Why would you want to learn to play the guitar? Because you love the sound, because you love the feel of the guitar, maybe your hero in your favourite band is the lead guitar player. Whatever your reasons, you have decided to learn and are looking for a quick route to stardom.
Contrary to popular belief, learning to play the guitar is relatively easy. Like anything in life you need to be shown the basics and then it is just a case of practice makes perfect.
Although some people are naturally talented when it comes to musical instruments I have yet to see a student who picks up a guitar and immediately blasts out a classic. To play guitar to a good level takes a lot of dedication and practice.
Although all this dedication and practice sounds like hard work it really isn't, if you have decided to go this far the chances are that you will actually enjoy the endless twanging that is needed to become competent.
Where to start?
Your starting point is your equipment. We always recommend you start with an electric guitar. They are far more forgiving and easier to play than an acoustic. At the very least you will need a guitar and an amp. Just because you are a beginner it doesn't mean you can buy any old rubbish. Anything with Fender written on it will generally be good quality gear. The Fender Frontman range of amplifiers is a great starting point and is available all over the Internet.
Ok, ok I have my guitar set up
You have your guitar, your amp and a plectrum and you are ready to begin. First you need to tune your guitar. There are various methods to do this ranging from simply tuning by ear to some ridiculously complex methods. By far the easiest way is to use a guitar tuner. These are cheaply available on the internet or from your local music store and are really easy to use. There are even apps for most smart phones as well as web sites that have guitar tuners.
There really is no excuse for not tuning and it is essential that you your guitar is tuned, if you can't get hold of a tuner for some reason just pop into your local musical instrument store and they will be happy to tune it for you.
Which string is which?
The guitar strings can be identified by their thickness. On a standard 6 string guitar the strings are as follows:
E - Thickest
A - 5th
D - 4th
G - 3rd
B - 2nd
E - Thinnest
This will help you replace them when they snap. And they do snap!
Chords
Chords are the basis of the guitar sound. Whenever you hear a big chorus in a song, these are chords. Chords are generated by playing 2 or more notes at a time. This sounds difficult but it just entails holding down 2 or more strings at a time whilst strumming the guitar. You should start with the C chord as this is the easiest to play and can be used endlessly. You play the C chord as follows:
• Index finger just behind the first fret on the second string (B).
• Middle finger, just behind the 2nd fret on the forth string (D).
• Ring finger behind the third fret on the 5th string (A).
• The first and third string are played open, whereas the 6th string is not played at all.
There are many more chords to practice and practice makes perfect. Practice swapping between chords as this is where most people fall down and can make the difference between sounding mediocre and sounding great.
Practice makes perfect but the right equipment can help tremendously!
There is a slight theme forming here. Practice makes perfect, the more you practice the better you will get but if your equipment is letting you down then all the practice in the world will make no difference.
The Fender Frontman is simply the best amplifier on the market for beginners and pro's alike.
Click here now to see more information about guitars and Fender range.
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