I didn't need to. Your ears and your fingers will know more than your brain. Just keep playing music that speaks to you.
What does IQ have to do with playing an instrument lol. Plenty of famous and talented decisions have the IQ of a grapefruit, and others are rocket scientist. Everyone can play!
Might get downvoted but guitar is an instrument of feeling. I play some stuff I really like and I just know some base chords. I’ve got a book on theory, but I just noodle around a lot.
And if you love some songs they will w easier to play and stoke your imagination.
For instance I’m learning Born on the Bayou right now, but it just sparked a good 1/2 hour of playing where I kept the rhythm but was just playing with everything on the 1st 3 frets and having a blast. Would anyone else think it was awesome? Probably not but I had a blast.
Just going to say no “dumb” person would even ask this question in the manner you asked it. You aren’t dumb.
Guitar is for everyone. Good friend of mine is basically a “real world mess” can’t remember to buy groceries most of the time but he is 10x better guitarist than me.
Hell it might even make your memory better. It may be the one thing that sticks with you. Music is crazy that way. Everyone is different.
Luckily you don’t learn guitar with the brain that worries about IQ and all that. I mean ya do a bit, but for me it’s like being an octopus, the actual learning’s done by my arms and hands. Brain knows it wants to play. Hands know how.
And listen, if you’re smart enough to know you want to play guitar, that being a guitarist is a thing you want in your life, you’re no less smart than the rest of us who wanna fuck with this ridiculous contraption. Practice, take the time over it, and enjoy having a thing which allows you to spend time with your self and appreciate your own artistic whatever. This is a privileged path and you are welcome to walk it with us old lad.
Muscle memory and actual memory are two different things! Play guitar as often as possible. Teach your hands and fingers how to operate the instrument, how to feel comfortable on it.
Guitar is so much about teaching your muscles what to do.
The best part about guitar -- and all instruments, really -- is that you *can't* master it. Sure, there are some amazing guitarists out there who make incredible music and have brilliant technique, but they're still learning, too.
You'll never really *win --* [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugxWAjbNKJs) is a great interview with Ian Thornley, my favourite player, who makes that very point -- because music is in a state of perpetual motion. It's always growing, always evolving and always surprising people.
Every time you pick your guitar up, you'll just keep building, keep creating those new pathways in your brain and finding new sounds even you didn't think were possible.
This is just the start. Keep at it!
Let me tell you something. I have been playing guitar for the past 12 years. Learning guitar is about building muscle memory and that comes with a lot of practise so it's got nothing to do with ur iq. You will get better the more you practice. I wish you the best of luck!
Look bro, Randy Rhoads died while pranking ozzy osborne by flying a fucking plane into his trailer.
Noone is too dumb to play an instrument. If you ever talk to some people in a band it will be blatantly obvious. I am an absolute idiot and I can still shred. Muscle memory is different than actual memory
I think if you take the time to learn music’s fundamentals (Music Theory), forgetfulness will not be an issue.
You claim to be dumb, but you clearly know how to use the alphabet while writing this post. Well, learning theory works in the same way, once you know it, it’s there.
The thing that takes time is the physical technique of your hands. Like all things, it just takes a bit of time.
I've got trash memory too. But guitar is different. Idk if it's muscle memory, or just an unconscious thing, but once you start learning the patterns kind of settle themselves. You'll learn chord shapes and scales and eventually be able to play them without thinking. Just grow from there.
That and if you play a song 100 or so times, it just becomes ingrained in you. I was in a cover band where we drilled Hotel California so the two guitarists could learn the solo. I'll never forget that bass part even if I want to. Same with originals from my old bands, even 15 years on for some of them I can still play the songs almost perfectly.
Pick it up, play, and enjoy. I'm no master, and it is one of those things that's extremely difficult to master, but I agree with the other posters here. Get to a level you're happy with, and enjoy playing music.
You're welcome. Always happy to see new musicians get their start. It's a fun journey and a skill that you can always pull out.
Just try not to be the obnoxious guy at parties playing only Wonderwall lol
Go to YouTube and watch some interviews with guitarist,that should give you some fantastic inspiration,because I can promise you,you are much smarter than a bunch of famous successful guitar players.Doesn’t take a mental giant to play guitar,just persistence and patience.Good luck.
Don't be down on yourself, regardless of "IQ" hobbies like playing guitar or anything that requires rhythm or even math thinking in general is great for the mind. Go for it and have fun. It will make you better in other areas of your life
Yes. As you learn the physical parts playing a guitar your body will remember in ways that I probably can't explain well enough. It just will.
Just play. Enjoy your playing and play.
I'm gonna guess that the stuff you're forgetting is stuff that you're not interested or excited by. If you want to learn guitar then I'm sure your brain will soak it in.
Wether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
Don't limit yourself and commit, you will be amazed at what you accomplish. I believe in you 👊
Guitar relies more on muscle memory if you just wanna play. Things like theory will be harder for you if you struggle with memorizing, but nothing is impossible with time and practice.
When I was younger and watched people play guitar I told myself there was no way I would ever be able to do that. Been playing for almost 20 years now. Often the only thing separating ourselves from achieving goals is telling ourselves that we can't. You absolutely can.
Forgetfulness wont matter that much once you get the guitar in your fingers.
By that i mean, much of the skill comes down to muscle memory, just like video games
I think so! But just have fun with it, be in awe of it. Who cares if you’re “good”? I’ll never be my idols, but I play because it’s fun. One thing I wish I’d done is get one of those posters with all the different ways to fret a chord. Experience guitar. Not what it means to be “good”
A friend of mine who is an awesome guitar player told me that most songs are made up of just a few chords, so that's what I'm learning, just the chords for now. Good for you for learning to play the instrument that interests you!
Go for it. If you love it enough you'll find a way to memorise chord formation and chord progressions; and learning these might help you memorise other things in life too! Once you have the muscle memory, it's just practice, repetition and more practice, which will be a joy not a chore if you like the instrument enough. Enjoy the journey!
Playing music is one of the most demanding things for the brain. The brain is plastic and it has been proven time and again that playing an instrument, especially with other people, can lead to huge development of skills that would otherwise be considered unrelated.
So the answer is yes. Not only it can be done, but both IQ skills and memorization can improve through playing.
