Cheap Acoustic and Electric Guitars for Beginners

Finding a good deal on guitars can be a bit of a problem, especially if you’re a beginner and are looking for something cheap for your first electric guitar. When it comes to cheap electric guitars, it’s usually a compromise between something or the other.

While I almost always recommend spending a bit more than a couple of hundred bucks and getting a good, decent instrument for your first axe, the following is a list of some of the cheapest acoustic and electric guitars that money can possibly buy. In addition, I also recommend checking this beginner-friendly guitar-buying guide before picking up any one of the guitars in the list below.

Acoustics:

1. Fender DG-8S

What better than a cheapo, inexpensive, relatively low-priced Fender, right? But what really sets this apart is the fact that the DG-8S comes bundled with a beginner’s package by Fender. It is a solid-top Spruce guitar (you won’t find a lot of solid spruce top guitars in the price range, which makes this bundle all the more impressive), with mahogany back and sides. It has a low action – perfect for beginners who might struggle with finger strength when it comes to high-action guitars. The build quality is top-notch – what you would expect from a Fender instrument. And the bundle comes in at just over $200 and includes a gigbag, DVDs, strings, picks and a strap, which means that it’s a great value for money bundle.

2. Yamaha FG730S

No acoustic guitar list can be complete without a Yamaha, and this one’s no exception! The FG730S comes in at around $300-$450, and while that might be a tad higher than your budget, it is worth every penny of your hard-earned cash, trust me! Yamaha acoustic guitars are almost always very highly rated and usually get rave reviews and this one’s certainly no exception. This solid-top acoustic guitar features a Sitka spruce top, rosewood sides, back and bridge, die-cast tuners, and a beautiful ‘tortoise’ pickguard to name just a few of its features. Moreover, the worksmanship is superb and like many solid spruce-top guitars, it has a great tone. Most people tend to sell and replace their cheap, beginner-level acoustics. However the Yamaha will probably last you a lifetime and it is likely that you’ll stick to it for a long time to come – it’s that good!

3. Epiphone EJ200

My personal favorite of the lot in terms of looks, the EJ200 looks stunning, to say the least! It is one of the best guitars in this price range ($300-$400), and is simply outstanding value for money. One of the most well-known acoustic guitars out there, and known as the ‘king of the flat-tops,’ it has a maple body with a solid spruce top, a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, and gold hardware. It has a tobacco sunburst finish with a tortoise-shell style pickguard which gives it a majestic ‘vintage’ look. What makes it ideal for beginners is it’s lower and lighter action and balanced, warm and smooth sound and tone, ideal for general playing. Over the years, it’s been used as the standard guitar of choice by the likes of Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Pete Townshend. A great guitar for an amazing price!

Electrics:

1. Epiphone Les Paul Special II

Pick of the guitars on this list, the Les Paul Special II by Epiphone (a company owned by Gibson) is a brilliant electric axe for beginners for several reasons. But perhaps the biggest reason (or reasons) of all would be the fact that this beauty gives you all the features of a full-blown (and expensive) Gibson Les Paul for a fraction of the price! It has a mahogany body, bolt-on mahogany neck, open coil humbuckers, and a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. And the price for all the awesomeness? The Les Paul Special II retails for around $185! For something that gets as close to a proper Gibson Les Paul, that is a pretty good price!

2. Squier Affinity Stratocaster

If the Affinity Strat’s looks don’t blow your mind, its price will! This stunning-looking Strat – produced by Squier, a company owned by Fender – features 3 single-coil pickups , a 5-way pickup selector, 2 tone knobs and 1 volume knobs and a string-through body. Its contoured hardwood body and rosewood fingerboard resemble a Fender Stratocaster. It sounds absolutely fantastic, and is an all-genre, versatile guitar for the beginner electric guitar player, regardless of whether you play rock, country or jazz. The good thing about Squier guitars is that they are very easy to customize and their parts (especially their pickups) can be replaced very easily. The Squier Affinity Stratocasters go for around $140 to $180 a piece.

