7 Accessories Every Beginner Guitarist Should Try

Are you new to guitar playing? If so, I hope you’re having an amazing time learning the instrument and having fun! Every little moment you spend with the guitar will help you to improve and become an accomplished musician. Good luck!

The world of guitars brings with it a number of accessories that you’ll run into sooner or later. Some of these can really make a difference to your experience, opening up new sounds and ways of playing. Some accessories are more practical than anything else, but are still well worth knowing about. 

Today, I’ve collected the top 7 accessories that I think you should be up to speed on. I’ll tell you what they are, and how you'll benefit from them. It won’t take long to read, and it’ll hopefully answer a few questions that are lingering in your mind. So, take a break from learning those chord patterns and check out these essential accessories!

Some say ‘cap-oh’ and others say ‘kay-poh’, but they all refer to the same thing. A capo is a simple device that wraps around the neck on whichever fret you choose, and effectively becomes the guitar’s new nut, raising the overall pitch of the instrument. As you look down at the neck, the capo blocks off anything to the left, so if you placed the capo on fret 5, the first four frets then become unplayable.

Why would you want this? Well, it allows you to play open position chords in different keys. You can keep that open string strummy sound, but you aren’t stuck on the ‘actual’ open string notes. Capos are a quick and easy way to change keys, and don’t require you to learn new chord shapes.

There are many variations of capo out there. Personally, I’m a fan of the ‘trigger’ style because I can operate it with one hand and also have it clamp onto my guitar’s headstock when I’m not using it. This isn’t the only style, though, so check out what’s on the market.

The clip-on tuner is one of modern life’s great inventions. Small, cheap and wonderfully handy, a clip-on tuner is just a good idea. No cables, hands-free and it doesn’t even care if there’s a ton of background noise, a typical clip-on tuner fits onto your guitar's headstock and senses the vibration of your strings through the wood. Foolproof! They do not cost much and they perform the task in hand with minimal messing around. Brilliant. Just remember to take it off your guitar once you’re done tuning!

If you take one piece of advice from me today, let it be this: put strap locks on your guitar today. In my 30 years of playing the guitar, I’ve learned lots of lessons the hard way, and without going into details, let me say that strap locks are indispensable accessories! 

Strap locks are devices that fit on your guitar’s strap buttons after the strap goes on, and hold everything safe and sound. The strap is locked in so it won’t fall off ever, and as long as you check the actual screw that holds the initial strap button onto your guitar, you should be fine indefinitely.

You’d be surprised at how easily guitar straps can fly off if they’re not anchored down, and the results can be expensive and/or heartbreaking. Strap locks can be as simple as rubber/plastic washers that push on over the strap (and cost a couple of quid), or they can be sophisticated metal devices that completely replace the strap button. They all do the job pretty well, so don’t let money be an excuse not to bother.

Have you tried a slide yet? I think you should. They aren’t too expensive (either side of a tenner will get you something) and they fundamentally change your sound and approach. Slides are tons of fun, and can get pretty addictive once you find your way with one!

Don’t worry too much about which finger to use, or what material to pick for your slide: at the moment, you’re just checking them out. I like a glass slide on my middle finger or pinky, but that doesn’t mean you have to do that!

When approaching slide, try to be very light on the strings: the idea is to glide across them, not to press down at all. You don’t want to be hitting the frets, basically. Once you develop, you’ll want to try out different tunings and so on, but to begin with, I think just making a noise and having fun is key to getting a feel for it.

Does this sound like a boring thing to buy? You’d rather get new strings or a slide? I hear you, but just you wait: string winders may be one of the most effective labour-saving devices in the whole guitar lifestyle.

When restringing, you put one of these onto the appropriate tuner key and give it a good turn. The string detunes and retunes so much faster! After a few goes with one of these, you’ll grow enormously impatient every time you need to restring without one. A tip from me to you: go for one with string cutters built in too, and the whole task of restringing guitars becomes a complete doddle.

Have you experimented much with plectrums? They are the part of your whole performance that directly touches the things making the sound: the guitar strings. Plectrums make a much bigger difference to your playing experience that any small piece of plastic has any right to. 

Plectrums come in different sizes, thicknesses and from different materials. Some will work better for you than others. Some will help you excel at certain playing styles, and hinder others. You should have an opinion of these things.

You may find your perfect plectrum that you always use, or you may end up like me and use a number of different picks depending on the job. The point is, you need to try a wide selection before you land on your ultimate pick. They aren’t expensive, so spend a few quid on some Tortex, celluloid, nylon and other types. I guarantee you will notice differences!

It’s a good habit to clean your guitar for a number of reasons. Fingerprints do not look cool, for one thing, but more seriously, a clean guitar just operates better. Grime and dust can build up and eventually cause problems, more so with the metal hardware and the fingerboard, but the whole guitar as an object deserves looking after.

You can buy individual products for different jobs (polish for the finish, lemon oil for certain fingerboards etc) or you can get a handy pack that contains a number of different products. Treat your guitar well and it’ll give you its best performance in return. Neglect it and reveal yourself as a rookie!

All of these items are helpful in either a practical or a musical way. I think it’s worthwhile for you to check these out and see how they apply to your own guitar playing life. You’re going to need them all sooner or later! We keep it all in stock in each guitarguitar store and online, so please click through to order what you need, or use these accessories as an excuse to visit us and chat to the staff!