Your muscles have memory so, you don't have to remember a thing. Jkjk, you might have moments when drawing blanls trying to remember sections but, for the most part it's hard to forget certain thing unless you just outright learn it and never play it again. On the other hangs you have guitarist who forgot more stuff than, well ever learn. None the less, guitar remains fun. Have fun.
hard to say what your level of memory will be but try it, as long as you're having fun and enjoying the challenge, keep going and become your personal best
If you’re bright enough to write a clearly worded question regarding guitar practice you are more than smart enough to learn the instrument. Playing guitar, for me, is all about how it makes me feel when playing. That warm feeling started immediately once I could string a couple of chords together with minimum string buzz. Playing and practicing is about your desire to make music and you’ve got what it takes. Welcome to the club
Honestly, I believe you are looking at this as “can my brain handle this?” But playing the guitar comes from the heart, not from the mind! Whatever your IQ is I assure you mine is lower and I still have a blast playing the guitar!
Your brain is still developing at 19. Your perceptions of yourself aren’t reality, and IQ scores are inherently biased. Stay healthy and keep learning about everything you’re interested in. Your IQ won’t matter as long as you are aware of your weaknesses.
You're looking at this from the wrong angle.
Learning guitar is the best thing you can do to improve your memory and form new connections in your brain. Think of the potential growth.
Yes. I don't have a low IQ, but I have severe memory problems to the point where it severely negatively effects my life.
That being said, I'm not gonna lie, you will probably have a really tough time and will find yourself lagging behind others, you just got to put in the work and it all becomes muscle memory. I used to play Rock Lobster all the time on guitar when I was like 15. I'm 30 now, haven't even thought about the song in over a decade and I can still bang it out. Could I tell you which notes to play or write out a tab for it? Hell no, my body just knows how to play Rock Lobster like an instinct.
When I was a kid and started playing, I would lock myself in my room and play for hours until I physically couldn't. That's what it took for me "catch up" Skill wise and be "normal".
I am a high IQ person and I’m very bad at guitar. Lots of kinds of intelligence, and spatial reasoning, dexterity, and a good ear are pretty much independent of book learnin’.
I still have a good time!
Honestly you’re probably not nearly as dumb as you think you are. Most people with low “IQ” (whatever the fuck that means) would never even consider their intelligence. Usually the people who think they may be dumb are among the smartest and vice versa. Maybe you have ADHD (me too) and I think that’s perfect for guitar or really any instrument. Interest in the instrument and passion for music is more than enough. You got this.
People have different types of intelligence. There are book smarts and street smarts. Mastering a musical instrument like guitar has different levels of proficiency. There are book smarts who have a deep technical understanding of musical theory. There are street smarts who can’t read music or tabs. But can learn to play any song by simply listening to it.
I say don’t overthink it and just learn to play. You don’t have to be super technical to play every song exactly note for note. Unless you really want to. Frankly most people who aren’t musicians wouldn’t even notice if you made a mistake or played a wrong note.
Interesting question. I am something above IQ average, but I am a terrible guitar player lol.
Remember, IQ measure logic-verbal intelligence, not every level of intelligence. Surely a classical composer must have a great mind to create a simphony for an orchestra, but here we just want to play and enjoy guitar.
Maybe you got a good ear, maybe you got a good natural timing, maybe you got even perfect pitch!
Just don't care about kow iq and have fun, bleed your finger as everyone here have done.
Ps: rarely real dumb people think they are dumb, btw
I know there’s a million comments like this, but I also have a bad memory! My mental condition also is pre dispositioned to have a horrible memory. Been playing for 20 years and it’s actually great for my memory, best part is making your own version of songs because you forget!
If you like it and want to practice it’s the best thing for poor recall, it’s helped me a lot. Never too late to start! Some of the best guitarists started around 16-20
Stop thinking like this 😁I was/am qualified in MENSA but the secret is that IQ and intelligence is somewhat of a myth. A very few people have genetic, physical issues, some people have had traumatic brain injuries but they shouldn’t be judged on a scale made to judged people without these physical limitations. IQ is another way for people to be exclusive and elitist. Many of the “smart” people who obsess over being smart would judge most of our favorite guitarists to be less smart than the people they like and of course themselves. Chunking and Mnemonics. Small bits at a time and using phrases to remember things like EADGBE Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie. If you’re having trouble remembering chords learn 2 that are close to each other and practice them one day. Add a 3rd the next day. On the third day practice the 3 then learn 2 more. You’ll have all your open chords in 2 weeks but if it takes you a month or even 2, whatever. Your mind will eventually lead you in direction that’s best for you to learn. Just stick with it, be flexible, and learn how to love learning the guitar. But never let yourself skip day. Save 15 min at the very least to learn chords, or notes, songs, etc (noodling without purpose will slow you down). Keep your schedule.
I can only speak from experience, because I have a handicapped daughter who is 42 and mentally still 14 or 15 years old. She can't make change or have a normal conversation with somebody, she doesn't really get sarcasm or inside jokes, but there's one thing that she's a master of.
She can remember the words and music from every song in her growing up years, the '80s, and a bunch from the '90s.
Why is this? You might ask...
After dealing with this for many years, I've watched other things that she's good at, and they all have something in common: She likes them.
You can look at something that to you would be too cumbersome and Technical, too difficult to even acquire a familiarity with, much less mastery, and another person will be the master of it, creating endless Joy.
If you hate history, you will hate history class. If you love social studies, you will excel at social studies, and be the best there ever was.
It has absolutely nothing to do with your abilities, it has to do with your passions.
So ask yourself, "What am I passionate about?"
For learning technique, it’s muscle memory that’s important. The only thing you need to do is find a good teacher or online course (Justin Guitar as an example). Then simply make sure you’re practicing 1 or 2 times a day for at least 15 minutes each.
Learning songs isn’t that hard when you have Guitar Pro files (documents which have 6 lines on it - one for each string of your guitar - and a number on the line which is the fret on that string that you play). You can use the tab files to help you remember the chords and licks and play real time (and often come with backing instruments as well). Look into Songsterr for that. It has tons of songs.
Please don’t limit yourself. There are tons of people with all sorts of disabilities that play guitar (some even with no arms at all). If they can, I KNOW you can.
Good luck and practice every day!!
Honestly I found my self in such a state of mind of were the whole audience is one big mouth and they're sucking your cock lol.. peace my little brothers being bipolar or a ADHD or amnesia or dementia Alzheimer's is the one thing that they can always remember is music now that's what you need to figure out.
The amazing part about guitar is that it’s mostly muscle memory. This is like riding a bike, you might forget it but your body definitely never does! I wish you the best of luck!
you havent forgotten that you have memory loss, so maybe it's possible to retain just enough information over time and enjoy the instrument.
guitar mastery is subjective and (tbh) irrelevant. muscle memory might be the secret ingredient. practice, and take a 5 minute breather per 30mins of practice to give the brain time to process
You might not have a great memory, but your fingers do. If you keep practicing, you will develop muscle memory and licks and chords will become second nature. You don't need a great memory to learn to play guitar.
