5 Ways To Improve Your Guitar Playing

Want to improve your guitar playing?

Learning how to play the guitar has forever been something that many people want to do but very few manage to do properly. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen guitar books and youtube videos proclaiming that you can learn the guitar in 2 months. This just isn’t the case. Learning to play the guitar takes dedication and a lot of practice. Even if you just want to master open chords and even more time if you want to take it even further. There are, however, many ways in which you can make the process easier and more manageable within a tight schedule or time constraints. Most of all you need to find a routine that works for you. There is definitely plenty of common ground that applies to all players. Here are a few things I would recommend all guitarists take into account or incorporate into their routine when learning to play the guitar. 

1. Know Your Goals

This might seem a really obvious option when it comes to improving your guitar playing. So many players start playing without knowing what they want to learn or where they want to take their playing and from experience. 90% of players like this are the ones who give up or stop playing for some reason or another. The guitarists who really succeed are the ones who have a clear goal of what they want to achieve with guitar playing. This could be as small as learning your favourite Green Day song or being able to improvise. All of these are great goals that give you something to work towards. Before you pick up the guitar again, remember to ask yourself “what am I working towards” & if you don’t know then start setting goals. What do you want to improve or what would you like to be able to play 6 months from now? This will force you to push yourself harder and generally start seeing progress in your playing. Keep in mind, this applies to players of all levels & that all players have different goals but regardless of your ability, you need to be working towards something. 

2. Don’t Skip The Basics

This is something many guitar players do near the beginning of their playing journey and can be something that is extremely hard to fix. Everyone wants to learn how to play and nobody wants to be a beginner forever. I get that but whatever you do, do not skip all the basics of guitar playing and understanding. If you do this can have severe consequences to your playing a few years down the road. When I say basics, I mean things like open chords. Taking the time to learn how to alternate pick. Starting slowly and building up speed & making sure you know basic theory. I have taught countless players who have neglected this and they either have no sense of rhythm. Their picking is really messy or they are stuck playing the same pentatonic scale over and over. Getting over these issues can take years and could have been avoided with a proper practice routine for the first year of playing. Many players forget these and then wonder why they can’t improve their guitar playing.

3. Use A Metronome

This is something that could’ve fallen into my previous paragraph but I decided it’s a pretty important point. Playing with a metronome is a must. Whether it’s playing chords, scales, picking exercises or learning a song, you need to play with a metronome. This is one of the most important things that allows players to develop a sense of rhythm. This is something that you will need for future whether you just want to play along with your favourite bands or with other musicians. If you ever want to record anything, you need to be able to play in time. If you can get this drilled from the first month you pick up a guitar then you will reap the benefits once your playing improves. 

4. Play With Other Players

So you’ve already learned the basics of playing. You know a bit of theory and can play a few songs, where do we go from there? One of the best ways to improve your playing and understanding is to play with other players. This is something that all musicians who want to play in more than just their bedroom should do. I found that I learned more about playing with other players than I could ever learn at home. Tightening up your playing can always be done at home. Expanding your understanding and knowledge about music and your sense of rhythm will improve. Even a 2-hour session with another musician every week will help so much. It could just be playing with another guitarist, starting a band or going to an open mic, anything involving playing with others is greatly beneficial. I would put it above any other practice routine there is. 

5. Learn What You Love

This is the most important thing when learning guitar & trying to improve your guitar playing is to learn what you want to learn. Make sure you are learning in a direction you want to go in. Don’t ever let a teacher tell you what direction you’ll learn in. You should be the one telling the teacher what you are interested in. Learning the music and styles that you love along with all the essential theory is the best way to improve as a player. You should always learn familiar music. Try to learn new techniques and scale theory via the solo’s that you like to listen to. I can’t stress how important this is because I’ve known many players who have given up because their teacher has pushed them towards learning music they don’t like. If you work on what you love you will always make great progress. You will enjoy learning along the way as well.