5 Mistakes Beginner Guitar Players Make

Do you want to increase your chances of being able to play the guitar? Maybe you’ve taken some guitar lessons in the past and didn’t quite get the results you were looking for. In today’s guitar lesson, I will give you 5 mistakes beginning guitar players commonly make. Knowing what not to do on the guitar, can almost be as good as knowing what to do.

Here are my 5 mistakes beginner guitar players commonly make.

1. They don’t practice with a metronome.
   
   Playing in time is so critical in the beginning. I know it is no fun to play to that awful clicking noise. I’ve done it, but I also used drum machines which are just as good. If you can’t take the clicking noise, go buy a cheap keyboard with a drum machine built in.




2. They don’t play on the tips of their fingers.
   
   If you want to sound good, you must play on the tips of your fingers. This will allow you to hear all the notes of the chords that you’re trying to play. When practicing open position chords, play each string to ensure that every note is able to be heard. If you can’t hear every note, then you’re probably not playing on the tips of your fingers.




3. They try to play too fast.
   
   Playing things beyond your capability is not bad. Playing things beyond your capability at the wrong speed is VERY BAD! When learning difficult things, you must slow them down to where you can play the part without messing up. In reality you can play anything if it is slowed down enough. The fastest guitar runs can be slowed down to where you can play them and practice them to a tempo you are comfortable with. Now each few days, speed them up, and a couple weeks later you will have it. This way works much better than playing it at the regular tempo badly everyday, because you will never actually be able to play it perfect only fast BADLY! You play like you practice is true with guitar playing.




4. They don’t practice what they can’t play.
   
   This is critical. If every time you sit down to practice and you reel off everything you can already play well, you will never get any better. This is called playing the guitar not practicing! When you practice the guitar you need to do things that you can’t do well. By setting aside 30 minutes a day of playing things you need to work on, you will improve you’re skills dramatically over the course of a few months. If you just sit down and play everything you already know how to play, you will not learn anything. While this may be fun, you will never learn anything new. For a practice guide from myself sign up for my newsletter and you’ll also receive free guitar videos.




5. They don’t play in front of people.
   
   Playing in a room by yourself is safe and comfortable. No one will ever hear you mess up, and no one will ever hear you play that awesome song you’ve been working on. GO FIND SOMEONE TO PLAY FOR! There has to be someone that will listen to you, so go ask them to listen. By playing in front of people, you will notice something different happens. You will tense up, get nervous and become aware of everything that you can’t do. This is good. Magical things happen when we play in front of people, that will never happen if you don’t. There is just something about being in front of someone, that causes people to do exciting things.

   Performing music is one of the most exhilarating things of this world. Don’t miss out on it because you’re too scared. If you still can’t find anyone to play for, go get the dog. If he starts moving his head sideways, you may want to reread this blog post!

Well that’s it folks for my 5 mistakes beginner guitar players make.. Go start practicing and don’t do the things mentioned above and you’ll be on your way to playing some cool stuff. Check out my E-book on guitar, for everything beginner guitar players need to learn.

For more information on learning the guitar, or guitar lessons from myself, please check out my Blues and Slide Courses.