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When any beginner starts learning guitar, he or she is faced with an unbearable load of questions and doubts. It’s quite natural to have these questions, to be honest.
Here below we have compiled a list of 10 most commonly found and frequently asked questions by beginner guitarists over the internet. Hope you find answers to some of your questions too, in case you have another good question (with or without an answer) and would like to share, just leave in the comments section below and we will get back to you.
Q1. How do I get started on Guitar?
Q1. How do I get started on Guitar?
You can begin learning guitar just by getting your hands on a guitar and playing it. It’s that simple. If, however, you want to up your chances of success, you’ll create a program that looks something like this:
Get hold of a guitar that you’ll be able to play regularly. If you can’t borrow one, look around and buy one that’s low-priced but easy to play. It should be easy to play so it won’t discourage you and low-priced because at this point you don’t know for sure if the guitar habit is going to stick. (If you do continue learning guitar you can always reward yourself with a better axe later.)
Do a bit of research until you settle on a teacher, a book, an online course, or software that looks clear and doable. Don’t worry about making the wrong choice at first; you’ll always be free to change at any time.
Plan daily practice sessions. They don’t need to be long hours, but they do need to be focussed, organized, and consistent.
Q2. How much will I need to practice each day?
Q2. How much will I need to practice each day?
Guitar players have to put in thousands of hours of practice before they can call themselves professional, but even the pros will tell you that too much practice is as bad as too little.
You can begin laying a learning foundation with only 10 minutes a day as long as you have a good learning plan and you concentrate fully during those 10 minutes. As time goes by and you experience small learning victories you may find time– and your own patience– opening up for you to practice for longer sessions.
Q3. My fingers hurt and have deep grooves in them, should I stop practicing?
Q3. My fingers hurt and have deep grooves in them, should I stop practicing?
Yes, if it is painful at all, then you should take a break. It's normal for things to be a little sore at the beginning. Getting grooves in your fingers is quite normal, and they are just from the strings sitting in the same place under your fingers (which is good). They will toughen up after a short time and then you won't notice it at all. The very first few times you play your fingertips are likely to get VERY sore, very quickly (in 5 minutes or even less!) but don't worry: just put the guitar down for a while and come back to it later. It's normal.
Sometimes the lines in your fingers can stay there for a whole day after you finish. Don't worry about this! Some people like to start playing on a nylon string guitar when they're starting out, for this very reason. It hurts a little less I guess, but it shouldn't be long before your fingers toughen up enough to play for 10 or 15 minutes on a steel string guitar without crying!
Also check that you're not pressing too hard! You only need to press hard enough to get a good note, any harder is just wasted energy! A good test is to see how lightly you can press while all the notes in a chord (or an individual note) sound good. That's how hard you should press. As lightly as possible while getting all clean notes. The position of the finger in the fret effects this too - but we'll be getting into this in the lessons!
Try not to let it get to the point of a blister, because then you need to take a few days off to let it heal. Also, make sure your hands are dry when you play; if you practice right after a shower or after doing the washing up then the skin will last hardly any time at all. If you get any pain in your hand or forearm you should stop straight away and see a doctor if the pain persists. Playing should be fun and enjoyable, not painful.
Q4. What strings should I use?
Q4. What strings should I use?
Acoustic Strings
If you are a beginner playing steel-string acoustic or electric guitar you probably want to start with very thin strings. On electric they are referred to as ‘9s' (.09 to .46 inches thick); on acoustic, you would use ‘11s' (.11 to .52 inches thick). If you just go to a shop and ask for light strings—or 9s or 11s—you should be given the right set. However, this is really a matter of personal preference. If you're really suffering from painful fingertips, you could try .08 gauge , but they're only for real wusses!
Some people prefer thicker strings and don't mind the pain so much. Thicker strings tend to have a fatter sound too, which many people prefer. I use 10s or 11s on electric and 12s or 13s on acoustics. I use lighter strings when I practice a lot so I don't hurt my hand muscles, but for recording, I usually use the thicker strings as they sound a little better most times.
