Playing the Guitar Mastering the Fret Board

Not only is learning to play the guitar fun, but it could also be a very smart and shrewd move on your behalf. It doesn't' matter if your goal is to become a professional musician, a fleet fingers guitar god, or a campfire strummer, there will be some basic hurdles that you'll need to get over first on your way to your end goal. Hopefully, this piece will at least give you a heads up as to some of those hurdles ahead, and help you through them with previous knowledge.

How many times have you heard this story; "Was going to learn how to play the guitar, but it was just too hard. I couldn't figure out a section of 'Hot for Teacher', so I quit". Tragic. Not only should you not start with one of the all-time most difficult guitar songs written, but trying to mimic a genuine guitar god such as Eddie Van Halen is paramount to trying drive in the Indi 500 in a 1982 Chevette.

You have to first understand what you're goals will be. Are you striving to become a social guitar player? The guy who can strum out a few songs at a party or BBQ. If so, then you're best course of action is to learn what are known as TABS, simplified guitar notation for any level guitarist, and a great way to get your feet wet. Second, the internet is your friend. Find songs that you like, find the TAB version of it, print it out give it a try. You could be a natural.

Professional guitar lessons are not only for studying music theory or the serious musician. Most local instructors would be more than happy to show you some simple chords or progression to get you started in the world of playing the guitar. If you decide to progress from there, great, if not, then you've learned a new and popular skill.

When you do decide to start learning the guitar, learning on a popular song is the best way to go, because then you can easily identify if you are playing it right. Also, if you start to play "Smoke on the Water." It's a recognizable song, and people will be impressed. The best part about most popular songs, are they are based around a 3 or 4 chord progression, and can be played through, what are called, power chords, simplified 3 finger versions of the full major chord, and when amplified, sound just like the song does on the radio. Blues or country songs are also a good choice to learn on, as typically these genres have similar rhythms and are open to tons of different lyric variations.

What CD is in your home stereo or your car, what types of music do you listen to in your spare time? These are all good indicators of what a great starting place for your guitar career to start would be. Once you become more proficient with the guitar, you will find your taste's changing and learning more about the structure of songs, and why they sound the way they do. You will also start to hear the difference between a good guitar player, and a truly great guitar player. Even though your friends may not be able to hear the difference, you will.

The biggest reason that new guitar players stop playing, is the physical pain factor. Learning the correct position of the guitar, how to hold it, while sounding trivial, can reduce the eventual pain in the neck, shoulder, and wrist and hand, when done correctly. Don't let learning to play the guitar, be a painful, dreaded memory. The biggest complain, other than the sore wrist, is the sore fingertips. This is to be expected when first learning to play the guitar. Sometimes, the skin on the fingers will crack and peal, this is normal as the skin on your fingers needs to get thicker to compensate for the pressure of the strings. Fortunately, this is a universal rite of passage for all guitar players. Nothing can be done to stop the pain or the cuts from the strings, it does eventually go away, but when it does… congratulations, you are now a guitar player. Enjoy!

If you want to learn more about playing the guitar, be sure to try online guitar training also, the guitar reviews is a great place to start your training if your new, or a place to continue your training if you're looking for more challenges.

John Kauri