Tips and Tricks with Mike Baelde

Up Your Guitar Game with These 10 Simple Pointers

Timing is Everything

Don’t develop a metronomophobia! Become friends with your metronome. There is a direct correlation between how good you are sounding, and how much time you have spent with a metronome. More metronome = better guitar playing. Period. 

Learn Technical Skills From Drills

Guitar is a very physical instrument – more so than many other instruments. There is a lot of strength, endurance, and muscle memory involved. With such a physical instrument, working on exercises allows you to gain tons of skills. Of course, if all you play are exercises, you’ll gain physical ability, but you won’t automatically sound like Jimi! So, make sure you’re still learning your favorite songs! And most importantly, have fun!

Study Scales Until You Can SEE and HEAR Them

Scales are extremely visual on the guitar. Practice whatever scale you are working on until you can SEE the entire scale in your mind. The other important thing with scales is to practice improvising to backing tracks. That will teach your ears to hear the scales in a musical context.

Make a Setlist…  Jam It Over and Over

Setlists aren’t just for rock stars. Any guitar players can benefit from building their own setlists. While learning new songs is important, you can’t just play a song a few times, then move on. Work on a song until you have it memorized and can play it along to the original recording. Then, keep playing it over and over every day! Learn a second song while you continue to “jam” the first song. Master the second song. Now you have two songs in your setlist. Keep repeating this process until you have five to ten songs you can play like a pro. Every time you sit down to practice, run through the setlist, and it will be a fun part of your practice regimen.

Don’t Compare Yourself to Other Guitarists

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the death of joy.” Comparing yourself to other guitarists only leads to pain. The only comparison that is beneficial is to compare yesterday’s you to today’s you! Set up a guitar competition between who you were yesterday, and who you are today, and always strive for gradual improvement.

After you Learn Your Favorite Songs, Study Them 

After you can play it, tear apart your favorite song. Look at all the basic elements that make the song great. What key is it in? What scale patterns are being used for the riffs and solos? What is the chord progression? Theory is best understood when you are applying it to songs you actually play and enjoy.

Balance How Much Time You Practice Rhythm and Lead Guitar

Strive to be a well-rounded guitarist. There is nothing more annoying to band members than a guitarist that can only solo. For better or worse, the ’80s are over, and guitar solos don’t hold the cache they once did. You need to be able to lay it down on rhythm guitar and have fun breaking into a solo! Conversely, if you’re the kind of player that only works on rhythm guitar you need to learn how to break into a lead when the song you’re playing calls for it.

Start Tuning Your Guitar by Ear 

Ear training is something that most guitarists don’t work on, even though it’s an essential skill for being a good musician. Start by learning to tune your guitar by ear. Give it a shot and then strum a chord. If it doesn’t sound right, pull out your electronic tuner and fix it. This simple activity might add two minutes to the beginning of your practice session, but your ears will become more attuned with time. After a while, you won’t even need to make any corrections with the tuner. Like anything on the guitar, there are established methods. If you haven’t tried tuning by ear before, try starting out with the fifth fret tuning method.

Master The Art of Repetition

Good music always has an element of repetition to it, so try to make repetition a central part of how you approach guitar playing. Say you are jamming on some open chords after a long day, and you find a few that sound good together. Get into the habit of looping them over and over in the same order. Experiment with the rhythm and timing. Don’t be afraid of overdoing it. Your brain may try to betray you and pull you in another direction. Fight through this distraction and keep repeating those same open chords. Repetition can make good riffs sound better, and by playing them over and over, you can master the skill and develop an appreciation for the sound.

Give Yourself as Many Reasons to Practice as Possible

Set your life up so that not practicing is simply not an option. Here’s a few methods that have worked for me:

1. Join a band: You’ll have to learn songs (or else look like a fool at rehearsals). You’ll also have to prepare for gigs, which will require practice because practice makes perfect. 
2. Get lessons: Someone ELSE will hold you accountable for your guitar playing.