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Easy Beginner Guitar Lessons – Learning Guitar was never meant to be a struggle

By Mike Hayes | October 14, 2009

The process of learning guitar should be a gentle progression
from one skill level to the next, much like walking through the
park on a sunny day.

If your past guitar playing experience felt more like trying to
pull an elephant up a hill; maybe it’s time to take stock of your
practice strategy and try a different approach.

Identifying struggle …do you:

* lack focus and motivation?

* practice long hours without making much progress?

* always lack time to devote to your guitar playing?

* have trouble coordinating your left and right hands?

* seem to be locked into the same scale patterns and chord
shapes?

* feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information you have to
learn?

* lack the ability to have your fingers play the music you are
hearing in your head?

Dumping struggle – all of the above issues can be wrapped up and
dumped in the closest bin once you have an anti-struggle strategy

Anti-struggle strategy 1. Have written Goals … easy to do; but
how many people do it, not many … but they’re easy to pick
though, they’re the guy’s and gal’s who ain’t struggling!

By written goals I mean: What do you want to achieve? In how much
time?

Get your ideas out of your head and down on paper, that way you
can see if it’s a realistic target your aiming for, you can also
monitor your progress as you move toward your goals.

Anti-struggle strategy 2. Your equipment … do you have your
guitar(s) set up properly? Is the action too high and difficult
to play or is the string height too low and buzzy?

You don’t need expensive equipment but you do need your
instruments optimized! Have your guitars set up by a competent
repair person; it’s money well spent.

Anti-struggle strategy 3. Practice time … Zero in on your
problem areas and practice to eliminate them!

Ask yourself “what do I need to practice”, “what is blocking my
progress?” Is it … (a) theoretical information or (b) motor
skills

One of the main issues regarding lack of motivation comes
directly from the memory of past failures and disappointing
practice sessions.

By identifying “what” you need to work on you immediately
increase your chances of success.

There’s no point working on your left hand technique when you
should be working on your ability to recall the chord progression
of a song you will be playing Friday night!

Anti-struggle strategy 4. Support group … every successful
musician needs a support group; people who will encourage them
when everything seems to be going pear shaped.

Make a list of the people close to you, family, friends, people
you work with. Identify the people who are positive and
supportive (or at least neutral) and eliminate the negative ones;
you don’t need them, they will always find a thousand and one
reasons why something won’t work and they’re more than happy to
share that information with you.

Anti-struggle strategy 5. Learn songs – no one ever asks you to
play a scale, arpeggio or fancy chord. Start by making a short
list of five songs you want to learn, once you learn them add
another five songs to your list.

A good working band usually has about forty songs in their
repertoire … it won’t take you long before you have ten songs
up your sleeve and you’re on your way.

Bonus anti-struggle strategy 6. Don’t forget to have FUN …
that’s what it’s all about, if you’re having fun your audience
will have a great time listening to you play.

Conclusion – Learning guitar is simple … learn songs, set
goals, have fun … simple really.

I invite you to use these tips and tools when you play the
guitar.

And now I’d like to invite you to get free access to my “How To
Remember 1,000 Songs” eCourse. You can download the course for
free at: http://www.guitarcoaching.com

From Mike Hayes – The Guitar Coaching Guy & the Express Guitar
System

http://www.GuitarCoaching.com
http://AdvancingGuitaristProgram.com

Topics: Beginner Guitar Lesson, Learn And Master Guitar | No Comments »

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