| | | Hey Friend,
I was doing some email clean-up yesterday.
I've been a bit remiss in my duties - you may have listed a guitar goal or problem when you subscribed for the newsletter. I realized I need to make it a point to respond to the questions or problems in a more timely manner, so I decided today is a great day to start.
Fortunately, there tends to be a common thread through many of them.
With that, I want to give a bit of generic advice that applies to every one of us. Many people who sign up for the newsletter are just getting started with guitar. They've caught the fever and have taken some action to start down the path.
The wisdom I'm about to impart has been known and taught by the ancients. Their words come to us in texts dating back a few millennia. This insight is as true for the person who has just experienced the first spark of inspiration and the life-long guitar player.
This is the secret to becoming a successful guitar player.
It's very simple.
Get started.
Don't quit.
Did you get that? You didn't blink, did you? If you did, you might have missed it. Go back and read it again.
Get started... Don't quit.
Obviously, if you really want to play guitar, it shouldn't be too difficult to adhere to this rule of success.
Listen, you should give yourself a strong pat on the back. You have embarked on a lifelong mission of learning and improvement.
You have chosen an instrument that is very deceptive. Look around - everyone you see that plays guitar makes it look so easy. They're laying down smooth rhythms and ripping through solos with what seems to be effortless motion.
But what you're seeing is the finished product. These guitarist have worked through their personal guitar challenges and mastered them.
They have put in the work it takes to be able to play like that. They got started... and they didn't quit.
Every guitar technique has a learning curve. You first have to learn the technique, then you must practice it slowly to ingrain it into muscle memory. Once your muscles have the basic movements down, you need to practice to smooth the execution of the technique. Once you can smoothly play the technique at various speeds, only then does it start to fit its way into your regular playing.
In the beginning, it's about the basics.
- Finger strengthening.
- Learning basic chords.
- Learning the notes on the fingerboard.
- Chord changes.
- Simple picking and strumming techniques.
There's a lot going on, and it can be overwhelming. You fingers will hurt and they won't cooperate. Your hands will be sore. If you have no background with music, there's learning all about the mechanics of music - melody, harmony and rhythm.
The key to keeping your sanity is to take small steps, working on one thing at a time. And keeping the first rule of success in the forefront of your mind.
Get started.
Don't quit.
If you can take that to heart, you can and will be successful with guitar. Honestly, if you keep that rule in mind for anything that's important to you, you'll succeed there, too!
Peace~
Dave
P.S. You can relieve some frustration early on by learning to play some songs quickly. There's no better way to feel good about your progress than to play a song. Since chords are one of the biggest hang-ups new players have, I've written the guide to learning power chords.
With power chords, you can be playing a song within minutes of learning a few easy chord fingerings. You can check out Easy Power Chords right here - and be playing a song this afternoon!
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