3. Yamaha Pacifia 112

Rounding off our list of budget electric guitars is the infamous Yamaha Pacifia series, the 112 to be precise. The Pacifia 112 is, once again, an excellent start-off point for new guitarists, or those who might be buying their first electric guitar. The thing that I particularly like about this guitar is that it is just as equally suitable for experienced guitarists, as it is for new ones. It is the best-selling guitar in the Pacifia series, the Pacifia 112 features 21 frets, a 5-position blade, a solid alder body, mable neck, rosewood fingerboard and a strat-style double-cutaway body. This guitar can easily rival much-superior Stratocasters and Les Paul in terms of its sound and versatility. It costs more than the options above, and will set you back by around 300 bucks, but for a guitar of this quality, tonal abilities and sound, it is totally worth it!

Guitar and Repetitive Strain Injury

As a guitar player who’s had his fair share of injuries over the years, I cannot stress more on the importance of adopting safe and healthy guitar-playing practices.

One of the most common health-related problems associated with guitar-playing, is Repetitive Strain Injury, or RSI.

According to Wikipedia, RSI is a musculoskeletal or nervous system injury that is caused by repetitive tasks, exertion, pressing against hard surfaces for too long, or being in awkward (unnatural) positions for too long. For instance clicking on the mouse button or typing on a computer keyboard for extended periods of time is one of the most common causes of RSI, however playing a musical instrument such as the guitar for large amounts of time can also cause RSI, as well as other conditions such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

This is mostly due to the fact that repetitive movement of the fretting and picking hands, and sitting or standing up in awkward positions for a long period of time can cause harm and damage to the body. Musicians and guitarists, therefore, are extremely susceptible to RSI.

Stress-related injuries, such as RSI can usually go from being mildly painful and/or uncomfortable, to extremely painful. I’ve seen the careers of promising musicians come to abrupt ends because of such injuries.

Playing the guitar is not supposed to be painful. As a musician and a guitarist, embracing safe and healthy methods can help prevent RSI or any other adverse effects to your health and general well-being. Not only will this allow you to have a long career doing what your love and making some good music, it will allow you to remain in the best shape that you can quite possibly be.

Preventing RSI

A few important point on how RSI and injuries associated with guitar-play can be avoided:

1. Building endurance and strength will help you with your guitar-play in the long run. It is important to be in good shape physically in order to be a good guitar player. One of the aspects is finger and wrist strength. Squeezing a tennis ball, for instance, helps build finger strength – an invaluable asset when it comes to picking, fretting, hitting difficult chords, and generally good guitar-play.

2. Make it a habit to warm-up before playing the guitar. Never skip on warming up, and make it a point to include a good, comprehensive yet short warm-up regime in your guitar-playing routine. Warming-up prevents injuries in the short as well as the long run. This is precisely why athletes warm up before exerting themselves physically. As hard to believe as it might be, your body is also exerted in a similar way when playing the guitar. Stretching your arms, fingers, and limbs before playing, and doing a little warm-up on the guitar is how I usually kick things off. My warm up song is Metallica’s One.

3. Relax your body. Unnecessary tension puts more pressure on your body, which means that at the end of the day, you could end up with sore joints, and in the long run, it might even translate to stress-related injuries.  Whether you’re practicing, jamming, or playing with your band or doing a gig, relax your body. Alternatively, practice playing something slow to release the tension. If it becomes painful or if at any point playing the guitar hurts, it is recommended to seek professional help and consult a doctor/physiotherapist/chiropractor immediately.

4. Putting the guitar at the right height when playing it is also extremely important. For instance playing a guitar that is too low increases the chance of an injury (and besides, it looks pretty bad too). Generally speaking, playing the guitar high-up generally tends to be comfortable, although (once again) it shouldn’t be placed too high up. Make sure that your wrists are straight when playing the guitar at whatever height you want to.

