If you are like me, I appreciate straight talk – especially when it comes to something that is important to me, like learning guitar.  There are just way too many opinions, by too many people, and too little time to wade through them all to find the real information. 

So, here are a few things, from where I sit, that every learning guitarist should know.

1) Decide.  Are you going to do this or not?

Is learning guitar and playing music an important goal in your life?  If it is ever going to be more than just a “wouldn’t it be great” and a “maybe some day” kind of a hope, then you need to get busy.  Stop waiting for the perfect time to get started. It will never come.  Inspiration is for amateurs. Decision, goals and action are what get any job done.  Decide, then start.

2) Don’t wait for free time, PLAN time to learn. 

Everyone’s busy.  Waiting to practice until you have free time is a recipe for finding yourself a week from today not having touched your guitar.  Think about your daily schedule and decide where you can fit in a few moments to practice.  Set this time aside and be faithful to it.

3) Consistency is more important than quantity of practice time.

The old saying goes “only practice on days you eat.”  The human mind learns best in regular, consistent small doses.  You’ll find you learn and retain more in 15 minutes a day for 5 days than a 3 hour “binge” practice session on the weekend.  Don’t believe me? Try it and see.

4) When practicing, work and reach.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking, “just because I have my guitar in my hands, I’m getting better.”  Progressing in your learning comes from “reaching” – from doing things that you can’t do.  It comes from struggling with a new task, fumbling around, making mistakes, eventually getting better at it, until slowly more successful attempts are made.   If you’re not “reaching” and “struggling”, then you’re not progressing.

5) Never waste a good mistake.  Learn from it.

Don’t make a mistake and think “well, I just messed up.” 

If you make the same mistake more than once then stop and think carefully about what happened.  What specific musical task did you stumble over?  Isolate it, and analyze it.  Was it the change between two specific chords? Or, perhaps, you’re consistently overreaching to get a particular note?

You’ll find that your mistakes are hardly ever random.  They are very specific.  Examine carefully what you stumble over, isolate it, practice it slowly until you can play it consistently correct, then put it back into context within the song.  Be a student of your mistakes so that you can learn from them.

6) Record your progress – “seeing the flower bloom”.

When you finally get that new exercise down make a short video of yourself playing it. Try to make one video a week.  After three months, you’ll be able to clearly see the progress you are making.  Recording yourself helps you measure your progress but it also helps you learn how to switch from “practice mode” to “performance mode” which is a vital skill.

7) Bring someone else along in your learning journey.

It’s no fun learning alone.  Involve someone else in your learning journey.  Play your new song for your spouse, or friend.  It’s not about them being “impressed” with your playing. It’s about having someone to help you be faithful to your commitment to learn. 

8 ) Relax.  It’s just guitar.

Learning guitar shouldn’t be stressful. It’s a long road toward a very worthwhile and life-enriching end. 

Relax and enjoy the journey. You’ll learn a lot better.

Keep up the great work!

- Steve 

Yes, I know that we play guitar for our own edification – of course. 

But, each of us have other reasons that we want to learn and play guitar - often profoundly personal and individual reasons why we want to play guitar. 

Often times, some of our wonderful guitar family will email me and let me know why they want to play.

Here are some of the amazing reasons I've heard...

• To Play for My Kids or Grandkids
• To Pass on Music to My Family and Kids.
• To Play a Song for My Daughter's Wedding.
• After a Dad's Death, to Learn My Dad's Favorite Song and Play on His Guitar.
• To Play at My Local Church
• To Play for a Local Nursing Home or VA

I’ve realized that there are a multitude of profoundly personal reasons why people want to learn to play guitar. 

Reasons as simple as “playing makes me feel better” to the profound “I want to play a song for my daughter’s wedding”.

No matter what YOUR reason is – dive into learning whole-heartedly.

Take a minute to think about WHY you want to learn – what the goal and motivation is in your heart.

Once you figure your reason out, then try to form it into one sentence - your personal guitar learning mission statement.

Then, write it out and tape it on your music stand or on the wall in your practice area.

A simple glance will be a little motivational reminder to keep pressing on when the learning gets tough.

Every little bit of motivation and focus will help you get where you want to go.

If you would like, share why you play in the comments below.

- Steve

Ahhh… your practice space – the place where learning gets done. 

You can dread and avoid your practice room like a prison...

Or you can savor your time there as a sanctuary away from the demands of life – a refuge to get away from the stresses of the day and focus on what YOU want to do and be.

