Get a Tuned Guitar
To start the first lesson you will need to have a guitar at hand.
Borrow one if you haven't got one yet. The first acoustic guitar
doesn't have to be the most suitable or the perfect guitar for you.
Like learning to swim, one just can't learn to swim by watching
someone else swim, right? So you can't think that you are having
a lesson without working on a guitar.
I assume that the guitar you have at hand is already tuned by
someone who is more experienced than you. If the guitar is not
tuned, it will be hard for you to get the right sounds out of it.
If you don't have someone to tune it for you right now, you can
download and use a free guitar tuner app on your mobile phone
to help you tune it. An example of such an app is called
GuitarTuna.
Borrow one if you haven't got one yet. The first acoustic guitar
doesn't have to be the most suitable or the perfect guitar for you.
Like learning to swim, one just can't learn to swim by watching
someone else swim, right? So you can't think that you are having
a lesson without working on a guitar.
I assume that the guitar you have at hand is already tuned by
someone who is more experienced than you. If the guitar is not
tuned, it will be hard for you to get the right sounds out of it.
If you don't have someone to tune it for you right now, you can
download and use a free guitar tuner app on your mobile phone
to help you tune it. An example of such an app is called
GuitarTuna.
Understand Guitar Parts
This diagram below will help you find where the parts of the guitar I'm
referring to later on. As you may be interested in the electric guitar too,
you will find that the electric guitar has a few more parts than the
acoustic one.
As you can see, the anatomy of a guitar composes of the head, the
neck and the body. The head or head stock is where you tune the
guitar. The neck is where you hold the guitar in your left hand if you
are right-handed and vise versa if you are left-handed. It is also
where you press your fingers on the fretboard/fingerboard to create
notes and chords.
The body is where you strum or pick the strings with your right hand
if you are right handed and vise versa if you are left-handed.
Start with Strumming
Strumming is when you play more than one note. Let your fingers play
a few notes together and bring out a group of sounds.
As the strings can be hard on your fingers, as a beginner it is better
to use a guitar pick, preferably a flimsy one, that is, a light and thin
pick, or even an ultralight one. A flimsy pick is much more flexible and
forgiving than a thick pick.
pluck each note down. That is also a good exercise for your pick.
When you are using your pick, think of it as using a tiny paintbrush
with the sharp end of the pick on the strings.
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Now you aim to play a little chord. And then you are going to strum it.
If you are a right-handed player, you will have your left hand and your
left fingers on the fretboard. When you go down the neck of the guitar
are the metal bars called frets. The frets are the spaces you count
down. Use the very tip of your index finger and the very tip of your
middle finger to strum. Yes, it hurts. So you may want to get some
light guitar picks to make learning easier.
What you do is, you press the strings to create notes and chords.
Along the fretboard are raised metal frets, or fret wires. You press
the string or more than one string down just behind the fret wire to
create a particular sound.
Check your fret board to see if there are inlay markers as there
often are. They are, either dots or more obvious markings positioned
at regular fret intervals.
You can count the frets. You can think of a fret as rectangular space
in between the metal brackets. So you can count with your fingers
the first fret, then the one below is the second fret and so one.
Without a guitar pick, your fingertips will hurt or even bleed but you
have to build up a little calluses because as you are doing so
playing gets easier and your fingers get stronger.
Start With an Easy Chord
Here is an easy to follow Youtube video of an easy and pleasurable
chord to learn. It is important to believe in yourself that you can overcome
the first hump of not knowing what to do with the guitar.
chord to learn. It is important to believe in yourself that you can overcome
the first hump of not knowing what to do with the guitar.
Keep Practicing
This goes without saying really. Set aside regular guitar time to
practice. Be patient and believe in yourself! I hope this short video
can help you with your guitar lesson.
practice. Be patient and believe in yourself! I hope this short video
can help you with your guitar lesson.
