Subject: Work the Guitar Fun-damentals
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, A topic I haven't talked about recently is the fundamentals of playing guitar. Do you remember what the fundamentals are?
Most people who start learning how to play guitar have a similar intention - to play the songs they love with as much ease and skill as the artists that created those songs. Unfortunately, after a few attempts, the realization that guitar isn't as easy as "they" make it look sinks in. Sadly, the result is a guitar that sits in a corner, closet or under a bed. That's a tragedy! Let's see if I can give you a new way to think about learning guitar. "Fun-damentals" First, let's talk about the word 'fundamentals.' Do you see the first three letters of the word? They spell 'fun!' Fun is something that is enjoyable and entertaining, and guitar has the very real potential to open up a world of fun to both you and other people. Instead of looking at these skills as mundane and struggling to practice them, consider this: every guitar player in the world must master guitar fundamentals to some degree. A classical or jazz guitarist will invest countless hours studying the technical aspects of music and guitar technique. Mastering these musical styles takes a very high degree of discipline and years of dedicated practice. Rock, Country and Blues, on the other hand, are pretty forgiving at the entry level. I hesitate to say this, but as long as you can remember some basic information about your guitar and can learn a handful of chord shapes, you can easily get by playing thousands of songs. In fact, that could be enough to have you playing in a band - even professionally! But one thing remains, regardless of what you want to do with guitar: you still have to put in time and effort to get these basic fundamentals down. So how do you keep your motivation to power past the inevitable frustration that comes when you have to spend time practicing fundamentals? You do this by remembering that 'fun-damentals' are the key to playing all your favorite songs. Your fingers will hurt. You'll make the same mistakes over and over again. You'll feel like you aren't making progress. But by working the basic skills of guitar you are going to enable yourself to eventually play the music that got you started down this guitar path. One Thing at a Time When you start out it's best to isolate each of the skill areas until you get the hang of them. For example, to gain the skill of picking, you don't need to know any chords. You can simply pluck individual strings and work on downward picking until you can play notes smoothly. Don't think that you're only learning one skill, though. Even when you're focused on one fundamental, you're building strength and abilities that help your overall playing. When you practice picking, there are a number of different areas you're working on. Your picking hand is learning timing and rhythm (groove), picking angle and attack (how hard or soft you're plucking the strings), string skipping, control, the distance between the strings, accuracy, even muting techniques. Sure, you might not be exercising all these techniques the first time you practice picking, but you are building a foundation of work. And we haven't even considered what's potentially going on with the fretting hand. Another example might be learning chords. Your fretting hand (for right-hand guitar players this is the left hand) has to be taught to remember the various chord shapes and the proper amount of pressure to use when pressing the strings. The muscles have to get used to the quick changes in chord shapes and how to make those changes in efficient ways. Your fingers are going through changes as the tips toughen up. Each finger has to learn independence and the best placement for notes to play clearly. There's also stretching in the fingers, hand and forearm that allow for the weird contortions that some chords require (okay, all chords). On top of all that, add the skills of strumming or plucking arpeggios that occur at the same time you're making all these chord changes. There's a lot going on! But can you see how all of these different skills work together to allow you to play the songs you want to play? Whether you realize it or not, your ears are also getting a workout. The more you learn and practice, the easier it is for your ears to tell when something sounds right. Believe it or not, practicing all these basic skills is helping you develop your tone - the sound that is unique to you. It's like a fingerprint - no one else will have your tone. Keep At It These are all fundamental abilities you develop to enable music making. Each individual skill you practice will directly affect your ability to play the songs you love. Everyone starts in the same place. Not a single guitarist was born with the skills it takes to play guitar. Sure, some have a natural talent that lets them play more easily that other people, but they still have to toughen their fingers. They still have to learn the techniques. And they have to dedicate themselves to doing the work. Be patient with yourself. Learn the basic skills and practice them until you're comfortable. They get easier as you repeat them. Practice, play, repeat. Repeat. Repeat... Remember the goal is fun, and the fundamentals are the path to get there. Keep rockin'! Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! 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