Dansm's Acoustic Page
Dansm's Advice for Beginning Guitarists Part II

  1. While playing songs at the sites listed above or at others, you may have encountered chords with a 7 after them, like D7. The next step in learning guitar is to learn to form these chords.
  1. After you have mastered simple open chords, you can try moving on to barre chords. To make these chords, you must be able to hold your finger across all 6 strings on a certain fret. This is a rather difficult technique and takes a long time to learn. Keep at it, and you will be able to play these chords.

  1. At this point, you have learned all the important chords, and you can move on to fingerpicking. Fingerpicking is a technique which is used by many acoustic guitarists and is a great way to improve your sound immensely.

  1. The next step on your way to becoming a good guitarist is to know a bit about music theory. Music theory defines which chords go with which chords, and is very important for figuring out songs and for songwriting.

  1. Scales are a very important part of playing guitar. A knowledge of scales gives you a command of music that you can get no other way. It will allow you to solo faster and understand music better.

  1. Once you know all the basic techniques of guitar, you can begin to learn how real musicians put them into practice. The best way to do this is to figure out other people's songs.

  1. The last step on your way to becoming a great guitarist is practice. Practice is the only way to learn the techniques shown in the lessons above. The best way to practice is to keep playing more and more difficult songs, and by figuring out other people's songs. Remember to have fun, good luck, and enjoy your newfound skill!

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© 1997 Daniel E. Smith. Last updated 8-29-98