Make the physical environment around you as helpful as possible in helping you become a better musician. 

Let’s learn what items should be around to help you learn.

Music Stand  A solid place to hold all of your learning materials.                    

Get a good, solid, metal stand.  Avoid the inexpensive, fold up portable wire ones which can’t hold much weight and will inevitably bend and break when you trip over them.

For day-to-day use in one location, get a solid metal stand like this... MUSIC STAND.

If you need something portable to get to jam sessions or other playing situations, here is the best portable music stand I’ve found...  PORTABLE MUSIC STAND

Metronome   The best tool for measuring and improving your rhythm.

There are many options for metronomes from a basic “tick-tock” type to those sounding complex multi meters.

All you need is a basic metronome. (More is not better when talking metronomes.)

Avoid the ones that give a “beep” sound and choose one that gives a “tock” sound. For a good mechanical metronome, this one works great…  METRONOME

        You can also get a metronome app for your phone. 

        My favorite is… METRONOME APP

Guitar Stand   The safest place for your guitar to be when not in a case.

Don’t lean your guitar up against a couch or chair where it can easily be knocked over.  Use a quality guitar stand to hold your instrument secure. 

A good choice is the Hercules stand that locks your guitar when it is in the stand… HERCULES GUITAR STAND

You can also hang your guitar on the wall with a wall hanger.  Hanging your guitar on the wall is a great way to have your guitar close by and also to appreciate how cool it looks.  A good wall hanger is… WALL MOUNTED GUITAR HANGER

Comfortable Chair    Use a stool or chair that is comfortable.

Avoid practicing hunched over on a couch. 

Find a comfortable padded stool or chair (without arms) so that you can practice for a length of time without getting sore or stiff.

Pencil   Don’t write in ink unless you never plan on making a mistake.

Make sure to have plenty of pencils around.  (Avoid using pen.)

When something is important to remember then write it down.  Writing things down increases your retention of the material.

Notebook/Tablet/Paper  Keep a practice journal of things you work on. 

Things that aren’t written down are easily forgotten. 

Start a practice journal.  Write down new chords learned and new concepts.  Write down your progress in learning technique. 

Review your notes often to see how far you’ve come. 

Ipad/Smart Phone   There’s a world of knowledge only a few clicks away.

Nowadays, you can easily find a video on anything you would like to learn. 

Have an ipad close by – maybe even one that can sync to a wall-mounted TV – to pull up a helpful YouTube video or jam track.

But be careful, it’s easy to get distracted and start watching videos instead of practicing.  Use your practice space ipad for learning – not surfing.

Practicing Tip: If you want to practice soloing, record yourself playing the chord changes into your phone and then practice soloing over your track.

One Final Thought... Motivation

Mission Statement   Write out your goals on guitar and put on your music stand.                    

Take a moment and write out your goals or dreams for your guitar learning.  In one or two sentences, create your guitar learning mission statement.

Once you have the wording like you want it, then print it out and post it on your music stand.

It will serve as a quick reminder of why you want to play.  Update it often.

Creating an inviting practice space can lead to more productive practice times and greater improvement.

What are some ideas that you've found helpful in your practice space?  Let us know below in the comments.

I hope these ideas help you create a practice space that works for you.  Learn all you can! - Steve

World renowned, country chicken pickin' guitarist, Johnny Hiland, is picky about his gear so that it gets his signature tone.

Johnny has been on Live Lessons with Steve Krenz many times.  Here's a list of the gear he used during these times.

November 20, 2018

Johnny Hiland Guitar – JH6 https://www.kieselguitars.com/catalog...

Elixir NANOWEB Super Light 9-42 strings - https://amzn.to/2ZXsFfL

Dunlop Medium Thumb Pick - https://amzn.to/3eDGAf6

Fender ’59 Bassman Amp - https://amzn.to/2XOZ5Xb

GOGO Caliber Pedal Tuner - https://amzn.to/2XonCDy

Keeley Aria Compressor Overdrive - https://amzn.to/2U0TRX5

Carl Martin PlexiTone - https://amzn.to/36RqprP

ISP Technologies Decimator II Noise Reduction Pedal - https://amzn.to/36Pjyz2

J. Rockett BOING Spring Reverb Pedal - https://amzn.to/2U2HIBb

Tsunami Guitar Cables - https://tsunami-cables.square.site