Michael J Wentz

1) Holding – These are truly the guitar basics. The vast majority of guitar players are right-handed, so this article is meant for them. Left-handed people will have to learn guitar one of two ways: either learn to play right-handed (one of my best friends did) or learn to play upside-down and backwards like Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix. Either way don’t get discouraged! Now, for right-handed players, it’s simple. Your right hand will hold the guitar pick and strum the rhythm or pick the individual notes, while your left hand forms the chords or fingers the individual notes on the fret board. Let’s not get into Van Halen style hammer-ons or the use of the whammy bar or anything else super advanced. Just focus on training each hand to do what it’s supposed to do for now as you learn guitar basics.

2) Handling – Acoustic and electric guitars are expensive and fragile. You don’t have the money (or sponsorship) to smash them on the stage every night, so handle your guitar with care. Always keep your guitar in a hard case if you can. A soft case is usually fine for an electric guitar, but a hard case is mandatory for an acoustic guitar. We all know someone who has their guitar on a stand out in the open in their house. Bad idea. Anybody in the world can walk right up and smash, trip over, knock into, throw up on, spill their drink/food on, you-name-it on, your guitar. A case also helps protect against moisture and wild temperature variations which can warp wood and rust metal parts. Get a case and use it! This is learn guitar basics 101.

3) Tuning – Almost every song you hear is written and performed with the guitar in “E” tuning (also called “standard tuning”). You’ll hear Folkies and Death Metal people talking about “open G” and “drop B” tunings. Politely nod, focus on learning guitar basics, and then standard tune your guitar as follows: thickest string to “E” (often called the bottom string even though, when you look down as you play, it’s on top), second thickest string to “A”, third thickest string to “D”, fourth thickest string to “G”, fifth thickest string to “B”, and the thinnest string to “E” which will be exactly one octave higher than the “low E” first string. You can learn to do this by ear or you can invest in an electronic tuner. Beginners should get an electronic tuner. Keep it in your case.

4) Chords – There are seven major chords (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) and about a million variations of those chords. Most songs use these seven major chords, so unless you want to play jazz or something, you should start by learning these as you learn guitar basics. It would take more space than we have here to show you the fingering for these chords, so you’ll have to find that out elsewhere (hint: the blue link in my bio is a good place to start). As a beginner, you simply need to understand that there are chords and there are bar chords. Bar chords are major chords played with a “bar” (usually your pointer finger) over the entire fret before the chord is formed. You can use what’s called a capo which is a small, movable bar that fits over a single fret (they look like giant clothespins).

5) Playing – Once you know how to hold, handle, and tune your guitar, and you’ve learned a few of the major chords, it’s time to play. Nothing, and I mean nothing, will teach you how to play guitar faster or better than actually playing it. Google the chords for your favorite song and play along. You don’t even have to match the strumming or soloing. Just try to identify the chord changes to develop your ear. Don’t be afraid to mess up because you will, again and again. Just keep playing and it will become more and more natural. After you locate and execute the chord changes enough times, you should try strumming along to learn rhythm and tempo. Once you get that down, expand your chord knowledge with minor chords and sevenths. Buy a comprehensive guitar teaching course if you want to learn more than just guitar basics. You may never play like the guitar gods, but there’s no reason, with a little practice and patience, you can’t play guitar as well as most people. Have fun!

Zach Wyrick writes website content for clients big and small at http://www.writewayinc.com. He learned his guitar basics late at night on the internet (sorry neighbors!).

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