Have you ever wondered how to get good at guitar fast? Although there are no shortcuts, you can make sure you are effective in the work you do to get better.
For instance, playing over the same metal play along endlessly is not going to help you get better. On the other hand, focusing on new techniques will. In other words, you have to work hard to advance at a good rate. There are musicians that make tremendous progress in a few months, while others sound the same for years. Here, we´re going to help you become part of the former. With no further ado, here is how to get good at guitar fast.
Practice daily
Ladies and gentlemen, there is no way around this one. If you want to get good at guitar, you will need to practice every day, or as close to that as possible. The best is to have a set time and place to work on your instrument. In an ideal scenario, practicing should be a daily habit, just like showering and eating. If you are able to set aside focused time to work on your instrument, you will be on a great path to advancing fast.
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Strive for accuracy
You should strive to play everything as clear and clean as possible. That way your hands and brain will make it a habit to play accurately. It does not matter what style, type of guitar, or vibe you are into, being sloppy is a big no-no.
If a passage, solo, or song is too hard, break it down. In other words, simplify the part in question into smaller segments and try to play them at a slower speed. After you can play that segment clean, you can slowly increase the tempo and repeat the process. All this takes is patience and dedication.
Get a good teacher
A good teacher is a massive asset when trying to get better fast. As a trained professional with experience, your teacher will know exactly what you need to work on and how much.
That being said, many legendary players are self-taught. This may work for some people, especially those that practice hard with laser focus.
Beware of frustration
It doesn’t matter who you are, at some point frustration will likely creep in. It is vital to understand this so you can deal with it. Keep in mind that getting better at an instrument will sometimes seem like a very hard, if not impossible task.
Feel free to go for a walk or do something else to clear your head whenever you need to. Perhaps, even take a day off. All in the name of getting over the hump and back to work.
Sleep
In order for your brain to truly process information so you can learn, you need to sleep well. Everything you attempt to learn during the day is processed by your brain when you sleep at night.
Sleeping sounds like a basic thing, but some might want to limit it to just a few hours in order to get more done. Big mistake!
Listen to music actively
There is nothing wrong with listening to music while you drive or shower. However, in an ideal world, you should also make time to listen to music exclusively. Pay attention to everything you’re listening to. For instance, focus on how the bass drum is interacting with the bass, or how the guitar rhythm becomes more active during the song.
Listening to all types of music actively develops criteria as well as your ear. You better believe that you need those two in order to learn guitar at a good rate.
Be patient
As we stated at the beginning of this article, there are no shortcuts to learning a musical instrument. Naturally, you can speed up the process by being effective, but you have to put in the work. This also entails that you must be patient and enjoy the process. No one becomes good overnight. It takes time, so be patient.
Play with other people
It is one thing to play by yourself constantly and another to play with people. Making music with other musicians will force you to really listen to what is happening around you so you can truly contribute to the music.
Playing with others is a bit overrated when it comes to getting good at guitar. However, it is imperative that you can function within a band context. Afterall, if you aspire to play live or in the studio, there will be other musicians involved, and you better know how to listen and react then.
Make mistakes
If you never make mistakes while you practice, you are probably doing it wrong. The entire point of practicing is to conquer things that you cannot currently play. That can mean a new song, new scale, chord, you name it.
Feel free to make mistakes, but then make sure you correct them. This is the essence of practicing.
This guide on how to get good at guitar fast will help you become effective. After all, many musicians waste too much time doing things that won’t really help them progress. One of these is playing only stuff you already know. How will you move forward then?
Also, please don’t confuse fast with easy. These two terms are not interchangeable, especially when talking about learning a new instrument. If you put in the work, practice hard, have patience and keep at it, you will become a better guitarist. Naturally, for this to work you also have to enjoy the process. So have fun!
