The "I just started learning to play guitar this week" list

Since people keep asking for "the one thing I should know since I just started" I decided to put together a list of the most popular advice:

Welcome to the group! (I originally wrote this for the Fender Play group on Facebook)
  1. Don't put the guitar way. Get a stand (~$15 at Amazon) or a wall hook (two for $11 at Amazon). Why? Because having the guitar out near will make it harder to avoid practice. Yes, this is a thing. 
  2. Muscle memory is a thing. It's not just memorizing the chords, you have to keep doing them over and over until the fingers fall in place on their own. This WILL take time, but it WILL happen.
  3. Your fingertips are going to hurt, there's no short cut. In 2-3 weeks you will still hurt, but your fingertips will be thicker.
  4. Stretching and warming up is important. You will find that your reach will increase after a few weeks of doing these stretches. Personally, I couldn't even do a full C chord, it took me weeks to be able to reach it.
  5. If you are annoyed with your lesson, stop it and switch to something fun. Google tabs for songs that use the same chords that you know, have a little fun and it'll help you forget about being annoyed.
  6. Take it easy. You're going to hear of people racing through a whole level in a week, while others take months to finish a level. 
  7. Buy a 100-pick variety pack at Amazon, should be about $10. Each color is one thickness, so assume you'll get 10 each. Split the stash in half and hide it. Keep the rest in a jar, or even better, an eyeglass case. Congratulations, it is now literally impossible for you to run out of picks. 
  8. Noise challenges with your electric guitar? $35 buys you a VOX Amplug2, which lets you wear headphones and it comes in popular amp styles like the classic VOX AC30, classic rock, heavy metal, etc. There is a legion of Amplug2 fans here in Fender Play. 
  9. The lessons on Fender play can be slowed down. And you can adjust the speed of the metronome in the practice sessions.
  10. #ngd is new guitar day, or new gear day. If you bought it without asking your spouse, it means "now getting divorced."
  Also, the correct number of guitars is N + 1. Don't try to fight it, it's a thing. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie, AKA Easter Bunnies Get Dizzy After Easter

Image
  This is something that a lot of us newcomers have trouble with: how the hell do we memorize the strings? Notice in the diagram above (this is the right-hand orientation) that the strings are not the same width, so starting with the fat string, the order of the strings is E A D G B E. Starting with the thin string, it's E B G D A E.  There's even a mnemonic for both:  E A D G B E E ddie  A te  D ynamite  G ood  B ye  E ddie In the opposite direction you have: E B G D A E E aster  B unnies  G et  D izzy  A fter  E aster. But you still have to memorize six strings. Or do you? The two outer strings are both E. The fat string is low E, the thin string is high E. If you can remember the two mnemonics, and you can remember that the fat string is the low E, and the thin string is the high E, in reality you only need to remember four strings. After you do enough drills, you'll realize that you will quickly remember that the next ...
Read more

$10 for a pair of wall mounts

Image
I was told to keep my guitar(s) out of the case and nearby so I always have an excuse for a quick practice session. These are now mounted just three feet away from my desk, the mounts can be found here for just $10. The kit includes two mounts plus three sets of drywall screws. The mounts can be adjusted for length, and they can be tilted for uneven heads (see the Telecaster). Installing them was dead simple, I actually spent more time measuring them than what it took to drill the holes and mount them.
Read more

50% for a one-year subscription to Fender Play

Fender Play is usually $10/month or $90/year if you prepay. For this Black Friday weekend you can get a year for right under $45, plus a 10% discount on Fender.com purchases for the whole year: https://www.fender.com/play/checkout?promocode=fenderplayfifty This will work even if you are still using a 14-day trial account.
Read more