Guitar for Beiginners

 

It seems to me that the majority of people who take up learning the guitar stop playing after just a few short months. When starting out, learning the guitar can indeed be difficult, but that is no need to give up. Here I want to address some of the more common difficulties beginners often face when taking up the guitar.

Before you can actually start playing the guitar you will have to learn how to hold it in the correct way. The guitar can be played whilst standing by supporting it with a strap. The strap should be adjusted so it hangs just above your waste to provide the most natural and comfortable playing position. You should hold the neck with your fretting arm, which should be bent at about 90 degrees. You want to ensure that the guitars neck is pointing upwards slightly. When playing the guitar in a sitting position you can either support it on your left knee, keeping the neck pointing upwards, or on your right knee, with the neck parallel to the floor. As long as you find a position that is comfortable, you should be fine.

You can play the guitar using either a pick or your fingers. It is best to rest your picking hand on the bridge of the guitar to give it support. If you are playing with your fingers, then let them hover over the strings half way between the base of the neck and the bridge. You should place your fretting hand fingers over the strings on the neck, with one finger covering one fret. Keep your thumb about half way down the back of the neck, opposite your second finger.

Before going any further it is important that you know the names of all the strings on your guitar. From lowest to highest (thickest to thinnest) they are EDGBE. The next thing you’ll want to start learning is some chords. You will want to learn as many chords as you can, as being able to strum chords will mean you’ll be able to play lots of different music in a very short space of time. Chords can be learnt by reading chord diagrams. These consist of a grid representing the frets and the strings of the guitar. Dots on the lines show you which notes to play. They are very easy to understand, and will enable you to learn many new chords quickly.

Another thing I need to highlight is the importance of tuning up properly. If you are not correctly tuned up, anything you play will sound awful, no matter how good a player you are. The simplest method of tuning a guitar is to use electronic guitar tuner. All you have to do is plug your guitar in and play each string. The tuner will tell you if you are out of tune.

Finally I’ll mention a few of the most common problems facing beginners when they are learning the guitar. At first, when you are trying to play some chords, particularly those with big stretches or awkward shapes, you might experience some slight pain in your fingers or arms. The best thing to do here is just to have a rest from playing, until your hands feel normal again. Over time this pain should disappear as your hands get used to the stretches. A lot of people also get sore fingers from fretting the strings. This will also get better as your finger tips get used to playing the guitar.

That concludes this guitar for beginners article. That should have cleared up a few things you might have been wondering about and, hopefully, inspired you to start playing.

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