Guitar Tips with Steve Krenz Tweet

by Steve Krenz, Learn & Master Guitar

I'm gonna show you some things I wish someone had taken the time to show me when I was just getting started! Let's go...

This first secret is THE most helpful thing I can tell you about learning to play. It can take years off your study time and give you constant motivation to keep at it. It's very simple. It has nothing to do with how you hold the guitar or your hands. It has nothing to do with which amp you buy or how often you change strings. Here it is...

Learn & Master Guitar Secret #1: FIND A PLAYING PARTNER! (or a whole group of them!)

Now don't dismiss this as 'too simple to be useful.' Here's a story for you...

When I was a junior in high school, my friend Arnold invited me to a local Jazz club in San Antonio, where we lived (called the 'El Rincon')... A Jazz duo named 'Small World' hosted

Sunday night Jam sessions there. Anyone could get up and play.

Every Sunday night the city's best Jazz players would filter through just for fun and some great music. For several weeks Arnold and I would just sit in the back and have our sodas and watch... until eventually we got up enough courage to play.

Arnold played sax. He was the first to get up the courage to play. The next week I got up and played a couple of songs with the band. I was scared to death (and who knows how bad I sounded)... but they were kind and encouraging to us both.

Week after week, we'd go down and listen. Sometimes we'd play...sometimes we were too shy. I always thought my playing was so bad next to these great players...I'd come home embarrassed, but challenged to sit and practice so I'd be better next time. Almost without me even knowing it, something was happening...

I was getting better.

Quite unexpectedly, one day I got a call from the guitarist in the Jazz duo, saying that she had recommended me for a gig that she couldn't make!

I was 16 and that was my first professional gig. It was the start of my career and I've played professionally from that moment til now. And I can tell you that if it weren't for Arnold, I would never have had the courage to get up and do that first jam session!

SO...MY ADVICE

My high school band director once said "The better musicians you play with, the better musician you will be." He's right.

Don't shrink back from playing with others...especially if they're better than you. Besides motivating and challenging you, it's just a whole bunch of fun!

A neighbor, a co-worker, a group of friends, the music team at church, or a local band are all great choices to start.

Guitar Tips with Steve Krenz

Some of these tips will make you play better, some will make your guitar sound better...some will just make playing easier!

This is a 'sound better' tip...

Learn & Master Guitar Secret #2: The $6 Guitar Tune-up!

One thing I have found as a professional player that NEVER fails to improve a guitar's sound is... that's right... put on a new set of strings.

Nothing puts the sparkle and punch back into your sound like a fresh set of strings. I'll never forget when I found out how often studio players changed their strings! I thought, "How do they afford that?"

Well, it's their gig! They either show up sounding great or they don't get called back!

Here are a few hints about guitar strings:

1.  The brand of strings isn't as important as the fact that they're new!

Strings come in two kinds - coated and uncoated. Coated strings are 'slicker' feeling when you play them because they have a coating that keeps dirt and oils from tarnishing the strings (and it keeps their tone sounding bright.) So coated strings sound "new" longer.

From my experience, individual brands don't demonstrate as much real-world playing difference as the marketing would imply. I prefer 'Elixir Polywebs' because I like the feel of the coating. But there are other brands that offer coated strings too.

2.  The gauge of strings is important. Lighter strings are going to be easier to push down though they sound a little 'smaller' in tone. If you're just beginning, I recommend a lighter guage string set.

Heavier strings will increase your sustain and volume but they're also harder to push down. Experiment the next couple times you buy new strings to see what works best for you.

3.  Your strings have a "life-cycle." Most strings (coated or not) will sound 'fantastic' for about the first 4 hours of playing time; then 'really good' for about 3 days; after that, you'll notice the tone beginning to 'dull' a bit (depending on how you observe #4 below.)

Coated strings will last a good bit longer (and sound 'new' longer) because they stay untarnished. They cost more, but it's worth it to me.

4.  Wash your hands before you play. Your hands have oils that you don't even notice...so strings get 'gunked up' and corroded...losing that clear 'ring.' Washing your hands before you play minimizes this oil transfer so your strings last longer.

5.  Steve's Rule of Thumb...If you can't remember the last time you changed your strings, then it's time.

Do yourself (and your listeners) a favor and put a new set of strings on your guitar. You'll stay inspired when your tone is clear and ringy.