The string thickness (or string gauge) is a lot less important with nylon strings, so any set will do. You'll see high and low tension, I usually buy High Tension, but I'm not entirely sure why if I'm honest... I need to do some more research too!
If you change strings, you might (only might!) need to adjust your 'truss rod' (which changes the angle of the neck), but for beginners this is usually better done at the store because doing it wrong can damage your guitar! If you're really new to playing a quick set up your local store with some light (.09) strings would be a solid investment in your playing future!
Q5. I only want to play rock guitar (or country guitar or jazz or whatever): Why do I have to play pop songs and rhythm guitar?
Q5. I only want to play rock guitar (or country guitar or jazz or whatever): Why do I have to play pop songs and rhythm guitar?
What you should learn when you first start, no matter what style you want to aspire to, is the same basic chords, and developing a sense of rhythm. Any serious guitarist in any style should know all of the things in this course. Often learning things in one style will help your playing in many other styles.
Even if you might think that a particular skill is not needed for what you want to do, you will often miss an important technique or 'a piece of the puzzle' that you will be searching for later!
My advice is to follow the beginner's course all the way through and then decide what things you might want to specialize in.
Q6. Do you have a mobile app?
Q6. Do you have a mobile app?
How nice of you to ask! As a matter of fact I do have one, called the Justin Guitar Beginner Song Course App which has hundreds of songs for beginners that you can play along with karaoke style which is awesome for beginners to vibe on the feeling of playing with a band, and playing along will really help your strumming and rhythm skills too! Available on Apple iOS or Android!
Q7. What common beginner mistakes should I avoid?
Q7. What common beginner mistakes should I avoid?
We have done a very helpful and detailed post on which common beginner mistakes to avoid as a beginner and here is a great post on what are the 10 best tips on how to learn and play guitar for beginners.
We are summing up some below:
– Giving up easily when the going gets tough.
– Being overly dependent on one form of music learning, be it by ear, notation, or tablature
– Not bothering to learn about your instrument and how it makes the sounds it does
– Always staring at the guitar’s neck, a habit that, if you ever get onto a stage, you’ll deeply regret
– Not training your ear
– Not listening to yourself, or recording yourself.
Q8. Does it matter if I'm left-handed?
Q8. Does it matter if I'm left-handed?
No! But you'll either need to buy a left-handed guitar or string a right-hander upside down (like Jimi Hendrix). There's advice on the forum about being a left-handed player. In this book, we've tried to use ‘fretting hand' and ‘strumming hand' to avoid dictating which hand you're using.
Worth noting that the majority of left-handed guitar players I know play a right-handed guitar, and it's what I recommend generally. It's more common to find right-handed guitars at parties, there's often a bigger ranger to choose from and it makes learning a little easier as most things are written for right-handers!
Q9. How do I know when to move on to the next stage?
Q9. How do I know when to move on to the next stage?
A very common question this one, but the answer is a little vague I'm afraid. I have tried to give you as much advice as I can at the end of each stage about what to expect, but everyone has different goals, abilities, expectations and aspirations and all those things will come into play when you have to decide when to move on. My advice is "when you feel ready". As a self-learner you will have to make that decision, but if you are confident in most of the skills from each stage and can use them in a song or two (just bumbling along, not concert level just yet!) then you are probably ready!
Q10. Can you really win a woman’s heart by singing while playing guitar?
Q10. Can you really win a woman’s heart by singing while playing guitar?
Okay, it’s a silly (and, of course funny) question, but it gets asked so often and has such a big response on Quora that we need to address it here, especially to present the woman’s side.
The short answer is that if you’re right for her and she’s right for you, singing to her while playing the guitar might just be the wind that blows the spark into a flame.
On the other hand, if your efforts are selfishly motivated and commitment is the last thing on your mind, you’ll be insulting both her and your guitar by wooing her with an insincere romantic gesture.
And honestly, if you are sincere and if you happen to know that she plays guitar too, you’ll win her over best by asking her to play the guitar and sing for you. Just sayin’.
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