6 Tips That Guitar Beginners Mostly Ignore

I think we all have ignored advice that others have told us on the guitar. These things hurt us getting better on the guitar.

I’m here to list ((((some)))) 6 tips you shouldn’t ignore.

You shouldn’t ignore this tip # 1:

Record yourself playing guitar.

Person filming side of the road and cars. — Use your cellphone to record anything, including yourself playing guitar

Record yourself playing guitar so you can hear what you REALLY sound like.

Yes I wouldn’t even want to follow this advice when I’m first starting out. At least in the first couple of weeks starting out. But I encourage you to do it, because it will make you cringe. And that cringing will only make you better. But don’t allow it to make you want to give up the guitar. Use it as your fuel to only get better.

Kinda like Rocky when he lost to Apollo Creed in Rocky 1. In Rocky 2 he used it as fuel to get even better and became a powerhouse, a beast of a man. More dangerous.

This can happen to you also. Your failure can become your greatest weapon to make you better.

Instead of looking at it in defeat, use it to keep getting better and better. Then it will cause you to play it better the next time, till you are playing it correctly and right.

Then your challenge will be to get it where it is playing exactly the way it’s supposed to be played and the music will sound great to your ear…. and then you’ll WANT to hear yourself play on your recordings.

You shouldn’t ignore this tip # 2:

Be patient while learning guitar.

Be patient while learning guitar. Beginners seem to think that they’re going to be the one who learns guitar quick and fast. But just like the bunny rabbit who beats the turtle in the beginning, that makes it even worse when you tell them to be patient because they already know how to play two to three songs in a very short amount of time.

But they don’t realize that they still have a long way to go. They don’t realize or are to tired to realize from playing those two or three chords that made them be able play the songs real quick, is just an allusion…..

But they STILL have to learn techniques and a thousand other things….. Playing two songs real quick makes them think that they have the guitar down pat and that it’s going to be smooth sailing.

Yes, it makes them think that they can learn guitar quick, which leads them to THINK that the REST of what they need to learn, will be learned fast.

But it doesn’t work like that. You can’t just think that you’re going to learn ALL open chords, barre chords, real quick.

And then single notes, bends, tremolos, hammer ons, pull offs, harmonics, timing, tapping, slides AND playing the guitar softer and then louder.

Then bouncing off your root note and then playing the chord all in one succession, without hitting other strings your not supposed to hit, when you play a chord. And fingerstyle playing and……. you get my point!

AND a thousand of other little things you need to do, if you want to be a professional guitar player.

When professional rock stars are playing the guitar, they are doing A LOT of things when they are playing. It just doesn’t look like it. But they are doing ALL kinds of things.

Keith Richards playing massively on his guitar. Black and white picture. — Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones

Big things and little things,….. like maintaining proper holding of the guitar for proper strumming effects. Because how you hold your guitar effects your sound.

They are strumming up and down WITH effect of different inflections, they are not playing like a stiff robot, mindlessly strumming real stiff, there’s a place for that but they know that they must hang loose sometimes and be relaxed in their playing and drop off the beat sometimes.

They can be playing a little bit of bends and a little bit of hammers ons.

Inflections of notes, as they throw in noise, where you don’t even know they are doing that unless you really pay attention and listen.

They are doing ALL KINDS of things on the guitar. They are just making it look easy, and it is easy. To them it is easy.

Because they have been practicing for a long time. But to you it won’t be easy because you’re just starting and tackling ALL these things.

Chuck Berry playing great guitar sounds. — Chuck Berry

It’s like trying to tackle EVERY player on the field in the NFL in your first few games and you’ve never played football before….. hows that for a illustration…. But that’s what you’re up against, if you think you’re going to learn quick.

Beware! I warned you. Every dog has it’s day but that same dog had to earn it and have patience before he got the bone because most owners I know like to tease their dog by making the dog bow or sit before he gave him the bone, at least some of the time.

Beware! I warned you. Every dog has it’s day but that same dog had to earn it and have patience before he got the bone because most owners I know like to tease their dog by making the dog bow or sit before he gave him the bone, at least some of the time.

The dog had to patiently wait to have teeth before he could eat…. You know what I’m trying to say.

IT’S going to take time and patience. Yes you can learn QUICKER, if you practice more. Because the more you practice, the quicker you learn. But learn it in 2 weeks? No. Yes, you can learn it quicker but not that quick.

IT’S going to take time and patience. Yes you can learn QUICKER, if you practice more. Because the more you practice, the quicker you learn. But learn it in 2 weeks? No. Yes, you can learn it quicker but not that quick.

You practice a WHOLE lot and you’ll get their quicker.

