The Score Magazine July-Aug issue | Page 39

Play for at least one hour every day .
When it comes to learning guitar , nothing is more important than consistency . Take the example of working out . If you work out 24 hours for one day , you will just end up hospitalized with numerous injuries . However , if you work out for one hour for 24 days , your body will get much fitter . It ’ s similar with the guitar . Don ’ t play for 10 hours on a day and then keep the guitar locked up for 10 days . Try to play for an hour every day . Even on days when you have “ no time ” to play any guitar , try to play for 15 minutes at least ( if you have time to watch tv and scroll through social media , you will definitely have 15 minutes to play guitar ).
Use the metronome while you work
If you want to play fast you must play slow first . Just like you need to learn how to crawl before you can run . The metronome will put you in order and will allow you to work in harmony without losing the rhythm . You should start working with a slow metronome beat ( even if you are bored , even if it makes you sleepy , even if you don ’ t like it at all ) and after making sure that you make really clean sounds during the exercise , you should continue your studies by raising the tempo by 5 beats . Remember that no one can play the song at perfect speed as soon as they pick up the guitar ( you may think that there are people around you , but they are people who have worked hard enough before and are now enjoying their fruits ). Even seasoned musicians learn songs by playing them slowly first .
Pay attention to technical exercises as well
The main purpose of learning guitar for all of us is to play songs anyway . While you should definitely play songs , you should also spend a lot of time on studying the techniques needed to start playing the song . Examine the techniques in the song you want to play , and start the song studies after completing the technical studies first . Yes , you probably picked up the guitar because of your favourite songs but in order to play them properly , you need to learn the techniques first . It ’ s not that different from sports . In order to shoot three point shots like Steph Curry , you will need to learn the proper shooting technique first .
Don ’ t be in a hurry
Is there anyone among us who doesn ’ t want to get good results in a short time ? We all want to learn the guitar as soon as possible , but one of the biggest factors that deter us is haste . When we hurry , we make more mistakes , and we learn inadequately , without fully learning the things we need to learn . We skip steps and pass on critical learning junctions . Just like in any musical instrument learning , it is necessary not to be hasty in the guitar learning process , and to do everything step by step . If you don ’ t do that , you might also get bored with the guitar in a short time . Keeping your expectations short but high in time may disappoint you , so you should definitely not rush .
Play everything clean
Playing the guitar fast or watching someone playing fast may affect you , but it is important to play clean first . Beginner musicians give importance to playing fast rather than cleanly , but if what you ’ re playing is not clean , your lightning fast fretwork will sound pretty muddled up and bad . It is always the most important thing that every note you press is heard individually and clearly .
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