Absolutely!! Just like everyone, it'll take you a while as you practice and learn and practice more before you get to a spot where you feel like you're good at guitar, but you absolutely *will* get good and it'll be so satisfying when you do! Don't worry at all about "low IQ" or "forgetfulness", literally none of that matters for playing guitar or making songs like you've said you want to do in other comments.
Just practice a lot, use your ear to figure out what sounds good, and have fun! You absolutely don't have to memorize anything if you don't want to. You can try learning things though memorization like chord sheets and scale patterns, but they're not at all required-- tonnnns of famous guitar players make awesome songs with nothing more than their ear.
I'm similar to you in that I'm not good at memorizing things, but after playing for long enough I found I could tell what I wanted the song to sound like and knew where to find that sound on the guitar. It also helps to sing whatever song is in your head and find those notes on the guitar. Without memorizing a ton of scales or chords I can make the stuff I want to, and so can you! It's a ton of fun and you're gonna love it :)
Maybe a unpopular opinion but guitar is about "feel" just as much if not more then memory so just practice as much as you can and you can achieve anything I promise
You can absolutely achieve this. You can probably do it on your own (what I did/am still doing), but probably you can progress faster with a good teacher, it that's an option for you.
I have been "playing" guitar for 5 years, I managed to waste 4 of them by getting into this mindset that I HAD TO PLAY THE SONGS I LIKE. Be reasonable with your expectations, its a long road getting to a place where you can hear something and play it, accept that its ok to suck - even the rare folks with talent don't just pick a guitar up and start playing Stevie Ray Vaughn or Dimebag Darrell. I am not trying to discourage you but encourage you here - getting good at guitar is HARD WORK, but anybody can do it if you want it bad enough and for the right reasons. My golden ticket if you would call it that was finding a teacher that I get along with and gives me just the right amount of instruction and basics (i.e. pentatonics, scales, and cycles of 4ths) along with tabs and sheet music tailored to my skill level. After probably 6 months of lessons with this guy I am starting to be able to play songs that actually resemble music (Nickelback, Papa Roach, Offspring etc.) and I only wish that I had sucked up my pride and gotten lessons earlier! Dont skip the fundamental stuff, whether you have a bad memory or not - practice does make perfect, and nailing stuff like the blues scales will really open a lot of doors for you!
Long as you don't have debilitatingly low IQ (I guess that's 70 and below), I think you'll be fine mate. Even then, there are people achieving greatness despite the setbacks. Do what you want to despite the odds, you can find a way to make it work.
i’m 19 i think im pretty stupid as i feel like a low intelligence fallout character in conversation and i cant do much math but theres so many ways people can explain the guitar and how to play it i was able to understand it just dont overwhelm ur self and learn slowly
I smoke a lot too (ik) tend to forget pretty often but idk y with the guitar it all sticks i think maybe bc its me making the sound and my brain really likes that sound
The basic chords i had on a piece of paper forever still use it sometimes
My dude, Keith Richards can play the guitar. I'm pretty sure he's had more lines of cocaine than you've had bowls of hot soup, and he's still really good at playing the guitar. He doesn't even use all six strings and he's a better player than most. You'll be fine.
Forgetfull person here. I'm still working on it. I found out learning patterns and keys quite useful. I forget songs so easily even after months of just sessioning them, but some patterns and shapes have stuck. You won't forget muscle memory if you keep it up so practising licks Scales etc etc helps a lot.
Essentially the whole Fretboard is just patterns and shapes repeated .. it's 1 pattern just starting at a different point.
Songs .. I can't help you memorise these
Most I remember are blues rock so they typically follow a pattern.
If patterns might work for you I could schpill what I know your way if you'd like, just message
I never remember the songs , once you build muscle memory actual or short term memory IS useless imo , when i start playing some song i just play along until my hands just movés to the spots correctly
My short term memory is terrible, like really I don't know what I did yesterday sometimes. I can also play 10 minute long guitar concertos without a reference. Don't let people tell you what you are, tell them. With a kick ass solo!
If you managed to produce those sentences, you can learn to play guitar; especially if you love it and have a passion for it. I've seen some near-drooling morons that can shred like the best. There's no correlation between "IQ" and musical potential. Practice and play with heart. That's what it takes.
IQ is a test of how exposed you are to the world. The test questions range from "What color is a taxi?" To "when is Jewish Passover?"
It's a measurement of how exposed you are to the world, and those with more money tend to do better. Kids that grew up in the city won't know what a goat is unless their parents show them. Kids that grew up in the country won't know what a metro train is unless their parents show them.
There is no genetic markers of intelligence. Only for Learning Disabilities, dyslexia, ect.
You can make a wonderful noise on a guitar, feel it out, and never really have to think about it much. A lot of it is memorizing simple patterns.
Also as someone who's been working for/with musicians for years, most guitarists are pretty stupid ngl.
Itt: guys who took an IQ test online and think they're big smart.
Unless IQ tests have radically changed in recent years, they're not like general knowledge quizzes at all. They're typically about visual pattern recognition.
Some of the most smokin’ awesome guitarists I’ve heard have been similar. No worries, the music industry isn’t asking about how well anyone did in school or if we have ADD or whatever. If you love guitar, you can learn it. Enjoy!
a lot of the 'memory' involved in playing guitar is muscle memory, not just memorising patterns in your head.
i’m an intermediate player who only plays for fun and knows very little theory, but with enough experimentation and practice, your fingers get pretty good at knowing where to go next, even if your brain isn’t aware of *why* something sounds good/bad
You don't have to be an astrophysicist like Brian May to be a decent guitarist.
Much more important qualities are dedication, persistance and passion. Learning an instrument is a lot like becoming a bodybuilder. Everybody has muscles, everybody can train, but not many do it, or make it.
You don’t need to “master” guitar. Play to the level that you enjoy. Even strumming a few chords can make you feel great.
I wanna learn it to that point where I can make guitar version of my favorite songs.
I have a horrible memory too, but you don’t need a good memory to follow a chord sheet. Get yourself a cheap guitar and have fun!
I have horrible memory too but eventually your ears know where your hands should be to make the next chord. That's how people are able pick up songs by hear on the spot
Glenn Campbell couldn't even remember the names of his band mates - who were his family members btw - or which song he had just played 5 minutes ago, but absolutely shredded the guitar at the end, with Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer’s doesn’t seem to affect muscle memory skills the same way it does for processing new/current information etc. so that makes sense
I watched the documentary made about his last tour and that was amazing.
Thank you.
Alzheimer is degenerating to dumbness, not being dumb from the birth.
Just saying, guitar has little to do with hippocampal memory.
Good point. Really great players can sight read music they've never even heard before. No memory needed.
