Playing Guitar

Playing Guitar

There’s a certain kind of magic about playing guitar. This is especially so for young people who see their musical idols wielding screaming instruments during power-packed stage performances. But real life is different. Playing guitar is not easy and fingers get sore. But a little determination, and these few tips should help.

1. When tuning each guitar string, you should always start low and tune up to pitch. If you start with the string tuned higher than the desired note and tune down, the string is much more likely to go flat and you will find yourself playing guitar in a very discordant world.

2. Tuning for playing guitar usually requires a keyboard or pitch pipe as a reference. But if you have neither, then use your land line telephone dial tone, which is an F. Place your index finger of your left hand on the first fret of the first (thinnest) string, and tune it to the telephone dial tone. Now you can get on with playing guitar as soon as you tune the other five strings to that string.

3. When changing strings, it’s usually best if you can change them all. Change the strings one at a time, starting with the thickest. This keeps tension on the guitar and will make it easier to get it back in tune for playing guitar, as the instrument doesn’t have to re-stabilize itself.

4. Bridge pins can get stuck and be difficult to remove when changing strings. To help prevent damage to the bridge, keep a short piece of strong, smooth twine handy. Wrap it around the visible part of the pin and pull gently out of the guitar.

5. You may find that your plectrum, or pick, is too smooth, and prone to slipping from your fingers as you are playing guitar. Super glue a small piece of shaped fine grade sandpaper to both sides of the upper part of the pick, where you grip it, to create a solid textured grip. A good alternative is to use skateboard grip tape instead.

One thing you will experience in early playing guitar is sore fingers. It takes time to build up calluses, and there really is no shortcut. But with time you will develop hard tips to your fingers, and those hours of left-hand finger agony will be but a distant memory as everyone admires the fine music you play.

Playing guitar.