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Fancy yourself a fretboard wizard? To rise to the ranks of guitar master--that is, an exceptionally talented and charismatic guitarist, you must pay your dues. It isn't just about learning how to play guitar; it's about eating, breathing, and sleeping guitar. Read on to follow the lead of widely respected, guitar playing legends like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eddie Van Halen, Angus Young and Randy Rhoads--maybe you've got it in you, maybe you don't, but there's only one way to find out.
1 Emulate
Start playing now. The greatest of the great started becoming acquainted with their guitars as soon as they could get their hands on one, although there are many great guitarists who didn't even touch a guitar until their teens (Clapton and Lennon for example) or even older (Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Tom Scholz) But even if you are a teen but have never held a guitar before, it's never too late to be a guitar god, so don't be discouraged. The point is to start playing as early as you can. Stop making excuses, stop saying you need the perfect guitar, stop waiting to be "inspired," and stop wasting another minute to learn how to develop your inner guitar god. There's no reason to wait.
There's a very good chance that you will not be good at first. Everyone has to start out being bad, so they can improve from there. Think of it this way - babies are terrible at walking, little children struggle with talking. But they keep doing it, without feeling bad about themselves. Eventually those babies grow up to kick you in the face and insult your mother.
Can't afford a nice guitar? For now, buy an inexpensive guitar when you first start. You only need to get comfortable with the new movements with your fingers. It's only a temporary measure (see Warnings) but it's better than nothing!
2 Multitask
Practice until your fingers bleed. -- Okay, maybe bleeding fingers aren't the smartest way to go (see Tips), but you get the idea. Eddie Van Halen used to walk around his house with the guitar strapped on and unplugged, practicing incessantly; he'd sit on his bed for hours on end with a guitar while other people went to parties. Are you ready and willing to do the same? Get your priorities straight and learn to multitask. It's all about dedication and discipline.
3 Surround yourself with talented musicians.
Ever heard the sayings, "greatness breeds greatness" or "you are who you hang around"? Both statements are true. If you want to be a guitar god, you have to play with the best guitar players you can find. You will learn more in a month playing with an accomplished guitar player than you will in a year practicing by yourself. If you don't know any off hand, go meet some. Go to local shows and introduce yourself to the guitarists or connect with local musicians online.
4 Concentrate
Be precise. Just because you're starting doesn't give you an excuse to be sloppy. Like in Tai Chi, if you practice very slowly with 100 percent concentration, you'll become five times faster and better; so when you practice, do it slowly and concentrate. You'll be amazed at the results.
If you don't have an experienced instructor or high quality equipment, this may be difficult, but you have to be a stickler for technique. Do your homework and ask questions. Be persistent. If you know someone who's an excellent guitar player, don't be shy. Walk up to them with the guitar strapped on, politely request a moment of their time, and ask them if your finger placement for a particular chord or technique is correct. Most experts, when they see an error, are compelled to correct it out of their love of the art.
Study your idols. Listen to other guitarists' riffs and solos and learn them.
Some techniques that are worth learning:
Harmonics and pinch harmonics
Palm muting
Vibrato
Hammer ons/pull offs.
Scales you should be familiar with:
Major and minor
Be able to play scales forwards as well as backwards, moving from scale to scale in a given key
Pentatonic major and minor (in all the positions, so you can easily move in your solos)
5 Learn how to read guitar tab.
Guitar tab is the guitarist's form of sheet music. Becoming a great guitar player means learning the ins and outs of some of music's best guitar ballads. You can search the web for tabs. If you want to be the best, you have to learn from the best. A few to begin with: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Angus Young, Joe Perry, Keith Richards, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Jonny Greenwood, Jimmy Page, and John Mayer. Learn a few of each of their greatest songs and don't forget to play them slowly until you get them down.
6 Study classical music.
It may seem worlds apart from the music you envision yourself playing, but practically all of the guitar geniuses that you look up to have studied classical technique at one point or another. Malmsteen, for example, was heavily influenced by 19th century violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini. In the process of adapting Paganini concerto pieces on guitar, he fostered a prodigious technical fluency that would later make jaws drop. Additionally, Eddie Van Halen began his musical aspirations with classical piano before he discovered the freedom of guitar. Randy Rhoads was an avid player and listener of classical music.
7 Read
Learn the ins and outs of reading music. Sure, Stevie Ray Vaughan was amazing and he didn't know how to read music, but if you just sit down and learn to read and transpose music, you will be much better off. Not only will you know what sounds good, you will know how to put it into writing and you will learn deeper elements of music. Music is not just the notes you are playing, but the pause between notes and the composition of good music.
8 Understand chord theory.
Learn as many chords and inversions as you can. Become familiar with how they sound and why you use them. Even if you aren't playing jazz, (where you would typically hear many of these chords), knowing the notes and sounds of these chords can make your soloing more interesting. Some of the greatest rock guitar solos are actually very jazz-influenced.
9 Feel
Play with emotion. Once you've developed proficiency, you can use the guitar for freedom of expression. You can feel the music in your blood, and make other people feel it, too. Remember, the greatest musicians of all time, the ones who are most deeply respected, are the ones who could move others emotionally with their music. Music is a form of communication, if you have something to express, do your best to produce what you hear or feel. Believe you can become a breath-taking guitarist -- it makes such a difference if you know you will be brilliant.
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