Are you a beginner guitarist? New to playing guitars?
Learning the tricks of the trade? Here are a few insider tips and tricks, and
an all-round excellent list of secrets (well, not anymore!) that should prove
to be immensely useful when it comes to learning and playing the guitar.
1. Goals are important. Goals make sure that you don’t ‘wander
aimlessly’ when it comes to learning the guitar. Goals, aims and objectives help
you in getting from one point to another, by providing you a path to get to
where you want to with your guitar playing. Be specific with your goals
(without being too specific), ask yourself questions such as what you want to
achieve with your guitar playing. Divide your goals into short terms and long
term goals – such as what you want to achieve by the end of the week/month and
where you see yourself as a guitarist and what skills would you like to have
picked up by the year’s end.
2. Get the help of a good guitar instructor. An able and an
experienced guitar teacher will help you immensely with your guitar-play,
unlike any other resource out there. Yes, you could always take the self-taught
route, or enlist the help of any of the various resources available at your
disposal on the internet, such as online guitar lessons. However the fact of
the matter is that professional guitar instructors know more than you; they can
help you achieve your goals, can help you learn faster than anything else, can
pinpoint and correct any mistakes in your technique or guitar-play, keep you
motivated, focused and on-track, and most importantly, they have experience on
their side, experience that you can learn from and experience that can help you
become a better guitarist. A teacher will be someone who you can look to for
any help or assistance at any time. Many new guitarists tend to base their
decision on money alone (since online lessons are MUCH cheaper than private
lessons), however as you’ll soon find out, the amount of money you pay for a
good teacher will be an investment that is totally worth it!
3. Have the correct posture when playing the guitar. The way
one sits down to play the guitar and the way one holds the instrument may vary
from person to person, however there is a generally-accepted (and safe) way to
play the guitar, particularly when it comes to posture and playing position. It’s
not rocket-science to be honest, but doing a few simple things will allow you
to learn the guitar quicker and of course, in a comfortable manner. While this
information might be too exhaustive for this particular write-up, I’ll leave
you with some links. Here is an excellent eHow link on how to maintain
the correct posture while playing the guitar, a Youtube video on how to play the guitar
properly standing up, an About.com link on how to hold the guitar
properly, a guide to the guitar
posture (another good one here), and finally, a
guide to hand
positions for guitar playing.
4. Know that warming-up before
playing the guitar is perhaps one of the most important things there is to it. I
intend of covering this particular topic in great bit of detail on one of the
posts in the future, but here are some of the essentials that you should
know. Why: warming up is important and allows you to play better because it
increases the amount of blood flow through your hands. It also loosens you up, stretches
you muscles, and makes your hands, fingers, arms and joints much more relaxed
and nimble for your jam session. But perhaps most importantly, warming-up
before a physically-taxing activity such as playing the guitar (yes, you read
that right!) prevent your body from harmful stress-related injuries, most
notable of which is RSI (or Repetitive Strain Injury), as well as others like
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Apart from
physically moving your fingers, wrists, arms and joints in all directions, and
various stretching
exercises, here are some licks
you can play to loosen up, as well as some warm-up
exercises courtesy About.com.
5. Developing your listening, and
work on your aural skills. Try to really ‘listen’ to some music, try
understanding the music, the different things that make up the music – such as
the rhythm guitar, bass guitar, the drums, etc. Try differentiating between
different notes and chords for instance. And try replicating that during your
practice session based on what you heard, and not looking at the notes at all.
Try being as accurate as possible here.
6. Practice, practice, practice,
and when you’re done, practice some more! Yes, putting quality hours into
practicing is essential, spend time improving your abilities and skills,
working on your guitar playing technique, eliminating faults with your
guitar-play, etc. Having an instructor will prove to be a valuable asset here,
as he or she will be able to help you break down your practice into different
types, set a schedule and make sure you’re getting enough of it. As discussed
in the first point, set your goals and structure your practice sessions
accordingly. Address your problems, and make sure that you continue to make
progress. Start from the basics, and work your way up. Find practice material
on the internet, Youtube’s filled with lessons, or you could always enroll for
an online guitar learning course for beginners, such as GuitarTricks.
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