GUITARIST PROFILE
It is important to learn the instrument and to know ourselves as guitarists
Holding the guitar correctly, understanding left-handed or right-handed positions, and knowing some other things might make or break your success.
Artist vs guitar player
Artist vs guitar player
There is a world of difference between the definitions of these two terms.
Know the difference
Although we often use the term guitarist or guitar player when we describe ourselves or when we describe what we do, it does not have to make you think that you are just another guitarist or guitar player. You are an artist, but we are so used to using that term to describe our passion when we talk about ourselves that it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between the two.
While it is fair to say that the difference between a guitar player and an artist is huge, it is also fair to say that they both start with the same idea and typically set goals that are very similar to one another.
If we take some time to take a good look at ourselves and dig deep in order to discover who we really are and who we really want to become, the answer to our question doesn’t take too long to come to our minds. We all want to be successful artists of some sort.
A person whose popularity is primarily due to the music he or she produces rather than the skills or talents he or she has.
The very first and huge step towards becoming successful is to understand this and not allow anything to change or confuse it in any way.
As an artist, you are a creator, whereas as a guitarist, you’re nothing more than a skilled individual having a certain amount of talent. Success is not always the result of skill or talent, but rather of something you create that has value for others.
You should always remember that you are an artist, and that nothing should distract you from who you truly are.
It’s not something a guitarist should be proud of if they generate x amount of views or x amount of revenue for their posts or videos simply by showing off their skills. Though sometimes it appears not to be that bad, it pales in comparison to what the work of a true artist can achieve.
It is important to know the difference between these two. We will discuss this topic in more detail later on in the course.
Guitarist Profile
The Guitar
While other instruments might sound nice, they don’t have the magic that guitars have.
The Guitar
A wood work of art consists essentially of a three-part piece of wood that has the ability to transform someone into someone who is extremely appealing and interesting to be around.
Apart from your own voice, this is the one instrument in the world of instruments that has power and magic beyond anything else. The guitar is a complex and beautiful instrument that makes some of the most beautiful sounds in the world. However, its most powerful feature is that it has the ability to attract and make us look very interesting to others.
The guitar doesn’t require much talent to give it its magical power, and that makes it so special. There is something magical about the guitar that nobody is able to explain. Some of the most recognized guitarists in the world have referred to this power as a myth. You can only gain many advantages in your life as a guitarist by becoming one.
The power of being a guitarist is huge. Now imagine if you become successful at it. It can become your greatest asset in your life if you know the basics and truly understand how it affects others psychologically.
The majority of the greatest songs in the history of music have been created with the guitar, which is unlike any other instrument when it comes to unleashing your creative side.
It is, in other words, probably the best instrument available in the world today that has a variety of benefits that no other instrument can provide for you. Its portability, its sound, or even just its style make it a natural favorite among musicians today.
Accessories
Guitar accessories
Among the many guitar accessories available, let’s look at some of the most important ones.
Guitar Pick
A guitar pick plays a big role in the tone of the guitar. Just like playing with your fingers, the tone will vary depending on what material the string is being played with. While a medium or heavy pick will get the best tone out of the strings, most guitarists enjoy the way thin picks feel. However, the tone these picks produce is rather sharp, making it an unpleasant sound.
It is my personal preference to use heavy picks made of derlin material since they produce the most pleasing tone out of my guitar; however, getting used to them might take some time, especially in the beginning.
Guitar Capo
A guitar capo is just a small clamp that you can attach to the guitar on any fret on the guitar in order to raise or lower the pitch. A capo works by pressing all the strings at once, allowing you to play at a different pitch without having to change your finger position.
In my opinion, even if you can raise your pitch without a guitar capo, it isn’t the same as playing with one. I strongly encourage you to experiment with it and discover what all you can do. Using a guitar capo will let you unleash your creative side when creating new songs.
There are many songs that are on the top charts that are made using a capo, not only to match the singer’s vocal range but also to create new songs. The purpose of using a capo is to basically use a very common chord progression but at a higher pitch, which makes the song sound totally different from any other song using the same progression.
Guitar Slide
The guitar slide is a small tube that you can slip over your finger to create a smooth pitch shift effect when playing a solo or a riff. It has a very distinctive sound and is commonly used in music genres like blues and country.
