Whether you are getting started on guitar yourself, or helping a junior guitarist get the most out of their playing, this page will help you set up at home successfully.

 

1. You need to tune the guitar each time it is played . Humidity, brushing and moving the tuning pegs, taking it in and out of the case or in and out of the car can all de-tune it. Trying to practice with an out of tune guitar is not recommended, because you won’t be able to relate the sound of the notes or chords accurately to what they are supposed to sound like, and it won’t match any backing tracks or reference audios we supply. If it sounds dissonant because it’s out of tune, it won’t be enjoyable to play. There is a video here to help you tune the guitar. We highly recommend you get an inexpensive clip on tuner to help, like this one. Of the apps, Guitar Tuna is reasonably accurate.

 

2. Have a comfortable place to sit where you can read any music and remember your optimal position – if you can raise the left leg on a foot rest or box and put the guitar on your left leg, this will allow you to be positioned so the neck of the guitar is at 45 degrees to you. It may feel unfamiliar to begin with, but it makes it much easier to have your left hand in the right position with the thumb behind the neck.  That right position is so that your thumb is behind the neck, not creeping over the top.

 

3. Don’t feel like you have to do everything in one go. If you sit down for five minutes and do some one minute chord changes, that’s an investment in being able to play songs and enjoy yourself. You don’t need to wait until you have 30 mins. If you want to enjoy playing your favourite songs, your limiting factor is changing chords; and your body learns much faster if there are short regular bursts of repetition. Doing five minutes each day for five days will give you much greater results than doing 25 minutes in one day.

 

4. Using any online resources or backing tracks can make it more fun to work on your skills at home.


Metronome by BestMetronome.com

Two tuners here. One works by ear-you listen to the notes and adjust your guitar accordingly. This is great for developing your ear. You can also use one which picks up the guitar sound from the computer microphone, although I’d advise you to trust your ears.