Did you know most guitarists press the strings roughly 5x harder than they need to?

This causes sore fingers, slow chord changes and painful, clumsy playing - worst of all this is totally unnecessary.

Instead of pressing hard, make sure your fretting hand fingers are close to the frets and press the strings with the lightest touch possible...

This is what I call “Minimum pressure required”. Imagine your fingers are a butterfly gently touching the strings... and NOW, try this simple exercise...

Don't believe the importance of this lesson yet? Read this from a student...

"This is so important. Please pay attention. I have given myself tendinitis on several occasions because I was using too much pressure. Great advice I feel the difference already." - Olin T.

Okay, that is key lesson #1 sorted, let's move on to #2... 

Here is something interesting...

A few years ago I surveyed over 1000 guitarists and found 86% don't actually enjoy guitar playing, or they only find it occasionally enjoyable.

Wow!

You should be enjoying every second of it - not only enjoying it as often as Hailey's comet comes around! I blame most guitar teachers out there for not making things simple and forgetting learning guitar should be FUN!

I mean, you should be playing music you recognise from Day 1 - not Day 100!

So here are two very quick pieces of music you can learn right now.

Quick note - If you are short on time but enjoying this and want to come back to it? You can get the PDF (see HERE).

Beethoven's Fifth - The famous intro...

What's Beethoven's favourite fruit? Ba-nan-nan-na...

Ha-ha, so let's learn it (anyone can play this...so give it a go)

Listen below...

Clean

Distorted

Drunken Sailor - A Surprisingly Fun And Simple Song...

I chose this because it uses two chords most people know, it sounds great, and those in my membership programme loved it...

You can play it with a pick or fingers (just work on one bar at a time and have fun!)

Listen below...

"Very cool. Can definitely see this as a good skill builder. Just practicing over and over the first 4 bars for now. Past experience tells me tomorrow it will be more fluid. Everyone in my household is humming this tune. Thanks" - Don M.

Ever get the sound of buzzing chords or dead strings when you play a C or D Major) chord?

Yep, I remember that well, and I have taught many students who struggle with these two brutal chords.

It's enough to make you want to climb the top floor of the Empire State Building, set your guitar on fire and throw it off the edge, such is the frustration this can cause!

Here though, is a two-step tip to help...

WARNING - Don't expect to master playing and changing between chords like these until you have at least 12 months of consistent and productive practice under your belt! No one else will tell you this, but I don't want to sugarcoat it. Chords are tough, so keep at them and ensure you learn the fun stuff too (i.e. see day #2).

Do you hate plucking the wrong strings?

We all do! 

So, here is a powerful tip/picking pattern that will help you stop this dreaded, hair-raising experience once and for all. Make sure you do it the exact way I will explain and you will improve your accuracy x10.

This tip/pattern will work if you use a pick OR your fingers. I'll show you how in a moment...

First, here is the four-note pattern played over an Em and G chord...

You have two options. You can use:

1. A pick - Pluck each string with a down pluck
2. Your fingers - Pluck in this order - thumb, index, middle, ring

Choose one of the above methods and practise the pattern but ensure you...

Never let your picking hand move any more than 1 inch away from the strings!

If you let your hand drift further than 1 inch from the strings, you are 10x more likely to pluck the wrong string when you next pluck. Keep the picking hand close - always! You'll be more accurate for it!

Listen below...

Normal speed 

Slower Speed

Everything you do starts with accurate picking. This includes picking chords, riffs, and solos. Speaking of solos, here's a funny quote from Sir David of Gilmour...

"I think a guitar solo is how my emotion is most freely released because verbal articulation isn't my strongest communication strength. My wife thinks that I should do interviews by listening to the questions and playing the answer on guitar."

His wife sounds like a funny lass, but as you probably know, the spouse of any guitarist must have a sense of humour to put up with us!

Anyway, onto the next very important tip...

Ah! The dark art of strumming!

It looks easy, should be easy, most people say it's easy, but for many, this apparently simple technique can sound as bad as a bag of hammers spinning round inside a washing machine!

Let's start the process of fixing this now with these 5 tips.

Put it all together now with a simple strumming pattern of down/up repeated, played over one chord. 

Try just one of the above tips now for 5 minutes or longer. It should work right away, but if not, try again. I promise you these tips do work, so stick with them...

Okay, let's leave this tip with a quote from the one and only, Sir Eric of Clapton...

"Every time you pick up your guitar to play, play as if it's the last time."

Yes, that is so very true, but now let's move on... This last one is a cracker...

1 - Stop looking back and forth at both hands! 

This will destroy all the musicality in your playing. When a student does this, I joke it's like they are at Wimbledon watching a game of tennis!

Check now to see if you are doing it (film yourself on video) and if so, stop! Try your best to only look at one hand at a time when you play!

2 - Eyes Wide Shut

Remember the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman film? I never saw it, but the tip here is... Stop relying on your eyes, close them occasionally, and instead of looking, feel where the strings and frets are.

This is how you build up good muscle memory. (And if you want to picture Nicole or Tom in your head as you do this, that's okay too!)  

3 - Practise in front of a mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the best guitarist of them all... You, of course. Got a mirror? If so, practise in front of it and watch your hands in the mirror...

This stops you from hunching over your guitar to see the strings like Quasimodo. Classical guitarists do this a lot, but I rarely hear it mentioned elsewhere.

5 - Relax the whole of your body

Most beginners get incredibly tense as they play. You must relax and regularly check your body for tension. This is key to playing with freedom. So what's the best way to relax?

Well, getting a foot massage and a beer never hurt, but let's keep it practical... Breathe deeply and slowly as you play and stop every five minutes to quickly check you haven't tensed up. 

6 - You Must Believe in yourself. Here's why...

"Natural talent" is overrated. Those who succeed on guitar, work hard at it. Hendrix practised for hours a day and always had a guitar with him. Clapton jammed with everyone he could. Tommy Emmanuel played for decades before being a guitar superstar. Read the book Talent Is Overrated for 100s of famous examples like this from all walks of life. 

Even those who are gifted naturally only have about 2% more talent than the rest of us, yet hard work can destroy this 2% a 1000 times over. I've taught lazy students who had good skills and hard-working students who had no confidence or musical ability... It was the latter who won, every time.

7 - Ed Sheeran shares his optimism

Let's end this with a tip from Ed Sheeran, the jolly fella that he is...

"The main thing that you have to remember on this journey is, just be nice to everyone and always smile." - Sir Ed of Sheeran.

In terms of learning guitar, no one said it better. Do try to enjoy every moment, there will be tough times, but keep the smile, and keep it fun!

I promised you a great dexterity exercise and here it is. 

"Bindex" chords.

What the heck are they you might ask?

Well, this is where you play any bunch of chords you already know...

Note: Try to combine the lessons from each tip - e.g. Practice "Bindex" chords with a capo (from the Day #3 tip) to make them easier.

Extra note - I call them "Bindex chords" because we are effectively putting the index finger in the "bin" - I'm English btw, so I have weird humour).

"This is great. Very awkward at first, but so helpful! I feel my three fingers becoming stronger and like you said, when you go back to using the correct fingering, it feels so smooth and easy. This is my favourite lesson to practice." - Nancy S.