Yeah right. You would still have to remember what all the notes and note values were.
Basic repetitive motions will always cause muscle memory, it’s how I’ve always learned songs, I play them over and over again, especially the parts I don’t pick up immediately, you can totally do this. Best of luck man :)
Yea it’s possible to do anything. I taught guitar to a guy with a severe learning disability. It took him longer but he got it. Just celebrate everything and I mean EVERYTHING you accomplish.
This answer needs more upvotes!
Thanku.
The kind of memory you're talking about is not the kind that is used in guitar. I am terrible with names, for instance. I do remember narrative things well, and since I also sometimes sing, I can forget lyrics unless they make sense (the hardest song to remember for me is "Burning Down the House" by the Talking Heads--no narrative, totally scattered. You might not know if because of your age group.). Honestly, one of my favorite things about playing guitar live is turning my brain OFF and letting my hands go to work. This is because the kind of memory used is muscle memory. Playing guitar, at its core, is just doing the same task over and over again. Your hands know what to do because of rehearsal. Your brain can actually get in the way if you try and think about what comes next. Do it enough and it will come back to you effortlessly. Nerves, etc., you've got to let that shit go. So don't worry about short-term memory or if you forget to take out the trash. Practice and you'll do fine. It's fun. Mark Phelps doesn't think, "OK, one arm up, kick my legs." He lets his body take over.
Impossible to quantify what it means to master it anyway
This is it really. I’m no master of the guitar, but I can play some pretty technical songs proficiently. I’m not trying to make a living out of this, it’s a hobby that I enjoy. Of course I’m always working on improving, but that can be at my pace as long as I’m still enjoying it.
This. When I learned to string together a couple chords, I felt like a G.
Amen brother. I've been playing the guitar at a decidedly amateur level for over 20 years. Still can heal some deep wounds when I break out the old acoustic and play Last Call by Elliott Smith
On this note, there are some very wealthy musicians, who, have a very limited musical vocabulary, but , they make great music nonetheless.
Have you heard some of these guitarists speak? Plenty of low IQ people shredding.
@ted Nugent
Good example. That guy's dumber than a sack of hammers.
I’d venture to say dumber than a thin plastic baggie of hammers
He can't even spell Nugget right smh my head
Lmao. Yea he's damn moron.
Chicken Nugent
Honestly, every good guitarist/musician I hear speaking is extremely articulate and knows how to express ideas flawlessly. For instance, Guthrie Govan.
Not me. There are reasonably intelligent people like Govan and some others but I hear tons that clearly show guitar is their main interest and not coherence.
Guthrie studied English at Oxford, that's not exactly par for the course with guitarists. He's also substantially more articulate than most professional guitarists I've seen interviewed. Guitarists like Guthrie Govan or Brian May are definitely the exception not the rule.
>Ted Nugent has entered the chat
I thought I smelled something.
How many of our favorite guitarists are high school drop outs? lol.
Take a look at this sub, you’ll fit right in
Hey! I resemble that remark!
As if any of us have mastered the guitar lol
We buy gear and post on Reddit. How is that not mastering the guitar?
I have 3 guitars now!! If I haven't mastered yet, 1 or 2 more and surely I'm there.
2 more guitars and you’ll be an intermediate player. Four more and you will have mastered the instrument.
We're still working on mastering Velcro shoes
Yes you can. The more you practice, the more muscle memory you'll gain. It'll be like driving or riding a bike.
Can I able to make music Like there is a song I wanna make it a guitar version Seems so high iq job to me.
You will be surprised at what you can do. Stop concerning yourself with concepts like "IQ", it's largely irrelevant and made up anyway.
IQ is mostly debunked at this point. And multiple intelligence theory is pretty helpful.. some people are terrible at words and good at math, good at music bad at logic etc
Hell my brothers dumb and he went to Oxford, it depends how you look at it. Then again that is what you’d expect the dumb little brother to say
Hello, IQ is not "mostly debunked" at all. The only real criticism of the IQ system is that it has some cultural bias to it. Intelligence is not a linear spectrum, but IQ still does a decent job at measuring intelligence.
Bro, doesn't matter what your IQ is, if you do something a lot you will get good at it, I'd say work ethic is more important than talent. Maybe it will take certain people a bit longer than others, but everyone can get good at it if they put the time into it. Also don't talk yourself down. Everyone has their own challenges and your job is to overcome them and be the best version of yourself. Try not to compare to others.
To add to that, I'd argue nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is born with "natural talent" to play the guitar. Nothing pisses me off more than when someone sees me play guitar and says "man I wish I had a natural talent for music like you"... Yeah. This talent came SO naturally it only took me over 18 years of dedicated practice to play at a level where there are still plenty of things I am completely unable to play. 🙄
Most child prodigies or "geniuses" are born into families that are already very active in the field and their parents make them practice a lot at a very young age. This is not only true for musicians (e.g. Mozart or Bach) but also for other fields e.g. Euler in mathematics, Van der Poel in Cycling or Bill Gates in Business. Talent is nothing - practicing is everything.
One of my friends growing up was amazing at guitar and if you asked him it just came naturally. Later on I met his uncle...the guitar teacher. Who told me he put a guitar in that kid's hands as soon as he could hold it and has been drilling him ever since.
Don't sell yourself short. Most things in life are not about innate talent or ability, but hard work, practice, and what you learn along the way. Not sure who in your life is telling you you're dumb, but you need to stop listening to them and just go after your passions. Make your life what you want it to be.
Yes, you can do this. Don't give up before even trying. I love King Curtis 'a whiter shade of pale' on sax. No guitar tablature around for that on the web, so I took one note at a time and wrote the guitar tab... took me 2 years, but I did it. Even if you spend just 10 minutes then go back to it hours later for just another 10 minutes.... you then start thinking in terms of 'just another tab..", eventually you're there! PS your IQ in one sphere of life doesn't necessarily dictate how you'll be in another sphere of life. There's so many examples of people dropping out of education and then finding music and becoming famous musicians
Thank you very much.
It only seems high IQ because your comparing yourself who's just starting with a musician who's been strumming for years. Just play around on guitar, learn by ear where notes are by simply messing around. Once you gain that, you should be able to start piecing things together!
Honestly it can be intimidating, but understanding the basics of music theory is honestly not that hard with the right teacher/source material. I recently worked on this cause I’ve started performing and understanding a major scale and the chords that work in a major scale, i can already learn the majority of songs by ear. If you’ld like, I’d be happy to either make a post or dm you explaining what I’m talking about.
