PRACTISING 1
Most people are concerned about whether they are up to the task of playing the guitar and whether they will stick to it. This is understandable because instruments are a ‘risky’ investment if deep down you believe that some sort of magical talent is required.
In reality I have found all accomplished players to be normal people with passion, dedication, patience, discipline, perseverance, focus, humility and curiosity for guitars and music.
If your expectations are not unreasonable then after a year of graft you will be one of the community. The level you can attain is really only limited by your commitment and available free time.
The early stages are tough because it takes months to adjust your routine to accommodate an hour of daily undisturbed practise time, for you fingertips to harden up, for the ligaments to limber up if you are older, for the hands to learn correct posture, for general hand-eye coordination to adapt, and to learn how to practise effectively with the time you have.
You need at least an hour a day in which to unpack, settle down, prepare your guitar and materials…and get 30mins actual practise done before packing up. Later down the line, once you are set up and in a routine, you can get meaningful work done in a few minutes.
Tune up with an electronic tuner before, during and after practise. Strings can go out if tune at any time. Your ears need to be familiar with the correct pitches so you can depend on them later.
Balance the guitar on your leg so that the neck doesn’t dive and your fretting hand can move up the neck unimpeded. Don’t let the fretting hand support the neck. Switch between each leg since both stances have their uses. Whichever leg is supporting the guitar needs to be elevated so that the guitar does not want to slide off.
Lean the forearm over the edge of the guitar so that your picking hand is in a central position with your plectrum over the sound hole (or in-between the pickups) and be ready to mute the strings behind the pick by dampening them with the side of the hand.
Hold the pick with thumb and finger 1 and point it directly into the strings. The angle will change over time and experience. The remaining fingers need to be ready to pluck when required. The small finger can touch the body to reassure you where the pick is.
Try a 1mm pick (midway between the and thick) and change with experience. Use the least motion with the pick to get a note to ring because economy is essential and takes a long time to learn.
Your next move is to find the Beginners lessons at the start of each section and get stuck in.