8 Essential Practice Exercises for Acoustic Guitar

Picking up a guitar is a great feeling. Whether you’re just learning to play or have been an expert player for many years, you will need to have some practice exercises. These 8 Essential Practice Exercises for Acoustic Guitar can help you improve your guitar playing if you’re just starting out.

Make sure that you practice the following:

Tip #1: Stretch – The simplest warmup for your guitar playing is stretching your hands and fingers. You can spend about five minutes. Take both hands, put them together and stretch them in the air as you raise your arms up and down. By doing this, you will be able to get the blood flowing to your hands, which is where most of the movements will happen.

Tip #2: Learn Scales – Scales are also important exercises that can help you warm up and progress with your guitar playing. The constant practice of scales will help you move your fingers faster and easier along the fret board. Moreover, learning a variety of scales will also help you learn many types of songs. One scale that can benefit your guitar playing is pentatonic scales. You can even throw in major and minor scales. Each type of scale can bring and different style to your music.

Tip #3: Practice Three Chords – If you want to learn the acoustic quickly, you can always pick up a few simple chords to practice. These exercises will help you speed up your chord progressions. Three chords that are easy to learn can include the G, E and A chords. Once you’ve learned these chords, practice by going back and forth through the chord progression. You can mix up the sequence and speed as well. Feel free to make up your songs as you practice these chords. When you practice every day, you will surely notice the difference within just a few weeks.

Tip #4: Stretch Along the Fret Board – Part of the stretching exercises will include stretching your fingers along the guitar’s fret board. You can begin by placing your index finger on the first fret and placing your ring or little finger on the third or fourth fret. Keep in mind that you can do this on any string of the guitar.

Tip #5: Strumming – If you want to get good exercises for strumming the guitar, an essential exercise will include snapping the strings as you place your fingers on the frets. You will be able to get a pop sound that can go with any type of music. Make sure that you are careful as you do this so that you won’t break any strings.

Tip #6: Switching Chords – One way to get good at strumming your guitar is to get a rhythm down. You can do these exercises every day. As you do your strumming routine, it’s a good idea to alternate each day between strumming your guitar with picks or with your fingers.

Tip #7: Press Down the Guitar Strings – The last couple of practice exercises can help you strengthen your hands and fingers to press down on the strings so that you can get a clear sound. Press down on the strings along the guitar’s fret board. As you do this on a regular basis, you will develop calluses on your fingers, which will make it easier to press down on the strings. You will also learn power chords much easier with these exercises.

Tip #8: Learn Your Arpeggios – Arpeggios are other excellent practice exercises that will help you speed up your overall progress. This exercise will give you muscle memory, precision and speed as you hit your notes along the guitar. Remember that some exercises are harder to master than others, so it’s a good idea to be patient as you learn to play the guitar.

By following these 8 Essential Practice Exercises for Acoustic Guitar, you are certain to play much better as you continue playing your guitar. However, it’s important that you keep a steady routine, so you won’t forget. Rest assured that you will be playing your guitar like an expert in no time.

Interested in learning more about recording your music? Check out our article “How To Create Good Quality Songs On A Budget.”