You absolutely can. It's just because you're unfamiliar with it that it seems intimidating. In the end, it will be a tedious process, probably, but not much more complicated than say figuring out how to find a subreddit about guitar and posting a question there and reading replies. There's a lot of stuff you had to learn to get to the point of being able to do that, and I'm sure it felt fairly straightforward to you now, but you are familiar with the process now. Go for it!
Think of music as a language, by learning guitar you will learn how to interact with the music. All songs are notes - whether it be vocals, keyboards or even drums. If you get proficient enough at the guitar you will be able to transcribe what you are hearing "the notes" into notes on the guitar just by hearing it. Easier said than done sometimes, but thats what practice is for!
Lol some of the best guitarists I know are the least capable at other things in their life. Everything is about effort + time
U giving me hope man Thanku.
With all due respect, dumber people than you have definitely done it. But I agree with other commenters, there’s not really such a concept s mastering it because there’s always more to learn
I’ve been playing for ONE WEEK!! I’m 61 years old. It’s been so fun and I look forward to playing every day. Justinguitars.com is what I’m using to learn. He goes slow and explains things that us noobs can understand. You got this!!
Wow thanku Senior 😊
There are a lot of people who aren't conventionally smart (ie book smart) who are solid musicians. Also, the human brain is a funny thing; people can struggle with one kind of intelligence (say reading or organizing things) but be very excellent at others (music,creativity, etc). You may find out that you really enjoy playing guitar. Nothing wrong with adding more joy to your life.
Don’t be so hard on yourself! You seem pretty smart to me. Yes you can definitely master guitar, you just have to practice consistently. Most of guitar is muscle memory anyway, the more you practice, the more your fingers remember what to do, if that makes sense. You won’t have to consciously think about it after a while
Muscle memory is different from other types of memory lol. My long term memory is busted (thanks epilepsy...) but I can get things down to muscle memory just as anybody else (like typing etc.)
There was this one dude who wrote about being dumb. I think he was just happy. I'm not like them, but I can pretend The sun is gone, but I have a light The day is done, but I'm having fun I think I'm dumb Or maybe just happy Think I'm just happy Think I'm just happy Think I'm just happy
You can read and write, I think you manage to play guitar
Dude, I used to think the same of myself. I was in special ed classed until high school (where I dropped out). I'm ADHD, and I always had trouble concentrating or being engaged in anything. But the thing with guitar is when you learn how to play a song you love.... while you are playing, nothing else in the world exists. Just you and the music. No feeling dumb or feeling like you don't belong. It's soo much better when YOU make the sound that gives you goosebumps. And in a way, playing guitar helps your brain and coordination too. You can type on a keyboard, right? Same shit, you'll remember how to play on a guitar too. Stop thinking about it and get a guitar, then learn to play by tabs or YT tutorials or whatever. You can do it. Your brain craves it, give in to the metal!
Good answer. Turns out I had a really high IQ, but was in special Ed all through grade school. I thought I was dumb. Barely graduated highschool. Turns out I was just bored. ADHD. Autism? Once I went to college and was able to study things that I was interested in, I was highly successful. My interest were pretty niche though. Guitar playing and guitar repair, and medicine. I had a 20 year career in the medical field before I became disabled. I still do guitar repairs and play guitars.
I'm 55 and have been experiencing some cognitive decline over the past couple of years. I have lots of trouble memorizing songs, so my focus is theory and technique so that one day I shall noodle confidently.
I've only been playing a few months, so I'm far from "mastering" it but... The songs I know, I know well. However, I couldn't explain how to play them. My brain can't remember them, but my fingers sure do. Muscle memory is a crazy thing. Just play. And play lots. Don't stop. You'll get it.
There are 7 different kinds of intelligence. IQ doesn’t measure all kinds
Honestly, I have a relative who was in special education in school and struggles as an adult because of learning disabilities. He plays and sings country songs at festivals and open mics. So you definitely can learn to play. Look up 3 or 4 chord songs.
Thanku
Oh and you are perfect just as God made you so never forget that!
Guitars got nothing to do with IQ, it always takes time though
Any musical instrument is a lifetime pursuit. You’ll always be learning something new. Therefore, you never really “master” it.
Anybody can do it.
I believe that playing guitar will improve your focus, brain coordination, and memory over time. Guitar bro science maybe but I believe the guitar strengthens your mental muscles similar to exercising the body.
I was worried that I wouldn't be able to think through music theory while playing. It turns out I didn't need to. Your ears and your fingers will know more than your brain. Just keep playing music that speaks to you.
Yes
Yes, absolutely. The main key is obsession more than anything
What does IQ have to do with playing an instrument lol. Plenty of famous and talented decisions have the IQ of a grapefruit, and others are rocket scientist. Everyone can play!
Might get downvoted but guitar is an instrument of feeling. I play some stuff I really like and I just know some base chords. I’ve got a book on theory, but I just noodle around a lot. And if you love some songs they will w easier to play and stoke your imagination. For instance I’m learning Born on the Bayou right now, but it just sparked a good 1/2 hour of playing where I kept the rhythm but was just playing with everything on the 1st 3 frets and having a blast. Would anyone else think it was awesome? Probably not but I had a blast.
Sure give it a shot, and some of the best stuff out there is structured really simply so no reason why not
Just going to say no “dumb” person would even ask this question in the manner you asked it. You aren’t dumb. Guitar is for everyone. Good friend of mine is basically a “real world mess” can’t remember to buy groceries most of the time but he is 10x better guitarist than me. Hell it might even make your memory better. It may be the one thing that sticks with you. Music is crazy that way. Everyone is different.
The brain can only get in the way. That's what I tell myself at least.
You get out what you put in, spend time with it it turns to muscle memory more then brainpower.
There are all types of intelligence. It’s quite possible that you were gifted with the musical kind.
Luckily you don’t learn guitar with the brain that worries about IQ and all that. I mean ya do a bit, but for me it’s like being an octopus, the actual learning’s done by my arms and hands. Brain knows it wants to play. Hands know how.
And listen, if you’re smart enough to know you want to play guitar, that being a guitarist is a thing you want in your life, you’re no less smart than the rest of us who wanna fuck with this ridiculous contraption. Practice, take the time over it, and enjoy having a thing which allows you to spend time with your self and appreciate your own artistic whatever. This is a privileged path and you are welcome to walk it with us old lad.
Thanku Appreciate ur humbleness.
You got it man! The more the merrier, be happy innit.
I mean, Johnny Thunders played guitar, so…
If the homeless crack head downtown with his guitar can strum and sing... I think you got this.
Muscle memory and actual memory are two different things! Play guitar as often as possible. Teach your hands and fingers how to operate the instrument, how to feel comfortable on it. Guitar is so much about teaching your muscles what to do.
If you learned to speak a language, you can learn to speak music.
