Guitar for Dummies

So, you have a guitar. You're looking at it thinking "hm.....what now?".

Well, pick it up then! :)

Now, to begin playing it, first you need to know what the different parts of the guitar are called.

Take a look at my link list near the bottom of this lens, for a link entitled: Guitar for dummies - the parts of a guitar. Right click it and choose 'open in a new window' so you don't lose me! :)

Ok, so now you know what the different parts of a guitar are called.

Yeah yeah Dave, BORING! :P

Ok, ok, calm down lol

I just want to say that knowing the names of the parts of the guitar is extremely important because if one of them is faulty or breaks, it's nice to be able to tell the guy in the store "hey, the topnut needs replaced!" as opposed to "That white bit at the top of the long bit needs replaced!" lol

In the next module, we'll quickly look at tuning your guitar. If you don't tune it, you will have something that sounds like a cat being slowly tortured to death, trust me. ;)

Ok, so if you don't have an electronic guitar tuner, then you can actually tune your guitar manually, purely by ear.

"Huh?"

I'm not kidding. You can do it purely with the power of your ears!

First we need the names of the strings. We'll go through them from the fattest to the thinnest.

Fattest (or bass string): E
Next: A
Next: D
Next: G
Next: B
Next (The thinnest): E (Sometimes called 'High' E)

So, to begin, you need to make sure your Bass is tuned to the root note "E".
You can use a piano if you have one. Or if you don't have one, just go to Google and look for an online piano.

"Online Piano Dave? Are you losing it?"

No, I promise. In fact, you can find one here: Click for an online piano!

"Ok, smart Alec, sorry I doubted your sanity! What next?"

You're forgiven.

So, just play the note E on the piano and twist the machine head for the E string up or down to raise and lower the pitch of the Bass E string (thats the fattest one remember?). Keep doing it until it's perfect. Believe me, I can spend a full 5 minutes per string making sure the pitch matches exactly. But then I am a perfectionist....or maybe just sad? Who knows lol!

"Great, I got it the perfect E. What now?"

Excellent! Next, play the 5th fret of the Bass E, then play the A string "open".

"Open? "

Yes, 'open' means that you are not pressing any of the frets on that string.
So, you are trying to get the A string to sound like the 5th fret of the Bass E string. Again, take your time and try to get it perfectly.

"Gotcha! All done!"

Next, play the 5th fret of the A string and play the D string open. Again you are matching the D string open, to the 5th fret of the A string.

"Done! Man, I'm a natural!"

Ok Ok, let's not get too carried away yet! Next, play the 5th fret of the D string and play the G string open. You are trying to match the G string open with the 5th fret of the D string.

"Dunnit Dave!"

Ok great. Next, play the 4TH, yes 4TH fret of the G string and play the B string open. This time you are matching the sound of the B string open to 4th fret of the G String.

"Okey dokey. 4TH string. You sure it's 4TH Dave? Kidding!"

Haha. Very funny. Next, play the 5th fret of the B string and play the High E open. Remember that "open" means you are playing the string without touching any of the notes along that string on the fingerboard. This time you are matching the high E string open, to the B string's 5th fret sound.

"Yes. High E Open. B String 5th Fret. Got it."

Well done.

Et Voila! You've tuned your guitar!

Warning: This process can be very frustrating and can make you want to tear out your hair! But don't give up. Because if you're out somewhere with your guitar and you don't have an electronic tuner, then it's nice to just be able to tune it manually.

To check its tuned, just play a chord or two!

How? Check out the next module!

Note: Tuning Diagram Copyright JoyJoyJoy.com

So, this is the part where we start to make meaningful noises with the guitar. Chords. Combinations of strings, played together to produce harmonious sounds. (Wasn't quite like that for me when I started lol!).

So, the first chord I ever learned was E. How? The strings used to make the chord formation are: A, D and G.

On the D string place your pointing finger behind the 1st fret and leave it there. On the A string place your middle finger behind the 2nd fret and leave it there. On the E string, place your ring finger on the 2nd fret and leave it there.

Hint: At the back of the neck, its a good idea to have your thumb in the middle.

So you've made your first chord formation. Now just strum the guitar (use all six strings for this chord). Et voila! Your first chord.

Ok, so I can't go through all of the chords for guitar, because there are simply thousands and thousands of them!

Down below in the link list section, you'll find a link entitled: "Guitar for dummies - Chords". Again, please right-click and choose "open in a new window" so you won't lose this page.