Learning The Guitar: Tips And Tricks To Make It Easy

The guitar is the chosen instrument of many great musicians, from rock gods like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton to classical greats like Andres Segovia. If you love music, but never learned how to play, it is never to late to start. Use the following advice to start mastering the guitar.

Learn to play in time. This is essential to playing the guitar like a pro. You may have your fingering down, but you may have slight, almost inaudible pauses when you switch chords. This will greatly affect the sound of your music. Try using a metronome, a person, or a music CD. Start playing slowly and learning how to play fast as you get more comfortable with it.

Better your listening skills. This skill is very underrated when it comes to playing the guitar, but it is one of the most important. Listen to other musicians play. Try listening to items like tone, strumming, and the type of sounds that come from certain guitars. Then, start listening to your own playing to improve anything that sounds off.

Buy the best quality guitar that will fit into your budget. Dont waste money by spending a ridiculous amount on your first guitar because you may give up on it. Try out several options to find out what feels comfortable. Learn how to tune your guitar and keep it properly tuned.

Push yourself to learn new things. Many people focus on one thing. They practice the same song until they have it down perfectly. Playing that song for your friends might be impressive once, but you need to branch out. Dont give too much focus to a single song. Keep learning and practicing new things.

Be aware of the health risks associated with playing the guitar. Avoid back stiffness you get from sitting by always stretching before you play. Also, learn some stretching exercises for your hand to prevent tendinitis. It is also important to protect your hearing by not playing at excessively high volume.

Your first guitar should be relatively inexpensive. While you may be tempted to pick up something fancy and expensive, you really dont want to do that. You dont even know if youll like it! Did you know that you dont have to spend a fortune on a guitar to get great sound? Its important that you know you like playing before spending lots of money.

Exercise

Many beginner guitarists become discouraged by the pain, and muscle cramping that often accompanies the first few weeks of learning. Check out the internet, or get a good guitar exercise book, and use your first few minutes of practice each day concentrating on finger exercises. This will help you to build up callouses on your fingers, and strength in your finger muscles to keep them from cramping.

Build up your finger strength. New guitarists may experience finger cramping when they start learning. This is because your fingers arent accustomed to the constant movement. Try doing simple guitar exercises before you play to build up their strength. A couple minutes doing an activity like the caterpillar exercise can help build up your finger muscles.

To increase your stamina playing the guitar, you have to have strong hands and fingers. The caterpillar exercise is one routine that helps you build the same muscles that go into playing the guitar. It involves fretting one note at a time, moving slowly across the neck as you build strength in your finger muscles.

Many great musical pieces have been written for the guitar in many different musical genres. You may not be the next Jimi Hendrix, but you can still enjoy playing the guitar. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will be able to have fun playing your favorite songs on the guitar.