Beginner Adult Guitar Lessons

When you are older, it may seem a little bit difficult to approach something brand new. If that something new is guitar, good playing may seem an eternity away.

After all, those hundreds of thousands of other guitarists out there have many a year’s head start on you. Many guitarists start as young as their teens, and many more start in their early twenties.

But these aren’t reasons to be discouraged. In fact, they should help motivate you. If teenagers can sit down and dedicate themselves to an instrument, why can’t you?

In this article we will discuss some beginner adult guitar lessons.

The first thing you will need to understand is the metronome. This little tool, whether you buy one or use a digital one online, will be the most important part of your guitar playing. The job of the metronome is to click off a constant, steady rhythm. Your job is to follow that rhythm precisely.

Each click on a metronome is equivalent to one beat within a measure. Take for instance the measure 4/4. In the measure of 4/4, each beat is equal to one quarter note. This means that the clicks within a 4/4 measure would be equivalent to the placement of quarter notes. Four clicks would equal one full measure.

When using a metronome, you want to be sure that your timing is correct. The best way to do this is to count out each and every note value regardless of the metronome.

For quarter notes, your count would look like this:

One Two Three Four

For eighth notes, your count would look like this:

One and Two and Three and Four and

For sixteenth notes, your count would look like this:

One e and a Two e and a Three e and a Four e and a

Any mixture of these notes would take the values and combine them. Take for instance a measure consisting of one quarter note, two eighth notes, and four sixteenth notes.

It would look like this:

One Two and Three and Four e and a

Whether you are learning guitar songs or practicing scales and chords, the metronome is a great practice tool that will allow you to develop your musical timing. Good musical timing will allow you to be able to play with other musicians.

All songs and licks should be started off at a low tempo. If you are learning a 120bpm song, start it off at 60bpm. This will allow you to get used to the note placements and values. It will also allow for muscle memory to kick in.

Once you are comfortable at this low tempo, don’t automatically bump yourself up to the full tempo; move up to 80bpm, then when you are comfortable, to 100bpm. Getting a song up to speed should be a fully involved process. This is the key to becoming a great player; allowing yourself to learn. Never rush as it will only cause you to develop poor playing habits.

Set aside a block of time each day for practice and stick to it. Good luck and have fun.

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