How To Play Guitar Like a Pro!

By: John Bilderbeck


Having taught the guitar for many years, I see the majority of
beginners experiencing the same problems and making the same
mistakes over and over again in their quest to learn how to play
guitar. It's my job to steer them through these problem areas.

These "mistakes" are basic errors that most beginners naturally
tend to make. But these mistakes can cause major problems if you
allow them to become habits in your playing. Unfortunately, 90%
of guitarists have done just that!

Avoid These 3 Mistakes Like The plague

The three main mistakes MOST people make when learning how to
play guitar are:

1: Trying to play too fast too soon.

Don't be in such a rush. Trying to go too fast too soon causes
serious problems. Sloppy playing and mistakes will become your
trademark.

Learn to practice slowly and perfectly. The reason for this, is,
what you program your brain and fingers with while practicing,
is what you'll get as a habitual and subconscious end result.

The GIGO computer term describes it best. Garbage In = Garbage
Out. If you program a computer with faulty data, your results
will be faulty too. It's exactly the same with learning how to
play guitar.

So practice everything very slowly and perfectly. Do this, and
your playing will be to a higher standard than 90% of all other
guitarists. Yes - even those that have been playing for years!

2: Too much body and hand tension.

Have you ever noticed how the top professionals make it all look
so easy and effortless? How relaxed they are?

Take a lesson from that.

When learning how to play guitar, and in all practice sessions,
you need to be as relaxed as possible at all times.

Unnecessary tension anywhere in the body when playing will stop
you like a brick wall. Any "excess" tension in your fingers,
hands, arms, elbows, wrists, shoulders, neck, chest, stomach,
thighs, legs is extremely hazardous to learning how to play
guitar properly.

Practicing the right things in the right way will give you
amazing results - even if you practice only 10 - 20 minutes a
day.

3: Learn the difference between practice time and noodling time.

Basically, you learn how to play guitar in two ways:- 1: when
you practice, and, 2: when you noodle and try out new ideas.

Practice Time is SERIOUS Time!

It's when you are specifically and very deliberately teaching
your body and brain new motor and muscle-memory skills. This is
all done very slowly, with great care and meticulous attention
to detail. Never practice fast.

Practice time is where you develop muscle-memory and train your
body to act in the most beneficial way for playing guitar.
Remember - GIGO!

This is the foundation building time.. where you lay the
foundation for learning HOW to play guitar the best way you can
- without imposing limitations upon yourself through bad
practice habits.

Noodling Time.

Noodling Time is where you learn how to play guitar by putting
into practice what you study during your practice time. It's
where you to steal licks, chords and solos off records. It's
where you hunch over your cd player or computer with your guitar
trying to hear and learn that tricky chord or lick.

It's where good habits can easily become undone!

Better to do this... Once you learn a lick, sit down in your
chair in the proper position and play that lick over and over at
a slow speed while focusing on being as relaxed as possible and
with absolute minimal finger movement. Program that lick, your
physical movements and relaxation "perfectly" into your brain.
Only when it becomes 2nd nature to you, and you "own" that lick,
should you start speeding up.

But... always focus on being as relaxed as possible.

Noodling is fun, and a necessary part of learning how to play
guitar. Do as much as you can. But.. don't mistake it for real
practice time. Don't noodle with bad habits either.

Next... you need to ensure you are practicing the correct things
in the correct way too. But that's another story.

About the author:
John Bilderbeck has been teaching guitar for 30 years. He shares
his valuable insights on his new Free Guitar Chords web site.
For a FREE e-Book on How to Master Guitar Like a Pro, visit:
http://www.free-guitar-chords.com now.

Beginner Guitar Tips: How to Get a Feel

By: John Stockwell

Technical ability aside, the difference between a good guitarist
and a great guitarist is often the "feel" that they apply to
their music through their playing.

Adding "feel" to your guitar playing is easy to learn and will
make a huge difference to the way your playing will sound to
others.

"I don't like to go into the studio with all the songs worked
out and planned before hand.. You've got to give the band
something to use its imagination on as well. That can make a
very ordinary song come alive into something totally
different... the X Factor - so important in Rock And Roll -
which is the feel" - Keith Richards. When you're learning or
writing a new song the most important thing is the feel.

The beat, the pulse.. Call it what you like. Its stirs the
emotions.

It's that magic spark that makes a good song stand out from the
rest.

When you buy a new cd/album/record it's the one song that grabs
you by the balls.

You can feel the passion and enthusiasm that the musicians put
into it.

So how do you get 'the feel'?

You just close your eyes and connect with your true feelings -
hence the term 'the feel'. You are transferring your feelings -
your passion to the fret board.

But first you have to feel it inside your head, heart and soul.

Try listening to your favorite music with your eyes closed and
no distractions. Take notice of the way it effects you.

What do you feel? Is it joy? sadness? anger? frustration? love?
pride?

The feeling will sweep over your whole body. Take notice of this
feeling. Stop the music and try and reproduce this feeling.

Once you can reproduce the feeling grab your guitar and play.

Don't play a song you already know, just play some chords and
see what happens. Don't think just feel and play. Visualize
where you want to be - then start taking a small step in the
direction of your desire. Start with simple, easy to attain
visualizations. No need to make them gigantic. Build confidence
as you move along the path.

And as your confidence grows, so will momentum.

Pretty soon you're literally steam-rolling over obstacles that
once seemed huge.

About the author:
John Stockwell is a guitar player and the author of the
acclaimed "Mind Over Music for Guitar"
http://www.learn-to-play-guitar.net/mindovermusic/, a unique
approach to learning to play the guitar by ear for beginners to
advanced students.

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