Beginner Guitar Lessons – What Every New Player Should Know

If you’re just starting out on your guitar playing journey – these beginner guitar lessons will help you progress faster. In my 10 years of playing the guitar, I’ve learned quite a few things. It was not easy in the beginning, but it would have been easier if I had known the things that you’re about to learn.

Take Guitar Lessons from a Real Person First

Although you can learn a lot from online guitar lessons and books and dvds – they can’t take the place of a real, live person. This is especially true in the beginning. You really need an actual person to show you the correct way to hold your guitar; where to put your fingers; and how to strum different basic rhythms. When you make mistakes (you’ll make a ton in the beginning) your instructor can physically show you what you’re doing wrong. Only a real-live person can do this for you. And you really need this in the beginning. You don’t have to go to your instructor for a real long time if you don’t want to. You can get all the basics down after a month or two. Then you might choose to learn everything else from books, videos, or online lessons.

Regular Practice is Best

You should try and practice every day – don’t skip more than 2 or 3 days between practice sessions. You don’t need to put in 1 hour everyday. 10 or 15 minutes a day is all it takes to progress pretty fast. It is not as effective to practice once or twice a week for an hour at a time. This fails to build up consistent muscle memory and reflexes.

It’s Not Easy in the Beginning

All new guitarists find it difficult in the beginning. You will have pain in all sorts of locations – especially your hands and fingers. And many people suffer with neck and back pain. But, don’t let it get you down. You will overcome this pain if you push through it. After a couple of weeks, your fingertips will develop calluses which will make it less painful to play. Your hands and wrist will become stronger and more flexible – and less painful too. Back and neck pain are the result of incorrect posture. This is why a live instructor is so important. They can help you to correct and work on any problems in your posture.

Buy a Quality Guitar

Many beginners think that a cheap, low quality guitar is okay when you’re just getting started. Nothing could be further from the truth. A lot of the cheap guitars are made of poor quality materials and have poor workmanship. The strings sit too high off the neck – making it hard to push them down and make chords and notes. It’s hard to keep these guitars in tune, which is terribly frustrating. And there is often bad fret buzz. Fret buzz will make your chords and notes sound bad. You can get a good quality electric or acoustic guitar in the $180 to $200 range. If you’re short of cash, you can get a nice used one for even cheaper. Go to your local music store and test out as many guitars as possible. You want one that feels right for you. If you don’t know how to play much, then take a knowledgeable friend along or ask the sales clerk to demonstrate them for you. Try and buy a name brand guitar as they can usually be trusted to produce quality instruments. Epiphone, Yamaha, Fender, and Ibanez are good examples of companies that produce good quality beginner guitars.

Hopefully, these beginner guitar lessons will get you off to a great start. Just be consistent in your practice schedule and you will definitely make consistent progress.

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