5. One of the most common causes of RSI is improper wrist positioning and hand position. It is very important to keep your wrists straight at all times. For instance if your fretting hand is not positioned properly – because the placement of the thumb is high and as a result you have to bend your wrist to fret – it can cause more tension in your fretting hand and exposure to such tension for a long period of time will almost always end up in a stress-related injury. Sort this out by looking at your wrist and try to straighten your fretting hand’s wrists as much as possible.

6. In general, avoid anchoring any part of your hand or your arm to the guitar for a very long period of time, as this causes friction and hence tension in your muscles – something that can be harmful in the long run. If you think that this is a problem, it is highly recommended that you ditch your current method of picking and learn a new one.

7. During a performance or when you take the stage, it is vital to not strain yourself. If you feel uncomfortable, if any part of your body feels uncomfortable and if you feel that you’re pushing yourself to perform, stop immediately. Whether it’s a cramp, or if a certain part of your body hurts, it is necessary to take a break right then and there. In addition, don’t be nervous – nerves are known to cause tension. Be confident and at ease. Enjoy your performance instead, and channel that confidence in your guitar-play as well.

8. Experiment during practice sessions, because that’s what those sessions are for right? Practice or jam sessions are a time where a musicians or a guitarist can assess his limitations. Don’t push yourself during the performance. It will only cause you to have unnecessary tension – something that you could certainly do without when playing live!

Safe and healthy guitar-playing practices are vital to your health. When a person is young, he can tend to be careless about all this, however injury rears its ugly head sooner or later, especially if you’re not careful about RSI. Your aim is to be at your best physically and in top shape 20 or 30 years down the road, and play the guitar for a long time. Safe habits and practices will allow you to do just that.

Making the abovementioned habits a part of your routine will significantly reduce the risk of common repetitive strain injuries, most commonly associated with guitar-playing. Not only will these prolong your career as a musician, it will also ensure that your technique and general guitar-play remains at optimal levels. It never ceases to amaze me how the likes of Angus Young, well into his 50s, has continued to play the guitar and perform on stage all these years - perhaps the biggest proof that safe and health-friendly guitar-playing habits do pay off in the long run!

If you are concerned about RSI or if you think that twitch or cramp might be concerning, consult a physiotherapist or a chiropractor immediately.

7-Step Method of Increasing Guitar Playing Speed

Most new guitarists tend to think that speed is all that there is to it, when it comes to good guitar-play and being a good guitarist. Nothing can be further from the truth. There are a lot of aspects which determine good guitar-playing skills and define what makes a good guitar player.

However speed remains an important aspect of playing the axe, and comes with its advantages. For starters, the ability to increase your playing speed enhances your whole style of play, and loosens you up. You become more dexterous, flexible and playing difficult chords becomes easy. Above all, you will be able to hit notes that you were previously incapable of hitting. And what a feeling that is!

But it’s not easy. You’ll have to put in some serious hard work, and most importantly, you’ll have to remember that other aspects involved in good guitar play as just as important as increasing your speed. Also, the old adage ‘practice makes perfect’ applies here!

Here are a few things (5, to be exact) that you can do in order to enhance your guitar playing speed:

1. Practice Slow

It seems that just about everyone out there is obsessed with playing fast. As soon as they hold the guitar, most people, bar a few, want to play as fast as they can. This is a very wrong approach to take. Go slow first. Work on becoming a better guitarist by working on the basics, making sure that you nail each and every one of them in the process. Work on your technique, fingering and posture so that you don’t end up becoming a sloppy guitar player. Be patient and start off slow, building up speed in the process. A metronome will be immensely useful here! Don’t play fast until you can play notes and chords correctly. It is important to walk before you run!

