subject: 7 Easy Tips To Get Your Guitar Playing Started [print this page] I've been playing guitar for over thirty years, teaching for the past five. Over the years I've met many people who started out with masses of enthusiasm to learn to play only to have their enthusiasm evaporate as they struggled to master their first chords.
Here are just seven tips, techniques and suggestions that I have seen work with myself and my guitar students.
Firstly, don't expect too much of yourself too soon. Many instruction books and DVDs will lead you to believe that you'll pick up the guitar, read the book or watch the DVD and the next thing you know you'll be performing in front of thousands at huge stadium concerts. You won't be. For most people learning to play guitar is about perseverance and practice. And when it comes to practice, little and often is the best approach.
Secondly, start simple. Chords are hard to master, some harder than others. I recommend that you ignore chords to start with. Instead, focus on picking out melodies and tunes that you are familiar with on only one or two strings. I've even recommended to some of my students that they remove all of the strings from their guitar except the top two (the thinnest strings). Tune these up and pick out some well known melodies like 'Greensleeves' or 'Waltzing Matilda'.
Doing this will train your hands to be doing two separate tasks (fretting and picking) as well as training your ear to recognize notes and note relationships as you try to figure out the various melodies. Another bonus of this approach is that you will soon be playing a real tune that you and others will recognize.
The third recommendation that I would like to share is to get yourself a guitar tuner and learn to keep your guitar in tune. A good electronic tuner is an excellent investment.
The fourth recommendation is to move on from picking out melodies to picking out riffs. A riff is simply a repeated pattern. Plenty of rock tunes use guitar riffs. Some are notoriously tricky to master (think of 'Sweet child o'mine' by Guns 'n' Roses) but many are surprisingly simple. Start by playing real slow and try to learn the riff used in one of your favourite tunes as this will keep you motivated.
While figuring out some guitar riffs you'll probably stumble across a few recognizable guitar licks. A 'lick' is like a riff but tends not to be repeated. Licks are often strung together into impressive guitar solos. Try a few techniques like vibrato and muting while figuring out licks and riffs.
My fifth suggestion is to make use of Youtube. Youtube is packed full of free Guitar lessons and tutorials so why not take a look to see if there is someone playing the riff that you want to learn. Youtube has become my favourite resource for guitar playing tips and I can't recommend it highly enough.
My sixth suggestion is to find someone to jam with. Ideally you want someone who is at a similar level of learning as you. And they don't have to be a guitar player. Perhaps you know someone who is learning to play the drums, or a Saxophone player, or maybe a vocalist. Having someone to play with who shares your taste in music can be a great motivator.
My seventh and final suggestion is to start learning chords with the simple ones first. Many guitar playing styles (especially rock) allow you to cheat a bit when forming chords. If you watch a few Youtube videos on 'rock power chords' you'll see how many rock guitarists cheat a little when forming chords. They just finger enough strings to make the sound that they want. Two key chords that I always recommend my students start with are 'E' and 'A'.
Hopefully these suggestions will help you to get going and to remain motivated. Good luck and happy playing.
