# Best Beginner Tip...



## RX-8 (Dec 17, 2007)

I've never played guitar before and I'm just beginning my lessons, that's your best beginner tip besides practice, practice, practice, practice, practice...

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Besides regular (and preferably structured) practice, I'd strongly suggest playing/jamming with others. It is usually fun and you could/should learn a lot. 

Don't get too frustrated...it all takes time.

Develop good rhythm/strumming skills with your right arm.
(assuming you are right handed). A metronome can be very helpful for this (and for scales)....if you can maintain your sanity when using a metronome...LOL...J/K 

Your fingers/hands will get sore...the good news is that it has not been documented as ever having been fatal (as far as I know)

Learn the stuff you like to listen to...and listen to your favourite songs/styles often.

Don't worry too much about mistakes....they are a part of learning.

Try not to get too crazy about gear (I should listen to my own advice here...LOL). New gear is fun and exciting, no doubt, but, in the end, you are still left with the fact that you *have to learn how to play* the new gear.

Learn some theory, especially the location of notes on the fretboard, scales (the pentatonic scale is lots of fun) and moving scales/bar chords for various keys. Theory always pays off in the end...IMHO. 

This should (hopefully) be helpful for a start. 

I'll stop here and wait to see what others tell you.

DON'T GIVE UP !!

Cheers

Dave


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Ya I second the jamming with others. Do it as soon as you can. I also feel playing live, and song writing as soon as you can are good too. It helps you come up with goals etc.

Some people have no problem practicing for hours alone. Other people (like me) learn better through jamming and playing live.


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## Vincent (Nov 24, 2007)

Some tips for beginners

# 1 If your not enjoying what your playing and or practicing then drop it and move on to something else.

# 2 learn a few of your favorite songs...need to keep beginner interested in learning so you need to learn a few easy songs if possible.

# 3 If you find it hard to learn a song or something then stop trying and come back to it in 6 months to a year and try it again.

# 4 try and record any songs you write when starting out...even if the quality sucks and the playing isnt great...you can listen to it later on and improve on the idea...you can write some wacky stuff when you first start out playing.

# 5 Its easier to learn on electric guitar...i started out on electric and then bought an acoustic to play a few months later after hand strength was built up.

# 6 Buy some music books/tab and learn your favorite songs...At one point in time I have over 1000 songs in tab which I just recently sold on ebay because i write my own music now and dont really learn other peoples music much anymore except for a song here and there.

# 7 When playing or writing try and find some kind of emotion in your music...lots of times I here beginner guitar players play lead guitar and its a bunch of notes and lacks any emotion at all...I usually sing over my tunes first then try and extract the melody from that and adapt it to lead guitar in some way...better to have 4 melodic notes than to have a bunch of notes that say nothing.

# 8 jam along with your favorite tunes

# 9 learn how to tune your guitar to the song your learning...It takes time to learn this if you dont have the tab/sheet music in hand...When I used to learn a song on my own by ear without the help of tab I would have to try and find a chord in the song I reconize by ear and tune my guitar to that chord...not always easy however ive leaned to know the difference between a G chord and an E chord just by the sound of it regardless of what pitch its in in standard tuning...this is a little advanced for the beginner but its a good thing to learn if you can.

# 10 have fun


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

#11
Keep your day job :banana:


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## crguitar411 (Dec 18, 2007)

- start fingering open chords with the middle, ring, and pinky fingers... especially the G chord. This will be invaluable down the road when you transition from chord to chord and when you learn those dreaded Barre chords


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

make sure to use all 5 fingers on your fretting hand, dont take shortcuts there because youll want them all to work for you at some time.

put a lot of focus into what your strumming/picking hand is doing, its as important as your fretting hand- maybe moreso early on

keep a cheesy tape recorder or something handy for analysis

pay attention to what other players are doing in the music you listen too- put on headphones and concentrate on the parts you like, letting it soak in.

dont turn it into work- always enjoy what your doing


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## RX-8 (Dec 17, 2007)

Some GREAT tips here... keep them coming!

I'm sure that there are others that would also be interested.


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## Telenator (Aug 9, 2007)

Fraser's number one tip is a biggy and I wish I kenw him when I started some 20 years ago.

No matter how difficult it is to do a stretch when chording or playing scales, always play with proper finger positioning, don't take comfortable shortcuts otherwise you'll develope nasty habits that will handcuff you later on.


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