2. Alternate Picking

Alternate picking – one of the most common techniques to improve playing speed – involves holding the pick between your index finger and the thumb, with the pointy-end facing the strings and using alternate down-up strokes to pluck the strings in order to play the guitar. The first note would be a downstroke, the second up, the third down and so on and so forth. Instead of plucking every string in a downwards direction, you instead alternate between up and down strokes, enabling you to gain some speed.

3. Relax

Any tension or uneasiness will adversely affect your playing speed. This usually happens when you try playing very fast, which causes your fingers, wrists and arms to get more tense, reducing your playing speed in the process. The solution is to stretch, warm-up and above all, loosen up before playing and try your best to relax during playing. Avoid forcing or exerting yourself to play too quickly, as this too will cause tension. Instead play as fast as you can without really pushing it. Start off slowly, and build up speed as your progress. If you do get tense during playing, take it down a couple of notches and slow down.

4. Metronome

A metronome will be your best friend when it comes to increasing your playing speeds! It will help you with your playing speed by allowing you to practice at a certain speed and maintain tempo while playing the guitar. It will also allow you to determine and increase your playing speed during every practice session. Metronomes can be bought from a guitar store, an online store that sells guitar accessories, or you can even access one on the internet, or download it for your iPhone/iPad or other cellular device.

5. Video

From my experience, a great way of increasing your playing speed, as well as improving other aspects about your guitar-playing, is to film yourself doing it. This will allow you to be able to do an analysis on your technique and document your progress. You don’t even need expensive equipment to do so, your cellphone camera or laptop’s webcam would do just fine. The camera should be focused the guitar and your hand position. In all probability, you will end up seeing things you would’ve never noticed otherwise.

6. Practice

Be regular with your practice sessions, as increasing your speed will probably take a while – weeks or months even. Take time out in order to exclusively work on your guitar speed, by reserving a fraction of your total practice time for this.

7. Patience

As one of the greatest musicians of our era Bryan Adams once said: “Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear and discouragement.” Being patient is vital to your success, and expecting to see results overnight (or in a couple of days) is simply being unrealistic.

Things To Do and Things Required for Effective Guitar Practice

Before jamming or setting about with your next practice session on the guitar, it is important to go in fully prepared. This means that your practicing environment should be comfortable and you should have easy access to certain things.

For starters, ensure that the environment you practice in is very comfortable. Unless you’re playing with a band, you will in all likelihood need a comfortable place to sit down a practice. Find a suitable, flat chair, without arms (duh!). It should be a comfortable chair with good ergonomics so that it doesn’t have any ill effects on your health in the long run.

Also remember to follow some of the pre-playing best practices in order to ensure that not only you get the best out of your playing-sessions, but also so that you remain in good shape for many years.

For instance, take regular and periodic breaks between your playing sessions. Don’t practice for more than 15-20 minutes at a stretch because it is unadvised to sit down in one place for extended periods of time. Go for a 15-5 approach: a 5 minute break (stand up and walk around a bit) after every 15 minutes of play. Use a timer/stop-watch or a clock to keep a track of time, as well as your practice sessions and when to take breaks.

Also make sure that you stretch and warm-up properly before starting your practice sessions. Stretching and warming up your fingers, arms and wrists ensures that RSI and other health-related issues don’t pop up.

Also invest in a music stand, preferably with an adjustable stand, rather than using the bed, the floor or some other surface to put your notes and sheet music on. You could also use a tablet or an iPad for this purpose. Load up any one of the million apps available on the iPad which let you download and/or view music notes, chords, etc.

Always keep a notebook (and something to write with) handy. As you’ll find out, a notebook will let you keep a track of your practice sessions, jot down any breakthroughs, thoughts or ideas that pop up in your head during the practice. A good alternative to the notebook would be something like an iPad (equipped with your favorite note-taking app).

Along with your axe-of-choice, your amp, a tuner (important!) and all the equipment, I strongly recommend that you practice with a metronome. Not only will it allow you to keep it right as far as the timing’s concerned, it will also improve your playing speed and make your sessions more efficient.

