It Takes Practice.

Playing an instrument should not be forced.  It just does not work. It is a hard long process to learn an instrument, it will not come easy.  It only becomes easier with effective practice.  Notice how I did not say just practice, but effective practice.  What I mean by this, is to practice with purpose. Isolate what you want to work on and stay focused.  Practice slowly, no need to rush. Let your mind and fingers find each other. Most times, our brains will be way ahead of our physical abilities.  Playing the guitar places a great demand on our hands and fingers.  We are not used to contorting our fingers into strange shapes on the fretboard while doing chords or playing leads. It takes time to develop what academics consider to be muscle memory.  With repetition we will automatically develop an ability to play the guitar using minimal physical effort.  We will automatically remember certain, chords, techniques and melody. That is why when we see and hear a good guitar player, it seems effortless.  We could also obtain that status, but not without a tremendous effort.

Try and find a place in your home to set-up as a practice area.  Do not practice where there are other distractions, such as in front of the television or computer. Make sure you find a quiet relaxing place with a comfortable chair.  Now your mind is now set to practice effectively. Stretch your fingers and wrist, not too much. Loosen your muscles,  just like a runner stretching before a run.  I like to do a chromatic scale up and down the fretboard:

Start with the open string, place your index finger on the first fret, middle finger on second fret, and continue using all four fingers. One fret per finger, this is the first position and then continue on to the next string. If you are comfortable,  go back up the strings. This will increase your dexterity for lead playing and help build your finger muscles. Make sure you use a metronome, eventually you will eternalize a sense of time and precise playing.  Happy practicing.                                                 

Guitar Lessons Necessary?

I come across this conversation very often. Do I really need guitar lessons?  Usually, while talking amongst friends and associates who are interested in picking up the guitar.  The conversation starts like this, " Hey I have an old guitar hanging around, I want to learn it, it's something that I have been meaning to do for a long time."  Seems like almost every household has some form of a guitar lurking within the confines screaming to be played, whether it be an old student model or something a little more exotic, perhaps a 1959 Les Paul Custom Black Beauty. If you come across that one, please let me know.  

The guitar is a complicated instrument, it is difficult to learn and master.  Normally taking years to perfect.  We all know of the local guitar prodigy, but let's be honest most of us are not that lucky to blessed with such talent.  Most of us have to work extremely hard at learning an instrument.  Not only hard work, but patience with ourselves is absolutely necessary.  A good guitar teacher will present the appropriate material in an orderly and logical manner, which will help you progress at an accelerated rate.  One of the main reasons why a new guitar player becomes frustrated is due to trying to learn songs that are just too complicated or they are working off of music that was poorly written. There could be many other reasons that are easily corrected, which would be detected with proper instruction.  Due to the internet, thousands upon thousands of tabs are easy to locate and download. It is hard for the beginning guitarist to differentiate the good tabs from the bad tabs. Not all tabs are created equal.

There is nothing wrong with picking up the guitar and learning on your own, most of us started this way. Getting books, downloading tabs and Youtube videos.  There are so many resources now available to us, it becomes an extremely time consuming and daunting process.  What is good and what is bad? What should I learn?  This ultimately leads to frustration and this steals our joy for learning the guitar.  Get the most out of your guitar. Get a good teacher. Find one that works for you, with you.  You will surprise yourself at how good you will get.