Guitar

10 Steps to Learn the Guitar: A Complete Guide for Beginners

By February 6, 2021January 5th, 2024No Comments

Are you interested in learning how to play guitar? Have you been searching for different means that can help you know how to play the guitar? Or your dream is to become a superstar in playing guitar? Then you are about to start that simple and fulfilling journey.

Learning how to play a guitar is equally enjoyable as playing the guitar. There is no difference between a beginner and a professional. However, the excitement and fun develop with time. To learn a guitar will take very simple steps. The best part is that all these steps are simple and full of fun. Some of the basics may include:

  • Choose the correct guitar to use
  • Know your goals
  • Have some few simple songs to use during training
  • Stay positive and interested in your goals

Steps to Being Smart In Guitar

#1 Know Your Guitar

It is clear that some people have never come close to a guitar. There is no offense. Getting to know your guitar means knowing what a guitar is. This builds a special connection and mastery of the instrument.

  • Know its parts. For example; the neck of a wooden guitar, which has two sides. The flat side (fretboard) and the curved part.
  • The strings of the guitar. Understand their variations in terms of thickness. Where are they attached to? A guitar will have its strings fixed on removable pegs around the bridge. It is also wooden.
  • Remember to study the sound hole which is an important part of the guitar. Helps in producing sound.

Knowing your guitar means you also need to hold it correctly. It is a step that will help you in understanding how to play the tool fast enough.

  • For a beginner, start by sitting on a stool or a backed chair. Hold the guitar is such a way that the back is against your chest and stomach. Let it rest on your leg as well. This is the leg of your picking hand. The guitar should be in a position where the smallest string points the ground while the thickest points upwards.
  • Place your left hand on the neck in such a way it can move along the neck smoothly. Let your right-hand move over the back of the body to the area around the sound hole.

#2 Tuning the Guitar

To produce the best rhythm and sound, a guitar should be tuned correctly. This ensures that the string corresponds to certain fret combinations and notes. Tuning can be a bit challenging for an acoustic guitar, but it is simple once you understand.

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An acoustic guitar is special from other types of guitars. For an electric guitar, turning can be very simple since you can use turners. However, there are simple steps towards turning an acoustic guitar. Once you master these steps it becomes a simple thing.

Start by knowing the names of the strings. The strings are from the thickest (highest) pitch to the thinnest (lowest) pitch. They are named as E, A, D, G, B, E. Tuning of a guitar can also be achieved by tuning your note in relation to a piano. Once the rhythm comes to the line then you are done.

#3 Fretting Of The Strings

This is also a very crucial step before you start playing any song. The frets refers to metal strips on the smooth part of the guitar. They are always perpendicular to the strings. Here are steps you can follow to perfect fretting.

  • When playing a certain note, your finger should be pressed between strips. For example, if you are playing the fourth fret, then your finger should be on the gap between the third and fourth fret.
  • The string should be held firmly to ensure it only vibrates between your strumming hand and your finger.
  • Practice moving along the fretboard to realize the differences in the pitch variations.

#4 Using The Pick

If you want to be a specialist in playing guitar, then you must know how to hold and use a pick. It is an instrument made of plastic, used for picking the guitar. A pick is a tiny piece of plastic that might be difficult to hold and use it without dropping for beginners. To hold it properly, grab it firmly between the thumb and your forefinger. Make sure that the pointed bit protrudes outside since it is used in picking.

#5 Understand The Chords

This is where you are supposed to know how to use different chords, a chord refers to a group of a minimum of 3 notes. The first step is to learn about the first position chords. This requires you to learn and keep in mind which are the common chords and remember their shapes. The major ones include A major, C major, E major, G major, D major. By practicing how to alternate different shapes of these chords helps you to get used to correct notes.

