Picking up guitar can be so exciting! You’re on your path to playing songs you love and perhaps creating your own. But if you’re a beginner like me, you’ll be making quite a few trips to the music store when you realize you’re missing something you’ll need.
Let me save you the time, energy, and shipping costs by letting you know what you’ll probably know or want up front.
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Without further ado, here’s some things you definitely need on hand:
1. Various Picks
“Don’t you just need one pick? Isn’t the free one in your kit good enough?” Well, how would you know if it’s the right one if you haven’t experimented with others?
Considering how cheap they are, are highly encourage you to shop around and pick up a few. The standard medium sized pick is great if you just want to strum, but depending on the music you want to play, you may want a lighter one for softer sound, or a harder one for something more aggressive. If you plan to do more solos and licks, you may prefer a smaller, sharper pick that allows better precision.
If you have clammy hands like me, a pick with ‘cat tongue’ texture will prevent your grip from slipping and dropping your pick. I’m personally a big fan of these Jazz picks and many others seem to love them too!
If you are interested in country or fingerstyle, you may opt for finger picks that slip onto your fingers and imitate nails. So if you don’t feel like your current pick feels comfortable or produces the sound you like, I highly encourage you to pick more up.
2. Guitar Strap
Not all guitars come with a strap, but it is quite necessary. Even if you are sitting down, a strap prevents it from slipping off your lap, or worse, dropping onto the ground when you lose grip. Guitar straps are also a great to personalize your guitar a bit more, which always helps with motivation.
For added protection, get a guitar strap lock. These are round rubber pieces that go onto of the strap to ensure it doesn’t slip off. I’ve had my blue guitar for 2 weeks and was walking around at the rehearsal room for it when my strap came loose, and the guitar faced a serious crack in it’s paint. Don’t make the same mistake.
3. Capo
Sooner or later, you will need a capo. You can try to go hard and never use one, but capos aren’t just used to avoid barre chords. It can be used to easily transpose songs to fit someone’s vocal range, and there are some fingerstyles that require it. The worst is needing one and not having one available.
You don’t have to be too picky. There are some great ones like this one from Wingo which has 5 stars and is under $10. Some fancy ones, like this Kyser quick change capo, can cost you more than $20, but I find cheap ones does the job well.
4. Tuner
You should be tuning your guitar every time you play. Every. Single. Time. Guitars can change tuning in a matter of hours due to poor tuning pegs, humidity, and movement in it’s case. Not only will your chords and riffs sound off, but you will develop poor sound recognition since you won’t even know what it should sound like. When you try to play a long to songs, you will sound sharp or flat.
When it comes to tuners, you can start off simple with a free app on your phone. As you develop further, or when you are in noisy environments and can’t use a mic to tune, using a tuner that works with vibrations will be a life safer.
I’m a big fan of the Snark ST-2 Super Tight Instrument Tuner. Not only is it very quick and precise, but unlike apps that are usually fixed in normal tuning, I love that I can tune to any note.
I loved this one so much, I not only bought a spare so I can keep one at home and one in my rehearsal bag, but my bassist didn’t have a tuner and would often borrow mine since it was too loud for his app, so I bought him one as well. I highly recommend it!
5. Pick Holder
This is something that no one talks about, and I don’t know how people live without em. No wonder we lose picks to another dimension so often!
Before I had a pick holder, I would just wedge my pick between strings, but that can fling off into the unknown, especially if I forgot I put it there. You can put it on a table, but those can also easily get lost.
A pick holder is something that attaches to the guitar, either at the headstock, or glued onto the board, where you can easily rest your picks until you are ready to use them. You may also opt to get a guitar strap with pick holders built in.
I prefer the one that can stick between strings at the headstock so not to damage my guitar. I also love that it has space for 2 picks, so I can have spares in case I drop one, or have a pick for lead and a pick for rhythm.
They’re so cheap too! I bought my first one on eBay, but then bought this 10 pack for $7, so I can put em on my spare guitars and give some to my band mates!
6. Guitar Stand
In my early days, I would constantly read advice that said your guitar had to be kept out in the open so you’re more likely to pick it up and practice it…and they are absolutely right.
If you have to go to the effort of pulling your guitar out of the closet, unzipping it, plugging it in and setting it up, it’s easy to put off practice. But if it’s in sight and ready to go, you may be more willing to play it when you have a spare 5 or 10 minutes.
I personally like the triangle shaped floor stands as they’re easy to set up and keep out of the way. At my old place, I also had a String Swing which allows you to hang your guitar on the wall. My shared bedroom had no space on the floor, so it was the only other way to keep my guitar in the open.
