Hey there fellow country guitar players and learners -

Today’s lesson is geared towards beginners that want to get up and running with their first country guitar song.  As they say at Guitar Tricks, it doesn’t matter which song you want to play – you need to learn and practice the essentials so you can be on your way to playing all of your favorite country songs.

Hand and Finger Strength

The first thing you want to practice as a beginner is finger strengthening.  I learned early on that building up your muscles will be a major factor in determining how long you can play for.  I do several exercises every single day to keep my hands and fingers strong and I definitely recommend beginner guitarists to do the same.  Spend about 5 minutes pressing down each string on different frets up and down the guitar with each finger.  This will help strengthen your hands and fingers.

Learning Country Chords

This is pretty essential – you will want to learn the basic chords.  These are essential for guitar playing and can actually get you on your feet playing music for your friends in no time.  The easiest country guitar chords that you are going to want to learn first are the D, G, C, A, and E chords.

Some guitar chords are harder than others so I recommend you start with the easiest ones first.  You may find some chords easier than others so I would recommend that you try playing all of them and decide which ones are easy for you to learn.  When I started, I first learned the E and D chords.  I had most trouble with the C chord because of the stretch you have to do (and I have small hands).

Learning Rhythm

Learning to play rhythm is an essential skill you will need for play country guitar.  It took me quite awhile to learn proper rhythm but eventually it just clicked.  I don’t know how it will be for you.  Some players are great with rhythm and pick it up very quick while others are terrible and take awhile to learn.  If I can offer any advice, it’s to practice strumming both down and up when you play.  The upstroke might feel awkward at first, but eventually you’ll get used to it.

Learning Scales

These are a little more advanced, but if you are serious about being a great guitar player, you are going to want to start practicing scales.  Scales will teach you how and why certain notes are played in certain areas and the patterns that are present on the guitar.  It’s these patterns that guitar players build leads out of.  So, if you plan on playing lead guitar, you will want to learn scales.  I recommend waiting until you’ve mastered a few chords and have your rhythm down before moving on to them.

Any questions or comments?  Feel free to leave them below.

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