How to Learn to Play a Guitar
The guitar is a stringed instrument that can be played acoustically or electrically. Many young people pick up the guitar with dreams of becoming a rock superstar, but those dreams often end early and their guitars wind up in storage. This is because learning to play the guitar can be confusing if you have no guidance. The guitar isn't so hard to master if you approach learning the instrument in a way that makes it fun and introduces you to playing more than scales from the start. Here's how you can learn to play guitar with a simple, fun approach.
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Instructions
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Get familiar with your instrument. Your guitar has six strings. The first, or thinnest string, is an E. The next five strings are B, G, D, A and E. Your guitar neck has frets, each marked with a thin piece of metal or ivory called a fret marker. Each fret represents a half step. If you play the open (unfretted) first string E with your finger pressing on the first fret, the note you play is an F. The second fret on the same string is an F# (F sharp) and the third fret is a G. It continues all the way up the neck on each string just like that, with the 12th fret on each string being the same note as the open string, only an octave higher. Keep in mind there is only a half step between E and F and B and C. Every other note has a sharp or flat.
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Learn a basic major scale pattern and a basic minor scale pattern. You can refer to a scale chart when you need to. There are many available online, free of charge (see resources). It's a good idea to keep one handy. A neat trick is to memorize one pattern and vary where you play that pattern on the guitar to play in different keys. The step pattern for a major scale is whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole and half. This step pattern remains the same, and the major scale you play is named after the note you start on. The same can be done with minor scales, except the step pattern is whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole and whole.
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Learn basic first position chords. Chords are the building blocks of songs. The more chords you know, the better you will be able to strum out songs early on. Good chords to start with are C, D, A, G, A minor and D minor. These are basic first-position chords that will get you started playing simple music. Continue to add a couple of new chords to your repertoire each week, using a beginner's chord book that you can pick up at your local music store. You can also find these chords online (see resources).
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Practice playing your scales and chords, varying the rhythm you strum and pick. Focus on your strumming hand as you concentrate on learning the neck. Playing both well is what brings about the full effect of the guitar as an instrument. Additionally, playing scales and chords will strengthen your fingers.
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Refer to one of the free guitar teaching sites on the Internet (see resources). These sites offer easy, valuable instruction that will help keep you on course. If at any time you feel you aren't progressing well enough on your own, consider looking in the local paper for a guitar teacher or visiting your local music store for a reference.
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