When I was gifted my first guitar at seven years old, I had no idea how inseparable we’d become. My first guitar was a beautiful Epiphone Flying V.
Female Magazine on yours truly
For 10 years, my guitar teacher has been my best friend and jamming partner. From the very beginning, he never talked about grades or the “conventions” of guitar playing (aside from constantly reminding me that I was plucking the wrong bass note). Because of this, playing the guitar became a space for freedom and creativity, and it still is. Over time, our lessons slowly turned into jam sessions and songwriting sessions.
I’m not one to claim my guitar skills are otherworldly—but they’re not too bad, if I do say so myself! So I’d like to share a bit about my guitar journey, along with some tips for beginners.
From ages 7 to 14, I was committed to playing acoustic, electric, and classical guitar. I became fluent in tabs and could compose comfortably in standard tuning. But it wasn’t until after I released my debut album at 14 (an impressive feat that I do not recommend to anyone) and went through a massive writing rut that my guitar skills truly soared.
When a chronic songwriter struggles to write, there is only one valid response: to listen. I revisited all of my favourite albums by artists like Joni Mitchell, Adrianne Lenker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Vampire Weekend. That’s when I noticed something. These artists weren’t just playing the guitar; they were playing with the guitar.
It wasn’t long before I was cycling through the discographies of Joni and Adrianne, learning every song I could and focusing on their use of alternate tunings. I wrote all my favourite tunings down in a notebook (see below).
With a severe case of lyric blockage, I had to let the guitar do the speaking for a month or two. This, combined with exploring alternate tunings, completely changed the way I saw the instrument. Suddenly, it became an extra limb: an arm, a whole new world I got to rediscover with the same wonder I had as a seven year old taking my first lessons.
While my guitar skills continue to evolve every day, that particular rut was monumentally pivotal in shaping my relationship with the guitar.
Now for some tips (for a range of skill levels)
- Branch out with types of guitars— baritone, classical, electric…
- Learning how to strum is almost as important as learning how to play chords!
- Play with alternate tunings. Society says standard tuning is standard but I say NAYYYY!!!!!!!! Don’t chicken out when tuning your guitar because you’re worried the strings will snap. But also tune it away from your face because you’ll never know.
- Learn discographies with incredible guitar playing and incorporate those chords into your own compositions. Artists include Joni Mitchell, Adrianne Lenker, Andrew Bird, Vampire Weekend, Haley Heynderickx, Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel.
- You don’t need music theory, but an asset is an asset. Circle of fifths is a great way to come up with harmonic progressions.
- If you don’t like using a pick, don’t use a pick!
- Here is said notebook with fave tunings :))))))
Note-ably yours,