wikiHow to Practice Guitar

Four Parts:Getting ComfortablePracticing FundamentalsDeveloping a RoutineStaying in Guitar

ShapeCommunity Q&A

Practice makes permanent. However you start practicing your guitar, you're
going to build habits and skills that'll stick with you throughout your time as a
guitar player. If you start out with the correct habits and practice routines, you'll
be well on your way to playing the styles, songs, and licks you want to play. If
not, you can plateau your ability quickly, making it difficult to improve. Learn the
right habits and practice effectively. You can learn to practice comfortably,
balance fundamentals with fun exercises, and develop effective techniques to
stick with it and make guitar practice a routine. See Step 1 for more information.

Part1
Getting Comfortable

1.

1
 Find a comfortable chair that allows you to hold and play your guitar
properly.Stools, benches, or other hard-backed chairs are appropriate,
anything that will force you to sit straight-backed with good posture is good.
Cushioned stools made specifically for guitar playing are common at guitar
shops, which you might peruse if you're interested, but regular kitchen chairs
are appropriate as well.
Try not to use a chair that has arms, because it will give you very
little space for your guitar, and can force you to hold the guitar awkwardly,
leading to bad habits. Don't sit on the couch, a beanbag, or anything that'll suck
you down into it. Posture is important for proper fundamentals.

2.

2
Hold the guitar correctly. If you're right handed, hold the guitar so your right
hand falls about halfway between the sound hole and the bridge of the guitar,
and support the neck of the guitar with your left hand.
With the guitar tight in to your body, orient the guitar so the the
smallest string is pointed toward the ground and the thickest string toward the
 ceiling. Hold the back of the guitar so it touches your stomach and chest and
rests on the leg of your strumming/picking hand. The neck should be aimed up,
at about a 45 degree angle.
With your left hand, hold the neck in the V created by your thumb
and forefinger. You should be able to smoothly move your left hand up and
down the neck without having to hold it up, letting your leg and your right elbow
cradle the guitar comfortably. If you're having to use your left hand to support
the guitar up, you're holding the guitar incorrectly.

3.

3
Tune your guitar. Start every practice session by tuning your guitar. Playing an
out-of-tune guitar can make practice sessions frustrating and counterproductive,
making it important that you learn how to tune your guitar yourself as soon as
possible. The ability to get your guitar in tune quickly will make practicing a lot
smoother and more fun.
To tune with an electric tuner, hold the tuner close to the sound
hole of an acoustic guitar, or plug an electric guitar directly into the tuner with
 quarter-inch cable. The tuner will indicate whether or not each string is flat (too
low) or sharp (too high), and you can turn the corresponding tuning peg until the
tone is correct. On many electric tuners, the light will turn green when the tone
is correct.
To tune the guitar to itself, hold the low E string at the fifth fret to
play an A, which should match to the 5th string. Tune the A string until the tones
match, then hold the A string at the fifth fret and do the same thing with the D
string. The only variation is the G string, which you'll hold at the 4th fret to match
to the B string. This might not get you in perfect pitch, but it's fine for practice,
as long as the guitar is tuned relative to itself.
Free online tuners, are also available to produce the proper
tones and match them. Visit a free online tuner by clicking here here.

4.

4
 Hold the guitar pick correctly. The pick, also called the plectrum, can be a
source of frustration for beginning players. To make sure you build the right
skills and comfortability with your instrument, you need to practice holding the
pick correctly.
To hold the pick correctly, turn your picking hand (your dominant,
or writing hand) with your palm parallel to your stomach. Curl all your fingers in
toward your palm and place the pick with the skinny point facing directly at you
on top of your pointer finger. Hold it in place with your thumb.
There should be no more than about two centimeters of pick
sticking out of your hand. Holding the pick at the end will result in lots of drops
and bad habits. To learn to pick and strum correctly, hold the pick with very little
sticking out.

2
Part

Practicing Fundamentals

1.
 1
Practice playing chords. Practice forming chords properly and playing clean
chords, without striking any dead strings. Practice chords until each note rings
out evenly, no louder or quieter than any other note in the chord. Practice
switching between chords to make your transitions as smooth and as fluid as
possible.
Start by forming first-position chords. First-position chords are
played between the first and third fret, generally incorporating a lot of open
strings. You can play most pop, country, and rock songs on a few basic first-
position chords.
Common first-position chords for beginners to learn include the G
chord, D chord, Am chord, C chord, E chord, A chord, and F chord.