One thing that has really helped me improve my technique and guitar-play over the years is recording all my playing and practice sessions. You could go for an audio-only recording setup by simply using a mic, an audio recorder (or a similar device), or your cellphone. Or you could do what I do and invest in a camcorder with a stand and record your sessions on video. This has numerous advantages: you can watch yourself play, hear what you play, and look at and change aspects which might need work. Also, you can look at your posture while playing and make any changes or corrections to it, if required.

You playing are should always be well-lit and have proper lighting levels. For instance I find practicing close to a window with ample natural light coming in to be the best. Doing so will not cause any strin on your eyes.

And speaking of the playing environment, practice in a place with peace and quiet, preferably away from noise or away from where people are. Turn off your cellphone (or put it on silent) and switch off your laptop’s notifications as well. This will allow you to have a distraction-free playing environment and allow you to fully concentrate on your playing sessions.

Recently, I’ve discovered that the iPad can make a musicians life immensely easy. Of course, we didn’t have tablets or such gadgets 6 or 7 years back, but now that these have become so easily accessible, and most importantly have all sorts of apps on them, they’ve become immense tools for guitarists and musicians. The iPad has a huge library of apps, which means that there’s guaranteed to be something available for just about any and every musician and guitarists out there. For instance, there are tons of notes, chords, tuning and metronome apps available on the iPad. In addition, guitar lessons, tips, tricks and stuff is also widely available. The Apple App Store has a separate section on music, so do check that out.

Remember to cut down on distractions, keeping cellphone off, stay away from computer and Facebook at all costs, and make your practice environment as comfortable as possible.

Work on your aural (ear training). This LearnGuitar.org article should help with that. As the article says, the difference between a casual guitar-player and a musician is aural training, which just about sums it up just perfectly.

Best Electric Guitars of All Time

If you want the best of the best when it comes to guitars, and have some serious money to burn, here are some guitars that are considered to be crème de la crème of electric guitars - some of the best, most iconic and legendary pieces of instruments money can possibly buy you:

1. Fender Stratocaster

The ‘Strat’ is a guitar that is synonymous with the word electric guitar, the first image that comes to mind whenever someone says the word guitar. It is one of the most widely-known, widely-used electric guitars in the industry. It has a distinctive shape that is instantly recognizable, and is one of the best ‘pick-up-and-play’ guitars around, featuring 3 single-coil pickups. But perhaps one of the best aspects about the Strat is its versatility and playability - it remains one of the best guitars to play just about any genre of music out there. It has therefore been used by many stars and some of the biggest names in the music industry.

2. Gibson Les Paul

In 1952, Gibson introduced the Les Paul, a guitar that would go on and reach stellar levels of success in the following years! Standard guitar of choice for artists such as Zakk Wylde, Paul Kosoff, Slash, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page (to name just a few), the Les Paul is widely considered to be the best electric guitar for rock, rock n’ roll and metal genres! The guitar features a simple setup, with two humbucking pickups. But what sets it apart from the other, and put it miles ahead of its competition is its combination of brilliant sound and tonal qualities, and it’s extremely impressive looks and finish. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, it is one of the most sought-after guitars in the world right now.

3. Fender Telecaster

Few will be surprised to see Telecaster on this list. This guitar is one of the pioneers when it comes to modern solid body electric guitars, and has had a big influence on modern solid-body guitars, revolutionizing the rock n’ roll industry in the process. Originally introduced as the Broadcaster, it was later renamed to Telecaster. The guitar has remained largely unchanged ever since its inception, which is understandable because it was one of the best guitars to play country, rock and blues when it was introduced, and remains so till this day. The guitar has a bright and warm tone, and while it might not be as versatile as the Strat, it is preferred over almost all other guitars out there when it comes to playing lead parts.

