By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer
There are a variety of guitar accessories on the market, some items are essential for playing while others may be more suited to personal taste and style. While it is up to you to buy the extras, there are some guitar tools and materials that are necessary for learning how to play guitar.
Here are 5 of the best guitar accessory gift ideas that will help the guitarist in your life improve their playing!
Slides and Picks
Any accessory that allows you to manipulate the sound of the guitar is going to help improve your playing. Even if you do not want to play slide guitar or fingerstyle picking, they are useful tools to help in building your skill. Finger picks will help you focus on hitting the correct strings and other materials and sizes of plectrums will change the style of your playing.
If you are riffing on fast solos or sweeping guitar scales, a thin pick is likely best, while heavier downstrokes require a thicker gauge. Picks are relatively cheap, try as many out as possible. Slides are also affordable accessories and can add a new level of creativity. Try different materials, and use them on different fingers, this will force your other digits to stretch in new ways.
- Bottleneck Glass
- Steel Slide
- Ball Tip Slide
- Ceramic Slide
- Partial Slide
Capos
The capo makes it easy to quickly play in other keys and different guitar chords, depending on the model you place it across the strings right before the fret. If we move a capo up two frets a G chord becomes an A chord. Even professionals use capos, especially when they may need to play a harder key change in a song.
A capo is also helpful when first learning barre chords, it helps us see the correct shape we are aiming for. Just be sure not to overly rely on the capo and know your chords across the fretboard. Here are a few of the styles of capos you will come across, springs and triggers are usually the easiest to put on.
- Strap
- Toggle
- Trigger
- Spring
- Adjustable Screw
They even have partial capos that only hold down a few strings or complex capos that can allow each string to be adjusted. This can lead to some very interesting tunings if you wish to invest in such a capo.
Maintenance and Repair
This one might seem surprising but taking better care of your instrument will help make you a better player. And maintenance doesn’t just involve cleaning and new strings, it is necessary to have basic knowledge of repairs. Of course, very technical aspects can be left to a luthier, but there is no harm in learning how to check the action and intonate your guitar.
An electric guitar is especially easy to adjust the intonation and pickups, knowing the instrument inside and out will give you an idea of the bigger picture. And of course, cleaning and proper strings are also essential so that your guitar sounds good. It’s hard to improve in playing when you have a grimy fretboard, rusted strings, and dirty pots! Here are some of the basic maintenance and repair guitar necessities.
- Cleaning Solutions and Polishes
- Cloth or Duster
- Guitar Action Adjustment Tools
- A Variety of Strings
- Electronic Duster and Cleaning Solution
- A Suitable Case
It is very important to have a proper case for your guitar, either a heavy-duty gig bag or preferably a hard case. If you have a nice guitar a humidifier is also essential to keep it in good shape for many years. It’s hard to be a better guitar player if your instrument is not protected and taken care of.
Music Stands with Books and Sheet Music
A music stand is a simple accessory but a very important one. When you peer into any band room, music stands are one of the most prominent items there! It is very bad for your posture and grip when you are always looking down at paper or a computer screen. Sit up straight and properly when you play guitar, and a music stand will help facilitate this often-overlooked problem.
Be sure to get a heavy-duty music stand that can hold tablets, smartphones, music books, guitar tabs, a guitar chord chart, or sheet music. These are all also essential accessories; take advantage of learning apps, guitar websites, how-to books, and even look for old sheet music. Collect as much digital and old-fashioned paper educational materials that you can. The more styles of music you learn to play, the better a guitarist you will be. Just make sure to practice all the books and apps you buy!
- Music Stands
- Guitar Guidebooks
- Guitar Chord Charts
- Circle of Fifths Chart
- Nashville Number Chart
- Guitar Fretboard Map
Digital Audio Interface
One of the most important modern accessories to own for the guitar is a digital audio interface. These devices allow you to plug your guitar into a computer, tablet, or smartphone. There are now apps and software that emulate every guitar amp, effect, and pedal ever, some of these apps will even copy the reverb of famous studios.
If you have an acoustic guitar you will also need a microphone to plug into the interface, an electric will need a quality cable. Once you have the guitar connected to the software you will enter a digital world of endless sonic possibilities. They even have loopers and recording apps and DAWS to record your playing on! And that is one of the best ways to improve your guitar playing, you get to hear any issues.
- Digital Audio Interface
- Microphone for Acoustic Guitar
- High-Quality Cable for an Electric Guitar
- Amp and Pedal Simulation Software and Apps
- Headphones or Monitors
With a quality interface and even some small monitors, it is possible to produce music that can be sold. The technology to record, edit, mix, and master are all accessible to even the lowest budgets. Many working guitarists and home producers get their start on rather simple recording setups.
There are many more guitar accessories out there, but you will find these five categories will have you covered from beginning to advanced levels. Of course, no accessory will magically allow you to bypass a lot of pain, practice, and study. If you really want to improve at guitar you must pick it up regularly and always challenge yourself with new material to play!
