Prepare Smartly For A Lifetime Of Good Guitar Playing

Picking up and playing the guitar for a lifetime is usually a dream of more people of any age than most would care to admit. It's a fact that just about every teenager (boys, though, for the most part) has had an occasional daydream of superstardom gained by playing in the greatest rock band around. And even though most never graduate past the garage, practicing until the fingers bleed sometimes becomes the norm.

The first thing to understand about playing guitar is that if you go with cheap equipment you're going to find yourself frustrated and not even willing to learn the harder techniques of playing. That's why it's always better to find a quality guitar in all circumstances. And if playing an electric version, think about something like an Epiphone electric guitar. It's not cheap and it's quality made.

And that's an important thing to keep in mind; a little bit of quality — and the extra cash needed to get it — will pay off huge dividends when one begins to graduate past learning how to make a folk guitar 'G' chord, for example. When it's time to start pounding out those fifths and minor sevenths and the like, having an instrument that doesn't torture the fingers to make a chord is the best.

All of the above also applies to southpaws who look at traditional right-handed guitars and immediately give up on playing. Nowadays, though, just about every quality guitar manufacturer makes electric guitars and a quality left handed acoustic electric guitar or two for those who come to the game like Jimi Hendrix did. He's probably the most famous southpaw player in rock history.

Also, guitar playing might be a little painful at first until calluses develop on the fingertips of the left or right hand (depending on whether a person is a right-hander or left-hander). It's important that one gradually build up the muscles in the hand that will rest on the neck and the frets of the guitar as well as developing those calluses.

If done correctly, one will soon be able to pick up something like an Ibanez acoustic electric guitar (they make a number of fine models, it must be said) and become the next great rock and roller or electric folk rock guitar player on the scene. All it takes is some effort and a willingness to 'suffer' for one's craft.

It becomes much easier to become a guitar player for life when one has taken the time to prepare smartly for a lifetime of good guitar playing by finding a quality instrument — even if it costs a bit more up front — then going for something cheap and which will soon cause one to not want to practice at all. Remember; all great guitarists, even Jimi Hendrix, started out where you are today.

Tags: Guitar, playing the guitar