Just like Jimi Page of Led Zeppelin, it just looked like he learned it quick but it actually took him years of playing in bands and gigs and studio sessions with various professional musicians to become up and up on the guitar to where he was the boss of the guitar, to where he was good.

Don’t make me have to bring up Jimi Hendrix again to prove a point… the man DID NOT learn guitar overnight in two months.

It took years of playing on the Chitlin Circuit with very, very, famous musicians as a back up or back ground player, where he used this, to chop up his skills to gain strength to play the guitar real good.

Jimi Hendrix in the army picture, before he got famous. — Jimi Hendrix younger days picture before he became famous

But when Jimi Hendrix first was practicing guitar he didn’t learn it overnight. His dad said, “Jimi would call him to come outside and watch,” as he Jimi, played the guitar.

And Jimi kept saying, “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Because every time he was playing a chord on the guitar, he kept hesitating and couldn’t get his timing right on the guitar.”

Jimi was in the developmental stage or the incubation stage, for use of another word. He too needed patience.

And it finally payed off because after years of practice and playing, he went on to rule the world! And became the greatest guitarists, the world has ever seen.

You shouldn’t ignore this tip # 3:

Let a good guitar teacher look at your playing.

Man showing another man how to play something on the guitar. Photo courtesy of JamieMBrown from flickr.com

Let a good guitar teacher look at your playing. But who wants a guitar teacher staring down our throats when we are first starting guitar.

I got this! I got this! I can figure this out on my own, the beginner says. Besides, there’s YouTube, blogs and ALL kinds of websites to help me sort this out, to help me figure this out. Besides, guitar teachers in real life, they just want my money!

Most guitar players ignore this advice, to get a guitar teacher. I mean when’s the last time you seen a whole group of kids rushing to go to their guitar teacher? Doesn’t happen to much.

You’ll find a group of kids getting ready to play basketball or maybe even play football on the streets but not to many trying to find a guitar teacher.

Oh they’ll find someone to teach them on YouTube but that’s all well and good but YouTube’s not going to see the mistakes you’re making, with that clear hawk eye that your guitar teacher can give you.

And he can give you it quick, the information and the know how and the hands on experience, when he sees all the mistakes you’re making.

Which will save you valuable time, which in turn will make you excel at you getting better at the guitar quicker than you would have by watching YouTube and the sort.

Now don’t get me wrong, YouTube is great. Blog sites are great. Lesson books are great, but use all of them in combination with each other, it makes for a incredible speed learning of the guitar.

So use guitar teachers, YouTube, blog sites, Quora, Yahoo answers, Reddit, and all. And ALL these will strengthen your guitar playing to be the best it can be. But leave one out and it will be that much weaker.

Now don’t get me wrong, YouTube is great. Blog sites are great. Lesson books are great, but use all of them in combination with each other, it makes for a incredible speed learning of the guitar. So use guitar teachers, YouTube, blog sites, Quora, Yahoo answers, Reddit, and all. And ALL these will strengthen your guitar playing to be the best it can be. But leave one out and it will be that much weaker.

REMEMBER, back in the day, in the not to distant past, they had to travel, town to town to find the best guitar teachers. There was no internet. So if you really wanted to learn you had to get off your butt and go find one in your town or city.

A long winding road, a birds eye view from on top.

And if you couldn’t find one where you lived, you’d have to leave where you lived and go out of town just to find someone to teach you. And not only that but you HAD to remember what they taught you because you knew you may not travel that far to see them again. Especially if they lived hundreds of miles away.

A spectacular birds eye view of the city and buildings, from above.

So if someone says to you they are to tired to learn guitar, give them a strange look because the door to start learning the guitar is right in front of them on the screen called the computer or cellphone and tablets, now. And also, your friendly neighborhood guitar teacher.

I remember people saying back in the past, “Well I can’t learn guitar because their ain’t no guitar teachers where I live.” And they weren’t willing to travel far to learn the guitar.

But those that did travel out of town to learn, were looked upon as those who were to be admired for wanting to play the guitar.

Man with guitar standing very, very, close to fast moving train. Black and white picture.

So if someone says to you they are to tired to learn guitar, give them a strange look because the door to start learning the guitar is right in front of them on the screen called the computer or cellphone and tablets, now. And also, your friendly neighborhood guitar teacher.

You shouldn’t ignore this tip # 4:

Play rhythm guitar and solo guitar.

Play rhythm guitar and solo guitar. Most beginners are confused about rhythm and solo guitar playing so much that they think that there are certain guitars for solos. And certain guitars for rhythm guitars.

It quite comical when you tell them any guitar can do both solos and rhythm. I’m guilty of it too.

I remember me and my friend, when we were kids, that my friend was saying how he wanted to play rhythm guitar real bad, and that they can only be played on certain guitar brands.

