How to play guitar!

The most common guitar is the six string, which has six strings. The strings on a guitar ascend from low to high, the thickest being the lowest and the thinest being the highest. Starting from the lowest string, the strings are standardly tuned to the notes E A D G B E (these are the notes that are played when they are strummed without being fingered). Some guitars may have more, such as 7 or 12 strings, but a six string is the standard, which I would highly recommend if you are just starting. Later on you might want to experiment with other tunings or you might not want to. You probably already know that there are acoustic guitars and electric guitars. Both have about 20 to 24 frets on them (the little metal things that get closer and closer to each other as they go up the neck). Pretty much the only difference between the two is the sound and where it comes from. The sound on an acoustic comes from the big hollow space in it, with an electric guitar it comes from an amplifier. If you already have a guitar hopefully you have already figured that out.

First of all, your fingers have probably never endured something a physical as playing guitar so you need to exercise them, and the best way to do that is to practice. Your fingers will hurt at first, but they will develop callouses. Your hands may also feel a bit awkward at first but eventually they will get stronger, stretch out some, and gain muscle memory. Even if you're a musical prodigy its gonna take some TIME for your hands to get used to it. Soon or later your guitar will feel very natural in your hands, IF you Practice.

The first thing you always need to do is make sure your guitar is in tune. You can do this either with a tuner or by ear. You may want to use a tuner at first but eventually it is good to know how to do it by ear.

There are a couple ways to tune by ear, but first you should make sure at least one of your strings is in standard pitch (440 hertz) or at least close to it; you don't want your guitar to sound way to flat or way to sharp. To do so, tune at least one string to another instrument, such as a piano, or something that you know the frequency of. Most likely you can find something on the internet that will play the notes for you, which you can tune to. Once you have a string for reference tuned (preferably one of the E strings or A) you can use that string to tune the rest of them. This can be done by placing your finger on the 5th fret on the low E string and then play it along with the string below it-the A string-which this should be left open. These to notes should be the same. If you hear a wavy wobbly sound they are not in tune, and you will be hearing two separate wavelengths; the closer these wavelengths become the closer it is to being in tune. Once it is in tune they should sound the exact same and should be nice and crisp. The same can be done with the A string and the D string, and the D string and the G string. But once you get to the B string you will need to fret the G string on 4th fret and play the B string open. And when you get to the high E string you will play the B string on the 5th fret. If you have never played any instrument before you may have to train your ears to hear this. In tablature it will look like this:

E--------------------0---
B----------------0--5----
G------------0--4--------
D--------0--5------------  
A----0--5----------------
E---5--------------------

*If you don't know how to read this see Tablature below

Second you need to make sure your finger nails are short, especially on the hand that you will be pushing down on the neck with, if they extend past your fingertip it will be harder to play and it will sound unpleasant . If you are right handed you will use your left hand to push down on the strings and use your right hand to pick or strum. If you're left handed its the opposite.

Now to actually start playing guitar, firmly place your index finger straight down onto one of the strings, directly in-between the frets, not on top of it, and on the same string use your other hand to pluck it. You should press down with your thumb on the back of the neck to give it counter pressure (or you can wrap it around the top to use it to play the bass string but this is not considered to be classically correct). You should hold your pick between your index finger and your thumb, or you can finger pick in which you use your thumb to strum downward and your other fingers to pluck upwards on the strings. Be careful not to pick any other strings other than the one you are pushing down on. If the note does not ring out clearly you're doing something wrong... make sure you push down hard on the neck and try to be smooth when you strum or pick. This is the basis to physically playing guitar but to actually make music it gets a little more complicated.

You probably want to learn how to play songs written by musicians that you like; its a good way to impress people. There's a few ways you can go about doing this.

One ways is to just put your hands on the guitar and figure it out by ear, this can be difficult, especially if you don't know what your doing. But if you can listen to the notes being played in a song and match them up note by note on your guitar, this may work for you. Although it will probably take you little while to know where all the notes are on the guitar.

And of course you can always learn the old fashion way which is to learn to read sheet music. This is probably the best method to learn and thoroughly understand music.

Tablature

Another method which is pretty easy to learn and use, and also possibly the most common method today, is tablature. Tablature, or tab for short, is a form of music notation in which there are lines and numbers to represent notes on an instrument. Many guitarist in this day and age just use guitar tabs and don't even know how to read standard music notation, most likely because its easier to learn. Although, only the notes are provided so you must preliminarily understand the how the rhythm is supposed to go. Therefor, it is somewhat essential that you have listened to the song before.

