BEGINNER GUITAR LESSONSMarch 12, 2020
The guitar is one of the most commonly played musical instruments around the world. While mastering the guitar can take many years of dedicated learning and practice, making music with a guitar is not very difficult. Almost anyone, regardless of their age and profession, can learn the basics of playing the guitar and start playing their favorite tunes or better yet, write their very own songs.
However, before you start playing the guitar, you need to buy one first. So, we will first talk about the type of guitars you should consider purchasing.
The Types of Guitars
There are mainly two types of guitars that you can buy:
- Acoustic guitar
- Electric guitar
An acoustic guitar is a type of guitar that does not need any external amplification or sound system to project its sound. When you play an acoustic guitar, it projects its sound through the air, which makes it an instrument that you can play absolutely anywhere. However, an acoustic guitar may be difficult to learn as players need to use a fair bit of strength to press down the strings to the frets. Amateurs usually experience blisters on their fingers from playing acoustic guitars initially. But with time and practice, these issues go away.
An electric guitar, on the other hand, produces its sound by converting the string vibrations into electrical signals through single or multiple pickups. You need an amplifier to connect an electric guitar to, which would then produce the guitar’s sound. While electric guitars are generally more expensive than acoustic variants, they are easier to play, as players don’t need to press down on the strings as hard as they would have to for an acoustic guitar.
The Prices of Guitars
The prices of guitars depend mainly on the grade of wood used to make them, additional features such as in-built tuners and pickups, and of course, the brands manufacturing them. Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, PRS, and Taylor are some of the most well-known guitar manufacturers in the world. As they use the most high-quality components to craft their guitars from scratch, their guitars rank amongst the most expensive.
However, there are cheaper variants out there as well that are ideal for beginners. While cheaper guitars may feature inferior wood quality and an overall lack of features typically associated with big name brands, they are in no way lacking when it comes to playability.
Guitar Practice Tips
Before we get down to discussing some of the most basic chords that you can play to start on your musical journey with your guitar, we will give you a few tips to bolster your guitar practice.
Use a Metronome
Using a metronome can be immensely helpful in developing a sense of rhythm. A metronome can be set to play a ‘tick’ sound at any BPM (beats per minute). By practicing with the metronome, guitar players can learn to play at any tempo.
Warm-Up Before Playing
There are various warm-up exercises that beginner guitar players are advised to perform before playing the guitar. These warm-up exercises are meant to free up your fingers and hands and can protect you from muscle and nerve strains.
Play Slow Before You Attempt to Play Fast
A lot of amateurs make the mistake of trying to play the guitar as fast as they can. This is one of the worst practice mistakes that you can make. It’s always better to learn to play it slowly along with a metronome and then try to increase the tempo.
It’s typical for new guitar players to tense up as they play the instrument. However, ideally, you should keep your hands and fingers as relaxed as possible to avoid injuries.
Maintain Your Guitar
Your guitar is prone to wear and tear and you should take steps to ensure that it stays in good health. Keep your guitar inside the guitar bag when you are not playing it. Also, change its strings once every month. You should also give your guitar to a trusted guitar repairing shop to do the necessary maintenance work from time to time.
If you are practicing on your own, make a daily practice routine that you will stick to on a daily basis. By practicing every day, you will be able to see improvements, which will keep you motivated to practice even more. However, practicing for one week and then not practicing for two weeks will only lead to frustration and you may think that you can never get better at playing the guitar.
Join a Guitar Class
If you are not sure about your dedication and commitment to learning the guitar, then you should probably consider joining a guitar class. Nowadays, there are online guitar lessons that you can take advantage of as well, with many guitar teachers providing absolutely free lessons from beginner to intermediate level.
Learning the Chords
Let’s start off learning 4 basic chords that have been used in many mainstream songs over the years; the E Minor chord, the G Major chord, the C Major chord, and the D Major chord. To Learn More about the Guitar lessons visit this website https://www.myguitargc.com/
The E Minor chord
- Place the middle finger on the 5th String’s second fret. Also, place the ring finger on 4th String’s second fret.
- Play all six strings with the first, second, third, and sixth strings open.
- There you have it; an E Minor chord!
The G chord
- Place the ring finger on 6th String’s third fret and middle finger on 5th String’s second fret and your pinky on the third fret of the first string.
- Play all strings with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings open.
- Congratulations! You now know how to play the G major chord.
The C chord
- Place the index finger on the2nd string’s first, the ring finger on 5th string’s 3rd fret and the middle finger on 4th string’s second fret
- Play all strings except the sixth string and keep the 3rd and 1st strings open.
- If you play it right, then you can hear the C chord in all its glory!
The D chord
- Put your ring finger on 2nd string’s third fret, the middle finger on 1st string’s second fret and index finger on 3rd string’s second fret.
- Play only the first four strings with the fourth string open.
- You have just learned the D chord!