Guitar Practice 101

Fig 1.1
E-minor

There is not a set road to take when learning to play the guitar other than you need a guitar and practice. Once you get the guitar you really don't need to buy anything else, BUT if you are like the rest of us...You will buy other stuff (Ode To THE PEDAL, What sweet music thou bring-ith to thine ears...). What might work for one person does not work for the next. I know a few people that are trying to learn or want to learn. They all have different strategies. Some have instructors many do not. Their instructors vary in what they have their student learning. Not because one instructor is better than then next, it's just they see something in their student to learn a certain way, or their student said they wanted to learn something.

Fig 1.2
A7

Obviously you have to practice. You have to put the time in to play well. Those guys (Men and Women) you see on YouTube or in a band practice, they work at it. They spend hours a day practicing consistently. Some are gifted, sure, but they still practice a lot. They have years of practice. Do not get discouraged, just know you need to set aside a little time to strum some. If you have a bucket and put a few drops of water in it each day, eventually you could fill that bucket with water (unless you live in South, but I think you know what I mean).

When I first bought my guitar I would pick it up to try and learn some things from a book and YouTube. I remember thinking how hard it was. I would get discouraged and put it back down. The guitar sat more than it got played. I had a ton of things going in my life as well. I thought I just did not have the time. I had my guitar a few years and it still looked brand new. It just was not getting played enough. I once made the comment to a friend that has a worn guitar "mine looks brand new", I've always wondered how he took that. He knows how to play. The more I play and practice the more fun I have.

Fig 1.3
A Major

Consistently practice - if you do not have hours to practice a day, like most people who have a job and a family, you need to set aside time to practice. TV and Internet can be HUGE time suckers. Hey, I'm happy you are reading this, but you could be practicing right now.

Take baby steps. The first chord I learned was a G major (Fig 1.5). Not the easiest chord to learn starting out, but it is used a lot. I suggest E minor (Fig 1.1) and A7 (Fig 1.2). They only require 2 fingers. Remember this is just to get your feet wet. Your finger tips might hurt, but if you play consistently they will get tougher and stop hurting. You should also learn the Minor Pentatonic scale pattern or shape (Fig 1.6). That's a good start.

Fig 1.4
D Major

One other thing I highly suggest for beginners is to practice a BAR chord (Fig 1.7). Strum it 5 times at each practice. Don't worry how it sounds, it's that bucket thing. You will need to learn BAR chords. You might as well start now. Do not spend a lot of time on it at first. Just try to strum a BAR chord a

few times, and move on. Yes, it does not sound right. Remember BAR chords ARE easy, but you really can't tell someone how to do it. They are hard at first, but by doing it a little at a time you will get it. Somehow your brain and hand just work it out. It's the strangest feeling. One day, YOU WILL be able to play a BAR chord. I waited to start learning BAR chords. I learned a bunch of other stuff as far as I could, then realized I need to know how to play BAR chords to progress. They sounded terrible! Like starting all over again, frustrating. But I had/have a strong goal in learning to play the guitar. I looked for songs that had just 1 bar chord in them...

Hindsight 20/20 - I should have started BAR chords when I first started. Strum it a few times and move on. At the beginning, who cares what they sound like? Everyone's hand is different, you just have to do it.

Fig 1.5
G Major

Which brings me to... Excuses! My goodness I've heard a lot of them! Whatever it is.... Look on YouTube, there is some body playing with their feet, or an 8-year-old girl, or 90-year-old man.... They are "Special". Yes, they are special! They set aside time to practice. My father started to learn in his 70's, and he sounds pretty good. Most likely he won't be in a rock band, but he can play with his family. How cool is that? At family get togethers and we can jam?

Beats complaining about politics...Good Lord!

Today we have TONs of information..Chances are you've already found a bunch of Youtube videos and written information. Read as much as you can and Practice more.

The understatement of the day - Music is VAST. Delve into music theory and you will understand quickly.

Fig 1.6
Minor Pentatonic

Images;

The black stripes represent the strings. E-A-D-G-B-E. If there is an X below letter that means do not strum that string. The black number on the right represents the fret number. These are open chords, so these images take place all the way down close to the 1st fret.

Fingers - in my images, Index finger is f1, The How-do-you-do finger is f2, ring finger is f3, and the pinky is f4. If there is an O use any finger. 

There are no set rules on what fingers to use when holding the strings down. There is a guy on YouTube that uses his feet. You also don't have to try and squeeze maple syrup from your maple fret board either. Getting your fingers close to the fret itself will help. If it hurts, you take a break.

• Fig 1. 1 - E minor: strum all 6 strings. F1 on A string, 2nd fret, and f2 on D string, 2nd fret. In this image I show using fingers 1&2, you can use 2&3 (when you do an E Major you will be using 2&3, but 1&2 are good enough starting out) 
• Fig 1.2 - A7: strum only 5 strings from the A down. F2 on the D string, 2nd fret, and f3 on B string, 2nd fret.
• Fig 1.3 - A Major: strum 5 strings from the A string down. Strings D-G-B, 2nd frets. Reason I used O's is that you can use f1,f2,f3 or f2,f1,f3 depending on what is more comfortable. You can even bar those 3 strings with your index finger. Depending on what you are playing, you may do a combination of those. For me, it is more comfortable to use f2,f1,f3, or bar it.



Fig 1.7
A Major

• Fig 1.4 - D Major: strum 4 strings from D string down. F1 on the G string, 2nd fret, f2 on the E string, 2nd fret, and f3 on the B string, 3rd fret. D major is a very common chord along with the G major.
• Fig 1.5 - G Major: strum all 6 strings. F1 on the A string, 2nd fret, f2 on E string, 3rd fret, and f3 on high E string, 3rd fret. Sometimes you may need to use different fingers on this one as well, but starting out, don't worry about it.
• Fig 1.6 - Minor Pentatonic Scale/Shape/Pattern with extensions:  the image represents A fret board, The black is the 6th string, the lightest grey is the 1st string. The circles are the fret you press with your finger. The Blue circles represent the minor pentatonic scale, the Green circles are the extra "blues notes", the purple circles are the extensions. Note that there are 5 forms, the blue circles are form 1. The forms overlap.
• Fig 1.7 - Practice BAR Chord: strum all 6 strings. A Major Bar Chord, With f1, BAR all 6 strings on the 5th fret, f2 on G string, 6th fret, f3 on A string, 7th fret, and f4 on D string, 7th fret. Moving down to the 5th fret bar is a letter easier than other places. Beginners, just strum it a few times, and forget about it until next practice. Eventually, you will be able to do it. I've seen small kids do it.