Practicing is an art in itself. To improve and succeed in practicing, becoming a better guitar player and keeping it fun at all times there are rules to apply. Today we’ll dive into the 10 p’s to understand and learn the art of practicing guitar.

PONDER

Guitar playing always starts with a thought. The more you ponder thoughts on how to create a good and nice guitar practice for yourself, the more you’ll be practicing. The idea of playing guitar, the feeling of the joy it will bring, the image of you playing that song you really love, that amazing guitar solo or riff that slides through your fingers. The thought and emotion can trigger you to act. Thoughts create action.

Now, think for a minute what you love about playing guitar and what you really want to learn. Create a vivid image of you practicing that song, solo or riff and how it makes you feel. Think of the guitar you are playing and what you want your practice space to look like. Think good vibes.

PREPARE

The next thing to do is to put everything you need for practicing in the right place. Get your guitar out of the guitar bag and put it on the guitar stand in absolutely clear sight. Place it in the room where you spend most of your time. In sight is in mind.

Structure and arrange the entire place in a such a way that it attracts and pulls you right to the guitar. Make it so that you can not escape it, and playing guitar will be inevitable.

PRIORITIZE

If you want to succeed in playing guitar you need to prioritize it. You have to make time for it. Schedule a fixed time to practice daily or regularly. Look forward to your precious practice session and put reminders everywhere, in your phone, on your calendar, in your computer, and stick reminder notes on the fridge, in the bathroom, anywhere necessary.

It’s not that I’m saying you don’t want to play guitar, but life is busy for most people, and your obligations and to-do lists often take your eyes and mind off the things that matter most to you. There’s always just another thing that needs to come first, and the list is endless. It’s just a cunning trick of the mind, and you have to trick your mind into playing guitar to make time for the good things in life. Prioritize!

Continue Reading

Today we have 30 of the best songs from the most popular band of all time “The Beatles”. These songs are indispensable in the learning journey of every guitar student who wants to become an accomplished, allround pop musician.

From beautiful fingerpicking ballads, heavenly chord progressions, to icon rock ‘n roll tunes. It’s all here. Unlike a lot of popular music these days, not one song in this list sounds the same. They are all unique pieces of art with their own signature style.

Listen and learn from the musical legends Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. Practice and study their ingenious guitar composition skills and beautiful song melodies. There is a treasure of musical craftsmanship to learn from their repertoire. Soak it all up.

If you’re curious what kind of guitars The Beatles used for their recordings check out this extensive list of Instruments specific to Rubber Soul sessions.

Note: This list is in no particular order and far from complete. I create these lists to inspire and motivate, to make you pick up your guitar and explore the boundless creativity that music holds.

The song titles in the list below contain a YouTube link to the song, the Applemusic & Spotify links direct you straight to the song in the associated apps. I hope you like that. Finally the Chords links show you to the chords of the song.

Enjoy!

Continue Reading

Yes! Today we have a great list of pop songs specifically written for the nylon string guitar, classical guitar and Spanish guitar.

While you can also play these songs on an acoustic guitar, (and vice versa), they just sound profoundly better when you play them on a nylon string guitar. The classical, Spanish and nylon string guitars provide that warm and mellow sound that make these songs really come alive, and give them that special touch and feel.

In classical and flamenco music nylon strings are a prerequisite, but in pop music steel string is more common, so I thought it would be a good idea to put these songs in the spotlight and give them the attention they deserve.

Each song title in the list below contains a Youtube link to the original song. The “Chords” or “TABS” link will take you to the chords, tabs and lyrics and the “More Chords/TABS” link will show you the official transcribed TABS & Chords for more songs from the same artist.

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Enjoy and have an amazing one!

1 – Tears in heaven – Eric Clapton – TABS – More Chords/TABS

2 – Fragile – Sting – TABS – More Chords/TABS

3 – 93 million miles – Jason Mraz – Chords – More Chords/TABS

4 – Is there anybody out there – Pink Floyd – TABS – More Chords/TABS

5 – Spanish guitar – The Doors – TABS – More Chords/TABS

6 – Jolene – Dolly Parton – Chords – More Chords/TABS

7 – Have you ever loved a woman – Bryan Adams & Paco de Lucia – TABS – More Chords/TABS

8 – Heartbeats – José Gonzales – TABS

9 – Belle – Jack Johnson – TABS – More Chords/TABS

10 – Keep Your Head Up – Ben Howard – TABS

Continue Reading

There comes a stage in the guitar player’s journey where a faster learning curve emerges and a lot of progress is made. The guitar player is picking up things eagerly and easily. It’s a time of fun and flow.

There is also a time for a lot of guitar players when the learning slows down or stops all together. This usually happens during adulthood. Life gets busier and more demanding. Time to practice becomes frugal and priorities are going elsewhere.

Now whenever you pick up the guitar and the same old songs, riffs, licks and chops are coming out of your fingers and you are tapping from an unaltered rusty dusty guitar vocabulary something has got to change. You are stuck in a rut and often without even realizing it.

You get easily bored with the instrument, the practice, the excitement, the fun and challenge, because there is no real practice anymore, only repetitive playing. That’s the sign that you need to spice up your game.

The time has come to reinvent yourself. You have to stop playing what you already know. It’s time for learning new things, adding fresh flavours to your playing, taking the next step, or heading for a different road or approach.

Continue Reading