How to learn to play a guitar? It can be difficult, and even downright frustrating at times. Discover the best ways to learn to play the guitar at home.
If you want to learn to play the guitar, you may not know where to start.
What is the best way to learn to play the guitar? Can I learn to play the guitar at home or do I need an instructor? Should I first learn to play chords or scales? Should I learn chord music theory? Your mind may be overflowing with questions and you may feel intimidated. You may also wonder if you’ll be good on the guitar.
In some cases, new guitarists don’t always give themselves enough time to learn the fundamentals and are unfairly pressured to “be good” right out of the gate. Just relax. Learning to play acoustic guitar should be a fun experience that has more to do with the journey than the destination. Even the best guitarists find new ways to express themselves and experiment with new techniques.
As a beginner, one of the best ways to learn easy guitar is to start small and learn the style you like to play.
Even beginning musicians can learn to play easy songs on the guitar, helping you put any new skills or chords you learn into practice. This can help you stay motivated.
In this article, we will explain some tips and information that will help you successfully practice and learn to play the guitar.
What is the Best Way to Learn to Play the Guitar?
Anything worth doing is worth doing well – and often that means it takes time, patience, and practice to perfect a particular skill.
Learning to play the guitar is no different. Although you may be wondering what the easiest way to learn to play the guitar is, the truth is that there are no shortcuts or substitutions for developing a regular practice schedule.
One of the most important things for beginning guitarists to know is to be patient with themselves.
Even the best guitarists don’t become great overnight.
It’s important to set aside time each week—even if it’s just a few minutes a day—to sit down and practice chords, scales, and guitar-related techniques.
Developing good habits is harder than breaking bad ones.
While regular practice is a must when first starting out on the guitar, there are a few ways to make learning to play the guitar as easy (and fun) as possible
The 7 Best Methods of How to Learn to Play a Guitar
Getting Started with the Basics of Playing the Guitar
The first steps are always the hardest. But you have to learn to crawl before you can walk, that is, gain strength and confidence before you can get going.
Whether you learn to play the guitar at home and use the Master Guitar course, or decide to take weekly guitar lessons with a teacher in person, learning the fundamentals and practicing them can help you progress to more advanced techniques.
It may not be as exciting as playing your first single or strumming the chords to your favorite song, but little things like learning the names of the strings and the different parts of your guitar can help you build a greater familiarity with your instrument.
Here are some guitar basics and why you should learn them:
- How to tune a guitar – Keeping your guitar in good condition is essential to playing better and developing your ear. Learn to use a guitar tuner and make sure your strings are in tune.
- How to remember the names and order of the strings on the guitar – Learning the names of the strings and the order in which they appear on the guitar can help you identify pitches and notes, as well as transfer that knowledge to more advanced practices, such as reading tablature.
- How to hold a guitar pick – Holding a pick correctly can help you create a much more pleasing sound.
- How to play the notes on the guitar – One of the first things you will learn as a beginning guitarist is learning where to place your fingers on the fretboard to ensure that the note sounds clearly.
- How to strum like a pro – Little things like keeping your wrist loose while strumming can not only help achieve a more fluid playing style, but can also help lessen pain or tension after a practice session.
- Basic guitar chords – Learning to play guitar chords is one of the fundamental pillars of guitar education.
Even if you can’t play a single guitar (yet!)Beginning guitarists can easily pick up a few simple chords and strum along to their favorite songs as a rhythm.
Find the Best Guitar for You
Whether you’re learning to play an acoustic or electric guitar, or decide you want to learn bass, finding the right instrument is essential.
Buying your first guitar is an exciting experience for new musicians.
And while you may be tempted to choose a guitar based on its looks, it’s important to consider a number of factors when choosing the right guitar for you.
Consider the following when choosing your guitar: the type of tone you want, your budget, and even your physiology, such as whether you have small hands or whether you play guitar left-handed or right-handed.
The ideal is to go to your nearest music store and try each guitar directly and make your best decision.
Create an ideal learning environment
One of the first steps on your path to playing the guitar is to create an environment that makes you want to practice. If you’re learning guitar at home, creating a comfortable practice space is key to wanting to sit down and play more often.
Here are some things to keep in mind when setting up your practice space:
- Place your guitar in a prominent place. You already know the saying: “If you don’t see, you don’t think”. Keeping your guitar in sight is a visual cue that prompts you to play more often.
- Maintain optimal temperature. Playing in a well-ventilated room with a comfortable temperature can go a long way toward creating a comfortable environment for guitar practice.
- Proper lighting. Choose a room with lots of natural light or make sure it is well lit.
- A comfortable chair or stool to practice on. The right place to sit while practicing is also important. Make sure you have a chair or stool that encourages good posture.
- Privacy and/or tranquility. If possible, set up a space where you won’t be interrupted during the practice session.
- Inspirational decoration. Make your learning environment comfortable and attractive.
Develop your skills learning songs
Learning to play the notes, scales and chords are, without a doubt, the fundamentals of your musical education.
But the best way to learn to play the guitar is to put those techniques into practice while learning a new song.
Strumming a chord progression or practicing a hammer-on pull-off can feel so much more real when you play it on one of your favorite songs.
This makes the experience much more fun instead of practicing the same things over and over without context.
Learn songs by ear
Constant practice and repetition of different notes and chords can help you develop your ear, learning to correctly identify the notes and patterns in your playing.
Learning to play the guitar is much easier when you are able to distinguish the notes of a song, its tonality and the chords that compose it.
Learning which notes (sharps, flats, and roots) make up a particular scale can help you identify the key of a song.
In turn, that can help you determine what chords and notes are included in some of your favorite songs and how the artist decided to structure a riff or solo based on those scales.
Although learning to play by ear may seem difficult at first, with continued practice and active listening to music to apply your musical knowledge, you’ll become better at picking up songs by ear over time.
Start by applying this to your rhythm guitar playing and identifying which chords make up a particular melody.
Over time, as you progress, you’ll be able to use this knowledge to play guitar solos to your favorite songs, or start crafting your own guitar solos.
Practice, practice and practice
Enough can never be said about the importance of regular practice to improve as a guitarist.
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your practice sessions:
- Spend regular time practicing. Setting aside just 15 minutes to practice each day can help you steadily increase your proficiency as a guitar player.
- First warm up. Warming up your fingers and practicing a few scales or finger exercises can help you prepare for a practice session. It can also help you make sure your guitar is in tune.
- Record yourself. Sometimes it can be hard to hear how you’re improving without having a baseline to compare yourself to.
- Try new things. Don’t just play the same scales or chords over and over again.
- Try playing with other people or with a metronome. Even if you don’t feel confident enough (yet) to play with other musicians, practicing with a metronome or backing tracks can help you feel more comfortable playing with a band.
Be patient with yourself
Practice makes perfect… But patience is the key to everything. All guitarists have good days and not so good days.
When you first pick up the guitar, chances are you’ll hit some sour notes or chords won’t sound as clear as you’d like.
Even professional musicians have performances where they don’t feel like they’ve given it their all. When you’re learning to play the guitar, don’t let your frustrations overshadow your progress. Take every mistake in stride.
