When you are just starting playing guitar, there are several fun moments, in which you really enjoy learning about chords, scales, arpeggios, and all these music theory concepts that are so important to out development as guitar players.
At other times, however, it may become a burden to play so hard on exercises to increase your speed, flexibility and dexterity at the instrument.
It is at these moments that you may start to think if it really makes sense to spend so much time to become a guitar player…
I have gone through these moments myself, but there are several ways in which you can improve your perseverance and
What you need to understand, however, is that nobody started on this art without knowing everything. Everyone, even the best players had once to start from zero, and build their guitar shops little by little. It takes a while to see the results, and it is not an easy process.
To play the guitar as a pro, you need to have a guitar pro attitude: which means, playing everyday, and doing all that is necessary to achieve your goals.
It is not different from any other activity: practice and effort are the building blocks for every success in life. The difference, however, is that as a guitar player you are doing something you truly love. This BIG difference makes it much easier to enjoy even the hard work to become a guitar player.
When I started still as a teenager, I knew that it would take a long time to get really good at what I wanted. This doesn’t make difference, however, when you are truly committed to achieve your goals with the instrument.
The Instrument Matters
One truth about playing the guitar is that having a good instrument makes a lot of difference.
if you don’t have a good guitar, it gets difficult to do some techniques that are basic. For example, it gets difficult to change chords quickly.
Also, in a bad guitar it is difficult to solo quickly and with confidence.
That’s why you need to buy a quality instrument. It doesn’t need to be an expensive, but it should be reliable.
My Recommendation: two guitar models that are very cost effective are the following:
- Ibanez: great guitars and excellent price.
- Fender Squier: these are less expensive model sold by Squier, but also with great quality.
Reading Music is an Important Skill
Many players avoid learning to read music. This is a mistake. Even if you’re playing pop styles that are not typically written in music notation, you’ll benefit from reading music.
The thing is that music notation (the traditional style, not tablature) is a shared language between musicians. If you don’t know how to read music, you lack communication skills to talk to other musicians.
Typically, if you don’t read music, you’re restricted to learn songs by ear, or by watching other people. This is not the best way to do work, specially if you want to play professionally.
Reading music notation is not so hard as you imagine. It just takes some initial effort and lots of practice. In a sense, it is not very difficult from learning to read in your language.
Pro Tip: If you want to learn the basics for reading guitar music, I created a free PDF course that you can get by email. Get your free copy here.
Practice is the Most Important Factor
Some people believe that playing guitar is a natural gift that only the ones the were born with it can achieve. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Playing guitar is a skill that you acquire. It is not born with you.
Even people that have a lot of talent need to work hard to play the guitar. The only difference is that they played a lot early in their lives, so now they are at a different level.
But you can also learn the guitar like anybody else. You just need to practice everyday, as much as possible, until you achieve your goals.
Quick Secret: You can improve your practice time by using good quality material. An online course that I used in the past is Advancing Guitarist. This online service provides a good set of practical exercises, distributed in the form of video and tutorials. This online resource will provide everything you need to practice your skill and become a better musician.