Slides are usually placed on the little or ring finger and are made of glass, steel or ceramic.
The popularity of slides used to be greater than it is today, but they are still very much in use in country music due to their use on steel guitars to create that iconic sound of country music.
Mindset
Mindset
It is your mindset that is going to allow you to get anywhere you want.
Success Mindset
Many of us who chose this path are very passionate about becoming successful guitarists. Our goal isn’t just to learn it for fun. There is no doubt that the lifestyle we are pursuing throughout this journey is very attractive.
The truth is there are plenty of people who claim to want to learn guitar just for fun, or for hobby purposes. In my opinion, it’s highly unlikely that if they were offered success, fame, money, and everything else that comes along with it, they’d refuse it. In reality, we’re all in it for the win, but only a few have the mindset to win.
It’s all about mindset when it comes to success. Regardless of the obstacles, when you really want something, you will find a way to get it. Instead of telling yourself that you can’t do it, you’ll say I’ll figure it out.
Therefore, when we talk about mindset, becoming good at it or being physically skilled is essentially important, but it is your mindset that is going to allow you to get anywhere you want, not just your skills.
Having the right mindset and understanding how success can be achieved is more important than theory.
It is your mindset that is going to allow you to get anywhere you want
Playing Position
Playing position
We’ll start by mentioning a few things we’ve probably heard or seen about guitarists. What’s okay and what’s wrong with some of these things.
Our playing position
Is it really that important?
With the wrong guidance or no guidance at all, many of us will just grab the guitar, sit down, and start playing. As time passes, we learn, we develop skills and everything seems to be working well until we realize that if we change positions, if we stand up for example, we encounter a huge challenge. Almost nothing we’ve learned can be played anymore. It’s a big deal.
The reason for that is that almost no one knows at the beginning what the right overall playing position is until it is too late. With time, as we make progress, our playing position will become more of a barrier. Our performance will decrease dramatically as soon as we stand up if we practice sitting down most of the time.
Since many of us started this journey with the dream of performing on stage one day, practicing sitting down will be an obstacle since this is where the majority of our skills will be developed.
Position yourself for success
If your goal is to perform on stage, run and walk as you play, practicing sitting down will only harm you. Get up and practice the way you envision yourself performing for a live audience.
You may think this isn’t a big deal, but it is. It might be a wise idea to work on this before it’s too late.
Practice sitting down correctly
Let’s face it, sitting down is the most comfortable position for practicing as it involves little effort. Now that we know sitting down will only limit our performance in the future, I have discovered a solution that allows you to combine the two scenarios without compromising your ability to perform well while standing.
See, it’s all about how high you hold the guitar while sitting or standing. By holding the guitar so close to our chest, we’re going to start getting used to a position we don’t want. Both scenarios need to have the same height.
When you look at basic drawings or instructions on how to hold the guitar for beginners, most of them are holding it close to their chests, as high as they can and on top of your left leg if you are right-handed.
You can only use this position if your style of music is flamenco, since they usually perform seated.
In order to hold the guitar properly when sitting down, right-handed people must put the guitar’s middle part on top of their right leg, holding the guitar and pointing it towards them at an angle of about 25 to 30 degrees. If you position the guitar correctly, it should balance on its own without any assistance from our hands.
For left-handed people, we do the same thing, but in the opposite direction. The guitar should be pointing towards you at about a 25-30 degree angle on your left leg.
Holding the guitar this way basically takes its weight off so we can practice without needing to balance it.
Right-handed vs. left-handed
Right-handed vs. left-handed
Your ultimate goal determines whether you should be a righty or lefty
Surely this is one of the most important things to know in order to achieve the best skills you can possibly have. Some of the world’s greatest guitarists made the right choices when they were just getting started, either by luck or because they were aware of them.
One of these choices you must make at the beginning is deciding if your left or right hand will bring you better results.
There are nerves and muscles in our bodies that have limitations no matter how much we train them. Our writing hand, our strongest leg for kicking a ball, or the speed at which our fingers move are some of the most common ones.
This plays an important role when it comes to playing guitar, and most of us are unaware of it. We all think that because we write with our right hand, that is the hand that will do the picking. We’d be making a big mistake from the start if our writing hand performed better on the fretboard.
