‘The Road to Becoming a Skilled Guitar Player: Tips and Tricks for Learning the Instrument’.
When it comes to becoming a skilled guitarist, the road can be a long and winding one. It takes dedication, practice and passion to acquire the skills necessary to make the most of the instrument and to truly become an impressive player. From tuning the strings and learning how to play chords and melodies, to mastering techniques such as picking, strumming and finger picking, there’s no denying that it’s a challenging but rewarding journey. With this in mind, here are some essential tips and tricks to set aspiring guitarists on their way.
Ready to Get Going? Guitar Shopping 101
The first step in becoming a competent guitarist is to find the perfect instrument. For beginner players, it’s usually better to rent or buy a cheaper guitar as these will still perform most of the basic functions to get started. There are, of course, a few key considerations to keep in mind when searching for the right guitar, such as the size and shape which should match the player’s body type and arm length. Also, an all-wood construction is usually preferred to synthetic parts as it’s better for the sound and sustain, so if you can afford it, it’s worth going for one. Other factors to consider include the pickups, action, neck profile, scale length and fretboard radius, but it’s perfectly fine to buy something more basic to start with as most of these details can be adjusted later.
Essential Basics: Holding, Tuning and Strumming
Once you have your guitar, the real work of learning to play can begin! The most important step is to learn how to hold the instrument correctly; it should be securely tethered to your body so you can comfortably strum, pick and fret. To tune the guitar, you’ll need an electronic tuner as tuning by ear alone may not give you accurate results. Once the strings are in tune, the next step is to learn how to strum. This is essentially the foundation of playing the guitar and involves using a picking hand and a strumming hand. Make sure you use the tips of your fingers for the picking hand and the pads of your fingers for the strumming hand.
Get to Grips with the Fingerboard: Chords and Scales
Now it’s time to get to grips with the fingerboard by learning some chords and scales. Start by becoming familiar with the open chords – these are chords formed by pressing down notes with the left hand while strumming with the right. For scale practice, focus on the Major scale, which is a fundamental scale and serves as a good starting point for learning guitar. Then, work on mastering the minor pentatonic scale which is slightly more advanced. This will provide you with more creative possibilities and allow you to develop more interesting sounds and melodies.
Expanding your Appeal: Tapping and Picking
Once you’ve mastered the basics of chords and scales, it’s time to work on some more advanced techniques. Hammer-on and pull-off techniques, also known as tapping, involve plucking the string and then using the same or a different finger to push the string onto the fretboard or pull it away from the fretboard. This produces a smooth and varied sound and is used in a wide range of music genres – from rock to jazz, as well as metal and blues.
Picking, meanwhile, is a technique which involves using the fingers or a guitar pick to pluck the string, typically in a down-up pattern. This can range from a subtle and gentle sound for jazz to a much harder sound for rock or metal. As with tapping, the options are virtually limitless when it comes to creating unique sounds with picking.
The Final Steps: Changing Strings and Re-stringing
Finally, it’s essential to know how to change strings as they can stretch and get dull over time. The process is fairly straightforward and all you need is a set of new strings and some pliers. When replacing the string make sure to untie the old string first and then feed the new one through the hole in the tuning head and thread it under the bridge. Pull the string tight and wind it around the tuning head, then cut off the excess. If you are re-stringing the entire neck, it can be quite a time consuming process so it’s best to do this when you first get the guitar or if you haven’t replaced the strings for a long period of time.
Now You’re Ready to Become a Skilled Guitar Player!
With these tips and tricks in mind, aspiring guitarists will be well on their way to embracing the instrument and becoming a skilled player! It takes patience, proper guidance and regular practice, but if you stick to the basics, you can’t fail. Who knows, you might even become a professional one day!
‘The Road to Becoming a Skilled Guitar Player: Tips and Tricks for Learning the Instrument’.