Beginning Choices
When starting guitar the first choices you make will open or close doors to long term goals. This article is designed to minimise your investment of time, cost and frustration by increasing your awareness of early obstacles to progress that may clutter the pathway to rewards. The Guitar you choose will direct the way you play. I recommend a nylon string guitar for beginners. Nylon strings are softer on the left hand, reducing the temptation to compromise technique by straining, and the wide fingerboard encourages the left hand to good form and movement.
Strings
Steel Strings |
vs. Nylon Strings |

It gives me a chance to dispense literature and share ideas. But I am often saddened when a player can comprehend a great idea but will never play it because his technique took a wrong turn in the beginning and kept on that course until his muscle memory was locked.
Choosing a teacher requires some considerations. Ask your perspective teacher to sight read some music for you. Degrees are an indicator since most music majors can sight read, and answer questions about music fundamentals. Hear your teacher play to see how flexible he/she is. If your teacher is on the road performing a great deal ask how often the lessons might be disrupted, and if substitute teachers will fill in the gap. Some work harder than others in the beginning, but there is no one that is incapable of advancing in music. Don’t erode your self confidence by saying you can’t. A choice to stop is often appropriate and OK. But if you follow the practice schedule below you will find the rewards hard to resist. Practice Schedules vary from person to person. Here is a general outline (as a starting place) that is easy to work with, and productive. The first few weeks are short because building new skills require concentrated attention. Practice is the art of building new skills. Playing is the use of already learned skills. Since your reservoir of skills starts out empty, your first guitar experience is largely work. If you try to do too much too soon without the reward of playing you may tire. Adjusting your life to sitting with the guitar at the same time and place each day is a great accomplishment, as great as the practice itself.
Week one: Ten minutes a day at the same time and same place each day.
Week two: Twenty minutes a day at the same time and same place each day.
Week three: Thirty minutes a day at the same time and same place each day.
Week four: Thirty minutes a day at the same time and same place each day.
Notice that I stopped adding time after a half hour. That is because this is practice time rather than playing time. Play all you want, and you will, because this half hour of concentrated practice daily will fill your reservoir with wonderful skills. I promise!