1. Practicing: Learning to play the guitar certainly isn’t
something that happens overnight. It takes time, dedication, perseverance and
above all, tons of practice. You’ll have to be prepared to put in a lot of
practice hours in order to become an accomplished guitar player – and by
practice, I mean working on certain skills and working on specific areas of
your guitar-play, keeping your goals in sight. You’ll have to make time for
practice if you’re really serious about developing and enhancing your
guitar-playing. I personally recommend working with a good guitar instructor,
or signing up for online lessons such as those on GuitarTricks. Practice is
extremely important, for the many reasons mentioned in this very article.
2. Technique: You might try to copy or replicate a sound, a
riff, chord or a guitar sound. However simply ‘copying’ the sound, rather than
trying to know how the sound was produced and the technical details that went
into creating the sound will be counterproductive. Instead, work on your
guitar-playing technique by understanding the different techniques involved in
the guitar-playing process – things such as scales, vibrato, pull-offs, improvisation,
guitar chops, licks, balancing speed and accuracy, working on your agility and
dexterity, strumming and the like. Here’s a good piece by Tom Hess on improving your guitar technique.
In addition, I recommend heading on over to JamPlay, as they have tons of
lessons on skill building.
3. Strength: As a beginner, you will most certainly have
problems with finger, arm and wrist strength, as well as dexterity, agility and
nimbleness. One of the biggest problems beginner guitarists seem to face is the
inability to hold down the guitar strings properly. This becomes a bigger
problem if you’re on an acoustic guitar, since these usually have steel strings
which are harder to hold down, as well as a large action (distance between the
string and the fretboard). Finger and muscle strength, as well as nimbleness
and agility all comes with practice. You can find tons of exercises (here’s
what a simple Google search brought up) that will allow you to specifically
work on this aspect of your guitar-playing.
4. Creativity: Creativity is an essential, vital aspect of
being a good musician. As a guitarist, it will be important for you to show a
certain level of creativity and flexibility, and perhaps most importantly,
ability to improvise as well. As Tom Hess puts it, developing a certain sense
of creativity takes time, and working with a good guitar teacher will certainly
help you in this matter. As Hess puts it, creativity (or the lack of it), is
not because a person is not creative or is less creative than others, lack of
creativity, inspiration and expressiveness usually stems from not knowing
fundamental musical skills, such as theory problems or lack of guitar-skills or
techniques. You can read more on this in detail on Hess’s website here.
5. The Instrument: In order for you to play well, your guitar
should play well. A large part of what makes your instrument play well is that
it should always be well and properly tuned. Intonation is critical to good
guitar-playing, and keeping your guitar in-tune is something you should learn
to do yourself. As a beginner, I recommend buying and keeping a guitar tuner
handy at all times; here is a guide
on how you can keep your guitar tuned. In addition to a chromatic
tuner, you can also look into getting a tuning app for your smart phone
(plenty apps available on the iPhone, for instance) so that you always have a
tuner handy. You can also find free guitar tuners
online, or do what I’ve done and buy something like this clip-on
tuner for your acoustic or electric guitar. Make sure that your strings are
in top-shape and don’t need any replacing. Make sure that the electronics on
the guitar work well, and that your cables and amp function as intended, and
are well taken care of at all times.
6. Aural Skills: Your aural skills, ear training and the
ability to ‘listen’ will be one of the most important skills in your
guitar-playing arsenal. Some might even say that it is the most important skill
a guitarist (especially a beginner guitarist) can develop and work on (Tom
Hess certainly seems to agree!). For a lot of people, it certainly will be
one of the tougher skills to learn and master. However it is essential to train
your ear as a musician, as it will allow you to become a better, a more
well-rounded musician, as well as help with certain aspects of your guitar
play, especially your creativity, improvisation and expressiveness.
7. Confidence: Confidence and self-assurance will be
important for you as a musician, especially if you intend on playing live and
making money as an artist/musician at some point in time. For this, you’ll need
to work on certain elements, most notable ones of which are stage-presence,
personality, charisma and the ability to engage an audience. If you’ve worked
on developing your skills and put in a sufficient amount of practice time,
you’ll find that you’ll automatically be more confident and up for it! Pro tip:
I suggest being in the company of good guitar players as much as you can – if
there’s someone from your friends, family or your circles who plays the axe and
plays it well, try to be in their company as much as you can. The small things
that you pick up and the tips that you get from being in the company of such
people will help you improve as a guitarist and give you the confidence to
become better. Go to concerts, watch the best perform and play live. Above all,
learn whatever you can from them.
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