Starting to Play Chords and Other Helpful Practice Tips

It has definitely been a while since I last posted about improving my guitar playing skills but now that I finally have some time, I'm very excited to continue playing.

I had continued to practice strumming and playing notes every once in a while after my first post, so this time I decided to focus on actually playing chords and also learning useful practice tips. Throughout this whole time, I decided it was easiest to do things in the order they are placed in the book, rather than jumping around and thinking I already knew how to do some of it.

The first chord I attempted to learn was the C Chord. To make the C Chord, it requires three of your fingers to be on three different frets, so it is a bit of a stretch if you have smaller hands.

The book included step-by-step instructions of where to place your fingers for the c chord.

The C chord definitely was a stretch for my hands!

"When your fingers are in place, press the back of the neck with your left thumb, and play the C Chord by brushing your right thumb across the strings with a smooth, quick downward stroke" (Evans, 34). I've been experimenting whether it is better to use a guitar pick or just my thumb to strum and this time, I was using a pick. However, it's definitely necessary to stroke the strings quickly and smoothly no matter which way you strum so that all of the strings come together to create the right chord. The C Chord is a little different than some of the other chords but it was fairly easy to get the hang of it. "The C Chord sounds best if the 6th string is not played, so try to start your thumb stroke with the fifth string" (Evans, 34). I played the chord both ways, with the 6th string (the thickest string) and without and I found that the C chord did in fact sound a little better when you start off with the 5th string. After I got the hang of the C chord, I decided to move onto other chords. Luckily, there was a chart in the back of the book that showed how to play many simple chords so I tried a few of those out. Some chords were easier than others just because some of them didn't require too many fingers and you didn't really have to stretch your hand out too far. For example, the E minor chord only requires two fingers to be placed on the same fret on two strings right next to each other.

Playing the guitar might just seem like you just have to strum a few strings for a while and then you'll be as good as people like Ed Sheeran, but that's not actually very accurate. In the book, they provided a variety of helpful practice tips that are basically essential if you want to properly play the guitar. "If you can, practise every day for at least 20 minutes. Regular daily practice is far better than trying to play for several hours once or twice a week" (Evans, 37). I thought that this tip was really important to remember because before I had purchased this book, I attempted to self-teach myself and I ended up practicing guitar for hours only a few times a week. When doing this, it really just resulted in me getting tired and discouraged of playing anymore. I am definitely going to start practicing almost everyday for smaller periods of time because it will be much more efficient. Another good tip that I learned is to be patient. "Make sure you can play each piece smoothly at the right speed before going on to the next tune. However, try to learn something new every week, even if it is a simple tune or a couple of chords" (Evans, 37). This is a useful tip for anyone trying to play any instrument, because I know I get discouraged and rush through things since I just end up wanting to be really good at guitar right away. However, I've realized that it takes time to really get good at it and it won't happen unless I put in the effort to do so. I feel as if I'm continuing to learn a lot about playing guitar with the help of this great book.

Going back to what I said about experimenting with different methods of strumming, do you think it is best to use a guitar pick or just your thumb to strum? Why?