How To Play Guitar Like a Pro!

How To Play Guitar Like a Pro!

) Copyright 2005 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.



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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.