10 Guitar Tips I Wish Someone Had Taught Me

V8 · Sep 11, 2018

Guitar tips can be quick and throwaway but I’m going to share 10 fundamental things that I wish someone had taught me. Let’s talk about some things that really make a difference to how you play your guitar.

https://nationalguitaracademy.com/guitar-tips/

Two tips that I think are rather useful:

Guitar Tip 2: There is an easy version of EVERY chord

Don't get discouraged if that chord is beyond your fingers - there's likely a easier voicing that captures the sound of the chord.

Guitar Tip 4: There is a simple way to work out the chords of a key (and vice versa)
There are no absolute rules in music, but 99% of the time the key of a song is either its first or last chord.

warrenpridgeon · Sep 12, 2018

V8 my easiest way for checking the key is circle of fifths.

nick_D01 · Sep 12, 2018

interesting read to check out, thanks Meron/ @V8 ?

V8 · Sep 13, 2018

warrenpridgeon During a jam? Gotta admit, I can't do it in real time (yet) - so this quik n easy 'cheat' works for me. And i used it liberally at a jam on Sunday - made me look really versatile until someone busted out a version of little wing and then I was lost. Then I sat and tried to work it out from the circle of fifths, by then time the song was done, I was starting to figure out what I could play ?

nick_D01 Anytime - a lot of it is common sense I guess...though I must be a dummy, it took me years to figure out the simplest things. Like being able to play chord fragments (partial chords) or move chord shapes around to expand my musical vocabulary - those two concepts rocked my world.

One thing that is not commonly spoken about on guitar (I had to play bass to appreciate this) is texture...

That is - an "a" played on the 5th string (open, not fretted) sounds different to the 'a' played on the low e string (5 fret). It is the same note, but it has a different texture. Going up/down octaves adds another texture to your tool box. As does the different voicings you can have of the chords.

That's the beauty of the guitar, compared to a piano it is 'flawed' because mechanically the string's are of different thicknesses - so while the note (or chord) is the same - playing it on different strings gives it a different texture. And you might find different voicings that are easier to play or suit the piece you are playing better.

Think vocally for a moment - sing the opening line to "Over the Rainbow".

Some-where....that movement up a octave from the Some to Where is catchy as anything. But the note is technically the same, just bumped up a octave but the texture of going up a octave and then returning back down the register to the "over" makes it feel special (at least to me ?). - but you've used two notes (G, G one octave up and D).

It is a subtle thing, but if you want to play vocally, thinking textures can be useful. Which means knowing your fretboard logically (scale shapes) AND by ear (ear training) is pretty darn useful... ?