Day: March 16, 2020

So you want to play the guitar? Cool. The basics are quite easy.

But there are 5 tips you need to know if you want to learn to play the guitar. We’ve put them in the form of questions for you to answer.

Are you genuinely interested?

1. This is by far the most important thing. Interest gets you through half of whatever difficulties you would encounter. Because if you are interested to learn to play the guitar, nothing can stop you. But, if you are not really interested, then you’d stop at the slightest reason or excuse. Parents, don’t force your kids to play the guitar; but don’t stop them if they genuinely want to learn.

Do you sing?

• Most beginners who want to learn to play the guitar do so because they sing. And they want some form of easy accompaniment to their singing which, more often than not, only a guitar can give.
• Do you have a guitar?

Do you have a guitar?

• It’s really best to have your own guitar. It will be your best companion for the next months or so while you learn to play, and will become your best companion when you already know how to play. Your guitar will sleep by your side. And you’ll be bringing your guitar wherever you go, given the chance. You and your guitar will form a certain unbreakable bond.

Can you read a chord chart?

• Chord charts are printed charts made up of bars and frets on a guitar’s finger board. They’re marked with symbols indicating where your finger should be placed. Some chord charts show actual pictures of hands making the particular chords on the guitar. They’re so old school but they’re very helpful. And you usually get them from song magazines.

Do you have access to YouTube tutorials?

Nowadays, with most young people having access to the Internet, it’s easy to find beginner’s guitar tutorials on YouTube. You just need to find the right tutorial that suits you.

For beginners, it’s really best to begin with learning the basic chord patterns:

• The major chords: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
  • The sharps (^#) and flats (^b): B^b, F^#, G^#/A^b, C^#/D^b, E^b, etc.
  • The minor chords: Am (A minor), B^bm (B flat minor), Cm, C^#m (C sharp minor), etc.
  • The 7th progression: C7, C^#7, D7, E^b7, F7, G7, A7, etc.
  • The Fret: learning to use the index finger to make bar (barre) chords.

Have you thought about taking guitar lessons?

As a beginner or even as someone who has been playing for a long time. Learning to play guitar gets a lot easier when you have a guitar teacher. I’ve got a good friend, Guitar Tuition East London who teachers a lot of student in London. And does a great job to help them learn guitar much quicker than those I’ve seen with other methods.

I know their website has some free resources so that might help you if you aren’t based in London as well.