Pelle's Guitar Stuff

Have you just decided to learn playing the guitar?

First of all – congratulations to a wise decision! Playing songs on your guitar is a fantastic thing to  do. It gives so much joy, both to you and others.
Getting there, though, might be a major challenge. A lot of people have given up trying, simply because it was to hard.

But you can avoid that feeling, if you begin your playing the right way. If you know where to start, your road to a guitar player can be a comfortable journey.

This article tries to show you a good start, providing you with helpful advice on learning the  basics without too much headache.

There’s one thing I consider important:
First things first! If you have just started out, then please don’t get carried away and try to play songs like Satch Boogie (Satriani – painfully good!) or other songs that you don’t stand a chance mastering.
You need to start at the beginning.

Personally, I don’t think you need to look into such things as music theory, learning notes and scales etc…
You wan’t to play, right? So play!
When you feel you need to know more “theory”, then it’s time for the “boring stuff”.
But, remember, that’s my humble opinion.

Now, on to some useful tips in your quest to start learning to play songs on your guitar. They come as I think of them in no specific order.

1)    Some things you might need to buy:
*Get a guitar . It may be useful to have one if you want to play songs and chords. But – don’t run and buy the very cheapest guitar you can find.
*A guitar tuner. I have a tuner like this It’s so easy to use and even a beginner can tune the guitar in almost no time. And it’s cheap, too.
*Buy a capo. Anyone will do. There are cheap ones and very expensive capos out there. But all of them do the job.

*Plectrum (or pick). At least ten of them. In my case, they are just like pens. They can’t be found anywhere…

Probably there are a lot more things you may need to buy – but we should stay at basics at this time.

2)    Chord Chart:
Get your hands on a chord chart. Print one out from the internet. But you can also go out and buy a chord book.

3)    Playing chords on the guitar:
For beginners, I would suggest that you start with the “open” chords. They’re not so hard to play as the barre chords. With the chord “F” though, it’s not that big a difference between open and barre chords. Useful chords to start with can be C, A, Am, D, Dm, G, E, Em and F.

When you get aquainted to those basic chords, start to practice changing between chords. When you learn this sequence; G, Em, C and D (over and over) you have at least a million songs youa can play already. Try singing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” while plaing it!

4)    Learning songs to play on your guitar:
To make it easier to learn a song to play, go with artists and songs that you love. Reason number 1: If you already know the lyrics and how the song is played, you will find it a lot easier to learn. Reason number 2: It’s more fun to play songs you like, and you’ll put more effort to it.

5)    Play often:
No, it’s not enough to play for an hour a week. I’d say that 30 minutes each day is a minimum if you ever want to improve your playing skills. And do this at least 5 days a week. It would be a shame to get stuck with Parkinson, by the time you finally got all the chords right. So practice often!

6)    Slow down:
Don’t play too fast! When you’re starting out, don’t try to play it too quickly.Go slowly until your fingers know what you want them to do.

7)    Posture:
This is no laughing matter. You may think those Rock Stars look cool with their guitars hanging down to the floor – But it is not a good posture when you’re new to this.
It’s not fun when your back, shoulders and wrists hurt, just because you are sitting in a bad position.
Do a Google on the term “guitar playing posture”. You will get more results than youe ever wanted

8)   Calluses:
Building up calluses is sometimes a painful thing. Don’t bite them off – that will make it hurt even more. In time you will have hardened fingertips perfect for playing guitar.

9)    Strings:
Many guitars come by default with 0.12 gauge strings. THey may be hard to press down, but if you change to 0.10 strings instead, they will treat your fingers a little nicer.

10)   Have fun!

Do not, even for one heartbeat, forget why you are playing on your guitar. Forgot already? Sitting there, cursing your disobedient fingers in frustration?
Put that wooden soundthingy aside for a while, and pick it up again tomorrow. Playing guitar is all about having fun. You are supposed to enjoy yourself – right? What’s the fun of it if it’s not fun?

I was 15 years old the first time i picked up a guitar. Today, 2010, I just turned 50. How long do you think it took for me to learn to play the guitar?

Read my story here : >>> Pelle’s Guitar Stuff