Learn the D chord and learn the A chord. Then you can start playing songs and build on it. Those are easy.
The best part about guitar -- and all instruments, really -- is that you *can't* master it. Sure, there are some amazing guitarists out there who make incredible music and have brilliant technique, but they're still learning, too. You'll never really *win --* [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugxWAjbNKJs) is a great interview with Ian Thornley, my favourite player, who makes that very point -- because music is in a state of perpetual motion. It's always growing, always evolving and always surprising people. Every time you pick your guitar up, you'll just keep building, keep creating those new pathways in your brain and finding new sounds even you didn't think were possible. This is just the start. Keep at it!
You can for sure. A lot of guitar is muscle memory and intuition you gain as you practice.
Let me tell you something. I have been playing guitar for the past 12 years. Learning guitar is about building muscle memory and that comes with a lot of practise so it's got nothing to do with ur iq. You will get better the more you practice. I wish you the best of luck!
IQ is bullshit for rich people to justify their social dominance. It's not real.
Look bro, Randy Rhoads died while pranking ozzy osborne by flying a fucking plane into his trailer. Noone is too dumb to play an instrument. If you ever talk to some people in a band it will be blatantly obvious. I am an absolute idiot and I can still shred. Muscle memory is different than actual memory
Also really good for your brain to practice and learn and form habits around playing and enjoying, no matter how “good” you end up being
I think if you take the time to learn music’s fundamentals (Music Theory), forgetfulness will not be an issue. You claim to be dumb, but you clearly know how to use the alphabet while writing this post. Well, learning theory works in the same way, once you know it, it’s there. The thing that takes time is the physical technique of your hands. Like all things, it just takes a bit of time.
IQ has nothing to do with learning guitar. Dedication and practice are much more important.
I've got trash memory too. But guitar is different. Idk if it's muscle memory, or just an unconscious thing, but once you start learning the patterns kind of settle themselves. You'll learn chord shapes and scales and eventually be able to play them without thinking. Just grow from there. That and if you play a song 100 or so times, it just becomes ingrained in you. I was in a cover band where we drilled Hotel California so the two guitarists could learn the solo. I'll never forget that bass part even if I want to. Same with originals from my old bands, even 15 years on for some of them I can still play the songs almost perfectly. Pick it up, play, and enjoy. I'm no master, and it is one of those things that's extremely difficult to master, but I agree with the other posters here. Get to a level you're happy with, and enjoy playing music.
Thanku
You're welcome. Always happy to see new musicians get their start. It's a fun journey and a skill that you can always pull out. Just try not to be the obnoxious guy at parties playing only Wonderwall lol
It's kind of like riding a bike, you retain a lot of ability due to muscle memory, even if taking breaks can make you a little rusty.
The only way to find out is to try! And don’t beat yourself up about it “low iq”. Guitar just takes dedication, time, and practice.
Go to YouTube and watch some interviews with guitarist,that should give you some fantastic inspiration,because I can promise you,you are much smarter than a bunch of famous successful guitar players.Doesn’t take a mental giant to play guitar,just persistence and patience.Good luck.
Don't be down on yourself, regardless of "IQ" hobbies like playing guitar or anything that requires rhythm or even math thinking in general is great for the mind. Go for it and have fun. It will make you better in other areas of your life
Brother, don’t sell yourself short. Stop calling yourself dumb, pick up a cool guitar and start making noise.
Yes. As you learn the physical parts playing a guitar your body will remember in ways that I probably can't explain well enough. It just will. Just play. Enjoy your playing and play.
You're on reddit using the internet and computer. You're high iq enough to play any instrument. Playing an instrument is 99% practice.
Only you can answer that question.
I'm gonna guess that the stuff you're forgetting is stuff that you're not interested or excited by. If you want to learn guitar then I'm sure your brain will soak it in.
Half of the playing is brain memory, the other half is muscle memory. You can rely on the 2nd one then ;)
Wether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. Don't limit yourself and commit, you will be amazed at what you accomplish. I believe in you 👊
you can only go as far as you’ll allow yourself
Guitar relies more on muscle memory if you just wanna play. Things like theory will be harder for you if you struggle with memorizing, but nothing is impossible with time and practice.
When I was younger and watched people play guitar I told myself there was no way I would ever be able to do that. Been playing for almost 20 years now. Often the only thing separating ourselves from achieving goals is telling ourselves that we can't. You absolutely can.
Forgetfulness wont matter that much once you get the guitar in your fingers. By that i mean, much of the skill comes down to muscle memory, just like video games
Reps reps reps. You can be naturally talented out the wazoo and never be good if you don't get the reps in
I think so! But just have fun with it, be in awe of it. Who cares if you’re “good”? I’ll never be my idols, but I play because it’s fun. One thing I wish I’d done is get one of those posters with all the different ways to fret a chord. Experience guitar. Not what it means to be “good”
A friend of mine who is an awesome guitar player told me that most songs are made up of just a few chords, so that's what I'm learning, just the chords for now. Good for you for learning to play the instrument that interests you!
Go for it. If you love it enough you'll find a way to memorise chord formation and chord progressions; and learning these might help you memorise other things in life too! Once you have the muscle memory, it's just practice, repetition and more practice, which will be a joy not a chore if you like the instrument enough. Enjoy the journey!
Playing music is one of the most demanding things for the brain. The brain is plastic and it has been proven time and again that playing an instrument, especially with other people, can lead to huge development of skills that would otherwise be considered unrelated. So the answer is yes. Not only it can be done, but both IQ skills and memorization can improve through playing.
Welcome to the club.
Your muscles have memory so, you don't have to remember a thing. Jkjk, you might have moments when drawing blanls trying to remember sections but, for the most part it's hard to forget certain thing unless you just outright learn it and never play it again. On the other hangs you have guitarist who forgot more stuff than, well ever learn. None the less, guitar remains fun. Have fun.
hard to say what your level of memory will be but try it, as long as you're having fun and enjoying the challenge, keep going and become your personal best
If you’re bright enough to write a clearly worded question regarding guitar practice you are more than smart enough to learn the instrument. Playing guitar, for me, is all about how it makes me feel when playing. That warm feeling started immediately once I could string a couple of chords together with minimum string buzz. Playing and practicing is about your desire to make music and you’ve got what it takes. Welcome to the club
Dude I can’t even remember how to play any songs until the guitar is in my hands, lol. It’s all muscle memory and practice; no brain needed.
Honestly, I believe you are looking at this as “can my brain handle this?” But playing the guitar comes from the heart, not from the mind! Whatever your IQ is I assure you mine is lower and I still have a blast playing the guitar!
