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By: Sanjay Johari
Learning guitar should be fun. Here are some ideas which will be
helpful in practicing and mastering guitar. 1. Regular Practice - There is simply no substitute for
practice. Even more important is practicing regularly. Half an
hour practice every day is more effective than practicing for 2
hours every 4 days. The serious guitar players should keep aside
some time every day for practice. 2. Make and Follow a Schedule - It is good idea to prepare a
practice schedule and follow it religiously. The attempt should
be to make definite progress in small steps. Every day
achievable goals should be set and those goals should be
achieved before moving on to the next goal. This approach forms
a strong foundation and builds confidence. It is tempting to try difficult pieces before mastering the
initial steps. But what happens? The player is not able to play
the piece properly, he will feel that guitar playing is
difficult and will be discouraged by his failure. Therefore such
temptations should be avoided. 3. Assume Correct Posture - Before starting the practice the
guitar player should ensure that he is in right posture to play
the instrument and both hands are properly positioned. 4. Visualize Finger Position on Fret Board - It is often helpful
to the player if he can visualize the position of his fingers on
the fret board. Initially he will look at his fingers while he
places them on the strings. Gradually he will start playing by
the "feel" of his fingers without looking at them. Particularly
during a performance it does not appear proper if the player
keeps looking at his fingers. The earlier he starts visualizing
and playing without looking at his fingers, the more natural
will his action appear. 5. Verify the Tone of Each String - The player should get
familiar with the sound of each string when playing a chord. He
should play the strings separately to ensure that each string is
giving out correct note and tone. There are two mistakes which
occur frequently and can be detected by playing each string
individually. One mistake is that the finger does not really
press the string fully against the fret. This will produce
neither correct note nor the tone. In such situations the player
should adjust his finger until the correct sound comes out. The
second common mistake is that the finger, while pressing on the
string, also touches the neighboring string. Again the player
will have to adjust his finger position to press on the string
"cleanly". 6. Avoid Wounds - Fingers will hurt initially but gradually
toughen up. An open wound should not be allowed to develop where
the fingers press the strings. The fingers will naturally
toughen up by regular practice. 7. Practice Accompaniment - Guitar is mostly played for
accompaniment. Therefore the player should start this practice
as early as possible. If he is not able to find a group to play
with he can himself sing and play along. 8. Don't Get Discouraged - It often appears that progress is not
as fast as expected. But practice never goes in vain. Keep
practicing and do not get discouraged by apparent lack of
success. The body has its own system of conditioning its mind
and muscles to develop new skills and habits. This takes time
and persistence can speed up the process. These are some of the ideas for practicing guitar. This is based
on common concerns of new students. This list is by no means
exhaustive and the students should follow their instructors and
the course schedule. The ideas given here can supplement their
normal practice schedule. About the author:
Sanjay Johari regularly contributes articles to various ezines.
Please see his blog for more
information on guitar and guitar lesson.
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