Getting The Most Out Of Your Guitar Playing

Learning how to play guitar, and more specifically, getting good at playing the guitar is a sporadic process. Two steps forward, one step back.

There is a way to get the most out of your time with how to play the guitar. And that's what I want to talk about.

Give Yourself A Goal


A goal to be completed in 1 month is a great way to get good. If you're really ambitious, you could have a weekly goal. If there's a particular song you'd like to learn that might be hard, you could give yourself a month to learn how to play it.

Week one could be getting all the chords down.

Week two could be getting the song structure down (verse, chorus, fills, etc.).

Week three could be getting the guitar solo down if there is one.

Week four could be putting it all together and polishing it to make it sound it's best.

What's important here is if you come up with a plan, you'll end up further along. This isn't just with guitar playing. It's with pretty much everything you do. When you come up with a plan, you'll be more focused on the outcome you'd like without being distracted with other things. Just try it and you'll see.

I'd recommend you make a plan with everything you do. If it's learning how to play the guitar, writing a song, learning a song, learning chords, or scales. You'll end up far better if you go by one.


Here's another example if you need to learn more chords:


Write Down A List Of Chords You Need To Know

If you could come up with 20 chords you'd like to learn, you can focus on learning 5 a week. After a month, you'll know 20 new chords. It's always good to break down a larger project down into smaller ones. You'll find yourself having fun and getting it done a lot sooner.

You waste a lot less time when you're working with a plan. Whenever you think you could be doing more with your guitar playing, that's the perfect time to sit down and write out a plan.


About the author:

Larry Ford runs a weblog giving beginner guitar players practical advice on skill building and having more fun with their instrument. His weblog can be found at http:/www.larrysjournal.com