1. Getting used to playing without a strap

I know that if you learn to play the guitar online, you probably are at home, relaxed on your favourite couch or armchair and, like many others, get used to play without a strap. That is wrong, because sometimes you would want to play your guitar in a different place, you will find a comfortable position very hard, and instead of focusing on playing the song, you’ll focus on your position. So, every time you play, sit or stand up straight, without slouching, tighten the strap so it won’t fall off your shoulder. This way you won’t be too tense and improve your efficiency.

2. Wrong position for the picking hand

Many guitar learners arch their picking arm and wrist too much while exercising or playing. Too much arch can cause tension and wrist injury especially if you play rock music, or practice on faster bits. Basically, you need to rest the arm on the back of the bass, hold the picking hand directly over the pick up area and pull the elbow close to the body making it easier and comfortable.

3. Holding the guitar pick improperly

Do not grab your pick with all your fingers, it doesn’t weight 100 pounds! Also don’t hold it with your thumb and ring finger, this will make your hand hurt and doesn’t give you a firm grip. Simply hold the pick between your thumb and index. This way your hand is relaxed and you have a firm grip.

4. Exercising only on easy pieces

Especially if you learn to play the guitar online, on your own, you might want to exercise only on the pieces or songs that you like. This way you will eventually become able to play them well but this will take you nowhere, because you can’t outline an original style. So, if you like too practice on a certain progression or bit of a song, at least try to learn the whole song. Also, many beginners like to play those bits or songs that they are already good at, refusing to play anything new. This way you won’t learn anything. So, keep your exercising fresh all the time if you want to become a good guitar player.

5. Not tuning your guitar properly

Some guitarists get lazy when it comes to tuning their instrument, and they would rather get to playing even some strings are too sharp of flat, or even missing a string. Practicing with an untuned guitar generates bad performance and might deform your learning curve. So, before each practice session, tune your guitar. It’s very important.

As I’m studying guitar just for fun, I’ve learned about these errors the hard way, but eventually I managed to identify and neutralize them. Since I Learn to Play the Guitar Online, I’ve been working lately with a Guitar Guide that has really helped me a lot and I strongly recommend it to anyone.

Exercise #1

The firs drill that any guitar learner can do, is incredibly basic and simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s also less effective. All you need to do is simply to play all the scales on your guitar, stating with the C major scale, coming back to C, then moving to the next scale. Start in slow motion, then repeat the exercise faster and close with your fastest performance. As I learn how to play guitar online, this exercise improved my stamina, hand independence and speed, and is quite a nice way to open each guitar practice session.

Exercise #2

Training your left hand is very important from the beginning on:

e ———————————-1-2-3-4—
B—————————-1-2-3-4———-
G———————-1-2-3-4—————-
D————–1-2-3-4————————
A——–1-2-3-4——————————
E–1-2-3-4————————————

Anyone can practice with this scale at a pace they are comfortable with. Your guitar speed should increase slightly with each practice.

Exercise #3

Using all your fingers play just the first four notes on each string, then do this exercise in reverse. After finishing this part, repeat the whole exercise but this time move your first finger down one fret, and repeat it until you have made it all the way down the guitar fretboard. It’s a good thing to use a metronome for this exercise, or just tap your foot it it’s more comfortable. Even after you increase your playing speed, you should still be playing to a beat. Now, you can repeat all this exercise in reverse as well. Your coordination and adroitness will improve for sure if you make this exercise part of each guitar practice. Also, feel free to improvise on this exercise.

I’m sure these exercises will help any “young” guitar player at least a little, especially if you learn how to play guitar, online, without attending classes, or without a teacher. These are the exercises I began my guitar practice with and performing them on each of my guitar training sessions, I managed to improve a lot.

I’m an amateur guitarist, don’t make a career out of it. But to become able to play the songs of my favorite artists, I’ve been working with an excellent Guitar Guide that I found on the Internet. That’s a link where you can check out this great guide and also, here’s another article on Learn How to Play Guitar Online.