7. Cleaning Kit
It’s good to clean your guitar at least now and then, and give it a thorough clean when you change the strings.
You can’t just use any material as you may ruin the wood, paint, or other coatings. A simple microfiber cloth and a cleaning spray made for guitars may be good enough.
If you’re reluctant to change your strings, you can use this to wipe down your strings as sweat and dirt is going to attach. Be sure you use things made for the guitar so you don’t damage the wood or paint.
8. Spare Strings & Tools
The faster you can learn to change your strings, the better. As long as strings could last, you should really change it for the best sound.
Being able to explore with different sting gauges and brands may also be just what you needed to improve as a player. I speak from experience as my very first guitar had very thick strings, so when I wanted to learn how to bend strings and try other tricks, it held me back tremendously.
Not to mention, if you do ever break a string, you will have to make the trip and pay for a whole set. Save yourself the trouble. Grab yourself some extra strings and also buy this string winder & cutting tool by D’addario. You’ll realize it’s pretty easy after your first time!
9. Music Stand
Bad posture is inevitable when learning guitar. You’re going to be hunched over as you try to see your fingers and align them with the right strings and frets, but you’re going to be hunching long term if you have to keep looking down at your notes on a table.
To make playing more enjoyable for me, and also to allow me to sit in any comfy chair I wanted to while I played, I opted for a music stand, and it is one of the best decisions I made.
They aren’t super pricey, and they can adjust for you to play even when you are standing. It’s definitely something to consider if you have books or chords to learn. The CAHAYA brand on Amazon has amazing reviews, and it comes with a bag, light, and more. Here’s the pink one if you want one like mine 😉
10. Strong Guitar Case
Some guitars come with cases, but they may be super thin and flimsy, thus providing no real support or protection for your guitar.
If you plan to take your guitar outside of home, you need a thick, soft guitar with some footing. I have taken the bus on the bus and subway, through doors and elevators, and you’re going to bang it somewhere. Ensure it’s protected.
I personally prefer soft cases with pockets, as I can easily fold them and put em somewhere when I’m not using them. If you have the space and money, a hard case may be worth it as well as there’s less chances of dinging your guitar.
11. Metronome
Once you are in the realm of music, you will constantly hear people telling you that you need to play with a metronome.
If you’re newer to playing and instruments, you may not find this enjoyable and avoid it, but remember that a big part of music is timing. It’s how songs keep a beat, it’s what gets people dancing, and allows musicians to play together. Learning to play with one sooner and working on your rhythm and internal clock will get you farther ahead as a musician.
A metronome strips away all the other sounds and forces you to be more aware of time and when exactly you need to come in and stop. It’s not forgiving of your mistakes and that’s why many people hate it, but it’s better to realize your timing sucks early on and work at fixing it then to neglect it.
There are a lot of great free apps out there, and prefer these over some cheap electric metronomes I bought in the past. But if you’re serious about becoming a musician, it may be worth investing in a Soundbrennar watch.
It was my favourite metronome app before I even knew they had a product that works with it. I love that it has a built in tuner, and it is also a smart watch that let’s you see the time and any messages coming in. If you have band members with a Soundbrennar product as well, you can sync them with each other!
You can also type in “metronome” on Google and play it right from your desktop! But if you really hate the annoying dings of a metronome, feel free to use drum beats and loops. Just play with anything that stays on beat and forces you to pay attention to when you play your parts.
12. Lessons or Books
Learning guitar is a life long journey. If you’re a beginner, I highly recommend having some kind of formal lessons that can teach you what steps to make from the beginning to at least intermediate level.
Sure, Youtube has a lot of lessons, but most teachers on there may have an hour’s worth of truly beginner material, but then they jump into more advanced topics and skills. Because they don’t show you how or why things relate to each other, and most skip music theory all together, you’re going to feel lost and end up wasting a lot of time.
Assuming you’re an adult learner, you don’t have that much time to spare. You don’t have hours after school to stumble around. You probably want to start playing songs or creating music asap, right?
So honestly, find some kind of lessons to ensure you keep progressing forward. This could be a Dummies book, or some exercise-a-day book, or you could use what I used to fill my gaps, Guitar Tricks. You can read my experience and review here, or click here for a 2-week full access trial.
Trust me, without lessons or some kind of guide, you may learn basic chords and scales quickly, but then you’re going to feel lost and start losing motivation. Start on the right foot and you’ll progress quicker, faster.
Conclusion
I hope this list has helped you figure out what you may want or need as you continue learning guitar. I picked it up again just before the pandemic started, so stores weren’t open for a while, and then I’d have to make multiple trips when I realized I needed something I didn’t have. Getting these things sooner rather than later will definitely help make rehearsals less frustrating.