The Biggest Shortcuts For Learning Guitar - How To Practice Guitar Effectively

Learn how to practice guitar effectively with these 10 acoustic guitar shortcuts! I'll also show you 3 great exercises for your practice routine! Practice every day to improve your guitar playing! These tips & tricks will help with dexterity, rhythm and help you become a confident strummer. These are the best finger exercises for guitar and the best strumming exercise for beginners and improvers!
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goodguitarist.com/learn-rhyth...
► Need help with the basic chords and strumming? My BEGINNER GUITAR COURSE will help you build a solid foundation one step at a time:
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Here is my basic outline for how you should structure your practice. This is what I did, and what I show my 1-on-1 students, to help them get better faster!
0:00 - INTRO
1:10 - Separate Your Hands
1:47 - Practice Silent Switching
4:10 - Test Each String
5:20 - Switch Chords Seamlessly
7:11 - Why Rhythm Is Important
8:24 - Develop Your Sense of Rhythm
11:01 - Practice Bite-Sized Pieces
11:39 - Mechanics of Strumming
14:42 - Strumming While Switching Chords
16:09 - Easy Beginner Practice Routine
One of the biggest mistakes that I see beginners make is they try to do everything at once. For the fastest improvement, you need to learn to break things down. The most obvious way to do that is to separate your hands into your chord hand and your strumming hand.
For your chord hand, we want to practice silent switching. That means switching from chord shape to chord shape without worrying about the rhythm, just focusing on the motions. Once we're comfortable with that, we need to learn to test each string to make sure that our chord shapes are all ringing properly. In order to switch chords seamlessly I recommend trying the "chord switching game" which I've gone over extensively on this channel, in my ebook and in my beginners course.
Rhythm is a little bit more mysterious because we can't really see it. It's something we have to learn to feel, and developing our internal sense of rhythm is a priority. So many people focus on the downstrokes and upstrokes but that comes after having a solid rhythm foundation. We can work on it using clapping exercises, counting along to songs and by learning to say strumming patterns. Once our internal rhythm is sorted, we can add the downstrokes and upstrokes and work on the mechanics of strumming. It's actually pretty simple at this point. The internal rhythm is really the big thing that holds people back.
Once we're good with chords and strumming separately, we need to learn to put them back together and that's where my song tutorials come in. I've kept that in mind the entire time. We work through the songs in a way that builds up and puts it all together slowly.
Here's a list of easy song tutorials you can try this with:
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton: • Wonderful Tonight Easy...
Zombie - The Cranberries: Coming soon!
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd: • Sweet Home Alabama - E...
Wagon Wheel: • "Wagon Wheel" Easy 4-C...
Perfect - Ed Sheeran: • "Perfect" Guitar Tutor...
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison: • "Brown Eyed Girl" Easy...
Viva La Vida - Coldplay: • Viva La Vida - Guitar ...
Little Talks: • How To Play "Little Ta...
Save Tonight
Good Riddance Time of Your Life - Green Day: • Good Riddance (Time Of...
Hey Ya - Outkast: • Hey Ya - Outkast | Eas...
Wonderwall - Oasis: • Easiest Way to Play "W...
Hey Soul Sister - Train: • "Hey Soul Sister" Easy...
I’m Yours - Jason Mraz: • I'm Yours - Jason Mraz...
No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley: • "No Woman No Cry" Easy...
Fast Car - Tracy Chapman: • "Fast Car" Easy Beginn...
Despacito: • Despacito - COMPLETE G...
Stand By Me - Ben E. King: • "Stand By Me" Easy Gui...
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift: • "You Belong With Me" E...
Country Roads - John Denver: • "Country Roads" Easy F...
When I Come Around - Green Day: Coming soon!
---
goodguitarist.com/practice-aco...
/ goodguitarist
#LearnGuitar #AcousticGuitar #GuitarTutorial

Пікірлер: 62

  • @Good_Guitarist
    @Good_Guitarist2 жыл бұрын

    Is there anything I didn't show in this lesson that has helped you learn guitar faster?

