The best tip I learned was from my first guitar teacher. He said “if you don’t practice this stuff, it doesn’t matter what I try to teach you. You will never learn it. You have to practice”.

The best tip I learned was while I was in a High School rock band. One of the “elder guitar statesman” ( he was a senior, I was a sophmore) was critiquing my guitar solos. He told me that, when soloing, I should take my listeners on a journey, bring them up to a climax, then bring them back home.
He was telling me that soloing has a purpose, & that purpose is not a guitar wankfest!
Andrew Z

Another Best Tip that I learned related to performing live & the ensuing nervousness that could occur. The funny thing about this tip is that it came from a public speaking professor that I had in college. The tip is so simple it almost seems like a no brainer. When I tell you what the tip is you’ll say this is obvious, but the catch is that, as obvious as this is, we don’t always do as we should. The tip is: practice & know your material inside & out.
If you don’t know your material (song, etc.) without an audience, how will you feel in front of a crowd? So practice, practice, practice.
(You could also pretend that everyone in the audience is standing in boxer shorts! )

a good friend (and great player) told me that the secret to great playing was to have strong hands and fingers. without strong hands and fingers it is impossible to fret chords clean and chords have too much string buzz

An older player told me to “leave holes” – don’t play every pause/back off and give the other instruments opportunity to add their flavor to the song – it’s the best way to accentuate the vocalist, which is what we, as musicians, are there to do.

I have played guitar for over 30 years and one of the best tips I ever heard was to take my guitar to a tech and have it set up. Proper adjustment of the truss rod, bridge, pickup height and intonation are just as important as any skill required to play a new lick. Great blog by the way. Please enter me in the contest.

Here’s another tip:
When soloing during a blues I IV V, try to target chord tones (the notes that make up the chord being played.) You can work using the appropriate scales but give emphasis to those chord tones, especially when a chord changes.

Here’s a tip to “jazz” things up a bit without really knowing much about true jazz:
This tip relates to playing “in” & “out” of the key.

When soloing in a certain key, slide back a half step & pick a few notes as though you were still in the
normal” position. Only do this for a couple of beats or else it will sound wrong. Then come back to the normal position & continue your solo. This will give a jazzy inside/outside feel.
Experiment with this to get a feel for what sounds jazzy & what will just sound wrong. You’ll get it after awhile.

Another tip:

In standard tuning, in the key of E, we can get a lot of open strings going. If you like this sound & are playing in a different key, just dust off the old capo & ring those open strings.

Don’ be afraid to play slow!

“The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
Stay in tune.

“The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
Listen before you play.

“The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
Sometime the best accompaniment is nothing.

“The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
If it doesn’t sound good to you, it probably isn’t good. Work on it a bit more.

“The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
No matter how good you are, you still have something to learn. Be grateful for that, because it is about the journey.

“The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
Never give up!

“The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
When practicing a song always play it from the beginning to the end, mistakes included.

“The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
PRACTICE.

“The second best guitar learning tip I ever heard:”
If your strings are squeaking while you play rub your nose and get a little of your natural oil on your fingers.

Another tip: I love gear as much as the next guy but when it comes down to it, the old saying that tone is in your fingers is really true. Spend 90% of your time tuning up your touch & 10% tuning up your gear.

Here’s a healthy tip: Warm up & stretch your fingers & hands before you get into heavy playing. Also give your hands a n occassional rest. Avoid carpul tunnel & other associated maladies this way.

Another tip: practice soloing using only one string, then try it on the other strings, one at a time. You’ll get a real sense of moving up & down the neck instead of staying in one box area.

Another tip: Keep checking “The Guitar Buzz” for great guitar tips!!

Love the contest and hope I win! One of the best tips I ever heard was to practice in the dark. It taught me to focus on my guitar and not the surrounding distractions and also to “feel” the neck and begin to memorize fret locations by memory. Kind of weird I know, but I actually tried it and now i do that about 20 minutes every night. I gig with the lights on! LOL.

The best tip for me was a subscription to Guitar Techniques magazine. For the cost of 2 lessons, I receive 12 magazines packed with lessons, 12 cds with audio files and backing tracks. Its a deal and the instruction is very good.

The best guitar learning tip I ever heard: “your hands are your voice, chords and the guitar neck are your vocabulary – the better shape your voice is in, the bigger your vocabulary, the better chance you have of expressing yourself musically”.

Fresh strings. I’m always amazed how much more crisp the tone is when I put on new strings. Some pros change strings every other day if they play gigs that frequently.

I change mine about every 3 months because I don’t play out professionally.

Dynamics…When soloing try picking with a different emphasis as that part of the solo dictates. Pick softly, pick hard, pick with the edge of the pick, pick with harmonics, pick recklessly, pick accurately, etc.

I would like to thank Guitardaddy & Guitar Master Class for holding this very cool contest.
I love learning new things about my favorite topic…The Guitar!
Having a guitar tip as an entry is a great idea. I enjoyed reading the entries & picking up all those great tips.
My tip to all you guys trying to win the next prize: Just keep those tips coming. As many as you can think of. We’ll all learn new things & you’ll improve your odds of winning!

I read this online: Above all, just relax with your guitar and have fun with it. Its not a race…there are no winners and no losers (except in this contest!). The music you make is something no one can take away from you. Enjoy playing, even if just for yourself.

Memorize full songs, not just the parts you like. This will give you a feeling of accomplishment.

Practice consistently. Every day if possible. Try for at the very least 45 minutes every day. If you can do more, practice more. The only way to improve is to practice.

The best tip I ever learned was to buy guitar techniques magazine. I buy it at barnes and noble (you can subscribe too) but it comes with a CD and tab evry month. I have learned a lot from it. Thanks for the contest. I really like this web site.

It really comes down to how much you want to be a better player. Learning to play guitar well is directly proportionate to the amount of time you are willing to dedicate to practicing. There are a few great natural players, but they are the exception and not the rule. If you want the rewards, you have to practice. Read as much as you can and practice as many hours as you can stay awake! Thanks for a great contest. I learn a lot reading this site. Its fun too.

Play with others as much as you possibly can. Do not worry about how good you are or how good you aren’t. There is nothing like the feeling of being in a band and contributing to music.

When practicing alone always use a metronome.

Joe Stump, my teacher from Berklee, told me when performing not to do anything half way. When it’s time to throw down, to give it everything I got. When I’m sore and tired he told me to reach inside myself to get what the audience came to see and deliver……then give them more, something they didn’t expect. Never be a poser who just goes through the motions, instead he said to be King Kong every time I walk onto that stage and strap on my guitar.

Brennan Dylan

The best guitar learning tip I ever heard: If you learn a song ore a technique, you should not WANT to manage it, because then it’s not from the hearth. You should learn and play the guitar from the hearth, so it’s get and sounds good and you will notice, that things are easier to learn.

The best guitar learning tip I ever heard:

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