How to Play an Electric Steel Guitar
Playing a steel string electric guitar can seem like a very difficult challenge, particularly to a beginner with limited musical knowledge. However, learning to play the steel string electric guitar is not as hard once you know the fundamental skills necessary to progress. While many beginning guitarists seek private or group lessons, it is not impossible to teach yourself to play guitar, especially if you are dedicated and focused.
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Things You'll Need
- Electric guitar
- Amplifier
- Guitar scale book (optional)
- Chord chart book
- Guitar tablature or sheet music
Instructions
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Learn how to play the most basic, commonly used guitar scales. The most common scales in a wide variety of musical styles are the major scale, minor scale, pentatonic scale, minor pentatonic scale, and blues scale. Many beginning players find that purchasing a book that shows the different finger and neck positions of each scale is very beneficial, though these images are widely available online free of charge.
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Learn the basic chords and a bit of beginning chord theory. The most important chords to learn are the major and minor chords, followed by the dominant sevenths, major sevenths, and less common chords like suspended and augmented chords. Though chord generators are free online, most musicians find it is beneficial to purchase a book that shows a plethora of chords in various positions as a reference, even after they have become advanced players.
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Learn to read simple sheet music or guitar tablature. While sheet music is more expressive, it is also much more difficult to learn, and it is not necessary to learn to play guitar. However, learning tablature can be helpful, since you can learn to play songs you are familiar with while learning the fundamentals of the instrument.
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Purchase tablature or sheet music of songs you know and have recordings of, so you can practice along with the recordings. Playing songs you already know is a great way to learn new skills, and working toward a goal can be a lot more fun than practicing scales.
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Practice for at least one hour every day. While it may be hard to find the time, many of the skills you learn at the beginning stages rely on rote memorization and muscle memory. Without regular practice, you will have a very hard time moving on and advancing your playing skills.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are embarrassed by your mistakes, you can purchase a guitar amp modeling system or a guitar amplifier with a headphone output, so you can practice without others hearing you. However, everybody makes mistakes when they are learning, so don't let embarrassment hold you back.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit detail of electric guitar image by Thor Jorgen Udvang from Fotolia.com
