HOW TO PLAY GUITAR

STICKING WITH IT

 

1.   Manage the finger pain. There'll be a point at which things will seem bleak: you can't quite get to each chord as fast as you want, your fingers are killing you, and it seems easier to put the thing back in its case. The reason most guitar players stop playing a few weeks in is that it hurts. After a couple of months and years of playing, callouses will build up on the fingers of your fretting hand that will greatly reduce the pain of pushing down the strings for long periods of time. Learning to get past this barrier though, makes all the difference in the world. Everyone who learns to play the guitar has to deal with sore fingers at the beginning. It's worth it. Just keep playing regularly, follow these tips, and you'll get past this stage in no time at all. Learn to love the pain and associate it with everything that you love about music and the guitar.

• Ice your fingers after playing or soak them in some apple cider vinegar to alleviate some of the pain.
• It's mostly mental. Try picturing your favorite guitar player encouraging you along like a weightlifting coach when your fingertips are sore. "One more! One more!"
• Dipping your fingers in rubbing alcohol after playing can speed up callus build up. Just don't do it before you play
  
  
  
  
  2.   Learn to play some songs. It's a whole lot more fun to play when you're playing a song that you can recognize and not just a set of chords or notes, and there has been a whole world of music written with the chords G, C, and D. Some old folk and country songs like "Tom Dooley" or "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash can be great ways to start. It's just three chords and the truth, as songwriter Harlan Howard once famously put it.

  • Start off slow and speed up gradually, singing along (if you want to, and if it helps) and pay particular attention to the rhythm. It can be kind of frustrating how mechanical it will sound at first, but don't worry. The more comfortable you get switching between the chords, the closer you'll be to rocking out on stage.
  • As you master easier songs, move on to more complex pieces. "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd is basically a repetition of D, C, and G in that order, but it sounds much more complex on the record, because of the cool-sounding lead guitar licks the guitar player throws in.