Starting any new journey in life can be a little overwhelming. Learning how to play the guitar is no different. Where do you even start? While there is a long way to go before you can play your favourite Zeppelin or Stones songs with any degree of competency, it doesn't mean you won't get there.
If you start with some fundamental things that will give you a strong foundation, you'll get there in no time. Be patient though, and expect to practise - a lot. No one ever said it would be easy! But it will be fun, and man will you a feel a sense of accomplishment if you stick with it.
Keep in mind just two short years ago I was sitting where you are now. I wanted to learn, but I didn't know where to start. I didn't want to take lessons. I just wanted to teach myself. I found what I was looking for through trial and error.
I don't want you to go through the same agony I did! That's why I decided to start this blog. There are a lot of great people out there providing great information for the beginner. I'm just hear to point you in the right direction, and instead of looking all over the place for what you need you can start here and be connected with all these great tools.
In this article I'll look at four basic things you need to consider to get your journey started.
Choosing the right Guitar
First things first. You need to get yourself a guitar! There are so many choices it can be a little overwhelming. Personally, I went with a Fender(R) CD-60CE acoustic guitar. It really is a nice looking guitar at a very reasonable price ( under $300 ). It features a cutaway, a built in Fishman(R) pickup, and a built in tuner.
You get the best of both worlds with this model. It's acoustic, but you can plug in as well if you want. More importantly, I didn't have to break the bank to get myself a guitar I'm happy with. If it sounds like what you're looking for you can check it out here.
Whatever you choose is up to you, but make sure it's something that will last. Even if you out grow it, it's always good to have that back up guitar to take on camping trips. There's nothing more satisfying than being able to entertain your friends and family around the campfire. See below for some more links to help you make that purchase decision.
Fender
Gibson
Martin
Yamaha
Schecter Guitars
Epiphone
Taylor Guitars
Choosing the right Pick for you
The pick may seem like a simple little piece of equipment, but choosing the right one for you can have a lot to do with how successful you'll be. They're made of many different materials, and come in different shapes and sized. So how do you know what's right for you?
In my opinion it really has a lot to do with your comfort factor. I prefer a thick pick rather than a thin one. I like the sound it produces, and it just feels right in my fingers. Some picks have a dimpled, rubberized grip, which is a great idea to help you hold on to it. When I first started playing I found I was always losing the grip on my pick. These picks helped me a lot with this. Check out these links to help you choose the pick for you:
10 Reasons to be Picky About Guitar Picks
How to Choose Guitar Picks
Tone Factors - Picks and Stones
How to Pick your Pick
Naming the Strings
One of the most basic things you need to learn on your guitar journey is the names of the different strings. There are six strings on the guitar. The thickest string, the first one you see when you look down at the guitar, is an E string, followed be A, D, G, B, E. Sounds simple enough, but you'd be amazed how often people have trouble with this.
Fortunately there are tricks you can use to help you remember the names of the strings. You can come up with your own little memory trick, but why reinvent the wheel? The one I like to use is "Eddy Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddy". Simple, but memorable.
It's important to simplify things as much as possible. Guitar shouldn't be a chore. It should be fun. By using little tips and tricks of the trade like this you can make sure your journey will be a fun one.
Basic Chords
Before you can hope to play a song you need to wrap your head around the basic chords. These are the major and minor chords. There are many more chords, such as 7th chords, minor 7th chords, Barre chords etc, but don't worry too much about all these yet. First you need to concentrate on the basics.
You should become familiar with the A chord, C chord, D chord, G chord, E chord, A minor chord, D minor chord, and E minor chord. If you can master these chords you will have a great foundation to move forward with. A couple of great resources that helped me with this were ChordBook.com , and AllGuitarChords.com . There are countless other resources out there. If these don't appeal to you do a search, I'm sure you'll find something that works for you.
Well hopefully you've found a few things here to get you started on your guitar journey. Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. I'm happy to help whenever I can! Cheers for now.
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