If you’re trying to learn any instrument, you’ll need some time to set aside to practice.  Playing music and becoming a musician (of any sort of standard) is not just about absorbing information or how much you “know” about music.  You have to build actual muscle memory, and train your hands, arms, feet, (whatever your instrument is) to OBEY what you “know” in your brain.  The only way to do this is to put in the time and practice.

So, practically speaking, the first thing you should do is set aside some time specifically for practicing.  It sounds obvious to say, but many people skip this crucial step.  Simply make up your mind, write it down on a giant piece of poster board and hang it in your room.  It could say, Monday’s at 4:00 Practice Warmups and bla bla bla for 20 minutes.”  The point is that you make your goal obvious to your brain, because your brain WILL rebel against you and try to distract you with other less important things, like….food….Wii…..sleep….you get the point.

Much Respect,
The Musician’s Toolbox

Something that’s not necessarily obvious when you’re first learning guitar is that you can use different picks for different styles of music.  For example, if you’re trying to shred “Through the Fire and the Flames,” you’d want to use a thicker pick, because it will give you a nice, controlled sound.  In other words, the pick won’t flop all over the place as you’re shredding your strings into oblivion.

Alternatively, if you’re strumming a chilled out song that’s slower, or just not as crazy rhythmically, then you could use a thinner pick.  The thinner picks will sort of blend the sounds of the strings together as you strum, and you’ll get a warmer sound.

In either case, just make sure you keep your wrist relaxed and that you’re holding the pick between your thumb and index finger.

Much Respect,
The Musician’s Toolbox

It can be hard to force yourself to practice, so what I would suggest doing is either one of two things:

1.) Practice and play with a friend. You can teach each other what you learn, and it’s fun.
2.) Try following along with videos and tabs on the internet, try new stuff, listen to alot of different styles.

Between listening to new stuff all the time and sharing what you learn, you’ll stay motivated to practice. It’s really that simple.

Much Respect,
Andrew
The Musician’s Toolbox

If you want to get better at something, you have to put in the time and practice. Since this is our first blog, we’ll get to the point:

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.

What this means is, the attitude you have and the way you practice ultimately shapes the way you play. If every time you sit down and practice you make a conscious effort to use good posture, good technique, a metronome (to keep the beat) and play with confidence, you will improve.

Everyone else will lie to you and tell you that its easy to become a guitar god.