How to start playing the guitar: the basics for beginners, basic knowledge and learning features

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Many people think that mastering the guitar is unrealistically difficult and it will take years to play at the highest level. There is some truth in this, but do not despair, because talent and daily training can work wonders. This article will help you understand where to start playing the guitar and how to approach it correctly. Knowledge is power, and in this case it is hidden in the preliminary preparation and the main chords. And it doesn’t matter how old you are, because mastering the guitar is useful for self-development, and no one has yet canceled the pleasure of singing songs with your own hands in a circle of friends. As they say, go ahead with the song!

What is needed for fruitful learning

• Firstly, desire, because without it you don’t even want to eat, let alone master the skills of owning an instrument!
• Second, a guitar (preferably a good one).
• Third, precious time that flows like water throughfingers; and the sooner you start, the better.
• Fourthly, study materials, which are easy to get these days.

How to choose the right guitar

Having previously planned an individual training schedule and armed with desire, you can safely go to a music store (or visit a virtual one). At first glance, it seems that even the most low-quality guitar is suitable for a "teapot", but this is far from being the case. After all, if she constantly gets upset, and even the strings hurt her fingers painfully, there will be no talk of any normal training. In addition, you can pretty much fray the nerves not only for yourself, but also for those close to you. Have pity on them! So how do you get started playing the guitar? From choosing a decent instrument with thin and soft strings. If you do not have the opportunity to purchase a guitar, but have musician friends, borrow it from one of them. And when you get involved in the process, buy yourself a more or less high-quality tool at a reasonable price.

Two kinds of the same tool

Acoustic guitars are divided into two types: dreadnought and classical. There is an opinion that the second is the most convenient for beginners due to its wide neck and nylon strings. Due to these features, the risk of a “dirty sound” is drastically reduced, and the fingertips do not suffer as much as when playing on metal strings. But if your plans do not include the performance of masterpieces like Paganini's Caprice, opt for a dreadnought. It has a louder sound due to the strings frommetal materials, and a narrow neck allows you to quickly master the permutation of chords. In addition, the tips of the fingers in a short time will become so coarse that the corns simply cease to arise. However, if you want to gradually accustom them to string pressure, install soft nylon ones on your dreadnought.

To start learning to play the guitar without a hitch, visit the store with a friend who knows a lot about this instrument. This will deprive the seller of the pleasure of cheating the "teapot" and imposing a product that has been gathering dust on the wall for years. It is also necessary to choose carefully because each instrument has its own subtleties that a simple layman will not immediately see. Appearance is a secondary matter. It is much more important to choose a guitar that will be comfortable to play. Important details: strings, tuning machine and neck adjuster. Next, you should familiarize yourself with the operation of the instrument in order to penetrate in more detail the essence of how to start playing the guitar.

Device

Having obtained this wonderful tool, you need to get to know it better. In order to understand where to start learning to play the guitar, let's look at it carefully:

1. Deca. It is the "body" of the instrument and resembles the figure of a woman.
2. Vulture. Attaches to the deck, continuing it. Frets are marked on it and strings are stretched, along which your fingers will slide.
3. Headstock. Strings are attached to its pegs.

The entire neck is lined with metal nut, whichdivide it into parts. It is they who help to reproduce the sound during the impact on the string. Frets are usually counted from the headstock, and not vice versa. A standard guitar has six strings, and the thinnest is called the "first".

Important milestone

Before you start playing the guitar, you need to properly tune it. Nothing will work without this. A special tuner, which can be found in a music store, can help here. However, this is not necessary, as there are special smartphone applications that are a digital version. The device will tell you which of the strings should be tightened and which should be loosened. If it is possible to tune the instrument to the piano, then be sure to use it, as this is ideal.

On the fifth fret, all strings can sound on the same note (except for the third, which is tuned on the fourth). Therefore, there is a way to tune the guitar without outside help, and it is as follows:

1. The first string should be tuned to E, and if your hearing is not perfect, you still have to use another instrument or tuner.
2. Second - clamped on the fifth fret, after which the corresponding peg is pulled up until the sound becomes the same as that of the first open string.
3. Third - pressed on the fourth fret and pulled up until it sounds like the second string in the open state.
4. The fourth is clamped on the fifth and stretched to a similar sound with the third open.
5. From the fifth and sixth steps are repeated, andwhen all the strings sound in unison, you can safely proceed to the beginning of the guitar lesson.

