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Have you ever wondered what you need to do to achieve guitar brilliance and finally be able to show your skills on various outdoor occasions (picnics, hanging with friends at the beach etc.) without all the self-doubt and nervousness? Unfortunately it is very common that a guitarist comes to the point when he needs to do the right thing and overcome those fears, if he wants to really develop into a great guitar player. But ' as in any other situation ' there are sure ways to overcome all of that.

The secret is that ' well ' there is no secret. You need to do just what you would need to do with any other thing to get brilliant with it. But there is a systematical approach that might help you and I will try to give you some insight on it.

First, don't rush out and buy all the books you can get. No book can give you what only an hour or two with an expert guitarist will do for you. You need to be shown the basics ' and you need to get a rock solid base for all your future progress. Yes, I said shown. No book, no matter how well-written, can give you that, trust me. So, consult with some of your fellow guitarist friends and ask them who taught them to play in the very beginning. Then ' if needed ' cough up those fifty bucks and you'll be a new man ... um, a new guitarist.

Once an experienced guitarist shows you what you need to know, it's time to start to practice. I wouldn't recommend making a schedule and sticking to it ' it is a sure way to lose interest, because it makes playing seem like some sort of a must. And the thing with music is ' nothing is a must. Everything must come as a joy to you. Just play whenever you feel like playing. That way you'll be thrilled to strum those chords and with that kind of approach you'll learn incredibly fast ' much faster than you would otherwise. And when you notice how much better you are getting in practically no time, all the excitement triples ... and you will be playing even more ... and getting even better. It's as simple as that. A snowball effect, but this time a positive one.

If you don't want to spend too much time browsing for the chords and tablatures, I really recommend that you find yourself a great guitar chords and tabs archive and then just strum away all the songs you really like. Make sure that you find a website that has everything you might need. It needs to have a huge database of chords and tabs, the auto-scroller (so you don't have to worry about that while playing), maybe even the option to transpose a song into another key (this way it will be much easier for you to sing along).

Once you build up some guitar-mileage, you get to the great part. Everybody has at least a couple of friends who know how to play the guitar. Once you feel that you've mastered the basics and you can play the rhythm without much of a trouble, you really need to get together with those guys (and girls). Arrange some kind of a meeting, bring some drinks and then just play whatever comes to your mind ... That kind of hanging out with a group of fellow guitarists has really taught me the most, but not just that ' I remember those meetings as something really beautiful. And that is what you need to look for in the music. Always.

So, go out there, have fun and once you become a GREAT guitarist, don't forget to remember me.