... THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT GUITAR ...
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 - Start playing early in life -- it's therapeutic.
2 - Get as good a guitar you can afford. You will quit if you get frustrated so why chance it?
3 - Get a teacher. Scrape the money up. Do whatever it takes. You will learn twice as fast and likely play better.
4 - Play with friends as soon as you have 3 chords down. Playing with others motivates you more than practicing alone in your bedroom.
5 - Get a metronome and USE it. It should be a required purchase with your first guitar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6 - Don't think all tabs/songs off the Internet are right. Use them as a reference. To find better stuff get actual authentic guitar tab books of your favorite bands. The authors are pros and get paid to write that stuff. Think NoteBoat at GN.
7 - Try to digest a little theory every day even if it is only 5 minutes at a time. It will take awhile but you'll learn faster than otherwise.
8 - Write down (on paper, not just in your head) a rough idea of your practice schedule. How can you get somewhere without a plan or roadmap?
9 - Practice using very slow motions with anything new. If you rush it you'll mess up and learn to play messed up.
10 - Speed comes with time, practice slowly with the metronome and proceed in small increments. It works.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11 - Playing guitar is not a race. Don't be the guy who learns 30 songs in 3 months only to forget them a day later. Guitar is a life-long deal -- take it easy.
12 - If something hurts, take a break (especially if you are new to guitar). I took breaks about every 5 to 10 minutes when I first started.
14 - Since you'll have them a long time, get a good equipment (guitar stand, cables, amps, whatever). They are investments in your hobby. I've killed 4 cheap cords before I wised up. Don't be cheap, sacrifice something else.
15 - Tune your guitar every time you practice/play and that doubles when playing with others. Why sound bad playing the right thing the right way when it's just your guitar being out-of-tune?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16 - Change your strings! If you are young and poor this does not apply. A pack costs maybe $3-4 if you buy them in 3-packs. Can you afford a dollar a week? Why go six months and have funk hanging on your strings killing your sound?
17 - If a string breaks, change them all. If you apply to the aforementioned suggestion you can just change a single string. If you don't change your strings at least once a month change them all when one breaks.
18 - Get organized. Don't have billions of papers you printed off the Internet all over your coffee table, desk, computer, or floor. Buy a 3-hole punch, punch all the sheets and put them in binders (you'll thank me later).
19 - Have everything you may need when you need it. Get your graphite pencil, string winder, string cutter, peg puller, cotton cloth, extra picks, extra (full) packs of strings, a toothbrush, toothpicks and other accessories in a small plastic container. Bring it whenever you go jam with others so you can fix things if you break strings or something goes wrong.
20 - As a noob, when experienced players told me things, often I blew them off thinking I was smart enough. I got it. I know what I'm doing. They're nuts...or old...or too advanced to help...or (fill in the blank here). Yet the truth is, now after having played over a decade, it's easy to see I was dumb and they were right. Go back and read this list again.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Did you notice there's no number 13? Reality is if you follow all of these these you're too regimented. I don't because I picked up some bad habits along the way. If I only my future self could have handed me this list when I first started playing. Eh, wishful thinking. Yet I think I know what should be done to be a better player and get more out of it all. Ultimately you're gonna do whatever you want. Guitar is a hobby. Always ask veteran players what THEY do so you can bypass the common pitfalls. Months ago at the library I happened to read something interesting.
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts." -- former president Calvin Coolidge
I hope everyone drops by here to add some of their wisdom, teachings, discoveries, or tips. Everyone needs help!
