8 Essentials For Playing Bluegrass Guitar

This is a great place to learn about playing Bluegrass guitar, no matter what level you are at. Few things are as fun as connecting with friends and jamming for hours, playing old traditional tunes, Celtic tunes, and modern melodies as well.

One great thing is that there exists a sort of unspoken repertoire of songs and tunes that people everywhere seem to know. This type of playing is easy enough for a beginner to have fun with and difficult enough to spend your lifetime mastering! Pretty cool, I’d say.

Having a guide, or a plan, what I call the “Master Guitar Guide” can make all the difference in your playing. If you know where you are going and how to get there, you will probably get there a lot faster than wandering around in circles. Don’t you agree?

So, here are 8 essentials that everybody who plays bluegrass guitar, or other styles as well, should be aware of. It is easy to overlook some basics when your are in a rush to get to picking and grinning. Have a look around and maybe learn a thing or two. Feel free to add a comment about your own ideas of what is essential.

Playing Bluegrass guitar

The 8 Segments Of The Master Guitar Guide

Lessons

Find instruction for your style

Jamming

Learn to play well with others

Practice

Find out how to get more out of practice

Rhythm

Find out why rhythm is so important

Theory

Find out how music theory helps you

Improvising

Find out how to improvise better

Technique

How to achieve better technique

Accessories

Find out which accessories you need

How To Learn To Play Bluegrass Guitar In Less Time Than You Ever Thought Possible

I used to have a gardening book with a title that read something like this:

“How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine”,  by John Jeavons

Did it work? Yes, but it wasn’t easy!. Yes, I grew WAY more vegetables by following the advice in the book, which used double dug, raised beds. My garden produced double that of my neighbor, who had a conventional garden with rows and a roto-tiller. However, making those double dug, raised beds was REALLY a lot of work! But once it was done, I never had to do it again. What’s that got to do with playing bluegrass guitar? A lot.

While the title is totally true, it kind of implies that there is some secret that will that makes everything easy. You probably already know that becoming accomplished at anything worthwhile takes a lot of work and determination.

 

 

There is so magical formula, no pill you can take, no “get rich quick” path to guitar competence. Any way you look at it, you have to put in the time and effort.

That said, some ways to learning work better than others, and everyone learns in a different manner. Personally, I never liked school and was nearly expelled for truancy. I wasn’t getting into trouble, I just needed other ways to learn; mostly by experience. Once I figured out how my learning process worked I actually did pretty well.

A lot of guitar players seem to be the same way; they want to learn on their own. I believe everybody needs to learn on their own, even if they have a teacher. After all, you still have to assimilate what you were taught and make it your own. Wasn’t there a famous wise man who taught that “You do not need a teacher”?

Check out each of the 8 areas, see what you might discover. Guitar playing is a journey with an ever-moving destination; each one of these areas is full of tips and guidance that make the trip more enjoyable and fun.

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