4. Gibson ES-335

Perhaps the first thing that you’ll notice about Gibson’s ES-335 is its distinct look, which features some pretty distinct curves and its trademark ‘mickey mouse’ ears. It is widely regarded to be one of the best-looking guitars ever made by a lot of people. Furthermore, the 335 was the first commercial semi-hollow electric guitar - compromise between solid body and hollow-body guitars. However it has been able to successfully carve a niche for itself out there. The ES-335 has extremely distinctive, warm tones. Perhaps understandably then, it remains one of the most highly-regarded and hence the most sought-after guitars in the world. And it doesn’t come cheap either (expected from a Gibson); most models go for anywhere between $2000-$4000, with the most expensive currently for sale on eBay for a massive $65,000!

5. Gibson SG

Yet another Gibson on the list, but they do make some fantastic guitars don’t they! The Gibson SG was developed in the early 60s, and is actually finds its roots as a derivative of the infamous Les Paul, when the Les Paul received minor changes – it’s body became thinner and was lightweight since it was nuilt from mahogany, the pickguard was smaller than the Les Paul, and its horns became more distinct, pointy and emphasized. The guitar was disliked by Les Paul, but still went into production and went on to become one of the most widely used guitars in the world of rock music. Angus Young of ACDC fame, for instance, used the SG in many of his studio and live performances.

6. PRS McCarty

In an industry dominated by big names such as Gibson and Fender, PRS (Paul Reed Smith) has made its mark with the McCarty. Combining the best of both worlds – bringing Gibson’s aesthetics, build quality and craftsmanship with Fender’s tone, sound and playability, the McCarty is a highly-regarded guitar in the industry, used by the likes of Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alterbridge fame, and the infamous Carlos Santana. But perhaps one of the best aspects of the guitar is that it managed to remain unique by having character and sound of its own. The McCarty doesn’t come cheap though, with a retail of around $3000!

7. Rickenbacker 300 Series

Used by the likes of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Peter Buck, Noel Gallagher, Tom Petty and Pete Townsend, the ‘Ricky’ is one of the most instantly recognizable guitars out there, featuring a straight-cut modern F-hole and a really large, almost-oversized headstock. It was introduced in 1958 and was one of the most popular, widely-used guitars in the 60s, most notably by almost all British pop artists of the decade including The Beatles, who were also responsible for propelling this guitar to worldwide popularity and remains a sought-after guitar to this very day thanks to its association with them. Today, the Ricky will set you back by around $2500.

8. Ibanez Jem

Ibanez make some quality instruments, and are also used by some of the biggest guitarists out there. Joe Satriani’s standard weapon of choice is an Ibanez, and Steve Vai used the Jem7V. One of the unique aspects of how Ibanez develops its guitars is that is allows artists complete control over the design of the guitar. While Ibanez is usually known for its excellent instrument which come with an affordable price tag (such as the RG series), the Steve Vai signature guitar was a massive success, and remains Ibanez’s crown jewel. Vai’s Jem Signature series guitars retail for around $3000.

How to Improve Finger-Strength for Guitar

This has to be one of the most common problems that comes up when I speak with beginner guitar players, and students – how can they increase their finger strength to play well, and to play longer?

First off, it’s truly unbelievable how many people choose to ignore the importance of warming-up before playing. Warming up is essential because of so many reasons. It gets blood flowing to your hands, for starters. It allows you to loosen up and play the guitar in a better way, and it also helps you avoid stress and health-related problems in the long run. But perhaps most importantly (and relevant to the matter at hand), warm-up helps parts of your body used during guitar-play stronger.

Playing the guitar, especially for long lengths of time, requires your fingers to be strong, flexible, quick in their movement, and dexterous in order to have better coordination.

Before playing start off with a warm-up of all the muscles, tendons and joints, most notably those in your fingers. Develop a proper warm-up regime for the purpose, and stretch out your arms, fingers, legs and your back. Use this simple guide for the purpose.

