Beginner Guitar Strategies: Getting Past Go
How many times have you told yourself you’d take the guitar out of that case and figure out how to play? I challenge you to take an inventory of what’s stoppin’ you. For the beginner guitar player there is nothing as daunting as taking the first step.
Your Ears are Tuned
To begin with, the sophistication and evolution of commercial recording techniques makes even the sloppiest players sound polished and incredible when you download their music through itunes. It’s no wonder you sound a little lame playing in your bedroom. I remember my shock and dismay at a Crosby, Stills and Nash concert in the 70’s. That was before the sound engineering of the recording industry had hit the live stage. Their guitars were in tune, but their voices were lack-luster and hollow and their overall sound was weak compared to the vinyl recording I had at home.
Ok, I’m dating myself, but the point is that our ears are finely tuned to perfection. We don’t hear ‘real’ music being played much in public settings. Most of what we hear is heavily tweeked with pick-ups, microphones and signal processing units that make even a mediocre player sound amazing. Is it any wonder you can’t stand listening to yourself play?
Conquer the Fear
Well, fear is just that. The first step for the beginner guitar player is to write on the wall above your guitar case ‘false evidence appearing real.’ That’s the acronym for fear and our job is to feel it and get over it. Most people don’t want to talk about it, but ignoring fear gives it room to get bigger and stop us. I’ll get off this soapbox now. I just had to address it though because I’ve seen it a million times keeping people from expressing themselves musically and in lots of other ways.
Get Simple Tools
The next thing you’ll need are simple tools, tips, and beginner guitar techniques go get you started. Do you know that there’s a world of music out there written with just three chords? Even the beginner can jump in with that. Folk guitar music is notorious for simple chord structures, and rock and that’s what rock and roll is, the folk music of our day.
Maybe you’re beyond learning the first few chords. If you are, we’ve got plenty to move you forward, but if not, you’re at the right place to get started. Begin playing scales, slowly at first, then increasing speed as you can while keeping your time steady. Benny Goodman, the great jazz clarinetist used to play scales every morning for 7 minutes to keep his chops up. He said it was like eating his cereal. It’s a great rule of thumb for keeping up momentum and learning new things.
Besides the obvious (your guitar) every beginner guitar player needs a metronome. Get the kind that allows you to set the downbeat so you can keep yourself from skipping beats. That’s a critical skill to learn early so when you play with other people you don’t frustrate them. Using a metronome is the closest thing to being in a band before you’re in one. It’s real time.