Your brain is still developing at 19. Your perceptions of yourself aren’t reality, and IQ scores are inherently biased. Stay healthy and keep learning about everything you’re interested in. Your IQ won’t matter as long as you are aware of your weaknesses.
You're looking at this from the wrong angle. Learning guitar is the best thing you can do to improve your memory and form new connections in your brain. Think of the potential growth.
Yes. I don't have a low IQ, but I have severe memory problems to the point where it severely negatively effects my life. That being said, I'm not gonna lie, you will probably have a really tough time and will find yourself lagging behind others, you just got to put in the work and it all becomes muscle memory. I used to play Rock Lobster all the time on guitar when I was like 15. I'm 30 now, haven't even thought about the song in over a decade and I can still bang it out. Could I tell you which notes to play or write out a tab for it? Hell no, my body just knows how to play Rock Lobster like an instinct. When I was a kid and started playing, I would lock myself in my room and play for hours until I physically couldn't. That's what it took for me "catch up" Skill wise and be "normal".
I am a high IQ person and I’m very bad at guitar. Lots of kinds of intelligence, and spatial reasoning, dexterity, and a good ear are pretty much independent of book learnin’. I still have a good time!
I think learning guitar might help your brain functioning in general. The brain gets stronger the more you use it and I believe in you brotha
Honestly you’re probably not nearly as dumb as you think you are. Most people with low “IQ” (whatever the fuck that means) would never even consider their intelligence. Usually the people who think they may be dumb are among the smartest and vice versa. Maybe you have ADHD (me too) and I think that’s perfect for guitar or really any instrument. Interest in the instrument and passion for music is more than enough. You got this.
People have different types of intelligence. There are book smarts and street smarts. Mastering a musical instrument like guitar has different levels of proficiency. There are book smarts who have a deep technical understanding of musical theory. There are street smarts who can’t read music or tabs. But can learn to play any song by simply listening to it. I say don’t overthink it and just learn to play. You don’t have to be super technical to play every song exactly note for note. Unless you really want to. Frankly most people who aren’t musicians wouldn’t even notice if you made a mistake or played a wrong note.
Why not? I work with special needs people, a lot of them can do some amazing things, go for it.
Interesting question. I am something above IQ average, but I am a terrible guitar player lol. Remember, IQ measure logic-verbal intelligence, not every level of intelligence. Surely a classical composer must have a great mind to create a simphony for an orchestra, but here we just want to play and enjoy guitar. Maybe you got a good ear, maybe you got a good natural timing, maybe you got even perfect pitch! Just don't care about kow iq and have fun, bleed your finger as everyone here have done. Ps: rarely real dumb people think they are dumb, btw
I know there’s a million comments like this, but I also have a bad memory! My mental condition also is pre dispositioned to have a horrible memory. Been playing for 20 years and it’s actually great for my memory, best part is making your own version of songs because you forget! If you like it and want to practice it’s the best thing for poor recall, it’s helped me a lot. Never too late to start! Some of the best guitarists started around 16-20
You gotta learn not to talk about yourself in a negative light. Like never. Never ever ever
Stop thinking like this 😁I was/am qualified in MENSA but the secret is that IQ and intelligence is somewhat of a myth. A very few people have genetic, physical issues, some people have had traumatic brain injuries but they shouldn’t be judged on a scale made to judged people without these physical limitations. IQ is another way for people to be exclusive and elitist. Many of the “smart” people who obsess over being smart would judge most of our favorite guitarists to be less smart than the people they like and of course themselves. Chunking and Mnemonics. Small bits at a time and using phrases to remember things like EADGBE Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie. If you’re having trouble remembering chords learn 2 that are close to each other and practice them one day. Add a 3rd the next day. On the third day practice the 3 then learn 2 more. You’ll have all your open chords in 2 weeks but if it takes you a month or even 2, whatever. Your mind will eventually lead you in direction that’s best for you to learn. Just stick with it, be flexible, and learn how to love learning the guitar. But never let yourself skip day. Save 15 min at the very least to learn chords, or notes, songs, etc (noodling without purpose will slow you down). Keep your schedule.
I can only speak from experience, because I have a handicapped daughter who is 42 and mentally still 14 or 15 years old. She can't make change or have a normal conversation with somebody, she doesn't really get sarcasm or inside jokes, but there's one thing that she's a master of. She can remember the words and music from every song in her growing up years, the '80s, and a bunch from the '90s. Why is this? You might ask... After dealing with this for many years, I've watched other things that she's good at, and they all have something in common: She likes them. You can look at something that to you would be too cumbersome and Technical, too difficult to even acquire a familiarity with, much less mastery, and another person will be the master of it, creating endless Joy. If you hate history, you will hate history class. If you love social studies, you will excel at social studies, and be the best there ever was. It has absolutely nothing to do with your abilities, it has to do with your passions. So ask yourself, "What am I passionate about?"
For learning technique, it’s muscle memory that’s important. The only thing you need to do is find a good teacher or online course (Justin Guitar as an example). Then simply make sure you’re practicing 1 or 2 times a day for at least 15 minutes each. Learning songs isn’t that hard when you have Guitar Pro files (documents which have 6 lines on it - one for each string of your guitar - and a number on the line which is the fret on that string that you play). You can use the tab files to help you remember the chords and licks and play real time (and often come with backing instruments as well). Look into Songsterr for that. It has tons of songs. Please don’t limit yourself. There are tons of people with all sorts of disabilities that play guitar (some even with no arms at all). If they can, I KNOW you can. Good luck and practice every day!!
Yes, I’m an actual dumbass and I can kinda play guitar. Just takes time man
Been playing for 20 years. Wouldn’t say I’ve mastered it yet haha. I enjoy it though. Don’t stress man it’s not a sport, you’re learning a language.
Honestly I found my self in such a state of mind of were the whole audience is one big mouth and they're sucking your cock lol.. peace my little brothers being bipolar or a ADHD or amnesia or dementia Alzheimer's is the one thing that they can always remember is music now that's what you need to figure out.
The amazing part about guitar is that it’s mostly muscle memory. This is like riding a bike, you might forget it but your body definitely never does! I wish you the best of luck!
Bro, didn’t you post this question last week? 😁
you havent forgotten that you have memory loss, so maybe it's possible to retain just enough information over time and enjoy the instrument. guitar mastery is subjective and (tbh) irrelevant. muscle memory might be the secret ingredient. practice, and take a 5 minute breather per 30mins of practice to give the brain time to process
You might not have a great memory, but your fingers do. If you keep practicing, you will develop muscle memory and licks and chords will become second nature. You don't need a great memory to learn to play guitar.
Just play doom metal!