2.

2
 Practice forming barre chords. Barre chords, also called power chords, are all
made from the same finger-positioning at different frets on the guitar. You can
form a G chord in first position, or by forming a barre chord at the third fret, for
example. They tend to be somewhat difficult for the beginner, because they
require a wide fingering, but are great for playing rock and punk songs.

3.

3
Always practice to a beat. One of the most commonly overlooked and
essential things to becoming a good guitar player is to play in time. It's great if
you can play the solo from "Black Dog" at a million miles an hour, but can you
play it slowly, with feeling? Practicing to a beat forces you to play the notes you
see, not the notes you can play. Developing a sense of rhythm in your playing
will make you a better guitar player.
4.

4
Practice scales. If you're taking lessons, you'll likely be provided with scale
sheets, while if you're learning from a book it'll be up to you to find the scales
and practice them yourself. Mel Bay books and other resources have been
teaching guitar players to pick for decades, while online sheet music and
exercises are also available.
The pentatonic scale is a common rock key for guitar players to
learn. Made up of five notes in each scale, the pentatonic scale, also often
called "the blues scale" is the basis for many different types of music. Practice it
in each key.
Learning different scales and modes is a great way of improving
your playing, allowing you to maneuver around the guitar, but it's not the most
fun exercise. Take a scale and attempt to turn it into a guitar solo. To make
scales more fun, try to make them swing, playing them at different tempos, once
you've got the basics down.
5.

5
Learn some songs to make practicing more fun. Pick a few songs that you'd
like to learn and start picking out the different parts, with the aid of sheet music,
tablature, or listening by ear. try to learn songs all the way through, not just a
single lick or chord progression. Practice chaining together the different parts of
a song to get all the way through, and you'll be teaching yourself about
composition and learn to play with stamina. It's harder than it looks.
For the beginner, folk and country songs are often the easiest to
learn. Try to play the chords to "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, which is
a fun and easy place to start. Other popular beginner songs that are good to
practice include "Tom Dooley," "Long Black Veil," or even "Mary Had a Little
Lamb." Pick a simple children's song to learn. It's likely it won't involve more
than three chords: G, C, and D major.
For the intermediate player, start picking songs that introduce
uncommon chords or unusual rhythm playing to learn more complex styles. Try
learning songs that are outside of your listening range, to force yourself into
 unexplored regions. If you like classical, try learning "Lithium" by Nirvana, for it's
surprisingly complex chord voicing and melodic structure. Rock players might
try to learn "Fur Elise" by Beethoven, to learn a new style. All players should
learn to play all of "Stairway to Heaven," so you can say you've arrived as a
guitar player.
For the advanced player, choose compositionally difficult
material that with force you to learn new techniques in your desired genre of
music. Metal players should master the complex harmonics of Opeth leads,
while country players should study Merle Travis's patented picking style, and
rock players could spend a lifetime dissecting Jerry Garcia's psychedelic
explorations.

6.

6
Make fundamentals fun. Strike a deal with yourself: learn a new song, or riff,
for every new scale you tackle, or page of your practice book you pass during
 lessons. It's also a good idea to talk to your teacher, if you have one, about
songs that you'd like to learn, so you don't spend all your time mastering
Nirvana songs you don't have any interest in learning. Most guitar teachers are
happy to teach you what you want to learn.

7.

7
Use your ears and your eyes. Many of the greatest guitar players learned to
play by listening repeatedly to the same song over and over again, their ear to
the radio, slowly picking out the different parts on their own. Learning to play by
ear is an equally-effective and important way of learning to play guitar. Listen to
your favorite tunes until you can pick up the tricks and techniques the guitar
players are using.

3
Part

Developing a Routine
1.

1
Practice for at least 20-40 minutes. To build up your guitar playing stamina
and to retain the muscle memory that you're working to build, you need to
practice somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 minutes a day.
As you become more proficient and build callouses on your
fingers that'll make playing more comfortable, you'll be able to practice more in
a day, but in the beginning it's good to aim for a happy medium. 30 minutes is
long enough to improve and work on a considerable amount of material, but not
so long as to wear you out.
2.

