Learning Guitar - Lesson Three

By Dan Cross, About.com Guide

I hope you're putting in your fifteen minutes of practice per day! It's not a lot of time to play guitar, but even fifteen minutes will yield good results over time. If you have the time to play more, it's highly encouraged... the more the better! Here's a suggested use of your practice time for the next few weeks.

• Make sure your guitar is in tune (review how to tune).
• Warm up by playing the blues scale, forwards and backwards, several times. Play slowly, use alternate picking, and make sure each note rings clearly.
• Play the E phrygian scale from lesson 2 several times, paying careful attention to detail.
• Review all nine major and minor chords we've learned. Practice moving from chord to chord quickly.
• Spend some time working on this week's new strumming pattern. Also, be sure to revisit the lesson two strumming patterns. Try switching from chord to chord while using these patterns.
• Try to play one, or a few of the songs above. See if you can memorize part of a song, and the lyrics to the song. At this point, songs probably won't sound great when you try and play them, but with some patience, you'll be sounding like a pro within months!

As was suggested in lesson two, if you find it impossible to find the time to practice all of the above in one sitting, try breaking up the material, and practicing it over several days. There is a strong human tendency to only practice things which we are already quite good at. You'll need to overcome this, and force yourself to practice the things you are weakest at doing.

Previous

• Lesson Three
• The Blues Scale
• Learning an E Major Chord
• Learning an A Major Chord
• Playing an F Major Chord
• Chord Review
• New Strumming Pattern
• Learning Songs
• Practice Schedule

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