So are you ready to grab a guitar and start strumming away? It is important to learn the fundamentals of guitar playing so can you speed up the learning process and maximize your level of enjoyment. Here are some of the basics to get you started.
- Guitars – Purchase a guitar that is suitable for you. The type of guitar that you choose to buy is dependent on how much you are willing to spend and what type of music you want to play. You can pay less that $50 for a basic guitar or can pay upwards of thousands of dollars for some high quality or vintage guitars. Do you want to play an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar? Notable brands of acoustic guitars include Martin, Gibson, Guild, Seagull, and Taylor, while electric guitar brands include Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Yamaha, and Peavey.
- Chords – Purchase a guitar learning manual with pictures containing chords diagrams and how to place your fingers on the fretboard of the guitar. You can also get a chord dictionary or check online for chord diagrams. While there are hundreds of chords that you can learn once you become more advanced at guitar playing, it is best to start out with some basic and easy to learn chords, such as major chords in G, C, A, D, E, and F. Many songs contain only a few chords, so you can actually start learning and playing songs very quickly after learning some basic chords.
- Strumming – There are two general ways to strum a guitar: strumming by moving your hand in an up and down motion and finger picking. With the first method you play many or all of the strings of the guitar simultaneously, striking the strings with a guitar pick. You can strum the chords in many different combinations of upstrokes and downstrokes. For finger picking, you use the nails of your fingers to strike individual strings to create an “arpeggio” sound, in which individual notes are played in sequence. With both techniques, it is important to establish a consistent rhythm. When starting out, it is helpful to use a metronome or tap your feet to help you keep the tempo of the song.
- Songs – Learn some songs that contain only a few chords and are easy to play. When just starting out, play the songs slower than normal to make sure you have the correct finger positions of the chords and the correct strumming pattern down. Once you become more proficient and learn more chords, you can advance on to more difficult songs. Or better yet, grab a pen and paper and write some of your own songs.
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Sources
Guitar Chords Magic (2012)
About.com (2012)