2
Practice at least 5 times a week. Because building callouses and dexterity is
such an important part of playing guitar, it's very important to practice
consistently, several times a week, or you'll end up back at square one every
time you pick up the instrument.
Try setting a practice time each day, maybe right after you get
done with work or school, or right after dinner. Start making it a habit to pick up
the guitar at that same time every day and putting in your 30 or 40 minutes.
If you rarely practice guitar, that will lead to pain in the finger tips
all over again. It will be so much easier to play guitar if you practice a lot
because of no pain in your finger tips and because you will be used to playing
and reading notes and tablature.
3.

3
Start your session with regular warm-ups. Each time you pick up the guitar,
sit in your practice chair, holding the guitar and the pick correctly, and do some
exercises for at least 3 or 5 minutes to get your fingers warmed up for your
session. Picking even quarter-notes on each of the first four frets of each string,
from low E to high E is a common warm-up exercise.
Common warm up exercises usually involve picking a particular
pattern up and down the neck of the guitar, not necessarily the most tuneful
pattern, but one that'll get your fingers loose. You can develop your own or
learn one from a guitar teacher you like.
Anything repetitive can be appropriate for a warm-up. Running up
and down a new scale you're learning, or playing your favorite Clapton lick.
Whatever you like to play, play it up and down a few times until your fingers feel
loose and comfortable. Then you're ready for practice.
4.

4
Balance skill-building with fun exercises. In each practice session, it's
important to give equal weight to the things you want to do and the things you
have to do. Want to practice the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" solo? Go for it, but
make yourself earn it by running through your scale sheet first. Weight the latter
half of each practice session with fun activities to give yourself something to
look forward to.
5.

5
Always keep moving forward and challenging yourself. It's possible to
reach plateaus in your guitar-playing ability and start to level off. In fact, many
guitar players aren't much better after five years of playing than after the first
five months, because of these plateaus. To practice effectively, you need to
learn to embrace the challenge of learning a new song, mastering a new style,
or adding complexity to the skills you've already learned, so you can avoid the
flat-line.[1]
Nailed the solo from "Black Dog" by Zeppelin? Write a new one in
mixolydian mode, or try to play it backwards. Play the whole solo without ever
playing the root note. Give yourself little challenges to force yourself to
improvise and improve.
6.

6
Practice with and learn from other players. It's very difficult to learn an
instrument completely on your own. While it's not necessarily critical to pay for
private lessons, there's no substitute from playing with other people and
learning things first hand. It's an excellent way to practice.
Look for open jam sessions in your town, at which you can hang
out and learn the tricks of the trade from more experienced players. You might
even get a band out of it.
Embrace YouTube tutorials. Learning to play guitar has never
been easier, since we've got the ability to see close-up footage of long-dead
greats like Mississippi John Hurt, or Rev. Gary Davis picking their compositions
close up. Where guitar players once had to listen, not you can see where the
fingers of the great ones went, and learn from their styles.
 4
Part

Staying in Guitar Shape

1.

1
Manage the finger pain. One of the toughest parts of practice and learning to
stick with the guitar is the finger pain in your fretting hand. Pushing on the steel
or nylon strings is painful at first, no doubt about it, and it'll take a while of
negotiating that pain before you build up callouses that'll make it more
comfortable.
Practice more, but for shorter sessions, if the pain is too strong. If
you find yourself unable to play for 30 or 40 minutes without uncomfortable
finger pain, take a break until your fingers feel better. Shake your wrist and
move it around to increase the blood flow and give your finger tips a break.[2]
2.

2
Make sure you're not pushing the strings too hard. You can make sure
you're not pushing the strings too hard, causing unnecessary pain, by finding
the string's "buzz point." Push on a string like you normally do, then gradually let
up on the string as you pick it. Find the point at which the string starts playing
dead, or buzzing, because you're not pushing it hard enough. The best
pressure to use is just past the buzz point, light enough to be comfortable, but
hard enough to avoid the buzz.[3]
3.

3
Stretch your arms, back, and hands before and after practice. No, guitar
playing may not be a sport, but stretching out your arms and your back quickly
before and after your practice sessions can make you a lot more comfortable.
To stretch your hands, wiggle your fingers, waving your fingers
like seaweed fluttering in the water. It's also a good idea to do some quick finger
push-ups, pressing into the top of a desk or table with your fingertips, then
letting your hand fall and push it back up.
To stretch your arms and shoulders, wrap each arm around your
chest, one at a time, as if you were giving yourself a hug. With the other arm,
pull gently but firmly on your elbow to loosen the muscles in your arms and
shoulders. Do this with each arm for a slow count of 15.
 To stretch out your back, reach your arms up toward the sky as
high as you can for a count of 15, then hold a push-up position, as straight as
possible, for another 15. You're ready to practice.

