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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

How To Play The Guitar - What Every Beginner Should Know About How To Play The Guitar

By Daniel Strongly

There's actually a song called "Anybody Can Play Guitar." This more or less says it: most folks can learn a few scales or chords, and in a few weeks they'll be strumming along with their chums. Yet if you really want guitar mastery, you'll need practice, practice. A quick starter's guide for beginning guitarist follows.

You should be aware that in the beginning, playing guitar will hurt. When I was in the eighth grade and started playing guitar, my fingertips got so raw they actually started bleeding. This is common. Your hand muscles will also be sore, just like any muscle that you work out for the first time.

The more you play the quicker you'll build calluses on your fingertips and strengthen your guitar muscles. By the time you stop hurting, you'll already be comfortable moving around the fretboard, probably even playing or writing some songs. I'm no musical genius, but I was serviceable within a month or so, some progress even more quickly.

During these weeks, master tuning your guitar and the strings. Learn the most useful scales shapes. Start with the pentatonic, then the major and scales. You'll be getting those muscles and calluses while learning how the notes on the fretboard relate. You'll see the guitar in a new way, and you'll get the most useful music theory.

This is also a good time to learn the open chords, and the basic major, minor and dominant seventh chord shapes up and down the fretboard. Practice changing between these smoothly. I remember being frustrated early on; it can be difficult when you start. But within a few weeks, you'll be smoothly making basic chord changes.

Now that you've accomplished the basics, learn some songs. The twelve bar blues is used in many songs; you should now be able to easily pull this off. Listen to your favorite songs and learn the chord changes. Work on your ear or get tabs for these so you can play with them note for note.

By doing this you'll be teaching yourself about song structure and how to write a song that speaks to you. A guitar isn't just a toy; it is a tool for expressing those feelings only music can speak to. Jump from learning the songs you love by others to experimenting with writing songs others might love by you.

When one learns how to play guitar, one learns something mystical. Mastering pain, your body obeys your will. Chords, scales and their shapes make songs you love come out of your hands. Soon the same hands and guitar will write something that can be translated into any tongue: music. This is a magical power, one which you can have in no time at all. - 18780

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