  • @kaavyologyunlimited

    @kaavyologyunlimited

    2 жыл бұрын

    Well all was done thanks!

  • @skintslots

    @skintslots

    2 жыл бұрын

    If you don't mind a slightly more advanced video I'd suggest barre chord note switches if possible.

  • @mephi5t0

    @mephi5t0

    2 жыл бұрын

    I bought a strap to use while I am sitting. I can't properly hold guitar without chord hand wasting energy to hold guitar neck and hence not being able to play and switch correctly. And I don't have a step stool for the right leg so I figured I will use a strap

  • @oneeyemonster3262

    @oneeyemonster3262

    2 жыл бұрын

    Keys are just PITCH..Learn how to play BARR chords...that's what FRETS are for. If you comprehend it in C MAJOR/Amin..it'll be the samething in whatever KEYS. There's millions of songs in E MAJOR/C#min or D MAJOR/B min. It is what it is..You need to make Barr chords. example in the Key of A MAJOR/F# min... You're going need to play the B min and C# min. Anyways....from C MAJOR/A min..after you get the BASIC of I.....ii.....iii.......IV.....V......vi.....vii You need to learn this.....becuase it's in millions of songs. A min......D min E min A min D min E7 A min D7 E7 In a nutshell you need to learn how to play E7 into A min or III into vi chord or alter the ii chord to dim or dominant D7 into G7 into C MAJOR C Harmonic MAJOR C Maj F min G Maj every once in a while the IV chord will get alter to minor The next most COMMON is the N6 chord it's in millions of songs Bb chord to A min Most of the time a simple Bb Maj....Bb maj7 or Bb7 you could also play it as Bb dim or aug...........or Bb min In a nutshell...if you use the full diminished H/W you can stack MAJOR, min, DOMINANT or dim chord every b3 intervals. VAMP it over the V chord G7......Bb........Db......E7 Most jazz players will term it tritone sub C Maj Db dim G7 into C Maj A min Bb dim E7 into A min if you know these COMMON inserted or ACCIDENTAL notes/chords You can play 98% of songs If original songs are out of you vocal range. Play/sing it in your vocal range. Theory will still be the same as if it;s in C MAJOR/min because KEYS are just PITCH. DONT worry about the Keyboard. Use the fretboard like a SLIDE RULER. Play other chords aside cowboy or NUT position chords. Friends in low places A Maj....Bb dim B min E7 for cadence A Maj Bb dim B min D#dim Bb7 The D# dim is just borrowed from F# melodic min B7 or D# dim/B The Bb7 is the N6 chord. You also hear the Bb dim chord in Tears in Heaven...during the bridge. The song is EASY..if you just play simply B min7 and C# min7 chords Instead of making INCOMPLETE chords of those chords.

  • @byromtaylor6482

    @byromtaylor6482

    10 ай бұрын

    ok i am of an age i aint got time or 10 years i want short cuts and wanna play this song before i die.. This is my goal kzread.info/dash/bejne/rJhszKSTmrCedpc.html

  • @juanpelaez803
    @juanpelaez8032 жыл бұрын

    I love your way to speak, i am an spanish one from Madrid with an intermediate level in english and i'm so proud of myself 🥴 to understand you. Although i love your way to teach so clear. Muchas gracias amigo mío. i'm 60 and i'm so "motivado" to learn more and more from you. Thanks again!

  • @michaelbrowne541
    @michaelbrowne5412 жыл бұрын

    Hi James, I really have to say of all the guitar teaching videos I've seen ..I really feel your method of teaching is the best I've seen.. I even subscribe to guitar tricks and your method breaks things down and gives visualization to make it easier for beginners better than that.. it's frustrating when some guitarist is showing you how to play something and they're expecting that you should just know how to do it.. rather than break it down the way you do... The way you have the scrolling chord progression at the top of the screen helps with the chord changes and maintaining that strumming rhythm.. another problem I'm guessing most people might have.. myself included is.. being able to sing with the song.. it's good to learn to play a song on guitar..but without the singing.. it can be less recognizable around the campfire 🤔🤷 because a lot of times the lyric doesn't fall directly on the beat it seems.. and that can be frustrating 😥 but as a beginner I feel I'm making progress playing with your instruction methods faster than other videos I've seen.. thanks for making the path to learning guitar less frustrating and more understandable 🤗👍👍

