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Don

 Whether your interests range from rock to classical, there are aspects of the guitar that you will find captivating. If you wish to learn the guitar but don’t quite know how to begin, here are 8 tips that will have you strumming avidly in no time.

1.  Pick a good guitar. As tempting as it may be to start on that old axe you’ve kept gathering dust in your attic for years, there are a number of factors that may make beginning so much more difficult, from strings that are too far off the fretboard to a warped neck. You don’t necessarily have to buy new or spend lots of money, but if you have a quality guitar, beginning will be much easier.

2.  Learn some basic chords. Chords are the words in your musical vocabulary, and with just over half a dozen under your belt, a number of songs from just about any genre become available to you. As a beginner, nothing will encourage you to continue improving faster than would quick results.

3.  Buy a metronome. Metronomes can be found cheaply, and are perhaps the most invaluable tool at a player’s disposal. Contrary to popular belief, practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect, and if you play chords and scales well to a constant beat before slowly increasing the tempo, your practice will be much more effective.

4.  Develop a plan. Chords are great for starting out, but there are a variety of directions in which your craft can develop once chording has been mastered. Do you prefer classical music, or enjoy improvising blues or jazz? Each style requires different techniques, and a plan will help you achieve goals in those areas much more quickly.

5.  Once your plan is made, identify resources to help you achieve it. Do you learn better in person, or would you rather improve from the comfort of your own home? If the former, look for an instructor in your area who is familiar with your desired style of play. If online lessons are more your speed, there are a number of resources available on the internet for a variety of styles.

6.  Network with other musicians. It doesn’t matter if you just picked up your first guitar yesterday. Find a friendly group with whom to jam, share tips, etc. I promise you that any good group won’t look down on you for beginning, and there’s no feeling quite like joining in your first jam session, playing with other musicians to create a complex tapestry of sound.

7.  Play daily. Set a regular block of time aside each day to improve your craft. Without daily work and persistence, any improvements you make will slip away.

8.  Finally, keep on learning. Don’t simply decide that you are finished, or that you’ve learned all that you wish in your style of choice. Instead, branch out to other styles and learn new techniques. Classical techniques can add interesting nuances to blues or rock, for instance, and the opposite is just as true. This is perhaps the most important of the above 8 tips, as nothing makes a musician’s play more unique than does the blending of styles, and the continued drive to learn and grow is the differentiating factor between a good player who is a joy to hear, and a weekend hobbyist confined to a few songs and a single style.

Please let me know how you progress in your leaning to play guitar.

Don

I appreciate your comments and hope to get back to you soon. Right now I am getting ready to post another article with some tips. I hope you will enjoy it. I soon will be adding my resources to my resource page, and have the comment page up and running too. Please be patient.

Thanks.

Don

Don

Beginner Guitar – Make a Joyful Noise!

For over a thousand years, human beings have yearned to make sounds other than their own voices.  The idea of string and wood, put together, was an invention that resulted in a sound when plucking the string.  Make the wood body hollow, and the sound is amplified.  This idea was built upon by ancient humans, and many different forms of the stringed instrument came about. 

Throughout Europe, the evidence of guitar-like instruments can be found as far back as the 1200′s.  During Biblical times, the stringed lyre was used to make sounds in the form of music, and was essential to the people then for songs of worship.  The form of the stringed instrument has changed little over the past five hundred years or so, and the more modern versions of this instrument are still being used today.

From acoustic dreadnoughts to ukuleles, the guitar has been seen all over the world.  Electric guitars make up much of today’s modern music, along with acoustic guitars, and can be seen being played in some of the largest orchestras.  This versatile instrument can accomplish any note on the musical scale and is unlimited in its use for accompaniment for voice or other styles of music performances.  The beginning pupil of guitar can easily play simple songs after a single first lesson, and as more lessons follow, the better the skill.

The guitar is usually a wooden instrument with a body, a neck with frets (normally made with brass), a nut (top of neck), and the tuning keys for adjusting the tone of the strings.  An acoustic guitar has a hollow body with a sound hole, just above the bridge, where the strings are attached.

 ”Practice makes perfect!” is the exclamation any guitar instructor stresses to the new student, and it is indeed vital for success.  Constant and unrelenting practice of scales and chords will attune the student to where each chord is, and aid in music theory.  Knowing each scale is important to reading guitar music, and an excellent student will find it becoming easier as time goes by.

Beginning guitar lessons are more affordable than one thinks.  Comparable to piano lessons, the guitar teacher is usually delighted to teach, so the fee can usually be seen as nominal.  A good teacher will always begin with the basics, such as two or three single-finger chords to start one off.  During the lessons, the student is taught about notes and measures, and how the notes are played according to the time noted on the sheet music.  This is essential for learning how to play from sheet music, and is a vital part of the guitar lessons.

It is not so important to purchase the “top-of-the-line” guitar for learning.  A simple acoustic guitar will be fine, and then if you become more advanced with the lessons, a higher end guitar can be bought to compliment your style.  Learning guitar is fun and joyful, and can be a form of entertainment at any event.  Advanced learners can be knowledgeable with writing music for the guitar, so making unique music can be the ultimate of creativity!

Come back soon for more thoughts on guitars.

Don

I hope to bring you exciting news about guitars.  There will be tips on how and where to look for guitar bargains, lessons, best brands and all you will need to get into the exciting world of guitars.