One simple exercise is simply closing and opening your hands a few times. Clench your fingers into tight fists and open, repeat a few times. Following this, open your hand and stretch out your fingers for at least a few seconds. In a similar pattern rotate your wrists quickly in a clockwise-anticlockwise motion.

This should be followed by stretching your fingers. Just like any muscle before exercising, your finger and hand muscles will need to be stretched out if you want them to perform properly. Not only will this make your hands more flexible and gain strength over a period of time, it will also help you avoid any stress-related issues or pain in the longer run.

In order to stretch your finger, place the tip of your fingers on the edge of a table (or a flat surface), and arch your hand upwards while keeping your fingertips firmly in place on the table. Repeat at least a few times. Alternatively, interlock the fingers of both your hands, make sure that the Dorsal side of your hand (your wrist and the knuckles) are facing your head. Move your fingers away from your face in an outward position, while keeping the fingers interlocked. After doing this a couple of times, close your fingers in order to create a fist and repeat the process as necessary.

Stretching is important because at times, you’ll really need to stretch your fingers in order to hit some of those chords during guitar-play. Simple stuff like crossing your fingers, making a ‘Vulcan’ sign and making a finger stack (by putting your fingers on top of one another) are some great, simple exercises.

An exercise intended to help you with hand strength involves holding and squeezing a tennis or a rubber ball. Take a tennis/rubber ball, hold it on your hand and squeeze repeatedly. Alternatively, squeeze and hold and count till 10 before releasing. Alternative between both exercises and repeat each exercise 10 times.

In addition, you’ll also need to work on increasing your finger span, as some chords will require a wider span, from your thumb to the pinkie. Stretch out your hand by forcing your fingers as far apart as you can, and do this for both your hands. Furthermore, using one hand, hold the thumb of your other hand and pull it out until you feel it stretch, keep holding it for a couple of second before you release it. Then do the same with the pinkie by stretching and holding it out to the side and keeping it held till the count of ten. You can do this with all your fingers, one at a time, for both your hands.

Once you start playing, play a trill using your index and little fingers, Fret with your ring finger and trill with your fourth finger, using rapid hammer-ons and pull-offs. Use a metronome and start slowly and ensure that you stay in time. Build up on your speed when you feel like the current speed is getting easy; that is a clear sign that your finger strength is building. Make this little exercise a part of your guitar playing, as it will increase the strength of your fingers.

Another rather simple exercise to increase finger and muscle strength and flexibility is using a rubber band to stretch your fingers. Place your fingers inside a rubber band and spread them apart to stretch it as much as possible. Close fingers to release, rinse and repeat at least 10 times or so.

There are some fantastic guitar exercises and warm-up exercises available out there (especially on the internet), that should help you immensely with improving your finger strength, make your fingers much more flexible and increase and enhance your strength and playability. Guitar courses such as GuitarTricks actually start lessons off with warm-up exercises, and include exercises aimed at improving finger strength and dexterity.

Remember, it is important for your fingers to be flexible and nimble in order to be able to hit tricky or difficult chords, as well as move quickly up and down the fretboard. Above all, dexterous, quick, loose fingers will allow you to play what you want to and truly become the sort of guitar player you desire to be, without causing any hindrance to your guitar playing. And perhaps even more importantly, warming up and loosening your muscles is a healthy practice that will prevent and health-related issues, RSI or other strain-related injuries in the long run.

Tips, Tricks and Ways of Boosting Your Guitar (and Music) Creativity

Creativity is one of the most important assets that you could have as a guitarist, a musician or a song-writer.

But creativity is something that comes and goes with time. At times, making any sort of headway and progress with your guitar playing or song writing because sometimes, you can be devoid of all creativity and inspiration.

You could play for hours on end, but make little or no progress. You could even end up getting immensely frustrated and dropping out.  

