9/27/07

10 Quick Ways to Improve Your Guitar Playing

1. Play acoustic AND electric guitars! This will benefit you when you're stuck in a situation (pretty girl wants you to play her a song), and there's only an acoustic (or electric) around. Be fluently well at BOTH and this will help you in the long run. Not to mention, acoustic guitar strings are harder to play and will help develop calloses on your fingers, which makes playing the guitar a whole lot easier in the future!

2. Play along with your favorite songs. Believe it or not, most people give up learning a song after only 5 minutes of practice! Like our music teachers told us in school, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Sit down with your favorite artist and take the time to learn the song perfectly. This will help improve your technique AND your songwriting ability. You can't beat that!

3. Use the right pick for you. Some people play better with hard picks, others play better with soft picks. It's that easy, experiment, see what's best for you. It makes a world of difference. And for the love of the Rock Gods, ALWAYS keep a pick by your side, better safe than sorry!

4. Practice at least 30 minutes a day. It doesn't have to be all at once, everyone has busy lives, but just make it happen! This is VERY important.

5. Listen to different styles of music . Every person on this earth listens to their own selection of music, be one of the few to EXPAND your listening to styles you haven't bothering checking out before. Hell, who knows, you might even catch your new favorite band!

6. Study up on influences. If you like Clapton, find out what CLAPTON listened to growing up. Same with any other guitarist, everyone has influences and if you want to be great, follow in the footsteps of the greatest!

7. Join a band. This is a great way to communicate with other musicians and learn the ways of the music industry! Get some gigs, learn to play in front of people and before you know it, you'll be playing in an arena!

8. Practice with a metronome. A metronome is the most underused piece of musical gear in the world today, and it happens to be one of the most important! If you can't afford to buy one, there's plenty of free ones up for grabs on the internet! Put in your tempo, and learn to play in time!

9. Stick with it. Don't give up 3 weeks after you get your new guitar. Learn to pursue your passion and you WILL NOT regret it, that's a promise!

10. Love your instrument. Sound cheesy? Not at all. Make your guitar your best friend. Learn to play it in different moods and in different situations. There's no telling how many times I've been lonely and picked up my guitar. It's the best friend in the world to have, and that's no lie!

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