If you're excited about learning guitar and keen to progress fast, there are several bad habits that you'll want to avoid. Things like choosing the wrong instrument, skipping warm-ups may seem like small mistakes but can significantly impact your progress. In this post, the guitar teachers at Greater Toronto Music School have highlighted several common pitfalls and provided solutions to help keep you on track.
Learning guitar for beginners can feel a bit like navigating uncharted waters. Even the most enthusiastic and determined learners can fall behind or become frustrated by making certain easily avoidable mistakes. In this blog post, we have outlined the most common errors made by new guitarists and provided actionable advice to help overcome them or avoid them all together. No matter if you're self teaching or enrolled in guitar lessons for beginners, follow the advice in the blog to set yourself up for success!
10 Common Mistakes By Beginner Guitarists: Quick Menu
The Most Common Mistakes Made By New Guitarists
Incorrect Posture
Why It Matters
While it may seem inconsequential, posture significantly impacts your comfort and the fluidity of your playing. Many new guitarists hold their instruments incorrectly, or awkwardly hunch over their guitars and this can cause discomfort and lead to development of poor technique. Poor posture, over time, can even cause injury and make it difficult to play for long periods of time or to execute more complex music.
How to Improve
If you're a guitarist who prefers to play while sitting, make sure you are sitting tall with both feet flat on the floor. For children who do not have access to a small sized chair, consider purchasing a foot rest to ensure that they can play in the proper position. Click here to see our favourite one. For guitarists who prefer to play while standing, make sure to use a strap to position the guitar at a comfortable height. Remember to frequently check your playing position in the mirror or seek advice from a professional guitar teacher.
Choosing The Wrong Guitar For Beginners
Matching the Guitar to Your Needs
Beginners should make sure that they choose an appropriate guitar as this can make learning more enjoyable and easier. A commonly made mistake is purchasing a guitar that's too big, low quality, or geared towards the wrong musical style. It's important to choose correctly to avoid frustration, lack of motivation or giving up all together.
Tips for Choosing Wisely
Take a trip to a reputable guitar store so that you can try out different models. Consider your age and hand size to choose an appropriately sized guitar and something that's not too heavy. If you're into acoustic music, you should not start with an electric guitar. If you're more of a blues or rock player, consider choosing an electric guitar. Beginners are often best off opting for lightweight and versatile guitars that can work across genres until they know best what they're looking for in an instrument.
Forgetting To Tune Before Each Session
Consequences of Playing Out of Tune
No matter how skilled a guitarist is, if the guitar is out of tune it will not sound good. Moreover, playing an even slightly out of tune guitar will make it harder for a musician to develop their ear. It's important to tune your guitar before each playing session, an important step often overlooked by beginners. Forgetting to tune before playing can lead to frustration for beginner guitarists who will find that their guitar does not sound as expected.
Easy Tuning Solutions
Make a habit of tuning your guitar each and every time that you pick it up to play. You can invest in a clip on tuner (click here to see our favourite clip on tuner for beginners) or download a smartphone app that will allow you to tune quickly and accurately. Remember, the more you tune, the easier and faster it becomes!
Ignoring Music Theory Fundamentals
Why Theory is a Game-Changer
Many beginners are keen to get right into playing and focus on learning and memorizing songs. While this approach works initially and can give a beginner guitarist lots of repertoire to draw from, it limits a musician's ability to compose, improvise or to deeply understand what they are playing. Learning music theory gives a beginner guitarist a strong foundation and helps to understand how chords function, how they relate to scales and how songs are structured.
How to Start
Incorporating music theory into your practice routine, even in small increments, will make a huge difference. Begin learning scales, chords and different rhythm patterns. Even if you only spend 10 minutes a day on these elements you will quickly notice a huge difference.
Inconsistent Practice Habits
The Impact of Irregular Practice
Daily practice, even in small increments, makes it easier to progress steadily, retain information, and build muscle memory. Like any skill, learning guitar requires consistent effort, dedication and the ability to stay motivated to persevere through challenges. Remember that skipping practice sessions will slow your progress.
Building a Routine
Develop a routine that will allow you to include daily practice in your busy schedule. Ideally, beginner guitarists should practice for around 30 minutes a day or more, but you can achieve great results with as little as 15 minutes daily. Remember to break your practice sessions up into different categories, namely warm ups, technical exercises and working on your favourite music. This will allow you to stay motivated and engaged while increasing your proficiency every day.
