Acoustic Guitar Beginner Tips

You've decided that you want to play guitar because you enjoy music and you want to play music instead of just listening to it. You may just want to do this for your own pleasure and satisfaction or maybe you have higher aspirations and would like to be in a band. In any case, learning to play the acoustic guitar is a great choice in instrument.

The acoustic guitar is a better choice for learning that an electric guitar for several reasons and it's probably the instrument that most guitarists first learned to play. It is portable and does not require an amplifier or electricity, so you can pick it up and play it anywhere. This is important when you are first learning because you need to pick up the guitar whenever you are motivated to learn. Your acoustic guitar will be with you at the ready whether you are in your dorm room, on a camping trip or even traveling in a car. The other important consideration is that the acoustic guitar is less forgiving that an electric guitar. The strings are a little harder to press against the fretboard properly and the neck is probably a little larger. When you can play a chord cleanly on an acoustic guitar you can be assured that you will also be able to play it on an electric guitar.

The very first thing that you will need when learning to play the acoustic guitar is obviously the guitar itself. You should learn to play on a quality acoustic guitar. This is important, not because it will sound better, but because it will play better and be easier for you to play correctly. The interface between you and the music is the guitar neck and a quality acoustic guitar will have a superior neck and fretboard to a cheaply made guitar. The better hardware of a decent guitar will enable to you set a proper string height that will be easier to play and it will maintain the proper tension and stay in tune for longer periods of time without adjustment. And a quality acoustic guitar will sound better because the woods and materials of construction are of a better quality and the soundboard's bracing system will provide better acoustics.

A new high end guitar can cost you well over a thousand dollars, but you can purchase a reasonable quality guitar for five or six hundred dollars new. But you can save money by buying a used acoustic guitar for around half that price. Used acoustic guitars are available in the local classifieds, on craigslist, at your music store, in the pawn shops and on eBay. Craigslist and eBay will probably have the best selection. However, the price of the used acoustic guitar on craigslist is set by the seller and often times sellers have unreasonable expectations and value their used guitars too highley. On the other hand, used acoustic guitars on eBay will have their prices determined by the buying market when purchased through the auction format and will more or less reflect the truer price of that used acoustic guitar.

But whether you are buying a new or used acoustic guitar you will first have to do some research to determine the type of acoustic guitar that you want in regards to style or even brand and specific model. Visit the online forums and various newsgroups and read what the owners of specific guitars have to say about them and if they review them favorably. If you decide that you want to save money by buying a used acoustic guitar, make sure you are able to check out the guitar before you buy it. Examine the guitar for any visible damage or other imperfections, but don't be overly concerned with scratches or dings as these will not affect the playability and tone of the guitar and will in fact lead to a lower price due to the cosmetic defects. However, make absolutely sure that the used guitar is structurally sound and that there are no cracks in the body and that the neck is properly set. Also, cracks in the finish and a bulging or sunken soundboard may indicate that the guitar has developed problems from too much or too little humidity. If the action, pitch and intonation of the guitar are not properly set on a used guitar, they can usually be adjusted by a luthier or even a knowledgeable friend later on. If you are uncomfortable in your ability to assess the condition of a used guitar you should find an experienced guitar player to evaluate the guitar for you.

Now that you've found your guitar, it's time to start learning to play it. This will depend on your personality and your budget. A qualified guitar teacher can help you get started, but your learning will be more structured and rigid. It will be class and your homework will be to learn the assignments given you and demonstrate that you've mastered them at your next lesson. This is a fine and quite acceptable approach, but most budding guitarists will like the home study course better because it is less rigid and quite frankly a lot more fun. With this approach, you can learn the scales and chords and progress to a more structured class with an instructor when you either want to learn the music theory behind what you're doing or need to progress to more difficult subjects that you can't master on your own.

With the home study course all you will need to get started are some good instruction books on learning to play the guitar. You can ask your friends for ideas or go to Amazon.com or the online music stores and read the reviews regarding what is taught in the manual and how it is presented. This method will provide a flexible and comfortable way for you to learn scales and chords and will enable you to start playing. Your repertoire will be limited at first because you will start learning the major chords, but as you progress and learn the chord variations you will be able to expand your song list. Also, as your library of chords grows it will become easier to expand into a new chord when you run into it because you may only find one or two new chords that will need to be learned to play a new song.

As you learn the guitar, you will need to practice. And as Alan Iverson has said, "We talkin' 'bout practice!" Learning the correct way to practice is a very important aspect of your acoustic guitar playing success. This is especially true as you are learning scales and new chords because you will need to concentrate so try to find a quiet and private environment to do this. But practice can be fun if you find a routine to allow it to be. For instance, when learning a new chord spend the serious time learning the chord and getting it to sound right. Play it several times, switch to a chord that you can play well, then switch back to the chord that you are learning. Repeat this until the fingering of the new chord is engrained and add another chord or two that you are comfortable with and play a chord progression. Finally, play a song that is predominated by chords that are in your knowledge base but includes a chord or two of the 'difficult' chords that you are trying to learn. You will find great satisfaction when you can play the song completely and cleanly.

Find the routine and the learning method that suits you best and stick to it. Don't let your learning routine become boring and monotonous. When you run into a problem, work on it slowly and deliberately. At times you will probably become discouraged by your lack of progress. When this happens, put down the guitar a take a break. When you are refreshed, play something that you already know how to play and then return to your problem. This may take several iterations, but you will eventually break through and master it.
Don't give yourself tasks that are too difficult when you are first learning. It takes time to learn the chords and their variations, so start with the major chords and only the major chords to start with. These will be your base to expand upon when you move into the variations of the major chords and are ready for the minor chords, the diminished chords, the sevenths and so on. So start off slow and easy to build your foundation and take on the more difficult things when you have mastered the basics. Make sure that you set goals for yourself that are attainable at the level of playing that you are at. This will engrain confidence and enhance your further progress in learning to play acoustic guitar.

No matter what else you take from this article, the most important point is to be persistent in your learning program. It does not matter whether it takes you a day, a week or a month to learn a new chord. Just don't give up on it until you've got it down. It will only be a matter of time before you become a good guitar player if you put in the effort, and of course, the practice.