Guitar picking

Got a guitar but don't really know how to get to start playing it? Don't feel like spending all your dough on lessons? Want to learn at home but have no Idea how to get started? Just try and follow this piece of advice and work your way from playing chords and easy tunes up to strumming, picking, sliding and all the other sophisticated techniques.

First of all, if you don't have a guitar of your own yet, you must get yourself one. Of course, at the very beginning you'll probably have to do without an "Eric Clapton Signature Strat" (very, very expensive), so make sure you get a so-called expert to check the guitar that you choose before you buy it. I'm not trying to impute that every single instrument manufactured by unqualified Indonesian labourers is nothing but junk but, unfortunately, it's quite likely to be so.

Once you've got your brand new instrument. you can get down to learning a few basic chords. The best way to do this is to get a songbook with some evergreens and playa number of tunes until you are able to change the chords smoothly.

When you already know the basics such as tuning, chords, scales and a bit of theory, it's no big deal getting to learn some of those killer riffs and meteoric solos played by your favourite performers. The key to your success is to be found on the Web. It's called tablatures. Don't get daunted if you can't decipher what all the nebulous symbols are supposed to mean. Luckily, most tabs come with detailed explanations. So, probably after you have worked out a couple of tabs, you should be able to read them quite easily and quickly. Plus, you can download one of the freeware' programs, such as GuitarPro, which are used for working with tabs. They usually have an in-built midi plug-in, which can play the tab you are working at, so that you get a general idea of what a particular solo or rhythm pattern should sound like. You'll soon realise that as you go on learning, you get closer and closer to improvising and creating your own compositions.

All in all, you must remember that the more intensively you practice, the quicker you improve your skills and that daily exercising is the only way to progress. Certainly, you don't have to be a pro to enjoy playing the guitar but, eventually, getting to become one is still quite a lot of fun.

Glossary:
(to) impute - insinuate (insynuować)
evergreen - song that stands the test of time (niestarzej±cy się przebój)
riff - short musical motif found in jazz or popular music (riff)
nebulous - not clear or developed enough to describe (mglisty)