Neglecting Warm-Ups
The Importance of Preparation
While warm-ups may seem unnecessary to many beginner guitarists, they are in fact extremely important! Jumping straight into intense playing may cause injury. While learning to play guitar, beginners should not overlook this important aspect. Setting aside time at the start of each playing session for warming up will help to prevent injury and improve finger dexterity.
Simple Warm-Up Exercises
Effective warmups don't have to be complicated! Start with some basic finger stretches, simple scales or rudimentary chord progressions. This will loosen up your hands and allow you to easily execute more complex pieces during your practice session.
Failing To Maintain Strings
Why String Care Matters
Properly caring for your strings will increase the playability and sound quality of your guitar. This is an aspect that beginners frequently overlook, and often results in dull, lifeless tones or strings that can be difficult or painful to press down. Properly maintained strings will both feel and sound great and may encourage beginners to practice more.
How to Keep Your Strings in Top Shape
Ernie Ball makes a fantastic Ultra-Plush microfiber cloth that is incredibly useful to remove oils and dirt from your strings after playing. Click here to see it - we couldn't recommend it more! Also, be sure to replace your strings every few months so that you can get the best tone possible. Replacing strings can be a bit of a process, so we recommend picking up a string winder to get the job done faster. Click here to see our favourite one, which conveniently also includes a string cutter and bridge pin puller.
Learning Too Many Songs at Once
Why Less is More
It's important to remember the saying "quality over quantity" when you start learning guitar. Trying to work on too many songs at the same time can cause beginners to feel overwhelmed, lead to confusion and forgetting certain parts and result in sloppy technique.
Focusing Your Efforts
Remember, it's a marathon and not a sprint. To properly learn guitar, it will take time and dedication. Choose one or two songs to work on at a time and balance these with some music theory and technical exercises. Learn each song in its entirety and once you've mastered it, choose a new one to work on. Over time, you will be excited to see that your repertoire has grown substantially.
Avoiding Professional Guitar Lessons
The Role of a Guitar Teacher
While teaching yourself to play guitar is possible, especially with the many resources available online today, many self-taught guitarists develop bad habits that can be difficult to break. The best guitar teachers will not help students by correcting mistakes and providing structured and detailed guitar lessons, but they will also inspire beginner guitarists to be the best musicians that they can be. Most guitarists who take guitar lessons, whether online or in-person, will experience accelerated progress compared to their self-taught peers.
Finding the Best Guitar Teacher
Before enrolling in guitar lessons, research the leading music schools in your area. Make sure to read reviews and testimonials from past and current students to ensure that you're choosing reputable and qualified music school. At Greater Toronto Music School, our guitar teachers have plenty of teaching & performing experience in addition to their rich, academic backgrounds.
Lack of Constructive Feedback
The Value of an Outside Perspective
Feedback is key for improvement! Many beginner guitarists spend their time practicing alone and can find it difficult to correct mistakes. If you have opted for music lessons, your instructor will provide you with this much needed feedback to help you improve. If you're self-taught, you may need to look elsewhere.
Getting Feedback
For guitarists who have opted for guitar lessons in-person or online guitar lessons, your guitar teacher will provide you with all the feedback that you need. For others who have decided to learn on their own, it's a good idea to record yourself playing and critically listen back to identify your strengths and weaknesses. We also encourage you to share videos to online forums and seek feedback from other more experienced players. This will help you to improve and allow you to connect with the online community of guitarists and musicians.
FAQs About Learning Guitar For Beginners
How can I avoid forming bad habits as a beginner guitarist?
Working with a professional guitar instructor right from the beginning is the best way to avoid bad habits. Guitar lessons are available both in-person and online so you can learn in whichever setting is most comfortable for you.
What’s better for beginners: acoustic or electric guitar?
Generally speaking, acoustic guitars are a great place to start for beginners as they condition the fingers and tend to be more affordable. If you're desperately wanting to play electric guitar, don't worry, it's still a great place to begin.
How often should I practice to see improvement?
Remember to stay consistent. Daily practice is much more effecive than cramming in a marathon practice session once or twice a week. In as little as 15-30 minutes a day, you will see huge improvement over the course of a few months.
Conclusion
Learning to play the guitar comes with various challenges, but understanding and addressing common mistakes will make your journey more enjoyable. Make sure to choose the right guitar for your needs and remember to carve out time in your busy schedule for regular practice. A little bit of dedicated practice each day will result in huge changes in your playing! Whether you’re attending guitar lessons for beginners or learning on your own, make sure to consider the tips mentioned in this post and you'll be well on your way musical mastery.
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