Beginner Tips #1
Choose a goal whether it’s learning a song or mastering the instrument. Be proactive in the learning process, ask questions and try to solve problems yourself. If you’re paying for lessons you’ll get more out of them.
Get as much free advice as possible but be specific. Find an artist you’d like to sound like, learn everything about who their influences are and what kind of training they had. Many Blues and Country players are self-taught and don’t read music. Learning theory is a separate subject from technique. Try to keep the theory side as simple as possible. I recommend studying some basic piano. Learning theory on guitar is somewhat counter intuitive because there’s 3 places to play every written note. Looking at the piano keyboard gives one a better idea of the relationships of different notes.
Guitar tablature is great but It just shows the correct fingering. Players who learn with tab don’t learn to count beats and bars the way standard notation forces you to. If you positively don’t want to learn theory guitarists still need to know the names of all the notes and chords so they can communicate with other musicians. I find it takes almost as much effort to avoid learning theory as it does to just learn it (basic theory). As a beginner just worry about getting your fingers used to holding down strings and producing clear notes/chords. You don’t need to think about which note you’re playing. Try to learn a few songs/melodies strictly by imitation. I don’t really start doing any theory (aside from naming chords and open strings and building Maj/min scales) for the first 6 months or so (depending on the student). Teaching Musical Theory and Guitar Technique are two separate subjects so I try to rely on the students desire to understand pieces they’ve already learned.
Finally visualize scales, riffs and chord progressions without actually holding a guitar. Athletes use this method It is just as important as physically practicing but can be done anywhere anytime. Probably best not to try when driving or using power tools. Remember “C.C.S.D.”. Calluses, Coordination, Strength, and Dexterity. I’ll be posting an actual video lesson ASAP. Cheers
