There are two important things you should do prior to attempting to play guitar songs. Firstly, you should make sure your guitar is tuned properly as the song you are trying to play will not sound good if its not. Secondly, you will need a basic knowledge of know how to read guitar tabs.

Once you have tuned in your guitar and know how to read guitar tabs, you will need to train your ear when listening to a song in order to be able to play guitar songs. Listen to simple songs to begin with, preferably those songs consisting of three simple chords.
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Whilst listening to the song, pay particular attention to the rhythm and the timing of the chords and strums you hear being played on the guitar. When you have listened to a song a few times, have a go at following along with the song by reading the guitar tab at the same time as the song is being played. Do this a few times and as you do, make a mental note of the rhythm and timing you hear.

When you have heard the song a few times and followed along on the guitar tab, it is time to take up your own guitar and strum along with the song as it is playing. Remember to play your guitar softly so you can still hear the music you are trying to copy in the background.

As you begin to pick up the timing and strumming style, you can start to play the song on your own without the assistance of the music. Don’t worry if you forget the song because you can easily listen to it again if you need to. The songs you practice on your guitar should be played over and over again, one at a time, until you are able to sing along with the song as you play. It will help you if you master one song before moving on to the next.

It’s a great idea to record yourself playing if you can. This affords you the luxury of being able to watch the playback of your performance and correct any mistakes you are making in your technique.

Discovering how to play guitar songs is not as difficult as you may first think. All you need is passion and patience. If it takes a while and you make many errors, don’t worry about it too much as this will only lead to you making more mistakes. If you just can’t seem to get it right and become frustrated put down the guitar for a while and go off and do something else. But remember to pick up your guitar later on and get back to practicing how to play guitar songs until you get it just right.