Basics of Playing a Guitar

Introduction

Daunting as it may seem to the beginner, learning to play the guitar is nowhere near as difficult as it may seem at first glance. As with most other things all it requires is a bit of practice, and access to a guitar of course.

How to Hold a Guitar

After familiarizing one's self with the various parts of the guitar one of the basic things you will need to know is how to hold the guitar. Learning to play the guitar is easier if you are comfortably seated. Sitting in an armless chair with your back against the back of the chair is recommended, as posture is important. Assuming that you are right-handed the guitar should be held with the under-side of the guitar body resting on the right leg while the back of the guitar body rests against the stomach area. The guitar's headstock should point leftwards with the bottom of the neck held parallel to the ground. The sound hole of the guitar will be facing away from you. The left hand will be responsible for the neck region while the right hand will be concerned with the body of the guitar.

Getting to Know the Chord Chart

Visual representations of guitar chords are referred to as guitar chord diagrams. A guitar chord chart is made up of a list of these chord diagrams. In the same way that the language of English or Spanish is used as a vehicle of communication of ideas, these guitar chord charts work in a similar fashion. The images displayed on these charts will have one standard meaning to everyone knowledgeable about guitar music that view it. What each of the diagrams on the guitar chord chart will show is where each finger is to be placed, which strings are to be left open, the name of the chords, the string numbers, and the fret number. On the guitar chord diagram black dots represent where fingers are to be placed when playing a chord while white dots show where the strings should be left open. Where there are no dots that string should not be included in the playing of that chord.

The Three Basic Chords

A chord is defined as three or more musical notes played at the same time. Therefore at least three strings would have had to be struck together on a guitar for the sound produced to qualify as a chord. Where the guitar is concerned there is no fixed set of basic chords but it is understood that there are some that every guitarist should know. Three chords considered to be the most common, and which could also be said to be the three basic, are the G major, C major and D major chords. There are however, three groups into which all chords can be placed and these are Major, Minor, and Seventh.

Strumming and Changing Chords

The act of passing an object over the strings of a guitar to produce a sound is called strumming. This object is usually the fingers or a plectrum, which is also called a pick. Strumming should not just be a wrist action but one including the elbow. The area covered by the hand will then be a large arc and the plectrum should move across the strings quickly, producing a sharp sound. So the right hand will be strumming while the left will be responsible for selecting the chords to be played. Both of these actions should be practiced separately initially. After mastery of each has been achieved it will be time to do them simultaneously, which may prove challenging. Moving form one chord to the next seamlessly, without a break in strumming, will take some practice but after a while it will become almost effortless. Correct hand positioning, keeping the left hand loose, keeping it simple at first, and lots of practice, will prove invaluable here.

The people you may see in rock bands playing their guitars so well are not necessarily better than you, it's just that they probably had a bit more practice. It isn't far fetched that with the same amount of practice you could do an even better job.

Imagine how great it will feel to learn the guitar real fast! Click here to find out about guitar lessons online and soon you'll be strummin away.