Guitar tabs have 6 lines representing the 6 strings of the guitar: the top line representing the high E (the thin string) and the bottom line representing the low E (the thick string). and then all the others in between. The frets are given numbers 0-24 or however many frets there are. 0 being the string played open-not fretted/or fingered-and 1 being the fret closets to the head, going on and on as the pitch of the notes gets higher and higher until the neck reaches the body of the guitar. It will look something like this:

E-----3----------------------------

B-----0----------------------------

G-----0----------------------------

D-----0--------------------2--4--5-

A-----2-----------2--3--5----------

E-----3-----3--5-------------------

The notes that are stacked directly on top of one another are played as chords and should be strummed all at once. The notes that are separated are meant to be played individually in order from left to right.

The chord shown above is a G major chord, and the other notes are a G major scale. If you are just starting to play guitar it is very important that you learn how to play chords and rhythm before you start soloing. But first I want to talk about scales so you can understand what a chord is.

Scales

Every fret on a guitar is known as a half step or semi tone. Every two frets is considered a whole step or a whole tone. If you put your finger on one of the strings on the 1st fret, play it, and then play on the same string on the 2nd fret; you have played a half step. If you start on the 1st fret and then move to the 3rd fret on the same string you have played a whole step or whole tone. Music theory is based off of these intervals, which all scales relate to. A scale is a specific pattern of these intervals, each one having a root note or tonic. The root note or tonic is the first and last note of the scale. This is known as a key. Every song has a key which is usually but not always the first note or chord in the song. The most common scales are the major scale and the minor scale. I would say the most important is the major scale because many other scales are based of it. The scale above, the major scale, follows these intervals: Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.

Once you memorize this pattern you can move it anywhere up and known the neck of the guitar to play it in different keys. But first you should practice playing it in just one position, until you can play it fluently in rhythm. Notice that the scale can be played in a range of four frets, you should use all four fingers, each one only playing the notes on one specific fret. After you can play the major scale from low to high practice playing it forwards and backwards-ascending and descending-this is a good finger exercise.

Scales can be played on just one single string or all the strings together.

The C major scale, ascending on one string in tablature:

E---------------------------------------------------

B---------------------------------------------------

G---------------------------------------------------

D---------------------------------------------------

A---3--5--7--8--10--12--14--15----------------------

E---------------------------------------------------

The notes in the C major scale are C, d, e, F, G, a, b, C. There are no sharp or flat notes in this scale - notice that there is not a sharp or flat in-between b and c, or e and f.

Another way to play the C major scale:

E-----------------------------------------------7--8---

B----------------------------------------8--10---------

G------------------------------7--9--10----------------

D--------------------7--9--10--------------------------

A----------7--8--10------------------------------------

E---8--10----------------------------------------------

Once this scale gets to the 10th fret on the D string it has gone all the way to the back to C, the root note, this is referred to as an octave (the 8th note of a scale). At this point the scale repeats itself until it gets to the 8th fret on the high E string, this is another octave. You should also learn how to play this ascending then backwards or descending. These are only a couple ways to play this scale; there are many many ways to play the same things on the guitar, the only difference will be the tone. And once you learn the finger pattern and the step-half-step pattern you can play the scale in any key you like, starting from anywhere on the guitar.

The major scale is a very popular scale in modern and traditional music, and many other scales are derived from its intervals. You will notice that it has a happy mood to it but there's probably thousands or at least hundreds of other scales you can play. So why just play one? The next most common scale is the minor scale, which sounds more dark and sad. This scale is often used in blues and Rock n' Roll, and many other genres as well.

I want you to first think of the C minor scale. Then, starting on C, being interval 1, count up to the 6th note of the scale. In the key of C the 6th note of the scale is A. If you play the same interval pattern of the major scale but starting and ending on the 6th note of it, you will get the minor scale. This is known as the Natural 6th or the Natural minor or just the minor scale. Whenever you play a scale but start and finish on a note or interval that is not the root note it is called a mode: this will give any scale an entirely different feeling or mood. This may seem confusing at first but once you get it, it makes understanding and writing music a lot easier. When you play a minor scale starting from the 6th interval of the major scale the intervals then follow this pattern: whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step.

The full minor scale in A minor goes like so:

E---------------------------------------------5------------

B------------------------------------5--6--8---------------

G---------------------------4--5--7------------------------

D---------------------5--7---------------------------------

A------------5--7--8---------------------------------------

E---5--7--8------------------------------------------------

Or:

E-------------------------------------0--1--3--5-----------

B----------------------------0--1--3-----------------------

G---------------------0--2---------------------------------

D------------0--2--3---------------------------------------

A---0--2--3------------------------------------------------

E----------------------------------------------------------

Notice that if you take a major scale and flatten the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes, it will become a minor scale. Many other scales can be formed by sharpening and flattening different notes in a scale.

Practicing scales will exercise your fingers and will help increase your ability to play fast. When you practice start off playing each note as one beat. Each note should be given the same amount of time. Once you can do that start playing two, three, or four notes per beat.

