Learning to play the guitar is a skill many people dream about. If you are one of them, you have come to the right place. Here, you will find some tips to help you begin. Take notes if you need to and you will be jamming out to your favorite musical notes in no time.
Get plenty of practice. It may seem obvious, but practicing is the best thing you can do to learn how to play the guitar. Many people neglect practicing or get discouraged when practicing grows tedious or fails to show immediate results. Keep at it! It may take time, but practice will make perfect.
Budget
Try not to spend too much money when you’re just starting out. It can be alarmingly easy to overspend on a guitar and all sorts of gear you don’t really need as a beginner. Find an affordable guitar to start with. Try not to go over $100 until your absolutely sure guitar playing is something you want to stick with.
Don’t forget to stretch. Playing guitar can actually be hazardous to your health if you are not taking the proper precautions. Learn stretching exercises for your hands. Keep them flexible and work the muscles in them when you aren’t practicing the guitar. Not stretching regularly could lead to injury.
When you are learning to play guitar, instead of learning all of the chords at once, try to learn the primary chords in each particular key. For instance, start with the key of C Major, and using a chord chart, learn all the chords in that key. This will help you to learn songs faster, as you will be able to play the chords needed for a particular song, based on the key it is written in.
How to Play Guitar?
If you wish to learn to play guitar, start out by purchasing an affordable, or even used, guitar. Don’t jump right in and spend a bundle on an expensive instrument before you know if you will like playing it, or have the ability to learn how. If you find you want to continue learning, you can always upgrade to a better guitar later.
You want to be able to play songs on the guitar in more than one key. Knowing the way to play a song in different keys is great for learning various chords. In general, you will have a better idea about music as a whole, too. This better understanding will make you a better musician in the end.
Dedicate part of your day to practice. Hard work is always required when learning something that is worth knowing. Dedicate half an hour to practice as often as you can, preferably daily.
Build up your finger strength. New guitarists may experience finger cramping when they start learning. This is because your fingers aren’t accustomed to the constant movement. Try doing simple guitar exercises before you play to build up their strength. A couple minutes doing an activity like the caterpillar exercise can help build up your finger muscles.
- Practice
Make a practice routine for yourself. Learning to play the guitar can take even longer if your practice sessions aren’t focused. Plan out your practice sessions ahead of time. Tailor them to your needs. Make sure they’re interesting but focus on your problem areas. Find a nice balance between repetition and learning new things.
The key to becoming a better guitar playing is to practice as much as possible. It can be boring to practice alone all the time. So turn your practice sessions into an enjoyable time by adding friends to it. You can practice with a friend who plays guitar or jam with a friend who plays a different instrument. You can also play to a small audience of younger children or a loved one who will be delighted at your budding skills.
As a beginning guitar player, you should never be too proud to make liberal use of a metronome as you practice. Learning to keep time when playing different types of songs is essential to becoming a solid musician. Therefore, set aside your ego and accept the valuable assistance this tool can provide.
- Basic Guitar Chords
Once you begin to master the fundamentals of guitar playing, you may be tempted to focus on a single genre of music. However, it is a far better idea to keep challenging yourself to learn new styles of music so that your guitar skills are refined further, and you become a more versatile artist.
Learn a new chord each week. Chords are part of your overall guitar education, and with two or three chords, you’ll be able to start playing some of the songs you know and love. Start slow, and make sure that you can clearly hear every string in the chord when you play it.
When using your amp, you should also have headphones to utilize. Lots of people really like playing their guitar with an amp. However this can be impractical at times. Many people live in an area where excess noise is not appreciated or allowed. If you must be concerned about noise, try getting some good headphones for times when you must maintain quiet.
If you are really interested in learning to play guitar, you must be committed to practicing most every day. Part of learning to play well is memorizing chords and scales, being able to move from one to the other without thinking. This ability can only come by lots of practice. Aim for at least a half-hour per day, moving up to an hour as you progress.