  • @yudipitre5720
    @yudipitre57202 жыл бұрын

    No one has taught like this very good and clear and slow . The idea of picking a particular finger to place the start the chord switch is awesome. Great advice. Thank you 😊

  • @harolddavis4138
    @harolddavis41382 жыл бұрын

    You are on to something with the basic rhythm. I played for decades and would tell people that something's missing I don't understand what it is. I would say it's more than how many chords you know, but nobody could guide me. After several decades of playing I have naturally gotten much better. Fact remains I still don't have the basic fundamental rhythm down as it should be and I think this video has helped this old timer tremendously. We'll see, because I'm going to start back at the basics.

  • @WolfRiverProductions
    @WolfRiverProductions2 жыл бұрын

    Always great instruction. Thanks!

  • @reineh3477
    @reineh34775 ай бұрын

    One thing I learned is that open strings are not dangerous. If you play on the beats and switch between G and D, you might play G, G, G, open strings (all fingers in the air), D, D, D, open strings. Most important is that you keep the rhythm. With some more practice you will be able to play the chord on the fourth beat also.

  • @davebradley2051
    @davebradley2051 Жыл бұрын

    Hi James, I just wanted to thank you for all that you do! Your teaching method is so helpful and has given me new inspiration at 60 yrs old to buy another acoustic guitar again and really discipline myself to start with the basics and really enjoy playing again after years of not! Thanks so much and I’m saving to be a patron!😁

  • @beemanrunning977
    @beemanrunning9772 жыл бұрын

    Excellent lesson. Thanks dude.

  • @bunnypacer8189
    @bunnypacer8189 Жыл бұрын

    This really helped me as a newbie. Thank you 👌

  • @kaavyologyunlimited
    @kaavyologyunlimited2 жыл бұрын

    My favourite channel . Thanks bro!

  • @maryamakhtar304
    @maryamakhtar3042 жыл бұрын

    I absolutely love ur teaching style!! I am going to check out ur ebook

  • @Jamzocd
    @Jamzocd9 ай бұрын

    Love your videos James! Very good content!

  • @ryanhurley2656
    @ryanhurley2656 Жыл бұрын

    just wanted to come back and say thank you! im not sure what it is about your lessons/videos, but they were what really got the light bulb flickering on my journey. tried many other's with little progress but your's were top notch, very professional as well as easy to understand/ catch on. thank you again!

  • @lloydosmond678
    @lloydosmond6786 ай бұрын

    thanks James this is the best for learning and I have watched so many guitar lessons , but you teachings are the best

  • @rockydaleo6998
    @rockydaleo69989 ай бұрын

    Thanks James! It’s a work in progress and I will go to your website and see what we can do!

  • @nirmalamarak9386
    @nirmalamarak93862 жыл бұрын

    Thanks a lot for taking great interest in us. God bless you abundantly.

  • @DjMozz.
    @DjMozz.2 жыл бұрын

    As a self taught guitar player for a year now, this tips are great, Thanks!

  • @shaliniamanna7920
    @shaliniamanna7920 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you very much

  • @brendachristopher2693
    @brendachristopher26932 жыл бұрын

    Thank you James, great advice especially the tip for prioritizing rhythm. I worried so much about the chords being perfect that being tense actually made them worse. It's interesting that as long as the rhythm is steady that you can actually adjust a wonky chord while playing as you demonstrated, I just recently discovered that and it really isn't that noticeable compared to an uneven rhythm.

  • @kinnonkerr6532
    @kinnonkerr6532 Жыл бұрын

    GREAT TEACHER GREAT EXPLANATIONS AND VERY PATIENT THANK YOU.

  • @larryrichards3668
    @larryrichards3668 Жыл бұрын

    You are a great teacher.