Chords

A chord is usually formed with three or four different notes. A basic major chord is formed with the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of the major scale. When these three notes are played it is known as a triad, although, each of these notes can be repeated multiple times in one chord to form a fuller sounding chord. Example:

C major

E-------  ---0-e--

B-------  ---1-c--

G---0-g-or---0-g-- 

D---2-e-  ---2-e--

A---3-c-  ---3-c--

E-------  --------

Pretty much every basic chord (except for B) can be playing in the first three frets on the guitar. Although, you are certainly not limited to only playing them there. These chords are:

    A   C   D   E   F   G   

E---0---0---2---0---1---3---

B---2---1---3---0---1---0---

G---2---0---2---1---2---0---

D---2---2---0---2---3---0---

A---0---3-------2-------2---

E---------------0-------3---

Now to make these chords minor all you have to do is flatten the 3rd of each one. Like This:

    Am  Cm  Dm  Em  Gm

E---0-------1---0---3---

B---1---1---3---0---3---

G---2---0---2---0---0---

D---2---1---0---2---0---

A---0---3-------2---1---

E---------------0---3---

The way you finger each chord may vary from person to person, but you want to be sure that you can move from chord to chord without your fingers getting jumbled. Just do what seems logical to you. Once you become familiar with these chord patterns and can strum them smoothly so that every note rings out clearly, you can then use these same patterns to play chords all the way up the neck, which are known as barre chords. Barre chords are formed by placing your index finger down flat and firmly (like a bar) over all the strings, and using your other fingers to form the rest of the chord. For example:

    A   B   C   D

E---0---2---3---5---

B---2---4---5---7---

G---2---4---5---7---

D---2---4---5---7--- 

A---0---2---3---5---

E-------------------

or

    E   F   G   A

E---0---1---3---5---

B---0---1---3---5---

G---1---2---4---6---

D---2---3---5---7---

A---2---3---5---7---

E---0---1---3---5---

or

    C   D   E

E---0---2---4---

B---1---3---5---

G---0---2---4---

D---2---4---6--- ...and so on

A---3---5---7---

E--------------- 

* the A, E, and C chords shown here are not barre chords

Music Theory

The same can be done with minor chords and many other chords. Many other chords can be created by adding or replacing different notes from the scale you are using. You may notice that some chords sound better together compared to other chords. This is because there are specific chords that fit in certain keys. To explain, if you are playing chords in the key of C major the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes of the scale will be played as major chords; these chords sound very good played together; many popular songs just use the I, IV, and VI chords. But theoretically if you are playing in a major key the chords of these intervals are major while the rest of the chords will be minor. However, if you are playing chords in the minor scale the 1st, 4th, and 5th will be minor, as well as the 2nd, and the rest major. Theoretically you should play chords that are made up of only notes which are in the scale of the key you are playing in. Commonly in music the first note or chord of a song will be the 1st interval of the scale followed by either the 4th or 5th and usually will end with the 4th or 5th preceding the root note. This, however, is just theory, these are not rules. Just play what sounds good to you. Keep in mind that this just briefly explains some music theory, much, much, more can be studied about it.

Technique

There are many different techniques, styles, and many different ways to get different sounds out of a guitar; some of these include, string bending, hammering, pulling off, sliding, vibrato, and palm muting. Each one of these is pretty much what their name says they are and are used as accents. Bending a string will heighten the original note. Hammering is when you play a note and then push down firmly on a higher note on the same string without plucking it again. Pulling off is just the opposite, which is done by playing a note and quickly releasing a finger so that a lower note behind sounds out. Sliding is when you slide your finger up or down a string so that it makes a sliding sound in between the notes. This can be done on multiple strings by using a tube-like tool called a slide or bottle neck, which is usually held on your pinky finger. This is played by lightly placing it down directly over the frets instead of in between them, and sliding it over the notes you wanna play. This is most commonly used in blues. Another technique is vibrato, which is done by playing a note and shaking or vibrating your wrist to produce a vibrating sound. Palm muting is when you lightly use the side of your palm of your picking hand to mute or dud the strings. This can be used to dull the sound of notes or to add certain effects to rhythms. All of these techniques can be used to add flavor and personality to the music you are playing. They don't have to always be used but they will certainly make it more interesting when used correctly.

Practice!

The most import thing to do to learn guitar is practice. Practice as much as you can and you will find there is always something new to learn. Try to learn songs from the music you like to listen to. If you can't play a song you wanna learn at first take a break and go back to it later, maybe even learn a different song first. The best way to learn an instrument is to play with other musicians. Music is meant to be played with multiple instruments, so try to befriend some guitarist and other musicians that are already better than you.