Easy Tips on How to Learn to Play the Guitar

By: Michiel Van Kets

Many people dream of being able to master a musical instrument and a popular choice is often an acoustic or an electric guitar. Learning to play should be fun and enjoyable, there are plenty of helpful tips with free chords and music to be found online that can get you started in your new interest. For a beginner, there is no need to go out and buy an expensive model the first thing you do, wait until you have learnt enough to be able to play it with some degree of proficiency and developed your style before investing big. For learning any new skill motivation and dedication will be important, holding the guitar correctly, and learning the chords will all come with practice. Once you have learned some basic chords you can start to play some popular songs. This will make the whole experience much more gratifying. There are various options in how a person learns to play and which you opt for will probably depend on how much time you have. You will find Guitar teachers in the local paper or ads in local music shops. There are plenty of books out there for beginners demonstrating fretting chords and some easy to play songs to begin with. First things first, you have to learn how to play the basic chords. It is easy to practice them once you know them and you will be surprised how many popular songs that only use these basic chords. When forming the chords with your left hand (or visa versa if you are left handed) it is important to press down hard otherwise the note won’t sound as it should. These are called your fret fingers and they will get sore at first until they get calluses on them. Practice different chords until it becomes quite easy to switch between them. Set some time aside each day for practice, this is usually a good way to learn; just 15-20 minutes should suffice as long as it is regular. Even if you think you are too busy or too tired try to maintain your practice as you otherwise you will slip into bad habits and the guitar will end up in a corner gathering dust. After you have mastered a few chords move onto learning some easy songs as this will make it as lot more interesting and fun than simply playing the same chords over and over again. You will in your local music shop be able to find some easy, well known songs, or just go online and find the sheet music you desire. Don’t pick to difficult songs in the beginning otherwise you will get disheartened.  Before going out and spending a lot of money for music sheets and books check online as there are lots that can be downloaded these days. Free guitar chords and free guitar tabs are not hard to find. Advice on how to string your guitar and tune it, strumming patters and instructions for a guitar pedalbord is other valuable information to be found online. It takes a lot of motivation and patience to become adept at playing the guitar, if you enjoy it and find yourself improving then don’t give up as it will get easier the more you practice. You could also employ the services of a music teacher to start you off; this might save you time and beginner’s frustration. They will often design a course of study specifically for you, or you could even join a local class and meet some new friends who are interested in the same kind of music.