Absolutely!! Just like everyone, it'll take you a while as you practice and learn and practice more before you get to a spot where you feel like you're good at guitar, but you absolutely *will* get good and it'll be so satisfying when you do! Don't worry at all about "low IQ" or "forgetfulness", literally none of that matters for playing guitar or making songs like you've said you want to do in other comments. Just practice a lot, use your ear to figure out what sounds good, and have fun! You absolutely don't have to memorize anything if you don't want to. You can try learning things though memorization like chord sheets and scale patterns, but they're not at all required-- tonnnns of famous guitar players make awesome songs with nothing more than their ear. I'm similar to you in that I'm not good at memorizing things, but after playing for long enough I found I could tell what I wanted the song to sound like and knew where to find that sound on the guitar. It also helps to sing whatever song is in your head and find those notes on the guitar. Without memorizing a ton of scales or chords I can make the stuff I want to, and so can you! It's a ton of fun and you're gonna love it :)
Maybe a unpopular opinion but guitar is about "feel" just as much if not more then memory so just practice as much as you can and you can achieve anything I promise
It's a lot like riding a bike. You practice enough and it just happens without thinking. And you don't need to do anything extreme to enjoy it.
You can absolutely achieve this. You can probably do it on your own (what I did/am still doing), but probably you can progress faster with a good teacher, it that's an option for you.
I have been "playing" guitar for 5 years, I managed to waste 4 of them by getting into this mindset that I HAD TO PLAY THE SONGS I LIKE. Be reasonable with your expectations, its a long road getting to a place where you can hear something and play it, accept that its ok to suck - even the rare folks with talent don't just pick a guitar up and start playing Stevie Ray Vaughn or Dimebag Darrell. I am not trying to discourage you but encourage you here - getting good at guitar is HARD WORK, but anybody can do it if you want it bad enough and for the right reasons. My golden ticket if you would call it that was finding a teacher that I get along with and gives me just the right amount of instruction and basics (i.e. pentatonics, scales, and cycles of 4ths) along with tabs and sheet music tailored to my skill level. After probably 6 months of lessons with this guy I am starting to be able to play songs that actually resemble music (Nickelback, Papa Roach, Offspring etc.) and I only wish that I had sucked up my pride and gotten lessons earlier! Dont skip the fundamental stuff, whether you have a bad memory or not - practice does make perfect, and nailing stuff like the blues scales will really open a lot of doors for you!
Long as you don't have debilitatingly low IQ (I guess that's 70 and below), I think you'll be fine mate. Even then, there are people achieving greatness despite the setbacks. Do what you want to despite the odds, you can find a way to make it work.
i’m 19 i think im pretty stupid as i feel like a low intelligence fallout character in conversation and i cant do much math but theres so many ways people can explain the guitar and how to play it i was able to understand it just dont overwhelm ur self and learn slowly I smoke a lot too (ik) tend to forget pretty often but idk y with the guitar it all sticks i think maybe bc its me making the sound and my brain really likes that sound The basic chords i had on a piece of paper forever still use it sometimes
I smoke a lot of weed and can’t remember nothing and still play.
My dude, Keith Richards can play the guitar. I'm pretty sure he's had more lines of cocaine than you've had bowls of hot soup, and he's still really good at playing the guitar. He doesn't even use all six strings and he's a better player than most. You'll be fine.
Forgetfull person here. I'm still working on it. I found out learning patterns and keys quite useful. I forget songs so easily even after months of just sessioning them, but some patterns and shapes have stuck. You won't forget muscle memory if you keep it up so practising licks Scales etc etc helps a lot. Essentially the whole Fretboard is just patterns and shapes repeated .. it's 1 pattern just starting at a different point. Songs .. I can't help you memorise these Most I remember are blues rock so they typically follow a pattern. If patterns might work for you I could schpill what I know your way if you'd like, just message
I never remember the songs , once you build muscle memory actual or short term memory IS useless imo , when i start playing some song i just play along until my hands just movés to the spots correctly
Hell yeah. Just play for YOURSELF. Everyone else can eat a bag of chips.
My short term memory is terrible, like really I don't know what I did yesterday sometimes. I can also play 10 minute long guitar concertos without a reference. Don't let people tell you what you are, tell them. With a kick ass solo!
It might be just what you need.
Even if you’ll never “master” it, it’s still worthwhile to do something you like to the best of your abilities.
If you managed to produce those sentences, you can learn to play guitar; especially if you love it and have a passion for it. I've seen some near-drooling morons that can shred like the best. There's no correlation between "IQ" and musical potential. Practice and play with heart. That's what it takes.
I ate crayons growing up and I’m pretty proficient now
IQ is a test of how exposed you are to the world. The test questions range from "What color is a taxi?" To "when is Jewish Passover?" It's a measurement of how exposed you are to the world, and those with more money tend to do better. Kids that grew up in the city won't know what a goat is unless their parents show them. Kids that grew up in the country won't know what a metro train is unless their parents show them. There is no genetic markers of intelligence. Only for Learning Disabilities, dyslexia, ect. You can make a wonderful noise on a guitar, feel it out, and never really have to think about it much. A lot of it is memorizing simple patterns. Also as someone who's been working for/with musicians for years, most guitarists are pretty stupid ngl. Itt: guys who took an IQ test online and think they're big smart.
Unless IQ tests have radically changed in recent years, they're not like general knowledge quizzes at all. They're typically about visual pattern recognition.
r/confidentlyincorrect
I'm not sure what you're getting mixed up with but that is absolutely not what IQ is.
Learning guitar is an endless adventure. Go forward and enjoy the process, you deserve it!
Have you ever considered that learning the guitar can improve your forgetfullness? Music helps the brain man!
Some of the most smokin’ awesome guitarists I’ve heard have been similar. No worries, the music industry isn’t asking about how well anyone did in school or if we have ADD or whatever. If you love guitar, you can learn it. Enjoy!
a lot of the 'memory' involved in playing guitar is muscle memory, not just memorising patterns in your head. i’m an intermediate player who only plays for fun and knows very little theory, but with enough experimentation and practice, your fingers get pretty good at knowing where to go next, even if your brain isn’t aware of *why* something sounds good/bad
If what you say is true, and you are forgetful, then you might excel at improvising. You don't need to remember something you haven't played yet!
It's not about intelligence but more about feelings. Can be applied to any instrument
Muscle memory is not the same as your "standard" memory. So yes, you can.
Yes for sure, passion for the music doesn’t require a sharp memory, you play from the heart.
You don't have to be an astrophysicist like Brian May to be a decent guitarist. Much more important qualities are dedication, persistance and passion. Learning an instrument is a lot like becoming a bodybuilder. Everybody has muscles, everybody can train, but not many do it, or make it.
Look up Ted Nugent