Tips and Tricks for the Beginning Guitarist.

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What’s new at Zystrix? Read on… May 11, 2026 Tips and Tricks for the Beginning Guitarist. In the last episode we looked at Guitar Compressor Pedal Tips and Tricks and the best affordable Compressor pedals to do the job (click here for a refresher). This time we’re looking at Tips and Tricks for the Beginning Guitarist including strumming techniques, picking techniques, and getting the most out of your precious practice time. And we’ll also listen to the latest full-length solo piano album from the band Dangerous Neighbors. So sit back and relax. Welcome to Zystrix, the heartbeat of the universe. Where creativity and free-thinking have more value than conformity. Background Artwork The colorful artwork that surrounds the edges of this website is invisible to many cell phone users. It’s included here (with others) for your enjoyment. Multiple copies are tiled together for a cohesive and seamless background seen all around this page. Enjoy. Beginning Guitarist Introduction Did you know that most people quit guitar in the first year? Yup, it’s true. Most people quit a lot of things in the first year. It’s not that they can’t do it, but I suspect it’s because the process is not what they wanted or maybe expected. And music demands conviction. The hardest part of any job is showing up, and that applies to guitar (and practice) too. Guitar can be boring because it’s repetitious, but you get out of the guitar what you put into it. Guitar is a series of tiny steps over a long period of time. It requires passion. Embrace the journey. Embrace the pain. Practice time isn’t the problem, it’s the answer. So practice with intention. Practice so when you stop you can walk away from the instrument with something you didn’t have before. And having more gear doesn’t save you, so don’t buy a lot right away. It may inspire you, it may improve your tone, but it really wont save you. Where you put your fingers will save you. Imagine having all the gear that your favorite guitarist uses. Would your playing sound just like them? I doubt it. It all depends on where you put your fingers. But everybody is different. So concentrate on being you and cultivate your you, your sound, and your technique or personal approach. Make other guitarists want to try to sound like you. Once you get past the basics of guitar and learning all of your favorite licks from your favorite guitarists it’s time to become what you were meant to be. Yourself. But let’s get back to the beginning. What does a person need to start? This website concentrates on metal and heavier music with affordability as a goal, so with that in mind, let’s look at some gear… Some Gear Beginners Need Most beginners who want to rock need some essential gear to get started. Here’s some, what seems to me, obvious stuff you may want to consider. You’ll Need a Guitar Buy a guitar that’s in the realm of what musical style you want to learn. To save money find someone you trust who plays guitar and have them help you find a good used guitar on the open market like Facebook Marketplace. Have them inspect the guitar for problems before giving away your hard earned cash. If you can purchase something you like try to get a case to store and transport your guitar. Shop online. Many big box music stores have the case that will probably fit your guitar at a good price. You’ll Need an Amp Get a small amp that’s at least 20 watts so you have something to grow into. If you get to the point that you play with a drummer you’ll need the volume to be able to keep up with the kit so you can hear yourself and check by ear if you are in tune. Get Some Extra Strings Use something that’s easy to keep in tune and play and that your guitar is setup to use. Find out what gauge your strings are on your new guitar (if your guitar was properly intonated) and use that size. There are many good brands. Check out the back issue called The Best Guitar Strings for the Metal Guitarist for more information. Get Some Extra Picks There are many popular ones. Or maybe your style doesn’t require picks. If you can afford it try an assortment of different types and see what you prefer. For more information check out the back issue called Guitar Picks for the Metal Guitarist. Guitar Tuner Buy a tuner and learn how to use it. The TC Electronic PolyTune 3 (it comes in white or black) is an excellent choice at a pretty good price, it’s got a built-in buffer and true bypass, and I’m sure it would be the last tuner you’ll ever need. Well, at least for a long long time. Tempo is Important Buy a metronome or a small drum machine (or use an app on your phone) to help learn tempo and drum beats to go along with your techniques. Tempo and tuning are the two essentials for learning to be a great guitar player. Guitar Pedals There are some other pedals (beside the tuner) a beginner may enjoy in the back issue Basic Pedals Needed for Metal. For some basic gear that almost every guitarist needs (straps, stands, etc.) check out the back issue called Essential Guitar Accessories. 12 Things Beginner Guitarists Should Do and Learn I used to give guitar lessons at a music store I owned. Many of my students just wanted me to show them a certain song they were working on. I’d tell them to bring in the CD of the tune in advance, I’d learn the song, and when they came in for a lesson the next time I’d show it to them. There was no such thing as consumer software back then. Anyway, here’s a few of the things I showed to my students then and some I would show my students now if I had them. #1. Guitar Holding Position When beginning always play your guitar holding it in the same position until the chords and techniques are using muscle memory you have developed. Once you are adept at that you can switch to standing from sitting or vice versa. You never know, you might eventually be playing guitar behind your head. #2. Tablature One of the best things I ever did early on in my guitar adventures was learn guitar tablature. There wasn’t much good tablature available back then, but tablature helped me learn the complex guitar stuff (like rolls, finger-picking patterns, and cross-picking) that I was having trouble doing by using my ear and listening to a record. Those days are over for new guitarists because there’s a much easier way. Download the free program called TuxGuitar. TuxGuitar is a free open source program from opensource dot net and it runs on Windows, Apple, and Linux based computers. It can open GP5, GPX, PowerTab, Tabledit, and of course it’s own file types. There are literally thousands of