Stick With It!

Keep up your interest in playing with these helpful tips

By Ara Ajizian

Every holiday season countless guitars and basses are unwrapped, and a new generation of players is born. Most start with the best of intentions and a desire to master their instrument, but over time, the reality sinks in that being a successful player takes time, patience, and lots of practice, and before long, many lose interest. Here are a few simple tips that can help keep you motivated and expanding your abilities.
 

Take lessons

Find an instructor in your area who has experience teaching new players, as he or she will have the necessary patience as you stumble through your first few scales and develop a lesson plan that fits your skill level and keeps you wanting to play. Local music stores and classifieds (both online and print) are usually a great place to find out about instructors in your area.
 

Bond with your instrument

Spending time with your new instrument is imperative. I don't mean candlelit dinners or walks in the park . . . well, walks in the park are fine, actually. The point is if you're holding your guitar, you're likely going to play it. If it's an electric, pick it up and run through scales unplugged while you're watching TV. It won't make much noise and your fingers will enjoy the workout.
 

Play what you love

The rigamarole of learning theory and practicing scales can burn you out quickly, and while achieving a level of competence in these areas is certainly rewarding, you'll get no better satisfaction than learning an actual song. Find a song by a band you like that's not too challenging (virtually every band has one) and work your way through it. Chances are you'll learn a lot during the process. One of the best tools for this is a guitar trainer like those from TASCAM (Fig. 1) that let you slow down the speed of a CD or MP3 without changing the pitch, so you can work through tougher phrases at your own pace.

Fig. 1: TASCAM's GB-10 is one of several training devices the company makes, including ones for guitar, bass, and vocals.
 
Songbooks, CDs, and DVDs that focus on specific artists, genres, and albums. We've even got a new selection of Lessons On Demand that you can instantly access with your computer. Combined with your lesson material, you'll be able to work through songs before you know it.
 

Accessorize

There are loads of practice tools (Fig. 2) that can help improve your dexterity. From practice necks to finger exercisers, these tools will keep playing on your mind when playing your instrument isn't practical.

Fig. 2: Planet Waves' Varigrip makes it easy to maintain and build your hand strength when a guitar isn't handy.
 

Off to the woodshed

Learning to play an instrument is a life-long journey, and the toughest part is the first few steps. Following these tips will help you through those bumpy patches and get you on the road to a lifetime of enjoyment playing music.