How To Play Guitar Like a Pro!

How To Play Guitar Like a Pro!
) Copyright 2005 John Bilderbeck

Having taught the guitar for many years, I see the majority
of beginners experiencing the same problems and making
the same mistakes over and over again in their quest to
learn how to play guitar. It's my job to steer them through
these problem areas.

These "mistakes" are basic errors that most beginners
naturally tend to make. But these mistakes can cause
major problems if you allow them to become habits in your
playing. Unfortunately, 90% of guitarists have done just
that!


Avoid These 3 Mistakes Like The plague

The three main mistakes MOST people make when learning
how to play guitar are:


1: Trying to play too fast too soon.

Don't be in such a rush. Trying to go too fast too soon
causes serious problems. Sloppy playing and mistakes will
become your trademark.

Learn to practice slowly and perfectly. The reason for this,
is, what you program your brain and fingers with while
practicing, is what you'll get as a habitual and
subconscious end result.

The GIGO computer term describes it best. Garbage In =
Garbage Out. If you program a computer with faulty data,
your results will be faulty too. It's exactly the same with
learning how to play guitar.

So practice everything very slowly and perfectly. Do this,
and your playing will be to a higher standard than 90% of
all other guitarists. Yes - even those that have been
playing for years!


2: Too much body and hand tension.

Have you ever noticed how the top professionals make it
all look so easy and effortless? How relaxed they are?

Take a lesson from that.

When learning how to play guitar, and in all practice
sessions, you need to be as relaxed as possible at all
times.

Unnecessary tension anywhere in the body when playing
will stop you like a brick wall. Any "excess" tension in
your fingers, hands, arms, elbows, wrists, shoulders, neck,
chest, stomach, thighs, legs is extremely hazardous to
learning how to play guitar properly.

Practicing the right things in the right way will give you
amazing results - even if you practice only 10 - 20
minutes a day.


3: Learn the difference between practice time and noodling
time.

Basically, you learn how to play guitar in two ways:- 1:
when you practice, and, 2: when you noodle and try out new
ideas.

Practice Time is SERIOUS Time!

It's when you are specifically and very deliberately
teaching your body and brain new motor and muscle-
memory skills. This is all done very slowly, with great care
and meticulous attention to detail. Never practice fast.

Practice time is where you develop muscle-memory and
train your body to act in the most beneficial way for
playing guitar. Remember - GIGO!

This is the foundation building time.. where you lay the
foundation for learning HOW to play guitar the best way
you can - without imposing limitations upon yourself
through bad practice habits.

Noodling Time.

Noodling Time is where you learn how to play guitar by
putting into practice what you study during your practice
time. It's where you to steal licks, chords and solos off
records. It's where you hunch over your cd player or
computer with your guitar trying to hear and learn that
tricky chord or lick.

It's where good habits can easily become undone!

Better to do this... Once you learn a lick, sit down in your
chair in the proper position and play that lick over and over
at a slow speed while focusing on being as relaxed as
possible and with absolute minimal finger movement.
Program that lick, your physical movements and relaxation
"perfectly" into your brain. Only when it becomes 2nd
nature to you, and you "own" that lick, should you start
speeding up.

But... always focus on being as relaxed as possible.

Noodling is fun, and a necessary part of learning how to
play guitar. Do as much as you can. But.. don't mistake it
for real practice time. Don't noodle with bad habits either.

Next... you need to ensure you are practicing the correct
things in the correct way too. But that's another story.

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John Bilderbeck has been teaching guitar for 30 years. He shares his valuable insights on his new Free Guitar Chords web site. For a FREE e-Book on How to Master Guitar Like a Pro, visit: http://www.free-guitar-chords.com now.


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