As a guitarist, no matter how long you’ve been playing guitar, sometimes you can feel like you’re not getting any better. You seem to have practiced a lot but still cannot play a piece of music as well as you want. The sound you play sounds bad, harsh, not clear, resonant, and smooth like other musicians do.
So what is the cause of these problems?
In this article, we’ll share with you 7 reasons why you’re not making progress on guitar regardless of how much you practice.
Contents
- 1. Your rhythm skills are weak
- 2. You don’t carefully practice the basics
- 3. You never play a complete song when playing guitar
- 4. You always look at the chords when you play the guitar
- 5. Learn from those who lack qualifications and experience
- 6. You don’t listen to music often
- 7. You’re not playing with other musicians
1. Your rhythm skills are weak
Most self-taught guitarists without progress make rhythm mistakes, the statistics are over 90%. Rhythm is the soul of the song. If your rhythm isn’t firm and you don’t know how to analyze the beat, you won’t know which rhythm pattern to apply to the song. As a result, it is very difficult for you to accompany someone, let alone play and sing on your own. You don’t know how to play the right tempo and how to get back to the beat if someone accidentally sings it wrong, leading to a situation where everyone goes their separate ways when performing in concert.
You can use the Pro Metronome app or the built-in metronome found in the Guitar Tunio app to practice your rhythm, keep a steady beat and improve your timing. Free to try on Google Play and App Store, check them out!
2. You don’t carefully practice the basics
Learning to play guitar for a while, you think you know a lot about guitar. You can play a lot of tunes, songs, or styles, but none of them really work. They say basics are the source of sophistication! A beautiful house must first have a solid foundation, otherwise, no matter how beautiful it is, it cannot last over time! Learning to play guitar is the same, you must first master the basics before you can continue to conquer more difficult things. We advise you when learning to play guitar, you do not rush to look for superior skills, and advanced techniques, practice well, and master the basic techniques. It is an important foundation for learning to play guitar.
3. You never play a complete song when playing guitar
You look up the chords of the song on the internet and practice playing it. You can switch chords well. You easily ignore the song and practice on a new lesson! That’s fine, but you’re “trapped”.
To mature guitar accompaniment skills, you must start learning how to play guitar systematically: practice Intro + accompaniment + intro + outro and assemble them into a complete song. That’s the way to play a song. If you easily pass these steps described above, you only stop knowing that song, but you have not played a complete song.
4. You always look at the chords when you play the guitar
According to scientific studies, learning to play guitar will help our brain develop, and significantly enhance memory. So one of the skills that help improve memory is remembering chords. Besides, you have to practice listening, chord guessing, and processing skills. These skills are very important when you play guitar in a group activity. When you can handle all songs smoothly, even basic songs, that’s “class” when you play guitar.
Get in the habit of remembering the chords of the song, playing any song, and remembering the chords of that song. In this way, you both train your memory, improve your listening and understanding skills, and supplement your musical capital.
5. Learn from those who lack qualifications and experience
In the process of learning to play guitar, you may have learned the technique of finding the chords for the song, but some songs have strange tunes, rhythms, and harmonies that can make it difficult for you. When you want to know the chords of a song like that, you should ask experienced people. Limit asking friends if you are not confident enough about their qualifications. Or you can browse the forums to ask. However, sincere advice for a newbie like you is that the forum is a “double-edged sword” because you cannot distinguish right from wrong.
6. You don’t listen to music often
Many beginners want to make the progress on guitar, but when asked whether they listen to music often or not, they shake their heads. If you want to play guitar well, you must have a good sense of music. If you can’t feel the music, you won’t improve!
If you learn to play guitar but don’t love music, then you shouldn’t play guitar anymore, it’s not right for you.
7. You’re not playing with other musicians
Playing with other guitarists is a great way to improve your guitar playing. By learning together, you will discover new things, find your mistake to promptly correct them, and improve your guitar skills. Each person shares a little, then all will improve. So socialize, collaborate with people, and learn selectively.
The above are common mistakes that limit progress in learning to play guitar. If you make any mistake above, fix it immediately to make your practice more effective. Wish you success and fulfill your passion.