As you can see, the tuning process is quite simple: pluck one open string and compare with the clamped one (twisting the peg to the desired result). The main thing in this matter is not to overdo it, otherwise you can drag it and break it.

How to start playing the guitar

Here, we finally got to the core of the issue. Despite the apparent ease, for dummies, the beginning of playing the guitar in practice turns out to be not so simple: either the strings “get along”, then painful calluses appear on the fingertips, or even the hands are taken away. And the point here is not only that this occupation does not tolerate lazy people. Only regular training will lead to the desired result. “There would be a desire, but the opportunity will appear by itself!”. Now do the following:

1. First of all, we sit down more comfortably: we throw one leg over the other, or we organize some kind of stand under the left (for right-handers). This is done so that it clearly fits into the bend of the soundboard and fixes the instrument.
2. Next, we bring the right hand into a relaxed state, and with the left hand we hug the bar “by the neck”. After all, it is there that the frets we need are located. It is important to remember that the thumb should lie parallel to the neck, and it is impossible to strongly choke it with your hand: it’s worse for yourself.
3. The first fret is under the headstock, and the string numbering starts from the bottom. We try to play a solo on the thinnest string: we clamp and “step” along the frets. The simplest thing is to pick up the song "Ina grasshopper was sitting on the grass. The main condition is to achieve crystal sound. Now repeat the same on the rest of the strings, but include all four fingers.

Where to start learning to play the guitar, besides "Grasshopper"?

To bring the beeping on one string to automatism, you can use such terrifying motives as:

• The Imperial March from Star Wars;
• Intro to “Iron Man” Black Sabbath;
• "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple.

After the hands are “friends” with each other, and the melody flows like a clear and sonorous stream, we must move on to the main thing - that is, to the chords.

Main Stage

No song can be played without chords, as they are the main element in the skill of playing the guitar. At first, you will have to suffer with them, but the result will help you forget all the unpleasant moments of training.

In standard chords, you need to press three strings at once, and in more complex ones, “barre” is used. There are also fourths and fifths, which can be mastered only after bringing your game to perfection. But you should not "bother" once again, because for simple yard songs it is enough to know only three chords: E, Am, Dm. They are versatile and allow you to play almost any song.

Chords

When it became more or less clear where to start playing the guitar, you should get acquainted with the names of the triads. Each chord is marked with a Latin letter, whichsuggests its main note, it is: C - to; D - re; E - mi; F - fa; G - s alt; A - la; H - si. A miniature additional m indicates that the triad is minor. In all other cases, the chord is major.

On paper, they are depicted in the form of special schemes - fingerings. This is such a square, lined with six horizontal stripes and three vertical ones. Places for fingers are usually marked with bold dots. There is also a fret numbering, which is written in Roman numerals. There are more detailed fingerings that indicate which fingers to press on the strings and which strings should not sound. For example, Am is taken as follows: the pad of the index finger is placed on the second string of the first fret; medium - on the fourth of the second; nameless - on the third of the same fret. A similar principle is used with other simple chords, and the diagrams always show where to press.

Once you've mastered three standard guitar triads, you can learn a few more to learn how to play more complex songs. C, A, D, Dm, and Em are fairly easy, but F, Fm, and H are much more complex and can make you nervous. The fact is that the latter are performed with the help of “barre”. And this means that the index finger is placed on all the strings of the fret, and on the other it is required to clamp another 2-3 strings. Achieving a clear sound is not easy, but with practice you can master them. You can learn something from Viktor Tsoi or "Aria" - then learning will become a pleasant experience. In our high-tech time, you can learn howany song is played, and unfamiliar chords are learned.

For the right hand

Sound is produced in two ways: by plucking the strings or by striking. In some songs, you can find both, and this does not affect the chords themselves.

1. Pull - alternating rhythmic twitching of the strings in the specified order.
2. Fight - hitting the strings with an up and down movement.

And those and others invented a lot. However, in schematic representations, it is usually indicated which fight or bust is used. Once you've mastered the easiest ones, all the rest will seem easy as well.

Conclusion

Now that the answer to the question of where to start learning guitar has become clear, keep practicing hard and try to devote at least a couple of minutes a day to the instrument. In this case, the main thing is patience, so do not betray the importance of rubbed fingers and the muffled sounds of strings. Over time, they will become as hard as heels and feel no pain, and practice will allow them to play clean and beautiful.