"The Biggest Guitar Learner Mistakes!"

You know, what really gets me, is the fact that around 95% of all guitarists learn the wrong way and NEVER reach their true potential!

Sad but true.

And that's the primary reason for my site... to help you, the beginner or intermediate guitar player, learn how to avoid this mistake to rapidly propel your knowledge and playing to new levels of creativity—NOW, rather than later.

I want to help you experience the pure joy of playing HOT, very creative guitar NOW!

So, how do we do this...?

Simply by doing what all good musicians do...

 "Mastering the Rudimentals, or Basics, IS The Number One GOAL of ALL Musicians — No Matter What Instrument They Play!"

Now I'm sorry to SHOUT... but this fact is IMPORTANT! In fact it is so important, I'm going to repeat it... mastering the rudiments, or basics, IS the number one goal of all musicians — no matter what instrument they play!

The Two Major Aspects of Learning To Play Music

1. Basic Music Theory - The Head Aspect

Playing a musical instrument is mostly about knowledge. About what you know in your head, rather than what you can do with your fingers and hands.

You need to learn some basic theory about scales and chords, how they are made and how they all fit together. Then you need to learn how those basics apply to the style of music you like, or want to play, AND the instrument you have chosen.

But mastering the basics must be your #1 goal if you want to be a real musician. Unfortunately, this is the most neglected aspect guitarists, especially guitarists, are notorious for. The main reason for that is a lack of understanding of how the fretboard is organised. (See 2b below for a short explanation.)

2. Applying the Theory To Your Chosen Instrument - The Physical or Body Aspect

Now, there are two very important sub-aspects to this, too. And it is very important you keep the two seperate.

a) Developing Auto-Pilot Muscle-Memory

You have to learn the motor-skills and teach/train your body and muscles to play the instrument you have chosen. Your body, or more specifically, your muscles, have to learn what movements they need to make to produce the results you want. You have to develop muscle memory. And there is a right and wrong way to do that.

It is mostly through repetition. But if you are are using your body wrong in the first place, you will damage your potential to develop technical ability. In other words, your growth will be stunted!

The ultimate aim is to have your muscles on autopilot... that is, to do everything your 'head' tells them to do, automatically without thinking about it. But... you want your muscles to be as efficient as possible. No wasted or unnecesary movements, no tension, You want your muscles to always be nice and relaxed and perform effortlessly without wastedmovement or stress.

b) Learning HOW the theory actually applies to the guitar

Essentially, this means you need to understand why the guitar is physically different from a piano for example, and what those differences mean when learning how to play a guitar.

Firstly, you need to understand that a guitar is a two-dimensional instrument and because of this can be very difficult to master. (A piano is one dimensional.)

Secondly, you need to learn that the unusual tuning of the guitar is what causes the most confusion for beginners and experienced players alike. It's this problem that MOST guitar players never overcome or understand... ever! It's this problem that is the biggest cause of most failures and the number of people giving up in disgust and selling up!

Once you understand this concept fully, nothing can hold you back!

Once you actually understand these unique qualities of the guitar, your learning progress will be much more rapid.

To sum up... the biggest mistake any beginner can make, is to get sidetracked away from mastering the basics.

This happens when you start learning a few songs off your friends, or off tab from the internet. Sure, that's more exciting because you are actually playing songs, which is what you want to do in the first place, right?

Now while it is very important to learn songs, licks, riffs, and solos etc, it is also very important to keep up your study of learning the basics of guitar chords and keys on a daily basis. Most guitarists DON'T do this. Don't be one of them.

Even if you are learning songs, don't neglect to practice the basics... EVERY DAY.

This site is primarily about helping guitarists master the basics, NOT to teach you how to play specific songs. There are other sites that do that, and I recommend some most strongly. You should join them too.

Next up...tips on how to buy a guitar.