Learn How to Play Guitar Online: Determine What and Where To Practice

Nowadays bluegrass guitar is not only a lead instrument in the band but the playing techniques can be quite complex sounding. The early greats of bluegrass guitar playing like Lester Flatt and Charlie Monroe used a combination of fingerpicking and flatpicking using a thumbpick. A common technique which you can also hear in country music is to play bass notes and runs on the E A D strings and melodic passages on the G B E strings.

You owe it to yourself to be the best player you can be, so make that choice right now and say to yourself, “I commit to practicing my instrument in a consistent manner that leads to me learning how to play the guitar in a snap.”

The first thing I will say to you is this: Unless you are practicing to be a professional, don’t pick up the guitar unless you actually want to. The most valuable part of a practice session is that you actually enjoy it. If you want to be in a band, or want to play on the jam circuit, then I would recommend picking up your guitar once a day and spending at least an hour with it.

Sit down and play new things on the guitar that you do not know how to do yet. Whether you are trying out new chords, scales, reading an article or guitar magazine, taking lessons; you have to at some point sit down and apply what your head has read, seen, and heard, and actually do it for yourself. This can be a lot more challenging than it seems, because once you sit down and start practicing you will begin to realize just how much there is to learn on the guitar.

In the brick and mortar world, you might want to turn to one on one lessons if you really are intent at improving your ability to play guitar. While these types of guitar lessons can cost you more than other types of guitar lesson options, for many people one on one lessons are ideal ways to learn guitar initially and then to master the instrument to a greater degree on down the road.

Don’t turn your guitar practice time into extended guitar solos. If you have a track of say, six minutes at your disposal, use it to practice licks and short solo breaks, the age of the twenty minute solo is long gone. Also, make use of your backing tracks to improve the basic aspects of your guitar playing like your timing.

Your fingerpicking skills will come in handy if you want to impress a crowd of friends. The best thing about that is that you don’t have to be a virtuoso. Just the barest minimum of fingerpicking breaks or short solos in a song will impress the average Joe or Joelene greatly.

Classical Gas by Mason Williams might be a little challenging if you don’t think of yourself as a “real” guitar player but it is surprisingly easy to play. Of course if you are not likely to be playing for strangers, you will have some idea of the kind of music your friends like, so just let their tastes be you guide with a little of your own style thrown in.