|
There are certain things that every competent guitarist needs to learn, things such as note reading and basic music theory. These fundamentals will help each and every guitarist along their way to excellence in their instrument. For those of us, however, who are mainly concerned with playing rock guitar, there are a few tips that can help achieve success in this area.
- Develop your left/right hand coordination: most of us can make our hands work relatively well together while we're strumming chords or slow solos. However, today's rock guitar styles demand that guitarists develop skills in playing rapid-fire palm-muted power chords and lead lines. For any rock guitarists who are interested in developing true virtuosity, skill with extremely fast lead lines will always come in handy.
- Develop a strict practice regimen and stick to it. Eddie Van Halen reports that, while he was in his teens, he would pick up his guitar right after school and not put it down until after midnight, sometimes not even moving from the chair that he first sat down in. Now, not all of us can devote seven hours a day to practicing, but having a clear goal in mind and having plans in place for how to achieve those goals can put you miles ahead of the competition. Make sure that your daily routine includes:
- a.Warm-ups: these will not only get the blood moving in your fingers and help relax your hands but, just like stretching before a workout, will help you to gain speed, agility and even prevent possible injury.
- b.Challenging material: if you only practice the songs that you really enjoy or come easily to you, you'll never push yourself to improve. My personal recommendation, for advanced guitarists, is to pick up a book of classical violin solos.
|
