3 tricks to start playing the guitar quickly

Everyone wants to play a music instrument and one of the popular choice is the guitar because it is easily portable and looks so damn cool! It is the perfect instrument for entertainment. Now, as a beginner, especially if you have started taking classes, you must have realised there are a lot of components involved in playing the instrument and you may feel like it might take years before you can start playing something complex. However, that is not the case. You can start off with the notion of just having fun with the instrument and not approaching it as some kind of duty that you have to do. So, here we will discuss few tricks and easier ways to start playing songs on guitar quickly.

1. Learn only chords

Chords are one of the quintessential element of music and is such a powerful tool if you know how to play two chords, you can probably sing a whole song over it. Learn the basic open chords. You don't have to understand the theory in the beginning, just get used to the shape and practice coordinating both your hands while shifting the chord. After a few weeks when you are comfortable shifting, start picking up simple sing along songs and in no time you will be every party's favourite entertainer.

2. Riffs

There are many songs that gets stuck to people's head because of a constant melody or a riff that keeps repeating. For eg; Anyone will recognise 'Smoke on the water' when you hear that iconic riff. Try picking those. You will get tabs for it on the internet. Of course, you have to know how to read tabs which is pretty easy and you must have already been taught if you are going to any half-decent music school. Pick up the riffs, it will get your hand moving and you will benefit further from it when you actually learn deeper into the theory and technique.

3. Find peers to play with or ‘jam’ with

It has been observed that people learn faster if they have a friend playing with them. Not just because of the competitive dynamics, but it is easier for them to keep up than trying to figure something out of their own. The visual and auditory environment helps you learn in a better rate. It also motivates them as it is a teamwork to make a song sound right and no one wants to disappoint the other. So exchange playlists and some jam time, you will learn faster than you ever thought.

Having discussed all of the above, it is important to understand that these are just a few ways you can grow faster as a guitarist but at the end of the day it is important that you still put time for practicing them daily for an hour to get the best result. All instruments can only be mastered through repetition and commitment towards it. No one is born a genius, everybody has to polish their talent, so it is upto you how much of your talent you want to extract and show it to the world.

BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 

The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.

How to Decide Between Guitar as a Hobby Vs. Guitar Graded Certified Course

Everyone has different ideas about the results or achievement they want from their instrument classes. Is it to challenge yourself in different period of times? or to learn it as a fun activity which will allow you to play at least the basics and play songs? Which is better? You can come to answer only when you know what you want to do with it. So, where do you see yourself with the instrument? Both have its advantages and disadvantages but it aims to make you better in your instrument.

Guitar as a Hobby

If you are looking for some fun time playing your instrument by yourself or with friends/family and want to reminisce and sing your favourite songs, this approach will help you get what you want. This approach emphasises on teaching you songs which you can play and sing along to. You won’t have to indulge in the musical theory that is been used in constructing these songs, although you will have the basic knowledge of what you are playing. In musical terms, you will be learning more about chords, strumming patterns and rhythm techniques. You don't have to worry about writing any music graded certification exam and focus your time solely on playing your favourite songs. If it is a hobby you want to cultivate or a hobby you want to get better at, you just have to play more songs and this approach will help you do that.

Guitar as a Certified Graded Course

Graded courses helps you in keeping track of your skill levels. The higher the grade you are in, the more skilled you likely are. Graded courses introduces musical theory and playing techniques in a progressive manner, getting tougher with each grade. This course really helps you if you really want to understand music as a whole which, will definitely shape you to become better and an informed musician. Graded course comes with a book from the board your music institution is affiliated with. These books will have musical pieces that comprise of hit tunes or pieces given exclusively by the particular board which you have to showcase in exams that they organise every year. You get certificates for passing each grade which basically certifies your skill in your instrument. There are 8 grades in total, so you really can have a goal of finishing that if you want to reach a professional level in your playing.

Summary

Overall, it really depends on what you wish to learn. If you wish to play songs, jam with your friends and have an amazing sing along sessions and be little more informed on theories and techniques, then the hobby approach is best for you. However, if you plan on becoming a professional and want be able to perform in gigs, the certification approach can help you better. Whichever you choose, once you are able to start playing your instrument and connect with it the way you want, it is going to be a lot of fun. So, pick up your instrument and get start rocking!

BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 

The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.

4 Things to Consider when Learning Guitar

Guitar is one of the most popular instruments that people learn due to its versatility and portability. However, there are also many guitars that are collecting dust in a corner of someone's room while many of them banging their heads over the possibility of learning the instrument but do not know where to start. Let’s discuss some of the points you need to start learning guitar.

1. Availability of instruments

To learn guitar, you must have the instrument which applies for almost all the musical instruments. But for guitarist it is most vital to have a guitar at home as it requires lot of practice and time to get adjusted to the basics of playing the guitar especially when you are just starting out. Leaving it to learn only in your music classes will take you a lot of time and might make you disinterested after a while. So, get a guitar and keep strumming until you get the tone you want out of your guitar.

2. Purpose of Learning

What do you want out of the guitar classes? Is it something that you want to pursue for a long time and want to be very thorough with all the theoretical studies or is it just a pastime or hobby so that you can play songs in social gatherings where you can just strum and sing for yourself or your friends? If you know what you want out of it, your instructor will have a much clearer idea about how to proceed with the lessons. The right approach will benefit you the most and you will see results that you wish to see.

3. Time and Commitment

It goes without saying that you need to give time to practice and commit a few hours in a day to your instrument. It is only practice and repetitive exercises that makes you good in these instruments. So, you have to make sure that you find time in your everyday schedule and use that to practice the guitar. The more time you spend with your instrument, the quicker you will learn to play it. It's understandable that you might miss practice on some days but there should never be a huge gap between your practice (frequency is important).

4. Listening to Music

You can't create music if you don't enjoy listening to it. There is hardly anyone on this planet who dislikes music however they may not enjoy listening to all kinds of music. There are so many different genres, different styles of music and every one of them has something unique to offer. We recommend that you have a collection of your favorite music, listen to them often and try to understand how they are using the instrument. It is important that you refer to someone’s style and try replicate them which, will boost your ability to understanding music and its dynamics better.

We hope our points will get you thinking and consider how to use all these different areas to make yourself a better musician. While your instructor can teach you several techniques, concepts and application, you can only get better by putting in practice and listening to more music. So take the plunge, commit yourself and see the incredible transformation in yourself.

BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 

The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.