subject: Guitar Mistakes That Make Beginners Quit Part 2
[print this page] For beginning guitarists, making mistakes is a problem and probably a common occurrence that takes up all of your time to fix. Really, you're not expected to have all the bugs out of playing the guitar in one sitting, so you better prepare for trouble.
But, if you give up on your guitar in the beginning just because of a few mistakes, you can really be missing out on a really sweet talent and musical experience in your life. Here is a list of prevalent reasons that beginners quit playing the guitar too soon.
1. Trying to do too much at once.
If you sit down with the guitar and set ridiculous goals like playing the famous guitar solo, "Eruption" by Van Halen after only two lessons, that's not going to help your confidence. Only attempt what's appropriate for your level of technique and develop at a comfortable rate.
2. Staring at your hands.
Have you ever seen a guitarist that constantly stares at their hands when they play? Doesn't it seem like they don't know what they're doing?
Actually, when people just begin the guitar, they usually don't know what they're doing. Many classical guitarist need their sight to traverse the fret board with those impressive licks, but for beginners, you should be focusing on muscle memory and remembering the feeling of the chords as opposed to what you see.
3. Going too slow.
Just as much as going too fast can detriment your development and create more mistakes in your playing, going too slow can keep you from progressing at your full potential. When you've actually played through a practice riff very well, speed it up or move on to another to make sure you're always challenging your skills.
4. Not having time.
It's a busy world out there with your job, family, and possible schooling, and it might appear that you have no time to take on a hobby, especially one as time-consuming as the guitar.
Actually, progressing on the guitar can be done with a minimum of 20 minutes a day. See if you can work that much time into your schedule, and the high you get from playing can drive you to make even more time.
5. Purchasing a poor quality guitar.
As sad as it is, there are way too many poorly-made guitars out on the market and most of them are targeted for beginners. The manufacturers usually assume, "Hey, they don't know what a good guitar is. They'll buy it if we claim it's for beginners."
However, it's these poor-quality guitars that are discouraging new guitarists and convincing them that they can't learn the material when it could actually be the instrument holding them back. If you're going to buy a new instrument, take someone who knows guitars with you to iron out all the misunderstandings.
6. Not practicing what makes you happy.
A guitar isn't really worth playing if you constantly fiddle around with things that don't appeal to you. Scales and warm-ups are important for the first 5 or 10 minutes, but remember that you're in this for enjoyment.
Start researching chords or tabs for your favorite easy songs and start really feeling good about your talent.
It's never too late to start playing the guitar, and making excuses isn't going to get you anywhere. Think about what would really get you excited about picking up a guitar and start setting reasonable goals to fuel your passion.
