JB's Beginner Guitar Tips

Now, as you are new to guitar I'd like to share a few pointers to help you make a success of your guitar playing endeavors.

Take a few minutes to read everything here very carefully. Take your time, make notes if you like. Remember, don't rush anything. Take it easy and absorb all these ideas. They are very important for making sure you get off to the best start you can...

1: Learn on a decent guitar

There's nothing worse than trying to learn on a crappy guitar that's too hard to play and tune. You need a guitar that has a reasonable action with strings not too high off the fretboard. That ensures they aren't too hard to press down.

It's best to check with a knowledgeable friend or music shop to see if you guitar is really suitable to learn on.

If it's too hard to play you will quickly become discouraged and will probably give up. That would be a shame because learning guitar is a lot of fun and very rewarding.

Having a crappy guitar is like giving a very blunt saw to a carpentry apprentice. So do yourself a favor and get the best guitar you can afford. A good 2nd-hand guitar is ideal because they will have been 'broken in' somewhat and will be a lot cheaper.

NYLON STRING CLASSICAL GUITARS: I don't recommend using one for learning. They have a flat fretboard while traditional electric and acoustic guitars have a slightly curved fretboard which fits your fingers much better when you are playing bar chords. And you will be playing a lot of bar chords - (bar chords use your first finger to 'bar' across all strings.)

Use a traditional steel-string guitar. While harder on your fingers initially - hurts like hell and the blisters you'll get, too... ouch!! ... but with a couple of weeks of regular daily practice your fingers will soon toughen up and develop calluses. Soon you'll be bending steel with your bare fingers!! :)

Oh yeah, make sure your fingernails on your fretting hand are cut very short. So they won't dig into the fretboard and make your fingers lean over too much. (Your fingers need to be as perpendicular to the fretboard as possible. This helps avoid touching other strings and causing string-rattles when you play.)

2: Learn how to develop a good technique

Technique involves your whole body as well as your hands and fingers. Learn how to hold the guitar properly so your body, hands and fingers will work with maximum ease and the least effort. Getting this wrong will cause a lot of bad habits that will be almost impossible to correct at a later date.

Also learn the concept of 'perfect practice makes perfect' rather than the old 'practice makes perfect' saying as explained in Guitar Chord Secrets.

3: Take your time - don't try to rush things

Sometimes you'll find your progress is excruciatingly slow. It may take weeks to be able to do some things. But don't worry, that's perfectly normal. Just persevere with daily practice and the breakthrough will come. Then you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

We all go through plateaus where we don't seem to be making any progress at all. But what's really happening is that your body and physiology is working away in the background adjusting to the new skills you are asking your body to do. New neural pathways are being built in your brain and new nerve endings are being established in your hands and fingers. Sometimes it takes a little while for it to all come together.

Be like a tortoise, slow, steady and persistent. You WILL win in the end. Learn to love the challenge and above all enjoy it... the rewards are well worth it.

4: Learn how to count

Developing a good sense of time is perhaps the most important aspect of being a musician. You have to be able to play in time without speeding up or slowing down.

I strongly recommend you get a good metronome and always use it for all your practice sessions. After a while you will develop a natural sense of time and probably won't need it. But it's always good to use one now and then just to ensure your timing is rock-solid and spot on.

5: Start with the proper picking & strumming technique

This makes playing a lot easier and you'll have no problem developing speed and fluency. Get these wrong and you will handicap yourself.

Learning the correct techniques right from the start will make your learning more enjoyable and will make learning a lot faster. And you'll have no limits to how far you can go.

6: Be conscious of your body when practicing

Make sure you are sitting correctly, avoid tension in your body and hands, hold the guitar properly and pick and strum properly. And make your whole body as relaxed as you can at all times.

If you feel yourself getting tense anywhere in your body, STOP practicing and have a break. Lie down on the floor, close your eyes and relax your whole body for a few minutes. Then start practicing again.

TENSION is your BIGGEST ENEMY. Avoid it as much as possible.

7: Set simple realistic practice goals

Keep a record of what your practice goals are and pursue them on a daily basis. Working on a daily basis builds massive momentum. Better to do 20-30 minutes every day than to only do 2 or 3 60 minute sessions a week. Daily practice in smaller 10-15 min blocks works wonders. 3 or 4 10-15 minute blocks daily - working on different goals - is the way to go.

Remember? Don't rush anything... give it all time to come together.

You can click here to download a Practice Schedule to keep track of what and when you practice.

8: How much daily practice do you need?

If you are just learning for fun and your own amusement, then 20-30 minutes a day of 'focussed' practice may be enough.

However, if you are a little more serious and want to get good a lot faster so you can play in a band, for example, then you'll probably need to practice 2-4 hours every day. Just remember, your practice must be very focussed on a set of specific goals that you work on every day. It's the most efficient way to practice. And you'll make maximum progress that way.

9: Practice vs Noodling - learn the difference

Practice is where you are fully conscious of your body and you are working on specific goals in a highly focussed and attentive manner.

Noodling is where you are just experimenting with something you have learned. Sitting on the couch playing along with TV trying to copy what you hear, or just strumming a few chords, or just making something up.

Noodling can also be trying to learn a new song from some tab you found off the internet.

Noodling is very important. BUT... do not let it replace serious focussed practice! Don't fall into the trap of becoming a noodler who never achieves anything, or never learns a song completely from beginning to end because that tab you downloaded is too hard...

That's a mistake many newbie's make, by the way...

...they download tab that's way beyond their present knowledge and ability only to fail time and again. If you're not careful this 'failing' becomes a habit. That doesn't make for a happy, fast-improving guitar player at all.

Try to get your serious practice out of the way as early in the day as you can. First thing when you get up in the morning is a very good time to practice, even if you have to get up a little earlier.

10: Set up a dedicated practice area

Set aside an area where you can have your guitar on a stand ready to grab for a quick play when you get the urge. (Don't put it away in a case after practice.) Have a table with your metronome and other printed materials. A good 'armless' chair or stool to sit on so you can use the correct body posture.

• It's a good idea to get a music stand. Use it to hold printed materials you are working from. Much better than slouching across a bed, couch or table to read it.
• A music stand helps you maintain the correct posture so all your muscles and tendons work smoothly - and also helps avoid TENSION.

11: Always ensure your guitar is in tune

Buy an electronic tuner and use it every day to tune your guitar before you practice. It will take a little getting used to make sure your guitar is really in tune. But after a while you'll be able to tune without a tuner and will be able to make fine adjustments by ear.

12: Follow a plan to learn fast and efficiently

The fastest, easiest most effective way to teach yourself guitar is to follow a 'modern' method, or, system designed for accelerated learning.

You need to develop skills in the right order at the right time. If you try jumping the gun you'll end up disappointed, frustrated and confused as hell.

In all my internet research I have found only a couple of genuinely beneficial accelerated-learning 'teach yourself' guitar products. Most of the others are crap, to put it bluntly. That, or, they are too specialized for a beginner.

They leave important 'basics' out and end up as junk on most peoples computers and book shelves...

It's much better to follow something that's going to give you a solid foundation that you can build on over time.

Click here to see my top recommendation