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#6 Placing Your Finger

To be a that good guitar player, you need to know how to move your fingers through different chords. Here is how you do it:

  • A major-Place your ring, index and middle finger on the second fret touching the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th thinnest strings. Apart from the top one, play all the other strings.
  • A minor-It is achieved by placing the ring and middle fingers on the 2nd frets touching the fourth and third thickest strings. Then, let your index rest on the 1st fret touching the 2nd thinnest string.
  • E major-Place your ring and middle finger on the third and second thickest string-second fret, while your index is on the 3rd thinnest string-first fret.
  • E minor-It’s similar to the E major, but do not use your index.
  • D major-Place the index finger on the 3rd thinnest string-second fret. Your middle finger on the thinnest string-third fret. Your ring finger on the 2nd thinnest-third fret. Then play the last four strings at the bottom.
  • D minor-Place the middle finger on the 3rd thinnest string-second fret, your index on the thinnest-first fret and the ring finger on the 2nd thinnest-third fret. Then play the last four strings at the bottom.
  • C chord-Place the ring finger on the 2nd thickest string-third fret. Your middle on the 3rd thickest-second fret and the index on the 2nd thinnest first fret. Then play each string separately as you still play the chord.
  • G chord-Play each string clearly by placing your middle on the thickest string-third fret, index finger on the 2nd thickest-second fret and ring finger on the thinnest string-third fret.

#7 Loose and relaxed strum motion

Since strumming involves both upstrokes and down-strokes, striking all chord notes evenly and in a rhythm can achieve the best. By practicing your wrist you can be able to move up and down smoothly. To achieve this, you should also make sure that your elbow is firmly placed towards the guitar as you move your pick down all strings.

#8 Getting clean sound from chords

Once you learn this, it means you can generate a clean sound from the stings of every chord. To achieve this, play all strings that should be played and avoid touching the ones that should not.

As you place the fingers on the frets, curl to give room for open strings as they ring. In cases where you do not touch the strings with your fretting fingers properly, the sound may be lost.

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#9 Movable Chords

They are also called barre chords. For you to start playing your songs, then this is an important step. To play an F, using your index bar all notes for the 1st fret and play the shape of the E chord with the middle, the pinkie and ring finger. However, it is a bit moved up to the neck.

#10 Play Songs

This is obviously the best part of learning a guitar. Eventually, you are playing your favorite song on your own. Make sure you try with the simplest and well understood the song.

  • To produce the best rhythm for your song, switch between chords. This will help you land on the right chords for your song. Irrespective that it may not work at first, trying different chords will easily give you the best rhythm.
  • Once you are able to master simple songs you can slowly shift to more complex ones. And there you go, you will have the best experience with that guitar.

Final Verdict

Here is something else that concerns everyone who would like to learn a guitar. How do you deal with finger pain? For beginners, it is normal to experience a lot of pain in the fingers. However, as you get used to picking and fretting, the fingers get used to it. You can deal with this by:

  • Dipping the fingers inside rubbing alcohol. This is after playing and helps in callus building.
  • Soak your fingers in apple cider vinegar to relieve pain.

You may be asking yourself, how many times should practice? Learning how to play guitar can be easy if you are determined and follow the above instructions. By taking a minimum of 15 minutes a day, will easily see you through your dreams.

Be patient, everything will work out with time. You can also improve your ability by looking at other people as they play. Spend your time with the guitar and own it. This will make you love the instrument and build a passion for the same with you. You can be one of the greatest guitar players if only you give it a try and a little sacrifice.

Sheryll Berrett

Sheryll Berrett

An online journalist, entrepreneur and a fanatic blogger. She is the Former Lead News Writer at SearchEngineJournal. She wrote a huge numbers of article on Forbes, Huffingtonpost, Hubpages, and so on. Sheryll became the perfect addition because of her nose for news. Not only did she haver years of experience writing quality articles, but also in researching, finding out what something really was all about. This has been invaluable in helping to find the very best products and in knowing what are the standards to find the best. Find her on twitter @SheryllBerrett

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