Practicing Guitar……..
Practicing is the single most important task that must be completed every day if you’re going to become a good guitarist. Putting a schedule together of at least 15 minutes per day will have you well on your way. I’ve never seen one single student not go on to become a great guitarist who has followed this schedule.
Practicing Open Chords
We’re going to be starting to warm up with the open chords. Practice playing and saying them as you play. You can find all of the open chords here. We want to practice them all eventually. Start by playing the open chords in all the key chord progressions listed below. You will be playing these chords with the following rhythm chart:
Click The Diagram To Print A Blank Chord Progression Chart
Key Chord Progressions:
A
- 1,4,5,1= A, D, E, A
- 1,2m,3m,4,5,1= A, Bm, C#m, D, E, A
B
- B, E, F#, B
- B, C#m, D#m, E, F#, B
C
- C, F, G, C
- C, Em, F, G, C
D
- D, G, A, D
- D, Em, F#m, G, A, D
E
- E, A, B, E
- E, F#m, G#m, A, B, E
F
- F, Bb, C, F
- F, Gm, Am, Bb, C, F
G
- G, C, D, G
- G, Am, Bm, C, D, G
Practicing Barre Chords
Barre chords are a more advanced chord shape. However, they are very important. You will want to start practicing barre chords once you’ve become more advanced. Practice using the same rhythm progression. Just use the 6th string and 5th string root barre chords.
Here is a great free lesson on playing barre chords by Jamplay.com
Practicing Scales
Practice playing the minor pentatonic scales in all positions 10 minutes per day. When you feel you have the patterns mastered, play the following long Am pentatonic scale. This will help you to use the entire fretboard. When playing the long pentatonic practice playing the different positioned pentatonic scales up and down the neck. Note: Practice this using alternate picking to gain speed.
If you have a recorder, record the above chord progressions and practice playing the scales in different keys. Remember the key=root. This will keep the scales from becoming boring and you will also be able to start improvising using your skills to become a great lead guitarist. Also, practice your hammer-on’s and Pull-off’s.
Memorizing The Notes On The Fretboard
You will need to memorize the notes on the keyboard. This will help you throughout your guitar playing and it is essential. Notice that on every string there is a whole step between the notes except for B & C and E & F. This will make it easier for you to remember if you memorize it this way.
