Cheap and portable, the guitar is probably the most popular musical instrument around. It provides a perfect accompaniment for a singer and is used just as well to shred in a metal group. Unfortunately, there’s more people who want to play than are capable. Many people indicate a willingness, “oh I’d love to play” but they don’t. While there’s no substitute for practice time, there are some tips to keep in mind to get you going.

Use the internet. There are enough resources there to get you started, even if it means you sifting through a couple bad, unhelpful sources. The first thing you ought to do is learn to read a tablature (the simplest way music is written for guitar). It’s simple to understand, rooted in logic opposed to something musically esoteric. That will unlock for you how to play melodies, but chords might not be written out this way. Learn to read chord charts. The same logic underlying tab (short for tablature) is behind chord charts. There’ll be dots on certain strings on certain frets indicating where to put your finger. Learn which lines are one of the six strings and learn which are frets and this should be simple.

Producing a musical sound may be another matter. It’s harder to get that good, clear, sustain, and frequently a note is accompanied with a small buzz, or something unclear. This is natural and it happens to everyone at first. Be sure to press down on the string with the very tips of your finger, not the flat part you can see when you look at your open palm. This is important. Also, be sure to press down near the fret, but no part of your finger should touch any part of the fret. Also, it’s common for the finger you’re using to touch one string to be accidentally touching another string also. This is obviously bad. The most crucial thing is understanding that your fingers will change-with time on the instrument they become increasingly strong, flexible, and independent. Beginners frequently say things like, “it’s impossible for me to move my fingers like that.” In a way they’re right, because their fingers aren’t in shape for it yet, but with time it becomes very possible. Usually less time than they think.

Practice should be regular. It may take some resolve since the beginning stages of learning an instrument are normally marked by what can be called mild cacophony, but understand that the sound will improve. In any case, practice despite however bad it may sound and soon you’ll be practicing because you enjoy the sound. Also, improvement is so gradual that sometimes you won’t even notice it yourself. But trace how far you’ve come along and it’ll encourage you. One day it’ll hit you: “wow, I remember when I couldn’t do this and now it’s so easy,” even though prior to that realization you may feel you haven’t got much better.

Author Bio: Long & McQuade’s Musical Education Center offers professional guitar lessons for all different skill levels. Learn how to play Gibson guitars today at Long & McQuade!

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