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PHIL KEAGGY - Grammy nominated and seven-time Dove Award winner, is one of the world’s great guitar players and a pioneer in contemporary Christian music.
- August 30, 2016
- Guitar Lessons
Have you ever been scared of the prospect of learning guitar fundamentals?
For some people, picturing themselves playing an instrument can sound as difficult as learning to breathe underwater.
Though it may seem a little frightening for anyone who’s never played an instrument before, learning to play guitar isn’t nearly as daunting once you get the instrument in your hands.
Here are a few tips we’ve compiled for anyone curious in beginning to learn guitar:
Guitar Fundamentals #1: Get Comfortable with Your Instrument
No matter what kind of guitar you own or what kind of music you want to play, the first thing you’ll want to do with your guitar is get acquainted with it.
Before learning to play the guitar, you’ll need to know exactly what you’ve got in your hands. Feel free to glance over at our guitar anatomy page for a few references.
For starters, discover the most comfortable way for you to hold your guitar. Some people prefer to be sitting on a stool, others like to stand. You’ll also need to figure out where you want to hold your guitar. Depending on what kind of playing you are going to do, you may want the guitar pressed very closely to your chest. If you’re using a guitar strap, try to find the best height for the guitar to hang from (Try not to let it hang too far below your waist. Your back will thank you later.)
You’ll be spending a lot of time practicing with your instrument (hopefully) and maybe even playing a show here or there. Don’t let terrible posture or form hold back your skill development.
Once you’ve got the positioning down, it’s time to let your hands navigate the strings along the fretboard. If you’ve got big hands and/or you’re a novice musician, it may take some time for you to learn how to properly form chords without clumsily messing up a string a string or two.
Speaking of those chords…
Guitar Fundamentals #2: Learn Some Guitar Chords
It’s pretty hard to play your favorite songs on guitar without knowing any chords, so that will be the first thing you want to learn after getting acquainted with your guitar.
Fortunately for you, we’ve already compiled a list of some of the easiest guitar chords and keys for you.
Though there are a lot of different chords out there, especially when you get to barre chords, learning about five or six of these to start off will allow you to cycle through them and learn how to quickly change from chord to chord. Plus, there are a ton of songs out there in just about every genre that only use that many chords (or less!).
The hardest part about learning basic chords will be developing the skill to accurately transition between them and keeping unused fingers or parts of your hand from incidentally grazing a string to throw off a note.
Guitar Fundamentals #3: Strumming Patterns and Keeping the Beat
Without diving too far into music theory, a difficult part of learning guitar for beginners can be keeping up the rhythm in a song.
There are many people out there who have trouble with this sort of thing. If you have any doubts about that, just take a quick look around at the next church service you attend and watch all of the people clapping along to their own nonsensical beat.
You may have all of the head knowledge when it comes to learning chords or reading tabs, but if you can’t keep up the beat, you’re not going to go too far with your playing.
Don’t worry, some people will have no problem with this at all. Even if you struggle at first, most guitarists work through it until things just click. There’s hope for you yet.
As far as strumming goes, you’re going to need to know how to keep up the same pattern throughout the song. If your hand is going to play the strings down-down-up-down, that’s great. Just try to hit that consistently.
Strumming should be breezy and free-flowing, so try not to overthink it.
Guitar Fundamentals #4: Practice Makes Perfect
This is what separates the real musicians from the guys that just want to impress girls on the beach.
Like many hobbies or sports, practice is the one thing that will always make you better. We may want to find some kind of shortcut or cheat code, but nothing makes you a better guitar player than simply picking up your instrument on a consistent basis and spending some time building muscle memory.
For beginners, practice is the firm foundation that you will build your music home on. It is how you’re going to develop calluses, master rhythm, and learn how to make music of your own.
No matter what skill level you’re at, practice is what keeps your playing from becoming obsolete. If you instill a desire for practice in your mind today, you will set yourself up for a better road ahead. It’s much harder to learn discipline after you’ve been lazy for a long time.
For more tips on practicing guitar, check out an earlier post we wrote here.
There are probably a few other ideas that could be addressed as guitar fundamentals, but these four principles will help you get started on your musical journey.
One last important fundamental to discuss is finding the right guitar lessons. No matter what skill level you’re playing at or income bracket you call “home,” quality guitar lessons are available for you.
There are pros and cons to the different options out there, but the professional guitar instructors at Pro Lessons could be a great resource for you as you learn to play the guitar. We have musicians from many popular touring acts that have joined us to teach you how to take the next step with your guitar playing, all at a very competitive cost.
To find out more about Pro Lessons and the services we can provide, click on the banner below.