And then after he gets good at rhythm guitar, he would in turn buy a solo guitar because you can’t play solos on a rhythm guitar, he so foolishly thought. And I believed that way also till after a while I realized you can play both solo and rhythm, all on the same guitar.

So take that confusion and then tell the beginner that not only can you play the rhythm guitar and the solo guitar all on the same guitar, but that it can be played on any guitar.

But now tell them they should play both rhythm and solo on the same guitar and don’t ignore either one of them. (the solo and rhythm). And they may tell you, “Well I can’t concentrate on two things at once.” So you have to tell them to practice (the solos and rhythm) separately at first and then mix them both up as you play the guitar.

But don’t ignore not playing both of them. Play both of them, solos and rhythm because you’re going to need them both in your playing because most rock songs you listen to will have both.

Now, I know back in the 90’s, when nu-metal came out, groups like Korn and Linkin Park got rid of solos in their songs and only kept the crunchy rhythm guitar sound because it sounded cooler to them.

But they didn’t get rid of them, the solos completely in their songs, they just shortened them, where they didn’t play them for that long of time, in their songs.

All the band members of the famous and popular group, Korn. Photo courtesy of alacoolb from flickr.com — Korn kinda got rid of solos in their songs, it doesn’t mean you need to get rid of solos

But again you’re going to need to play both rhythm guitar and solo guitar in your guitar playing because every song has them, well at least most. So one can’t live without the other.

Now I know you’re saying what if I end up being a rhythm guitarist and not a solo guitarist? Well you STILL need to learn it because what if the solo guitarist doesn’t show up for your gig or concert? Guess what? Everyone in the band are going to want you to cover the solo guitarist’s place of absence.

It’s expected that the guitarist be expendable. Besides you’ll make more money because you’ll be in demand because you’ll know how to play both styles. You’ll be the go to guy everyone wants in their band. If you choose to be in a band.

OR vice versa, if the rhythm guitarist doesn’t show up, you get to play the solos also, as well as the rhythm, of course.

You maybe tempted to ignore this advice because you want to play solo guitar only.

Or you may ignore this advice because you only want to play rhythm guitar only.

Well partner, you’re going to have to play both styles cause, I guarantee! You will come across a song with both components in them and you’ll want to play both of them because with the music coming out now, both styles are great (tasty) to do because the songs are sounding so good.

And not just Rock songs either. But even mellow songs. Not to mention even the old songs, the classics.

Don’t believe me then turn to your friendly neighborhood AMERICA’S GOT TALENT, AMERICAN IDOL, THE VOICE. They have all kinds of music on there now. ALL the way to Susan Boyle to Rock talents. And you think you’re gonna escape the madness those styles of playing that need rhythm AND solos? I think not.

Panoramic photo of the American Idol Experience stage at Disney Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World, stiched together from 6 individual photos, Own work (Original text: I created this work entirely by myself.) photo courtesy of RadioFan at English Wikipedia

Don’t believe me then turn to your friendly neighborhood AMERICA’S GOT TALENT, AMERICAN IDOL, THE VOICE. They have all kinds of music on there now. ALL the way to Susan Boyle to Rock talents. And you think you’re gonna escape the madness those styles of playing that need rhythm AND solos? I think not.

But do what you want. Not what I say, if you only want to play one style of playing which is only rhythm. Or one style, where you only play solos. I’m just trying to get you not to ignore my advice. If possible.

But if that’s what you like, that’s REAL cool too. Who knows, maybe you’ll excel at doing only ONE thing and that will be so cool!

You shouldn’t ignore this tip # 5:

Don’t make playing guitar a chore.

Mood word fingered out on windshield because of condensation.

Don’t make playing guitar a chore. I’m going to shock everyone reading this. But only play the guitar when you’re in the mood. Well that’s CRAZY! Well, let me explain why you should only play when you are in the mood.

One, is because if you think of the guitar as fun, you’re likely going to snatch that guitar quicker than a Van running from the cops. It’s that fun, that you can’t wait to play it.

Plus! Maybe something inspired you to play it real bad because you heard a song on the radio. Or in the crazy, full of people, super market you went to. So you’re stoked, you’re READY to play it.

Plus! Maybe something inspired you to play it real bad because you heard a song on the radio. Or in the crazy, full of people, super market you went to. So you’re stoked, you’re READY to play it.

To you, most of the time it won’t be a chore to play the guitar. It won’t have to be something that you have to do.

So then this will cause you to learn more on the guitar as you’re playing it. The things you want to practice will be so easy and effortless also. And you’ll be able to absorb what you’re learning on the guitar way much faster than if you weren’t in the mood to play it.

Man playing acoustic guitar outside, having fun playing it and smiling.