If you’ve experienced something similar, or are just looking for ways to boost your creativity, here are some solutions:

1. Take a break. Take a couple of week, or maybe even a month off from playing or practicing the guitar. Pack it and put it away somewhere. Only resume once you have a strong urge and motivation to pick up and play the instrument once more (yes, it will happen!). Once that happens, you’ll return with a fresh perspective and increased levels of motivation, which means you’ll automatically be more creative. Taking a break from your music, and the guitar might just be the thing you were looking for all along!

2. Listen to all sorts of music. All artists, all genres, all kinds of records, the whole deal. Doing so might just be the inspiration and the creativity boost that you were looking for all along!

3. Play all kinds of music. Don’t be afraid to experiment, or step out of your comfort zone. If you’re predominantly a rock guitarist, or a county guitarist, try your hand at playing a bit of reggae, folk or jazz. Do something completely different, it’ll help you freshen things up. Playing something completely different might be the caffeine your brain needed all along.

4. Learn and play Violin and Piano pieces on the guitar. Create a piano or Learn chords or melody for the piano part and arrange it on the guitar. Similarly, take a violin piece, such as Mozart piece, and arrange it for the guitar. These sound brilliant on the guitar, they can have an amazing bearing on your technique, and above all, can provide you with some much-need inspiration and allow you to be creative by doing something totally different and untraditional.

5. Assess your Passions. One of the best, most proven ways boosting your creativity is to find ways of improving your passion. Perhaps your source of inspiration could be something that is close to you, or something you hold dear. For instance, a lot of musicians tend to find inspiration on topics of love, family, wealth and money, etc. Looking at things close to your heart and close to you, things that inspire you will allow you to channel that inspiration into your music.

6. Step out of the house. Go on a long road trip, a vacation, simply hit the beach, the park, or go on a trek or a hike. Move out of the place where you usually practice. People tend to find inspiration when they’re close to nature, or away from their usual surroundings – getting exposed to new people, cultures, languages, and maybe even music can be a great source of inspiration and might just be the thing that gets those creative juices flowing.

7. Jam with friends, a band or a group of musicians. This is personally my favorite method of finding inspiration and getting some much needed creativity-boost. I find that whenever I’m playing with another guitarist, or jamming with a band, ideas are thrown around, people tend to share stuff with one another and there is energy in the room. Inspiration and ways of being creative are easy to come by, especially when you’re in the company of fellow musicians.

8. Watch gigs, performances, and concerts of your favorite guitar player or artist(s). Trust me when I say this – nothing can provide you with greater inspiration, motivation and creativeness than watching your favorite artist ‘do his thing.’ Search online, look on Youtube, or pick up a DVD. Depending on who you look up to as your source of inspiration, there should be plenty of material for you to watch.

9. Enroll for an online guitar course. Learning the guitar online, or simply honing your skills online is easy, and can be a great way of finding sources of inspiration. GuitarTricks.com, for instance, is an absolutely fantastic resource for all guitarists out there. The best thing about GuitarTricks is that they have something for everyone. So even if you’re an experienced, professional guitarist who’s been practicing and playing the instrument for many years, chances are that they’ll have something for you. Their database of lessons is huge. I won't go into a lot of details, but you can check out this great review of GuitarTricks instead.

10. Use Tom Hess’s 5-pronged topic-approach. Tom Hess, one of the biggest names in the industry, recommends a 5-pronged approach to playing the guitar to boost creativity. First off, he recommends writing an instrumental music piece (sans words/lyrics, and just music), because according to him, most artists and guitarists rely too much on words to express what they want to. His 5-point approach involves (a) choosing a topic – preferably something that you want to express through your music, (b) writing it down, (c) dividing it into sections, (d) figure out how the 7 different elements of music (rhythm, harmony, melody, texture, form, timbre, dynamics) can each be used to express your chosen topic through music, and finally (e) think of where the climax in your chosen topic is (for example it could be a kickass guitar solo), and how you build up to the climax through the parts that precede it. Hess recommends writing this down on paper, before writing the actual music for your composition.