BLOGPOST: Tips for learning guitar fast

Tips For Learning Guitar Fast

try these out and learn 10x faster

Written by Daniel

Truth be told we mostly seek faster results in a shorter period of time. Which is not entirely a bad thing if you're tenacious and willing to do the rigorous work that will give you such results. Today I will share with you some tips that will help you learn guitar in the shortest time.

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These are tested and proven to work from some of my students.

So if you want to speed up your progress read on.

1. Practice everyday
When it comes to guitar practice is essential for making any progress, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of always practicing your material. Practice everyday because the brain is elastic and needs constant exposure to the things you intend to learn in order for it to remember and make things easier with time. Here's what you can focus on in your practice sessions

Chords - learn as many as you can, as well as different ways to voice them. Learn a new chord every day and play every one you’ve learned each time you practice.
Finger dexterity - do the chromatic scale up and down, starting at the first fret, ending at the twelfth. Then go back, from the twelfth to the first. If you can, use a drum machine or metronome to keep your tempo consistent, and be sure to pick down/up/down/up.
Learn theory - The more theory you know, the more quickly you’ll be able to identify and predict progressions. You’ll also be to begin to write progressions of your own, which will keep things interesting. As you learn, alter your chord practice by grouping the chords you’ve learned into different progressions, voicing, and styles.
Learn songs - Try to learn different styles, not just what you like most. You can learn a lot from rock, pop, alternative, metal, country, jazz, funk, and anything else you expose yourself to.
Also Create a practice space that you go to every day.
Schedule time to practice every day.

2. Aim to improve your finger mechanics every session

A sure way to learn faster is to concentrate on finger gestures that contribute to your technique, speed and sound quality. Focus on improving these with every session:

Small, precise movements - Only moving the fingers you need to move, as far as they need to move without any extra movement, avoids any unwanted bussing sounds and improves your sound quality.
Only lifting them as far as they need to be - lifted from the strings but no further than that, this will help you switch faster between chords.
Making sure the fingers are hitting in the right position - to get a clear sound at the correct volume without using any more force than what is needed, this will improve your sound quality.
Press the middle of the fret - this will improve the quality of your sound.
Ensure you are not blocking any other strings - that muted string we want to hear it.
Making sure both hands and your entire body are free of tension - This means no involuntary movements from unused fingers or other unused body parts.

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3. Get a private teacher

I know you are a DIY fanatic just like me but when it come to guitar it's better to get an experienced tutor especially if you are in the beginner phase. Here are a few reasons why you MUST get private tutor:

You will have an expert who can monitor your weaknesses and come up with effective ways to use your strengths for optimum progress. They will help you have good guitar player habits that are useful in the long run.
You will have a guide who knows effective methods for applying guitar theory
Music theory is frankly confusing and so having a tutor who can make you understand will remove any frustrations.
You have someone to motivate you when you don't feel like practicing or feel demotivated.
A private teacher can come up with effective courses and programs that will enable you to learn guitar faster.
It makes everything better knowing that you don't have to handle the burden of being a student and your own teacher as well, that means you can focus more on learning and practicing.

I know you are arguing with me right now saying you can easily use YouTube tutorials to teach yourself guitar, but then with all the content available on YouTube and other such channels it can easily become overwhelming and confusing.

What I would advise is to focus on at most 2 content creators at your beginning stages - learn their style of teaching and then you can have a million teachers as you get more comfortable on the strings.

4. Or subscribe to a monthly guitar learner's program

If you really can't get a private tutor don't worry there's other ways to unleash the musician in you. There's plenty of learning programs and courses online for different guitar styles and most of them are free. So browse the net and find one that's perfect for you. Just make sure it has a specific syllabus. E-Books and Video-Books can also teach you effectively.

Remember how you practice is how you play so practice like a rockstar!

5. Start learning and playing more songs

Doing this ever so often will work wonders for you. Learning to play your favorite songs will help you learn guitar faster, here's how:

It keeps you motivated because you're actually playing stuff that you like.
Covers all the fundamentals of applying guitar theory - why are you learning guitar? to compose and make music so what better way to do this by actually practicing and playing songs?
You master essential aspects of the music world - such as timing, rhythm, listening to other elements/ instrumentalists apart from yourself and more.
You get to understand how songs are composed and get an appreciation of how different instruments come together to make melody. You will better equip yourself with the skills required to compose your own masterpieces.
You learn new guitar styles and playing techniques that you can add to your bag of tricks.
You can play along in bands or even do some solo ballads of popular songs - it makes it easier to share your gift with different people.

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6. Keep your guitar on a stand

Let me let you in on a secret, you are more likely to play your guitar if it's easily accessible and you can see it. This is because you are less likely to feel lazy if you can simply reach out and grab your guitar instead of walking to it or having to climb up the stairs to another room and get hold of your guitar. So do yourself a huge favor and keep your guitar at arm's reach, keep it in your room, out of its bag and within your view. This is what I do and somehow I can't keep my hands off of my guitar. Try it but be warned you might end up a guitar junkie, which is not too bad if you ask me.

7. Ditch music theory

Well not entirely but for a season I would advise you to focus more on practical guitar rather than spending hours studying music theory. I mean hello you want to learn guitar as fast as possible not teach music theory in some university. So use your time to practice those techniques and bonding with your guitar. But still be well versed with music theory that is applicable to your playing. Don't waste time studying Mircotonal music or the Schenkerian analysis (well unless it applies to your playing).

8. Maintain your instrument

You want to use your guitar in the long run right? You want your guitar to perform at its best every time you grab it for practice right? I know you don't want to have to deal with broken strings every few weeks because of poor guitar maintenance, where's the fun in that? So here's a few ways to maintain your guitar after all the rigorous practice that will likely cause wear and tear:

Learn to tune it (buy a tuner and learn to use it). In tune strings are lovely to play and listen to.
Learn to change the strings - every guitarist must know how to do this.
Wipe them strings - it removes all the gunk that will make your guitar sound much better.
Clean the guitar - I know I don't want to play a dusty guitar, I hope you feel the same way.
Keep it away from dust, dirt, and liquids. Your guitar is not a dining table so avoid putting food or drink on or next to your guitar.
Place it on a stand or put it in its case when not using it.