Hints for Beginning Guitar Players
Back to Level 1 OutlineSore Fingers and Calluses
As you probably know by now, when you're playing a note at a specific fret, you get the best results if you press down firmly up close to that fret, just behind it. The first hurdle you'll have to overcome as a beginning guitar player is learning how to press the strings down cleanly, and coping with the sore finger tips that often come as a result.
Pressing down firmly on guitar strings is not something you just do "naturally". As a guitar beginner you will soon learn that the finger tips of your fingering hand will hurt for the first couple of weeks of serious practicing.
There's no way around this except to just practice enough to build up calluses on your finger tips. When you first start out you should limit your practice time to 10 or 15 minutes. Stop before your fingers start to hurt. The other things you should consider have to do with the type of guitar and guitar strings you use.
Choosing a Starter Guitar
You may think the more you pay for a guitar the better it will sound, and the easier it will be to play. While that may be true for more advanced players, it is not necessarily the case for beginners.
One of my practice guitars - the one I often use when I want to figure out different fingerings and other techniques - is actually a really cheap undersized (3/4 size) "starter" guitar that I can leave lying around or propped up against my little keyboard. I bought it for one of my young grandchildren (who I was teaching) a few years ago and reinherited it when they graduated to a better guitar.
Advantages That Make it Easier to Play
The neck of this guitar is shorter and the action* not very good further up the fretboard, but it has nice flexible nylon strings, is smaller, and a lot lighter than a full-size guitar. That makes it a lot easier to handle than a full size acoustic guitar, or an electric solid body. It's not heavy, it doesn't need wires or an amp, and it doesn't have a strap. If it gets bumped around a bit, or falls on the floor, it's no problem.
It's true that it doesn't sound real great. It isn't very loud, and hard to keep in tune. It's no good for "serious" playing, but just fine for some of the more basic types of practicing I do: like working on chording, playing scales, and figuring out the accompaniment to songs I'm working on. Most importantly, it's relatively easy on the fingers because of the nylon strings.
If you get your hands on this type of guitar you will likely be unhappy with it as you progress as a player, and you'll want to get a better one. But chances are you'll be getting a more expensive one later on anyway if you get any good at playing. And putting off that purchase till a bit later is wise anyway. You'll have a better idea of what you want.
*The term "action" refers to the height of the strings above the fretboard...in other words, how far you have to press them down to get a good clean note. If the string is too far from the fretboard (or "finger board" as it is often called) it will be hard to press down and may sound out of tune when you do. If it is too close to the frets the string will buzz against some of the frets. The best guitars have really "fast" action with no buzz.