free guitar files online from country to classical to jazz to metal. The guitar world is your oyster. A great way to start is to go to gprotab dot net and type in the band or song you want to learn. Download the file and open it in TuxGuitar. Voila. Free guitar lessons. Extraordinary. #3. Easy Strum Pattern Once you have TuxGuitar you can learn this strum pattern, and I even wrote it out for you in TuxGuitar. This pattern is almost universal and can be used from campfire tunes to cowboy tunes to pop to many many others. It’s basically a strum pattern or rhythm where the hand constantly goes up and down from the elbow but the chords are played: down down up up down up, and so on. Download the easy strum compressed folder containing a Wav file, a TuxGuitar File and a PDF. Learn it. Know it. Celebrate. BONUS STUFF FREE GUITAR LESSONS! Download the easy flatpick arppegio compressed folder containing a Wav file, a TuxGuitar File and a PDF. Download the easy fingerpicking exersize compressed folder containing a Wav file, a TuxGuitar File and a PDF. Download the advanced easy fingerpicking exersize compressed folder containing a Wav file, a TuxGuitar File and a PDF. #4. Changing Chords Seamlessly. Play the last upstroke in the above easy strum pattern with no hands on the strings. While you have no hands on the strings you will be in the process of changing chords. Is it cheating? Well, no one needs to know. #5. Easier Chord Changes Play G chord with the 3rd finger on the second string at the third fret. Then changing from G to D chord is easier. And C add 9 is an easy change – its simply a substitute chord for C maj. This chord trick is great for about any song on the radio. #6. Easy String Mute Mute the low E string. Many chords don’t use the low E, like the chord D. Use your chord hand thumb to mute it. Even in A major. It will clean up your chord playing and strumming. #7. Saving Practice Time As you get better practice the stuff you need to work on and not the stuff you already know. Manage your time. Some tunes or guitar parts are so extreme that they need to be practiced a bar (measure) at a time. Someone once asked Chet Atkins how he learned to play such complex guitar lines and he said he did it by learning the tune one bar at a time. Makes sense. That’s OK, just keep plugging away. If you are bad (or you suck) at a part then practice only that. #8. Practice Style Practice does not make perfect unless you practice perfect. By that I mean the parts you practice need to be done slowly and accurately until they can be sped up to the proper speed. Use your metronome (you bought one, right?) and set it to a slow enough speed that you can play the part perfectly and then slowly bring up the speed to normal. #9. Draw the Charts Make a learning battle plan. Give your approach a check up. What things do you want to know before you move on? If I were a beginner once again one of the many things on my list would be to learn at least three chords (for instance, Dmaj, Gmaj, and A7th) so I can play them and quickly switch between them without flubbed notes. Then I would choose three more chords like Cmaj, Fmaj, and G7th and practice switching between them without flubbed notes. Then I would start to decide what songs I want to learn and pick one for chords. And so on. Find your personal path and continue on. #10. Listen to Yourself Record your playing and listen to it objectively and (be honest) figure out where you need improvement. Find some musicians who like the same music as you and record your jam sessions. Listen to yourself in those situations. Where are you rusty? What parts need work? My early jam sessions were with only a drummer and we were horrible, seriously horrible, but we got good enough to throw a party and play tunes we made up and have a good time. Later we found a bass player, learned some easy covers, and made spare change playing at high school dances. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. #11. Venture Out into the Unknown Once you get good enough to get out play with musicians who are better than you (if they will have you). That way you always have something to work toward which is to get better. Play with guitar players better than you and watch them and listen. Do the best you can. The first time I tried this my playing was an embarrassment. And not only to me but to the other musicians too. But it gave me a start. And it taught me to be a little more humble in my approach. Early on my goal was to be the best guitar player on my block. Then I did it. Then I wanted to be the best guitar player in my sub- division. Then I did it. Then I wanted to be the best guitar player in my town. Then I did it. And so on. Trade licks, steal licks, invent your own licks. Remember, it’s possible to learn something even from a fool. It might be what to do, or it might be what not to do too. And that method also applies to guitar. #12. Your Gear Use gear that sounds like what you are trying to imitate. If Pantera is your goal and you’re playing a Gibson acoustic you may want to consider a different guitar and a small tube amp. There are plenty of tips for getting there including basic gear. Like I’ve said so many times, gear isn’t everything, but its something. It’s the basis for your sound. Beginning Guitar Conclusion The beginning is always a good place to start, and that applies to learning guitar too. We covered a lot of ideas, some of them maybe are a little obvious, including a list of 12 things beginning guitarists should do and learn. There are even some free guitar lessons above. It’s difficult to give advice to the new guitarist except for ideas and techniques that are generally universal. But I hope this beginning guitar issue has given you food for thought and consideration, helped you discover yourself and how you fit into the grand scheme of guitarists, and maybe given you a new approach and consideration of your personal space in the world of music. Introflections -- solo piano. Complete album by the Dangerous Neighbors band. This solo piano album is over an hour long and is made from the many individual tunes that were listed here over time. Click here for the MP3 version of Introflections. Enjoy. Don’t touch that dial… Stay tuned next time… In the next issue we’re going to cover guitar gear for the absolute beginning guitarists. It’s about what to get and where to get it. And the second free full-length piano album is out as seen above, but this next time the album with be a video for every song. Maybe I’ll see you then. Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.

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