1) The first guitar playing tip is to use good posture while playing the guitar
You should sit up straight in an armless chair. If the chair has arms, you will not be able to hold the guitar properly for playing. Sit up straight to protect your back.
If you get a backache after a bit of playing, you will realize how having good posture while playing the guitar is so important.
2) The next guitar playing tip is to hold the pick firmly but not too firmly.
If you do not grip the pick firmly enough, you may lose it during a vigorous bout of strumming! But if you grip it too tightly, you may find your whole arm getting tired. Middle of the road is the best guitar playing tip I can give you where pick grip is concerned.
3) Choosing the right pick is another guitar tip that is important.
Picks come in finger and flat styles. Most guitarists use a flat one. They also come in three different levels of flexibility.
Several professional guitarists have given me the advice of getting the softest, flabbiest pick I can find for learning to keep up with fast strumming. It's easier on the arm. Flabby picks are harder to use, however, if you are trying to pick out individual strings, as in adding a bass line, or flat-picking.
After some practice with a soft pick, you will probably want to move on to a firmer one. A final guitar playing tip about picks is that the firmest picks make the richest sounds.
4) Here is a guitar playing tip - learn to play arpeggios.
It's fun, great for old folk songs, and sounds beautiful! You won't be able to use a pick, though. Finger the chord. Now, pick the bass note of the chord with your thumb. You can use a thumb pick for this, however, it works just fine to use your thumb. You will grow a little callus there which will make it easier.
Now use your index finger to pluck the third string. Next, pluck the second string with your middle finger. And then pluck the top string with your ring finger. You've picked four notes.
If you repeat the sequence, giving each note the timing of an eighth note, you will fill a measure of a song written in four/four time. This guitar playing tip will make people sit up and take notice, but it does require practice, and calluses, to play this way. Try playing the strings in different order, and alternate bass strings.
5) A final guitar playing tip involves the chord D.
While playing the D chord, try adding your pinkie finger to the chord at the third fret. This new chord is often called "D-suspended" or "D-sus." Then play D again. Now try lifting your middle finger so that the top string of the chord is open. And back to D again.
You can do the same thing with the A-chord, but have to do the change on the second string. Up one fret to the third makes A-sus, and you can also lift that finger to go down a step on that second string. C-suspended requires you to go up a half step on the fourth string. G-suspended requires you to do it on the fifth string. Learning suspended chords is a guitar playing tip you'll find yourself using when you play contemporary songs.
I hope you've found these guitar playing tips helpful. It's important to remember that the best way to improve your guitar playing skills is to practice, practice, practice. Good luck!