4.

4
Breathe. Holding your breath is especially common when you start playing on
stage, or performing in front of a teacher or other listener. It can even happen
when you practice, creating tightness in your upper chest and giving you a
tendency to play irregularly and rush through your phrases. Practice with as
light a grip on your instrument as possible, and breathe comfortably and deeply,
especially when you're concentrating.
If and when you notice yourself holding your breath, stop for a
second and reposition yourself. Make sure you're sitting upright and take a few
deep breaths before continuing. Especially if you're getting frustrated trying to
 practice a particular song or scale, give yourself a breath. It can make a big
difference.

5.

5
Ease into a new instrument or style. Whether you're trying out your first jazz
chords, switching from an electric to a classical acoustic guitar, or trying to
speed up your finger exercises, it's important to start slow, learn the part
correctly, and allow yourself the time to acclimate to the new way of playing.
Since guitars have all different variety of neck sizes, string sizes,
and fret gaps, it's important to alter your practice sessions with a new
instrument slightly. It might not be possible for you to play particular songs or
scales as quickly as you once did. Give yourself the time to acclimate to the
new instrument, and give your fingers a chance to stretch in the new ways.
You've got to retrain your muscle memory, if the frets are just a little different.[4]
6.

6
Always start new exercises slow and then speed them up. A popular guitar
players adage goes, "Those who can't play well play fast. Those who can't play
fast play loud." Point being, don't develop a bad habit of rushing through each
lick to prove how fast you can shred. The best guitar players aren't the fastest
guitar players, they're the once who play correctly. Learn to practice in time,
then speed up to increase your dexterity when you've got it down.

Community Q&A

New! Make a stranger's day. Answer a question.

Can you name some guitar chords?
 wikiHow Contributor

The most common chords you should know are D, C, E and E minor, G, A and
A minor.
Not Helpful 1 Helpful 3

Is the blues like jazz?

wikiHow Contributor

The difference is that blues has a set chord progression

(1,1,1,1,4,4,1,1,5,4,1,5), but jazz does not have to follow that. Jazz is also
played with a swung rhythm.
Not Helpful 2 Helpful 0

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Video
This video will teach you how to practice guitar effectively.

Tips
Don't be frustrated if you make mistakes. Remember that everyone
makes mistakes; even the greatest guitarists in the world make mistakes and
I'm not only saying that so that you will follow this step!

Always practice what you find tough first. There's no point in practicing a
lick that you know you can play easily. It may sound cool but it won't improve
your technique a whole lot. Whereas in practicing something you find difficult,
even though you may play it with a few errors and very slowly, will improve your
technique by a significant amount.

If you want to be able to play real songs on guitar, you can search on the
Internet the name of the song and then type in 'tabs' afterwards. If you don't
know how to play tabs, try going on the Internet and search how to play them.

It is good to schedule your practice time.

 Don't cut corners. Learn to play as close to the original as possible.
Search YouTube for lessons and an acoustic version of the original. If you can't
tell what song it is before you start singing (at least for a well written song) its
not right.

Once you become very experienced, you should try to learn tablature.
This will be a great help because once you learn how to read tablature (tabs),
you will be able to read most famous songs in song books because most song
books are written using in tablature.

Playing along to real songs may make you enjoy practicing guitar.
Playing along to real songs that you enjoy will have a dramatic positive effect on
the effects of practicing.

If you don't want to spend money on a foot-stool you can use a small box
or very small chair to put your leg on top of.

If needed, you can use a foot-stool which costs $20-$40. It raises your
leg and puts you in a more comfortable position than if your leg is just hanging
off the chair that you are sitting on. If you are tall enough, you may feel more
comfortable without a foot-stool because if you use a footstool and you are very
tall, your leg will sit in front of your face; a very uncomfortable position.

Warnings
Don't make the volume on your Metronome or on your guitar amplifier too
loud or you risk ear damage.

Take frequent breaks from practicing guitar to avoid arm, finger and eye
strain.

Things You'll Need

Guitar

Guitar Pick


Extra strings

Chair (stable and missing arms)

Scales

Sheet music

Computer with Internet access (Optional)

Guitar tuner (Optional)