3 Mistakes that are Stopping you from Learning Guitar

There are many factors to consider when we are an absolute beginner trying to learn something for the first time. There are several difficulties that a beginner faces that can slow down progress or result in a complete failure at learning the guitar which is an amazing instrument.

In this blog, we will discuss 3 mistakes that people make that directly impact their guitar learning.

Mistake #1 – Being Stuck on Warm-Up exercises

When you go to a music school or first guitar instructor, the first thing they are going to do is ask you to play guitar exercises. Typically, to master this exercise you may take a month or more. In our experience, most of the time, students complain saying that “I'm stuck at this exercise forever”. Now, if you're stuck at the same kind of exercise for two weeks or more, it’s obvious that you're going to lose interest. And once you start losing interest, the next thing you do will be to discontinue learning this amazing instrument.

So, what’s the Solution?

The right way to learn is to learn chords at the same time. So, why do you need to learn the chords at the same time? That is because chords by itself are going to take more than two or three weeks to master. So, let’s calculate the total time you’re going to take - you are going to learn the warmup exercise for three or four weeks then after that you're going to start with the chords. Chords will take you another two or three weeks so for two months you're just doing some exercise on the guitar

Mistake #2 - Learning Complicated Chords

When you first started learning to play chords on the Guitar, you tend to learn these chords C Major, E Minor, G Major and D Major. Now, while E Minor and D Major are not so complex for a beginner, the other two chords – C Major and D Major can be quite tricky for a beginner.

So, what’s the Solution?

That is why you should learn ‘half chords’. So, what are half chords? Half chords are simplified versions of the full chords – these typically have less notes that need to be played. These notes are typically played on the first three strings. So, we highly recommend first learning the half chords and how to apply them correctly. Playing these half chords and being able to apply them will help build your muscle memory and confidence. Once you have gained mastery over these half chords and are ready to venture into full chords, then you can start with full chords.

Mistake #3 – No Rewards/Motivation

A lot of students end up spending their first few weeks or even months on warm up exercises. They are unable to move their fingers fast enough, not coordinated or just unable to get a grasp of the instrument. The problem is that, if they are unable to achieve anything, they are going to get bored and lose motivation very quickly.

So, what’s the Solution?

The first thing we need to understand is the psyche of a learner. If somebody is trying to learn anything, it's directly related to how enjoyable that learning process is. How much of a reward system is it based on. So, learning and accomplishing things at a faster pace will keep you motivated. This in turn will keep you motivated to learn further. And if the process is really slow and complicated, you will either get tired or bored and you will ultimately stop learning. At the end of the day, with everything you learn, to keep you motivated, you need to have accomplishments. So, while warm up exercises are important, we advise that you don't spend more time on only exercises. Learn to play songs and learn songs alongside which is more rewarding and keeps you motivated to learn more.

In Summation

So, that was our 3 Mistakes that are Stopping you from Learning Guitar and our 3 solutions to counter that problem. So, make sure you don’t repeat these mistakes on your journey of guitar learning to achieve your goals. If you want to see a video demonstration of these topics, please see the video on our YouTube Channel - https://youtu.be/XcPYZXhdyt0    
 
If you want access to detailed guided lessons and practice routines, please do check out our Guitar courses on https://musicpandit.com – On Music Pandit, you get step-by-step lessons  that are designed to get you playing your favourite songs as quickly as possible. The lessons cover a whole range of topics including easy chords, popular strumming patterns, how to be creative with your playing and how to apply your techniques on any song!
 
We hope you enjoyed this topic and it was useful for you. Please follow our blog so you don’t miss out on any upcoming blog posts. If there is any topic you want to know more about, just comment below and we will definitely discuss it.

About Music Pandit

Music Pandit brings you the most effective way to learn music online with a 360-degree approach to learning music.

Music Pandit offers Online Video Lessons with the support of Personalised feedback from our Music Pandits, curated step-by-step lessons, extensive content - you can choose multiple instruments with One subscription, carefully organised Practice Routines, a Musical Community, Creative Challenges, Goal setting and so much more – so you can learn Anytime, Anywhere at your pace! Sign up today on https://musicpandit.com  

5 Reasons You Should Learn to Play the Guitar

Guitar is an instrument that can be carried around easily and give you the perfect accompaniment while you sing away your favourite songs at a campfire, a friend's party or on a stage! Guitar is a really responsive instrument that can assist you to deliver your emotions in various ways and finally, it looks really cool! 

However, it also has some other great benefits - here are some reasons we think you should learn to play the guitar:

1. Accompaniment

There is no instrument, better than guitar, to company you - especially if you like singing and have to carry around an instrument to help showcase your talent. It is portable, lighter than most of the other instruments and the environment it can create compares to none. It can give you the sense of rhythm as well as assist you perfectly, if you want to sing along.

2. Building Personality

As you go further into learning the guitar and tackle each lessons, it makes you a better, smarter and a more well-rounded human being. The techniques and the concepts you have to learn to be able to play the guitar to your favourite tunes requires you to improvise and enhances your concentration, memory power, listening skills, analytical skills and your reactions. All of these nurture your body language and helps you to feel more confident about yourself. This helps build a personality that others and you yourself respect. Also, it also teaches you to manage your time better and more effectively as you start balancing your busy schedule along with getting better at the guitar.

3. Incorporating Fun in your life

With the ever growing fast paced living culture of today’s world, we often forget to leave some time for ourselves, to lay back, relax and have fun. Playing the Guitar can be the perfect getaway from the busy schedules that control our lives. Find some time, say 20-30 minutes every day to practice your Guitar, and you will see a vast difference in your mood as well as guitar skills. With the right instruction, you can be playing and singing your favourite songs in just a few weeks.

4. Learning Life Enhancing Skills

Playing the Guitar improves your coordination skills, cognitive abilities and also provides a workout for your brain as you read music and play the guitar, at the same time. It prepares you to be multitask, which you can apply in your day-to-day life. You can test and shape your creativity as you start learning to improvise on guitar. It can completely change the way you think, process and analyse certain aspects in your life, allowing you to ‘think outside the box’ and producing more effective results from you.

5. Medium of Expression

Guitar is an instrument that can talk for you, or for your emotions. It gives you an outlet to express your feelings or a mood you are trying to convey to the audience. This is what all musicians strive to get to as they mould their music into self-expression which appeals to the audiences’ emotion and form a connection. All instruments has their own capacity to be able to express, however a Guitarist can somehow talk through those emotions in a more subtle manner. If you are someone who has a lot to say but is unable to express it, the Guitar is the instrument that you are looking for.

All of these benefits come through stages in your experience in the instrument. If you are curious about the Guitar and want to check it out - you can easily learn with just 30-40 minutes a day. Nothing is hard, it is only unknown and you just need to familiarise yourself with it. You need to invest a little time to begin your guitar learning journey but you can be guaranteed a great skill and a fun lifelong companion.

Music Pandit brings you the best and the most effective way to learn music online with a complete 360-degree approach to learning music.

Music Pandit offers Online Video Lessons with the support of Personalised feedback from our Music Pandits, curated step-by-step lessons, extensive content - you can choose multiple instruments with One subscription, carefully organised Practice Routines, a Musical Community, Creative Challenges, Goal setting and so much more – so you can learn Anytime, Anywhere at your pace!