1. How long will it take me to learn to play?
This is the most common question and frankly, the most difficult to answer. There are just too many variables. It begins with the amount of time a student can commit to practicing. It might seem obvious that the more time that is spent the faster someone will get where they want to go – but there are some caveats. Focusing on good technique rather than just simple repetition is essential. But the short answer is: someone who’s practicing every day (or, say, five days out of every seven) should be able to strum out simple changes or play a basic single note melody in about a month, give or take a week or so. Just remember that we all learn at different rates and also remember that the first month is the most difficult period of time. It DOES get easier!
2. Why does it hurt so much to press down on the strings?
Remember that there is nothing in every day life that prepares us for playing a stringed instrument. None of us routinely arch our fingers and press down on sharp objects with our fingertips as hard as we can! Not only do calluses have to develop on our fingertips, but individual finger strength has to develop. This just takes some time and I always remind my beginner students that a 3-year old can make a piano sound like a piano, although no one would claim they are “making music.” Not so on the guitar. It takes some time to even make a reasonably musical sound on a guitar. Unfortunately, pain is involved. The good news is that the pain WILL lessen over time. Trust me on this.
3. It’s so hard to change chords quickly! Why can’t I get from one place to the next without stopping?
The first step is memorizing the correct placement of the fingers for individual chords, but of greater importance is anticipating the changes. Always think ahead. As soon as you make a change, read and think ahead to the next chord. Look at your chording hand and imagine where the fingers will be going. All good guitarists do this. Sure, there will come a time when muscle memory takes over and you don’t have to look at that hand, but watch great guitarists closely and you will see they spend most of the time looking at the chording hand (assuming they are not reading printed music). But I promise they are not really looking at what they’re playing beyond simple checking of finger placement – they are imagining where their fingers will go next. This is absolutely essential for rapid movement without stopping and breaking the beat.
4. When should I change my strings?
A great question. Fresh, new strings make any guitar sound better but the problem is strings go “dead” gradually. If you have sweaty hands they will lose their resonance and tone very quickly. Why does this matter? Because you want your guitar to sound as good as it can and the bonus is that a crisp, resonant guitar is more pleasurable to play, inspiring you to play more, which makes you a better player. But of course, if you play more, those strings will go dead faster. A conundrum, for sure! If I was pinned down, I guess I would say – assuming you play just about every day and your hands stay reasonably dry when you play, change them about every three months. I change mine about every two months but in the summer when it’s hot and humid here on Cape Cod I do it more often. The good part about changing strings is that it’s a relatively inexpensive proposition. New string sets from various manufacturers usually cost about $10 or so. This is a small price to pay to keep your guitar in top condition, sound-wise. The latest generation of coated strings do last longer but some people (myself included) don’t like the tonality of them, as they tend to be just too bright. But that’s just me…. You may like them just fine and they do last longer. Your choice. But do change your strings!
5. Is my guitar OK? Why does yours sound so much better than mine?
Another great question but a tough one and I have to be diplomatic about this. As I said in a recent post, we are in a golden age of acoustic guitars right now. There are dozens of reasonably priced imported guitars out there that sound and play great. Unfortunately, there are also quite a few that are not so good but look virtually the same as very expensive models. The guitars marketed by a certain player with a Spanish sounding name who seems to live on late night television info-mercials is a prime example of the latter. Or put another way, there are many reasons why some guitars cost $2000 and some cost $200, even though they look the same to an inexperienced player. The bottom line for me when a student asks this is not so much a question of dollars spent but whether, in my opinion, that guitar they’re trying to learn on is impeding their progress. If that is the case I will tell them as gently as I can that they should think about an upgrade is they are serious about learning to play.
More common questions and my answers in the next post.
Peace & good music,