How to Play the Guitar
If you think learning to play a musical instrument is difficult,
then you haven’t learned how to play the guitar. You may not become a
musical genius overnight, but in just a few short lessons you can learn
how to play the guitar and be well on your way to a consummate professional.
There are essentially two elements of learning to play the guitar: positioning
and chords. Once you learn these elements you will be equipped with all you need
to begin playing the guitar.
While you are anxious to play the guitar, you must first learn how to hold the guitar.
Many people think they only need to place the guitar in their lap and they’re ready to
play. Holding your guitar incorrectly can actually affect the sound your instrument
generates. When you play your guitar you will either play it sitting or standing.
When you play your guitar sitting down, you want to be sure the guitar rests comfortably
in your lap. The main thing to remember is that you don’t want your body to support the guitar.
Standing and playing the guitar is more of a presentation style.
You will hold the guitar
like you would if you were sitting, but you place one foot in front of you to prevent stress
on your back. When you first learn how to play the guitar, holding the guitar may seem awkward.
Just give it some time and it will eventually seem natural to you.
Once you feel comfortable holding your guitar, it’s time to focus on positioning. Positioning
refers to what you do with your hand to play music using the guitar. Let’s start with the left
hand. The longest part of the guitar, the neck, is the area of the guitar where you will
position your fingers and thumb so that you can create the great music afforded to the guitar.
You should not place too much force against the fretboard when you play a note.
Your right hand is responsible for picking, plucking, or strumming the strings.
You can decide for yourself how to play the guitar using either method. The proper
way to hold your hand when you play the guitar with a pick is to make a fist with your
thumb on the outside of your hand.
The pick slides between your thumb and index finger.
You then pick the strings in an upward motion. To play the guitar with your fingers, or
pluck the strings, you use your thumb and index finger. Like when you use a pick, you pluck
the strings in an upward motion. Strumming involves playing all the strings all at once.
If you’re wondering how to play the guitar if you use a left-handed guitar, you will
position your fingers in mirror image of the instructions presented here.
Although you are just starting out, you are probably anxious to start actually learning
how to play the guitar. There is one more important element to learn before you can actually
playing music. It doesn’t matter what genre of music you are interested in playing, you will
need to be able to recognize chords to play music. A chord chart represents the neck of the
guitar and indicates by using “X” marks, hollow circles, and numbered circled how to play a
particular chord.
The fretboard consists of six strings and five frets. The hollow circles in a chord chart
indicate strings that you play.
The numbered circles indicate which finger to use to play
the chord. Neglecting to include your thumb, associate each finger with a number beginning
with the number one (for example, the index finger would be 1, the middle finger would be 2,
and so on). The “X” on the chord chart indicates that you should not play that string. Once
you learn how to play the guitar and learn the five major chords (C, A, G, E, D) it will be
easier to learn how to play just about any song.
Peter Lenkefi
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/how-to-play-the-guitar-3037.html
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Comments
Play guitar?
i REALLY wana play guitar. i heard its hard to learn. but how hard? Any starting tips? how much money are we talkn? can i teach myself?
any imput would be greatly appriciated. Thanks
Playing guitar is alot of fun! Everyone in my family knows how to play………except for me. It just takes ALOT of practice till you get GOOD.
guitars cost around 600-1000
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um yu could teach urself but its really hard,, lots of effort,, is needed,, yur not talking lots of money 100$ per year,, for the lessons and then the guitar well depend who yu buy it from or rent it from,,,
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it is hard money depends on the guitar and its hard to teach your self
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I’ve been playing guitar for about 12 years/self taught. It’s NOT as hard as people tell you. My best advice would be to get yourself an Ibanez electric as you can get one for the same price as a "starter" guitar (which usually suck) Ibanez is a good brand and even the cheapo models play great. Check out how to read tabulature, it is very easy and you can easily find tutorials on http://www.911tabs.com. Finaly, utilize youtube. I didn’t have this when I started but damn there is so many tutorial guitar lessons on it that will really help. I’ve used it myself recently to learn better techniques. I know many people who learned basics after a month of playing/self taught. Maybe borrow someone’s guitar first (most guitar players have like 10 guitars lol) and see how you do in a few weeks.
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i recommend starting with an acoustic guitar. you can get a good one in a pawn shop for $50-100. make sure it feels comfortable in your hands. find someone who plays guitar to simply show you how to hold it and finger notes. taking lessons for a year isnt a bad idea, but i found, as most do, that I learn faster on my own; but be prepared to put in good practice time. DAILY. when i started out, I listened to the rdaio and tried to copy vocal lines with my guitar. just see if i could play along with singers voice (i rarely tried to copy the guitar parts) look online for some easy TAB files for learning songs you like.
easiest of all, find a buddy who is also startign out with you, or even better, someone who knows a little more than you who is willing to show you some tips.
dont feel down because you arent making progress. the first year or so is the hardest.
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i learned myself by learning how to read guitar tabs once I did that I started playing the songs and gradually i got better and better it just depends on if your willing to take the time to practice the songs
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well some people find it hard some people find it a bit easy, truth is anyone can be really good at it, its all about practice.
yea you can teach yourself, but the best way really is if you have a friend who knows how to play or someone whos also starting to play, then so you can share stuff, and always have like a competition that keeps you wanting to know more and be better.
for starters buy an acoustic guitar (never start with an electric guitar) thats pretty much the only thing youll spend real money on.
try to use your fingers first, using a "pick" could be a bit difficult at first. get a hold of some music mags or song books that has chords in it and get a chord chart, you can print one from the net. try some of the basic chords: e,a,d,g,b
then strum it and listen if none of the strings are dead, that means your doing it properly, then just practice fast switching from one chord to another. as long as you keep practicing youll improve really fast.
goodluck
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Learning to play the guitar is one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself. There are many approaches such as self taught, instructor led, or classically trained. They each offer their advantages but it all boils down to practice. I tell all my students the same thing, "You can take a 1000 lessons, but if you dont practice, you wont learn anything."
Your approach or method to learning should be based on your own learning style. Being self taught means you can proceed at your own pace. Taking lessons hold you accountable and makes you reach for goals. Being classically trainined gives you a very good and solid understanding of the theory of the music.
If you are looking to learn for just personal enjoyment, it wouldn’t take that long. You can be up and playing your basic chords with relative compentence within a couple of weeks if you really knuckle down.
I’ve written an article that talks about all this at my website that I give to new students.
You can read about it here. Hope this helps.
http://toneslinger.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=57
ToneSlinger
References :
http:\\www.toneslinger.com
The "Guitar Handbook" at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Handbook-Ralph-Denyer/dp/0679742751?ie=UTF8&tag=howtochoosadi-20
is brilliant check out the reviews.
It’s not hard to learn the guitar but it can take a lifetime to master it. First get yourself a guitar – acoustic, not electric. You’ll get a better guitar for the $$$s and you won’t need an amp, wires and waste hours in front of the mirror being Jimmy Page – er that might just be me.
Next get some lessons. Money spent on lessons is weeks of time saved trying to figure it out for yourself. After two years of trying to play guitar better I found an online course and improved so much over the next five weeks. I’m happy jamming with bands and improvising now. The one I used was:
http://www.jamoramo.com/
I paid $40 for 148 video lessons and a 200+ page manual
But surf the net and check out what’s out there. Find a course and tutor that you’re happy with and then practice until your fingers bleed.
Best of luck
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