  • @Sober14me
    @Sober14me2 жыл бұрын

    Great job 👍

  • @elysepuesca8736
    @elysepuesca87362 жыл бұрын

    I like this very much thank you

  • @LitchfieldParkFamily
    @LitchfieldParkFamily2 жыл бұрын

    Great tips! We try to play everyday, even if it’s for only 10 mins! Over time, it all adds up. 🎶💯🎸 New Subscribers here!

  • @user-wp2ej5mn4c
    @user-wp2ej5mn4c2 ай бұрын

    Good stuff.

  • @ChristineB9046
    @ChristineB904611 ай бұрын

    Great tips, thank you very much James!

  • @Good_Guitarist

    @Good_Guitarist

    11 ай бұрын

    Hello again!! You're very welcome!

  • @sdbisalive1995
    @sdbisalive19952 жыл бұрын

    I like!

  • @carolekjellander8917
    @carolekjellander8917 Жыл бұрын

    James, I love your slow and explanatory teaching style. I've watched a lot of your videos, especially your recent beginner 30 day series. I'm learning a lot of tiny nuances and ideas to apply with each video. I just wanted to thank you for making guitar knowledge so accessible. 😊

  • @Good_Guitarist

    @Good_Guitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    Hey Carole. IT's my pleasure. Any song in particular you're interested in learning? Let me know!

  • @carolekjellander8917

    @carolekjellander8917

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Good_Guitarist What an unexpected and exciting offer, James! I really needed to give it some thought. A few possible directions come to mind: 1. I'm trying to learn how to fit chords to lyrics when I encounter a song like "True Love Will Find You In the End" or "One of Us." Maybe you could talk about strategies for learning how to strum and switch chords when each measure is not specifically laid out. 2. I dream of learning more complex songs, but my skill level isn't there yet. What comes to mind are: "Pretty Pimpin" by Kurt Vile, which seems to focus on fingerpicking, and "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica. I know your strength is slowing things way down and simplifying, so I'm not sure if you would be likely to help break down these more complex songs. 3. Also, I'm looking for methods and ideas related to how to break down my learning into the smallest units, as you often suggest. So, for example, should I just learn the verse of a song, and wait til another day to learn the chorus? I'm working now to learn some beginner's Travis Picking, and break it down into just parts of a bar, to get the muscle memory. Anyway, I admire you greatly and you have become a comforting part of my daily warmup routine before tackling things, like song tutorials, that I'm avoiding because I know I will experience some confusion and stress. Thanks for being such a kind and calm guiding online presence. 🙂

  • @lennybisutti8693
    @lennybisutti86932 жыл бұрын

    Learning guitar..a very lesson!

  • @user-wr5xt9on3q
    @user-wr5xt9on3q2 жыл бұрын

    When I do bullshit I say hey you stupid. And you said it’s okey to do easy and very easy things wrong and it’s growing. It’s the first thing I learnt from you and I’m so grateful, I cannot explain

  • @ProfessorJM1
    @ProfessorJM12 жыл бұрын

    You need to know what you want to do on guitar, learn to replicate that, learn what you learned, is, technically, apply it to whatever you can…repeat. Most importantly, especially, STOP letting people shame you out of playing guitar.

  • @MikeBunt-wi2fw
    @MikeBunt-wi2fw Жыл бұрын

    You are such an amazing teacher! Wish I could just borrow you for a minute and you can tell me what I'm doing wrong because I am still learning but I've been practicing for a while now and I still can't stop the buzzing on the f chord not the bar f, I have a lot of patients I don't give up I've tried every hand position every finger position staying calm not always doing the same thing switching it up but I still seem to get the same Buzz and I get so frustrated I have to put the guitar down but I don't give up a very musically inclined but I just can't beat the buzz on the string if you feel like you want to give up but I won't and I can't I just can't figure it out I've watched videos after videos I've watched you and I still get the same Buzz every single time

  • @shaliniamanna7920
    @shaliniamanna79202 жыл бұрын

    Dear James, can you show how to shift from E7, A & cDmajor chords please.

