Play Guitar Until It’s Comfortable

The other day I was playing something on the guitar and it just didn't feel comfortable.

So I played it again and again until it felt comfortable.

I realized afterward that my approach might not have been obvious to a lot of guitar learners.

Many people encounter something uncomfortable and think it means they’re just not meant to play the guitar.

Or they just skip from song to song hoping to find something comfortable.

It's certainly possible that a song is uncomfortable because it's too hard for you. If you play it for more than 15 minutes and see no improvement at all, it could be too hard.

But if you're playing something that's a reasonable level of difficulty for you, often the answer is to just keep playing.

Here are some ways to become comfortable playing a song or riff on guitar:

1. More Repetitions

This is what worked for me this week. I played the music a few more times and it became comfortable.

2. Slow Down

Slowing down can be the magic bullet that solves many guitar-playing problems.

3. Smaller Sections

If you're playing a whole song and it's not working, play a smaller section instead. Sometimes you need to play a very small amount of music and then play a little bit more when you're ready.

4. Change Approach

If you repeated the music and tried it slower and played smaller sections and nothing seemed to work, you may need to change your approach.

You can watch a YouTube video, work through a method book, or get a private lesson with a good guitar teacher.

If guitar playing is uncomfortable, don't give up. Try different approaches to make guitar playing comfortable.

Keep making music!