Now I know this won’t always be the case, where you will always be in the mood to play the guitar but let nature take its course and wait for the mood to hit you, to play the guitar.

What does it for me is, I just wait or even try to have a great song pop in my head. One that I like a lot. It causes me to want to play the guitar real bad that I can’t wait till I can grab my guitar and play that sucker! [laughs]

What does it for me is, I just wait or even try to have a great song pop in my head. One that I like a lot. It causes me to want to play the guitar real bad that I can’t wait till I can grab my guitar and play that sucker! [laughs]

Yeah, but take the advice and don’t make it a chore. Wait for the bug to hit you and it definitely won’t feel like a chore.

But if you can’t take the advice and ignore, that’s ok too. I think sometimes you’ll get to where it is a chore but try to keep this advice. Just keep on chugging away, playing the guitar. You’ll have production, one way or another.

But it’s best to just wait for you to get in the mood to play it. That way it will be fun when you play it. Then you will enjoy it and learn a lot as you play it.

You shouldn’t ignore this tip # 6:

Don’t worry about learning every single note on the guitar without chords.

Every veteran guitar player knows that the way to know what every single note on the guitar is, is by the use of chords but beginners don’t know that. I didn’t know that too when I first started playing guitar. So I thought I had to learn every single note on the guitar. Which I set out to do.

I said to myself, “Man! It’s going to be hard to learn, everyone says it’s hard to learn.” So I was sweating, not knowing if I was going to pull it off or not.

I also thought that if I can’t, you know you’ll never be any good or be able to be a professional at the guitar. All kinds of horrible thoughts.

And if you’re a beginner I bet you’re also having these horrible thoughts also, IF, you don’t know the CORRECT way of knowing how to know every single note on the guitar.

Here’s how beginners try to learn every single note on the guitar which will never work in a million years. They stare at their guitar, on the guitar fretboard with paper in hand.

And on this paper or website it tells every single note on the guitar.

So away they go. They are looking at it and memorizing the notes the best they can, but it just leads to failure.

Some beginners give up trying to learn every single note on the guitar after about two days or so.

And some even make it to maybe a week or two. But sooner or later they all break, they DON’T learn every single note on guitar.

Cracked doll head on the street. Spooky looking pic.

So how DO you learn every single note on the guitar then? I thought you’d never ask…. here’s how.

So how DO you learn every single note on the guitar then? I thought you’d never ask…. here’s how.

ALL you need to do is learn the 6th and 5th strings notes but do it WITH barre chords.

You are to use the STANDARD barre chord, which is the E shape barre chord or any shape barre chord which are: Em shape barre chord, A shape barre chord and the Am shape barre chord.

But for simplicity sake we will use the E shape barre chord for now. You can use the other shape barre chords later on for another day.

Ok! Now form the E barre chord on your guitar on the 1st fret which is the F fret, which will become the F fret.

Now you have ALL the notes you need to know in this area, which is the bottom note, that bottom note is F. Which will also be called the F fret as you play it as a F barre chord.

Now all you gotta do now is go to all your fret areas on the 6th string. Which will be F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E. So after this area, the 12 fret area, the notes start over, which are: E#, F, F# G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D# E.

F barre chord, which can be changed into any other chords, as you move it all over the guitar

YES! Worry only on the ROOT note of your barre chords. The root note is called the bottom note also. And to be technical about it, it can also be called the tonic note.

Once you play your barre chords in these areas on the 6th string, which is also called the E string. You also need to play them on the 5th string, which is also called the A string.

Again, all you need to know is the root note of your barre chords, which will give you ALL the notes you NEED to know.

So as you play a barre chord on the 1st fret, it will make it the F chord, which means all the notes you play in this area WITH the barre chord, will be F scale notes.

Move on over in go to the 3rd fret area on the 6th string and that will give you the G chord. So all the notes you play in this area WITH the barre chord will be G scale notes.

So every fret area you play, will give you the name of the chords AND the name of the scales.

So all these areas will be the name of the frets which are F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, D, D#, E and then repeats after the 12 fret.

Do all these on the 6th strings and the 5th strings and that is ALL you need to know as far as knowing the notes on the guitar.

DO NOT MEMORIZE EVERY NOTE ON THE GUITAR! Use the BARRE chords to tell you what the notes are.

This is in no way a finished way of telling you everything you need to know here. It is just a crash mini course, so to speak. For more on how to play like this, click on….. www.guitarhabits.com/the-four-most-essential-barre-chords/

Or click on….. www.libertyparkmusic.com/barre-chords-made-easy/ …… and you’ll be alright.

This was just a basic way of telling you a little bit of what you need to know. Since this is a article on tips of the guitar. I can’t go into full detail here.