Top 3 Mistakes Beginner Guitar Players Make

The guitar is a wonderful instrument that is fun to learn. Many hundreds of different types of guitars are available on the market today, and there is a guitar out there for everyone, whether you like rock or country, metal or blues. 

If you are thinking about learning to play guitar, you’ll will want to know in advance some of the top mistakes that people make when trying to learn.  It can help save you from disappointment and frustration, while growing your skill-set faster.

Avoid the Over-Achiever Mentality

The first mistake is in believing that it is easy to play.  As with anything that is worth learning, you need to put in practice on a regular basis if you want to see results.  After you realize that you won’t be shredding in the first month, you can concentrate on the basics of learning.

How You Hold the Guitar is Important

Another mistake is the manner in which you hold the guitar.  You want to relax when you are playing, whether you are standing or sitting.  Otherwise, your body will start to cramp up when you are playing and it can lead to fatigue. 

Don’t hold the guitar high up when you’re playing or you’ll get into a bad habit.  ‘High players’ must cramp their arm into a tight position to play, and usually wind up with carpel tunnel syndrome or ‘Tennis Elbow’ after a few years of playing like this. 

Playing with the guitar too low on a strap is called playing with ‘Ape Arms.’ It makes it hard for you to finger the notes accurately, and is best avoided unless you are a monster bass player like Nikki Sixx.

Skipping Your Scales

A third mistake is trying to learn too much too quickly, and not really absorbing and understanding all of the information that you do learn.  Take your time and go through lessons that you find online or with a teacher slowly.  Make sure that you understand them.  In time, you will be able to play well.  Scales are boring, sure, but playing scales over and over (and over and over) is important to develop the speed and accuracy of fingering, which is what gives master guitar players like Eddie Van Halen or Joe Satriani their blistering speed during solos.

Don’t give up on the guitar.  The more you play, the stronger your fingers will become so you can make all of those hard-to-form guitar chords, and the better you will sound.  To find guitar lessons in your area, visit your local music store or community center.