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How to play guitar: 12 steps to start playing
Jan
Congratulations! Now, let’s get started on your journey toward playing like your guitar heroes. Our blog has many helpful guides to learn the guitar. Follow the links in this article to read more and improve your guitar skills.
1. Choosing between an acoustic and electric guitar
Acoustic guitars
Acoustic guitars are a great choice for beginners. An acoustic guitar with nylon strings is one of the most accessible options for beginners. In addition, acoustic guitars are fairly affordable. However, if you’re committed to playing the guitar, don’t go for the cheapest option. Investing in a quality acoustic guitar will ensure your instrument lasts for a long time and is good to play with once you’ve advanced beyond the beginner stage.
Electric guitars
Electric guitars are typically more expensive than acoustic guitars, but they are more versatile. It’s not a bad idea to invest in an electric guitar as a beginner, especially if you’re looking to play rock music and want to play more than just chords. Just remember to get an amp and a good distortion pedal if you want to rock out.
2. Learning the guitar parts
If you want to play the guitar, you should know the parts of the instrument. Some of the most important guitar parts include:
- body
- fretboard
- frets
- neck
- headstock
- strings
- tuning pegs
3. How to hold your guitar
Your choice between electric and acoustic will influence how you hold the guitar. The way you hold a guitar also depends on your personal preference. Acoustic guitar players usually hold the instrument on their lap while sitting down. You may place the guitar against either your left or right leg.
You can also play sitting down with an electric guitar, but some guitarists prefer to play standing up. In this case, you need a guitar strap.
Hold the guitar so that the thickest string (the low E string) is closest to you when looking down. The hand holding the guitar neck is known as the fretting hand. The other hand, in this case the right hand, is called the picking hand or the strumming hand. Left-handed guitarists use their left hand for picking.
4. Learn the guitar strings and fretboard
As mentioned, the fretboard and strings are important parts of the guitar. Starting from the lowest string, the strings are E, A, D, G, B, and E. The low E string is the one closest to you when holding the guitar and looking down. Pressing the guitar strings against the fretboard (also known as fretting) may hurt your fingers at first. However, as you play the guitar, your fingers will get stronger and stop hurting.
Nylon strings are great for beginners, because they’re easier to press against the fretboard than steel strings. The strings will not ring properly if you don’t press them hard enough against the fretboard. Remember to press the string just above the fret but not directly on top of it.
5. Tune your guitar
Learning guitar can be unpleasant if your guitar is not in tune. That’s why it’s important to ensure your instrument is tuned correctly. As a beginner guitarist, you don’t need to worry about alternate guitar tunings yet; focus on learning the standard EADGBE tuning first. EADGBE refers to the six strings of the guitar from lowest to highest.
An electric tuner device makes tuning your acoustic or electric guitar easy. However, the easiest (and cheapest) way is to use a free online guitar tuner app, like GuitarTuna. A guitar tuner app is with you wherever you go. You don’t need to carry a separate device with you; a mobile phone is all you need!
6. Play basic guitar chords
Before jumping headfirst into playing intense guitar solos, start with simple chords. At this point, you should be more familiar with guitar chord charts, as they’re an excellent way to visualize how different chord shapes are formed. Start off by learning the basic open chords, also known as cowboy chords. These can be divided into major and minor chords.
8. Read guitar tablature
When you want to play more than just guitar chords, guitar tablatures or “tabs” will come in handy. Guitar tabs are an easy way to read musical notation and learn to play. Individual notes are visualized as numbers on horizontal lines that represent the strings of a guitar. Open strings are represented with a zero (0), while the letter X stands for muted strings. The line at the bottom represents the lowest E string, and the one on top is the high E string.
9. Practice picking and using a guitar pick
Playing individual notes is possible with your thumb and other fingers. This is known as fingerpicking. However, a guitar pick will come in handy, especially if you’re playing an electric guitar. A pick is a great tool for strumming chords on an acoustic guitar as well. Guitar picks come in many sizes and materials, but the most important aspect of a pick is its thickness.
10. Learn minor and major scales
Guitar scales and music theory may feel intimidating. However, as you’ll soon notice, guitar scales are a great way to explore the fretboard and understand where to find different notes. Guitar scales are also helpful when you want to improvise a guitar solo or start writing your own songs. Just like with chords, there are both major and minor scales. An example is as shown below.
11. Start playing your favorite songs
Now, let’s get to the part you’ve probably been waiting for — playing your favorite songs on the guitar. The days of carrying around massive books full of guitar notes and chords are over, as the internet offers guitar tabs for pretty much any song you can think of. Just Google the song title and add the word “tab,” and if you’re lucky, someone else has already taken the effort of transcribing the song into guitar tablature.
12. Practice, practice, practice
After you’ve gotten the hang of playing guitar chords, tuning your instrument, navigating the fretboard, and reading guitar tablature, the most important thing you can do is practice. Make it a part of your daily routine. Although your fingertips may hurt at first, your hands will get used to playing the guitar as you gain finger strength and develop muscle memory.