Getting this wrong will limit your skills to a certain extent, so here’s where you have to make a choice.
Some players might prefer to become more skilled at picking or rhythms, while others might prefer to master the fretboard for soloing. It is ultimately up to you to choose the style of playing you would like to succeed at.
The sound of a singer’s natural voice is what matters most. It is a gift to have a voice that naturally sounds sweeter than others. It’s something they’re born with. Although it can be trained perfectly, it cannot be changed.
It’s pretty much the same for guitarists. There are things one hand can do better than the other. Even though they can be trained, the results won’t be the same.
Unless you are ambidextrous, which means you can use both hands equally well, this shouldn’t be a problem. About one percent of people are ambidextrous. If you are one of them, then you should take advantage of it.
The guitar world considers guitarists talented or skilled when they can do a few things better than everyone else. According to my observations, vibrato and picking have been, are, and will continue to be the main ones.
Then how do we determine which hand to use for picking and which hand to use for fretboard? – It is possible to determine which hand will be more effective where and why by performing a simple test.
According to my observations, lead guitarists are able to master most skills through training, but one of them is very difficult if not impossible to master fully, which is vibrato. A skill that does not come from our dominant hand will have its limitations in the future.
Rhythm guitarists depend heavily on their picking hand since following different beats and creating rhythms would be difficult. Picking with the dominant hand will make playing more natural and effortless.
In brief, if you plan to become a lead guitarist, your dominant hand will perform better on the fretboard, whereas if you plan to become a rhythm guitarist, your dominant hand will be better at picking.
Dominant Hand
Dominant hand test
This test will be based on how well our fretboard hand handles vibrato.
Step 1
You can perform the test on a flat surface like a table or a desk. In this test, we tap on the table surface with our ring finger for 10 seconds at about 360 beats per minute. Then we repeat the process with our index finger for 10 seconds.
Step 2
This test is identical to the previous one, except for one minor adjustment. You will perform the same tapping motion without lifting your finger off the table surface. Keep your finger against the table for 10 seconds at the same BPM. You should also do the same for your index finger.
If you can tap the surface of the table at this speed without slowing down, your vibrato with this hand will be effortless and natural. Basically, this means that this hand will have less limitations than your other hand, since it moves more naturally.
Based on these results, the hand that was able to do a vibrato effortlessly from the start is going to perform better for soloing. In addition, this hand is ideal for picking.
The Mighty Fretboard
Guitar Fretboard
It may appear overwhelming, but memorizing it is a fairly straightforward process.
While it’s important to have a basic understanding of what the fretboard is on a guitar, memorizing the parts or materials that make it up is irrelevant to our goal.
Usually, there are 5 fretboard markers, which serve as a guide. They appear on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets, then they repeat. A few guitars have an extra fretboard marker on the 1st fret.
From the 12th fret on, every note repeats.
From the 12th fret on, every note repeats.
You only need to memorize 7 notes: C, D, E, F, G, A & B. Each of these notes is followed by a sharp or flat note, making 12 total notes: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A# & B.
TASK
As the following task highlights the topics covered above, it will make your learning process easier.
Test different playing positions
In order to gain a deeper understanding of how playing in different positions will affect your overall performance, try various sitting positions, standing positions, lying positions, and any other type of position you think you will require at some point.
Learn the fretboard
It’s important to get familiar with the guitar fretboard. You don’t have to memorize it right away, but understanding how it’s laid out will help you.
Invest in accessories
Make sure you have the guitar accessories we mentioned above. A guitar capo, a slide, and guitar picks in different thicknesses, such as thin, medium, and heavy.
A dominant hand test
Test your dominant and non-dominant hands and see how these impact your playing. The limitations that your non-dominant hand has will have a big impact on your skills. When it comes to maximizing your potential, the dominant hand test is crucial.
Mindset
It is important to have the right mindset from now on. Having a reminder to make it a part of our lives helps a lot. Print the following quote and place it somewhere where you can read it often. A bathroom mirror is ideal for this.
“It is your mindset that is going to allow you to get anywhere you want.”
Thumbs up when you're done with this task
Trust The Process
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