I started playing the guitar back in 1993. It was a spur of the moment, thanks to caroling. You see, when I was young, I used to love caroling. Playing the guitar, is not as easy as it seems, especially when you develop calloused fingers over time.
The first thing, is to keep distractions away. Go find a secluded place in your house to play your guitar. Ensure there are no interruptions. Before you start playing, make sure the guitar is in tune - this is the foremost important aspect of playing a guitar.
Trust me, it can be frustrating after a while, start with the easy chords first, let your fingers acclimatize. Be sensible, accept the fact that you’re no Richie Sambora or Slash. However, persistence is the key.
After a while, you will realize that you’re more inclined to acoustic, or electric, or plucking, or rhythm, whichever works for you. Don’t force it out. This is when you set goals, either learning new chords, or playing a full song or switching chords with ease or simply learning to strum ala 4-Non Blondes.
Good luck with your guitar playing.
A Year Ago
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Tags: acoustic, caroling, chords, distractions, fingers, guitar, playing, plucking, rhythm, strum, Tips, tune
March 11th, 2008 at 5:08pm
Yea, I learned the guitar in Church too, more of an acoustic guy myself but i love pounding those Boss pedals every once in a while.
Tuning is definitely important, and for those who don’t have a tuner handy i would suggest an online tuner:
http://www.8notes.com/guitar_tuner/
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March 11th, 2008 at 8:42pm
Moses Francis I love the acoustics, especially playing rhythm.
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March 12th, 2008 at 7:42pm
I’ve always wanted to play the guitar, but after being laughed at cuz I’m a leftie, I’ve lost interest in the guitar.. heh..
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March 12th, 2008 at 11:13pm
JACQ Well, being a lefty is not a problem at all, you just need to switch the strings around.
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March 13th, 2008 at 1:42am
Leftie? nobody laughed at Jimmy Hendrix
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March 13th, 2008 at 5:06pm
Not forgetting the fact that one has to be prepared for callusses on the fingers at first!
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March 15th, 2008 at 8:31am
Moses Francis Yup yup.
Giddy Tigress Oh yes, painful at first….I remember my fingers bled when I first started….I played through the pain….
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