Accessories That Can Make You A Better Guitarist

If you’re looking to take your guitar hobby seriously, then it’s pay to invest in the right tools. Whether you’re looking to practice and improve yourself at home, travel as a musician or join a band, or to get writing your own music, the right equipment can make a big difference. You can enhance your practice sessions, better explore the range of sounds you can make, and generally become a better musician if you know how to use the right tools.

To that end, we’re going to take a moment to explore some of the guitar accessories that every guitarist should consider adding to their arsenal and why they can play such a vital role in your growth as a musician.

Must Have Guitar Accessories

An easy tuner

You want to make sure that you’re actually playing the notes that you want to play, right? If you have perfect pitch (or something approximating it) then you might not need this. However, tuning a guitar can be a lot more difficult without an electronic tuner to help you do it. Some will tune it for you and stop when they get the right feedback, but others will simply let you know what note your strings are playing so you can tune it yourself. Some seasoned guitarists also use this gadget called a capo to raise the pitch of their guitar. If you are not familiar with using one but already have one then you can check this capo chart to help you further in understanding its importance in creating beautiful music.

All of the effects

It can often be surprising to newcomers to find out the wide range of sounds that their guitar can make, especially when they have the right pedals to go with it. A setup with a basic distortion or drive pedal, as well as an effects pedal can help you come up with your signature sound and can allow you to experiment with a range of different tones, from trippy prog sounds to the crunchiest and heaviest of metal chords. It’s a good idea to learn more about the guitar effects that you can use, so you can be more intentional in your experimentation, too.

A drum machine

Also known as a drummer pedal, this is a piece of equipment that can be used with a range of instruments, but guitarists tend to find it particularly useful. You can improve your songwriting and your practice sessions by finding and switching between different drum samples, many of them recorded by professionals. Even a basic drum machine for beginners can be vital for guitarists who looking to fine-tune their sense of rhythm. Of course, having drum samples playing behind you can help you build off of them during the songwriting process, too.

A loop pedal

The songwriting process can start with a bolt of inspiration. You might be messing around on your guitar, only for a riff or a specific sound to come out that you want to capitalize on. With the help of a loop pedal, you can easily record that sound into a loop, which you can then play further layers over. This can help you much more easily compose music, as well as practice over your own backing. With a loop pedal and a drum machine, you can pretty much become your own band for practice and songwriting sessions.

A guitar maintenance kit

Not all of the accessories worth looking at are about how you can better learn your instrument or change your sounds. Routine care of your equipment is just as important as anything else. To that end, you should look at some of the guitar maintenance kits you can get, to help you clean every part of the guitar, including the fretboard and the strings. Take care of your guitar and it’s going to last you a lot longer. Neglect to do so, and you can find its sound changing and becoming less accurate to what you want.

A good set of headphones and mic

If you want to use a tuner to make sure that you’re able to play the notes that you want, accurately, then it can be just as important to make sure that you’re hearing what you’re playing accurately, as well. A decent recording mic that is able to cleanly pick up your guitar is vital, but so too is a good pair of quality headphones. You want to be able to pinpoint any issues or mistakes in your playing with precision, after all.

If you’re just looking to take it easy and play some guitar, then you might not need all of the guitar accessories above. However, for those looking to continually improve and expand their musical horizons, it can be well worth looking into the gear that can help you do just that.