In January, I will turn 21 and that will mean that it is effectively 5 years since i first expressed interest in playing the guitar. As i realised this, I began to think about things i wished i had done more when i started learning and thus thought i would share some of these thoughts with you all. So, without further ado, here they are:
1) Learnt to play barre chords properly from the beginning
Like many beginners, i found barre chords exceptionally difficult at the beginning as the strength and dexterity of my left hand had not yet developed and the sounds that barre chords produced were thus blocky and unintentionally muted. It is only in the last three years of playing that I have been able to play barre chords cleanly on the first attempt without warming up as my hand strength has improved and muscle memory is firmly installed there. It is easy to find an inferior open chord voicing for chords such as F which is a very common and difficult to formulate chord as a newbie and thus it is imperative that you do not do this and instead persevere with the barre voicings.
2) Practiced more with the slide
As opposed to sliding with fingers, which i never found particularly difficult personally, sliding with a brass, glass, or plastic slide takes practice to master. My dad has always been very talented with blues style and thus sliding and so I have always wanted to replicate and imitate his sound but so far I am nowhere near. Sliding adds so much dimension to music and had i started from the beginning, nearly 5 years ago, I dare say that i would have now been rather good. Instead, I find myself reasonably skilled at playing guitar in most styles and then have to listen to my beginner-esque sound when i don the brass slide on my heavy little finger. There is of course much time to get better and i have faith that i will, but it would have been easier to learn all the tricks of the trade when i was starting out as it were.
3) Relied less on effects of amplifiers and pedals
When i began playing, like most people, i used a beat up old acoustic with three nylon strings, but on my 17th birthday, i got my first Strat from my mum and dad for christmas which i still love to this day. However, at 17, I had only been playing for a year and so could only play basic tunes and songs. I used to put the overdriven gain effect on every song I played which probably annoyed my family since the first songs i used to play were chorded songs bereft of solos and riffs. For example, today, i choose effects carefully and play my acoustic a lot as i believe the tones of a decent acoustic such as my tanglewood are hard to replicate on an amplifier. I use the electric guitar just as often and i play appropriate heavy metal, blues, and punk songs on there; All of which I can play on the acoustic too as i am now more than capable of barre voicings and riffing!
Any beginners that may be reading this, take note and you will thank me in 5 years time, i guarantee you will not regret taking these steps. Keep playing and good luck!
