John Pape Online Blog

If you are quite the enthusiast when it comes to musical instruments and you have your heart set on that beautiful guitar you saw last week, better start brushing on those fingers. There are some ways you can learn on how to become an excellent guitarist. But first, the basics.

First and foremost, you must have your own guitar. How can you learn to play without the proper instrument at hand? You have to determine first what type of guitar to play. Borrowing a guitar would be okay, but what if you can’t borrow it on a regular basis? Your training and practice will be hampered.

Then choose a particular song that you like, something that always sets you in the mood for a good vibe. Better yet, something inspiring. Inspiring enough to encourage you to try and play the chords over and over again.

Once you have decided on which particular song gets you going and yet you don’t have any idea on how to put on a tune, ask someone who has the knowledge in playing a guitar work it out for you. Let him read the tabs. If you don’t know how, let someone interpret it for you. Here, teamwork is essential. The same person may also be able to help you in determining which finger goes where to achieve the right sound.

A very good advice on learning is listening by heart. It doesn’t depend on the chords themselves but the musician. He creates a melody just by listening to every strum of his guitar.

Statistics show that almost 90% of those who plays the guitar admit they learned it the hard way. In fact, playing the guitar is quite harder than it looks like. It is by far easier to hear than to comprehend. Learning without some background or even a slight help from someone is difficult for a newbie.

If you can’t afford a personal instructor, might as well buy a book about the do’s and don’ts of learning a guitar. Aside from that, it would also be challenging on your part to guess where to put the most important finger on the most important string. Buy a step by step guide on acquiring the basic and most vital chords that usually appears on almost every song and melody.

Then you ask, do you still need a guide. It is necessary though. You need someone to listen to you. He or she must determine if your fingers are positioned in their proper places. A reference material or an online tutorial will surely be of big help but it won’t be able to hear if you’re out of tune or if you’re really playing on the right track. Call out for help and monitoring.

First, focus yourself on the basic chords and not the hard ones. Chords like G, E minor, C, A minor, D are easier to work on. There are varieties of songs which contain only these chords. Mastering your fingers to change strings every change of tempo enables a beginner to develop a faster pace.

Take your time. A lot of great guitarists acquired the skill only after a long period of time. Apply no pressure on yourself. Be patient when you’re not getting it right. The trick in learning is to create a positive attitude.

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If you are wondering where to start on the subject of learning to play guitar, the following five steps may provide for you some basic guitar instruction and advice to get you started off.

1) Get Started

First you must understand that often we are our own worst enemy, we procrastinate, put things off, try to think of shortcuts (human nature) whilst forgetting that the key to doing anything well, is practice and persistence.

If you want to learn the guitar well, these two personal attributes will be your friend for life as you strive to master the guitar.

You simply cannot buy skill, it takes time. The best guitar in the world, an awesome guitarist it will not make you. You must be prepared to practice, practice and then practice some more if you want to become a good guitarist. Mastering playing the guitar remember, will give you years of pleasure!

2) Get a good instrument

Second, check your action. Always make sure that the distance between the fingerboard and the underside of the string is appropriate for your fingers. If in doubt about this, ask any experienced guitar friend of yours to advise you on this issue or pop into your local guitar dealership and ask them for their advice directly.

3) Keep things Simple

Third, remember the K.I.S.S. principle which usually stands for Keep It Stupidly Simple. Don’t make learning the guitar more difficult than it has to be. Don’t jump straight into the deep end. Start simple and as your confidence increases and your guitar playing ability improves, then you can move onto the more complicated sounds that you are striving for.

If you start off with the more complicated chords and/or riffs, you will likely get frustrated which will not serve you well at all.

Remember that in all things regarding a new skill, there is a learning curve to go through. Enjoy that learning. Have fun learning the guitar and don’t make it any more difficult for yourself than it has to be.

4) Practice strumming

Fourth, try to bear and keep in mind that rhythm is key – to have a good strong, consistent flow to your guitar playing ability you need to keep the beat in the beginning, at the start, if you use a metronome or even your foot to keep pace, this will assist you a great deal.

5) Build your skills

Fifth, sure you love that guitar classic song, it reaches deep within your soul but it’s no good for you, choosing the most complicated of songs to start you off learning. Again, keep to simple songs highly suitable for the guitar beginner, limit yourself at first to just two chord guitar songs, then as you gain in confidence, guitar playing ability, then you can step the pace of learning up a bit more to more complicated guitar pieces.

If you put these five simple steps into practice and have a lot of fun doing so, it really will not take you long at all to become highly proficient, learning to play the guitar.

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