  • @G.R.Kash11
    @G.R.Kash112 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for another great video with wonderful tips. I was wondering, is there any way to listen to a song and figure out the strumming pattern if it's not given? That seems to be the biggest issue I have, thanks in advance.

  • @My-Channel_forever

    @My-Channel_forever

    2 жыл бұрын

    Great idea for a video!

  • @fredericcrepel5571
    @fredericcrepel55717 ай бұрын

    Hi, I am a bit surprised by your advice about silent switching. My guitar teacher always tells me to put my fingers at the same time when switching from one chord to another and not one finger and then the others.

  • @ericpaulband
    @ericpaulband Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much for this video. I was doing a gig a couple weeks ago and I came across the B minor chord in the song and I just totally messed it up but I kept going. I just laughed it off because that’s how I try to handle making mistakes when I am out doing gigs. I’m trying to add new chords to my chord list and so I just usually go for it if I can when I’m out doing songs. You and me by Lifehouse what is the song I was doing at the time and I love the B minor and I know that one of these days it’s just gonna be natural like all the other cords that I know so well. Love your videos.

  • @Good_Guitarist

    @Good_Guitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    Hey Eric Paul, thanks for your message. B minor is a usual suspect when it comes to messing up - you're not alone. It sounds like you handled it like a pro. I'm grateful that you're tuning into these lessons. All the best, James

  • @ericpaulband

    @ericpaulband

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Good_Guitarist thank you!

  • @jmfleming4837
    @jmfleming48372 жыл бұрын

    👏🏻👍

  • @R.L.Humpert
    @R.L.Humpert2 жыл бұрын

    Hey bro so do I have to lock in my bottom to strings? CN I play my open chords like G and Cadd9 etc without putting my pinky down? I took lessons for 1 year and I was taught it’s ok to no put the pinky down on the high e and just have my ring finger. The chords sound great like that but is this ok or what do you think? I struggle with my pinky which is so painful because this is keeping me from transitioning from open to barre chords. It’s a struggle and I have been working on barre chords transitioning for a year now. I just trying to switch quickly and my pinky just never ends up in the right spot. It’s keeping me from playing so many more songs that have that F or Bm etc. Especially country songs I like and others. Thanks. -Ryan

  • @optimusprimeval
    @optimusprimeval11 ай бұрын

    How can you find the strumming pattern for each particular song please?

  • @kirtlebouef
    @kirtlebouef2 жыл бұрын

    Does does this method work with electric guitars

  • @TeeFetch
    @TeeFetch Жыл бұрын

    Dang, my Guitar Chords chart reussir shows G major different, with b string open.

  • @bobbysmith2046
    @bobbysmith2046 Жыл бұрын

    Can't find E book

  • @Good_Guitarist

    @Good_Guitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    email info@goodguitarist.com we will get you sorted

  • @bobbysmith2046

    @bobbysmith2046

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Good_Guitarist I love your work Iam 63 struggle with neropothy .Your Camara angles are what I was looking for.. I get so emotionable when playing. The last teaching had a B minor chord and I was needing help Finally found the E book. May God continue to bless the works of your hands. Thank you so much.

  • @stephendyer7555
    @stephendyer7555 Жыл бұрын

    I couldn’t get your free ebook

  • @Good_Guitarist

    @Good_Guitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    Hey Stephen Dyer, please send me an email at info@goodguitarist.com and we will get you sorted on the ebook.

  • @stephendyer7555

    @stephendyer7555

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Good_Guitarist I received the ebook. I’m also taking your course. So far so good

  • @mr.nobody1011
    @mr.nobody1011 Жыл бұрын

    I'm a Lefty but my Guitar is for Righty lol.

  • @uyungsyahputra2170
    @uyungsyahputra21702 жыл бұрын

    Ngomong mulu luh

  • @Rudyru3
    @Rudyru3 Жыл бұрын

    This is a good lesson. Really like your style, but 5-6 times of "Try my free ebook" gets grating. I understand you need to get paid.