How to Play Beginner Guitar - Lesson 2

The tablature below is the 2nd section of "Sunshine of Your Love." As you can see, this part is identical to the part you learned in the previous lesson, except instead of the riff starting on the 5th string, it starts on the 4th string. You shouldn't really have any trouble with this riff because of how similar it is to the riff you learned previously.



The only difficult part you may struggle slightly with is switching between the previous riff and this one. When you play along with "Sunshine of Your Love," you should play the first section 4 times in a row, followed by this section 2 times, and then back to the first section for an additional 2 times. Once you complete that, you will then move onto the chorus which will be explained below.

Before we go into the chorus of "Sunshine of Your Love," you must first learn a few guitar chords that are in the "open" position, hence the name "open chords." I will show you 3 chords for now so that you can practice, memorize, and work on them for the next week. Those chords will be "G," "C," and "A."

First, we will start with the "G" chord. When you read the tablature for any chord, you should always read the tablature from 6th string to 1st string. To play a "G" Chord, you should start by playing the 6th string, 3rd, fret. Make sure to use your 2nd finger (middle finger). Since it is a chord, you are going to hold down that note, while playing the other notes. Then, you should use your 1st finger to play the 5th string, 2nd fret.

Make sure to play on your FINGERTIPS so the notes ring out CLEANLY. The 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings are all zeroes, which means that you play those strings without fretting the guitar. Lastly, you use your 3rd finger to play the 1st string, 3rd fret. Make sure that the "G" chord rings out cleanly and you can hear all the notes.



Next, we will play the "C" chord. The fingers for the "C" chord correlate directly to the frets. So, you will play the 5th string, 3rd fret, with your 3rd finger. You will then play the 4th string, 2nd fret, with your 2nd finger. Lastly, you will play the 2nd string, 1st fret, with your 1st finger. The 3rd string and 1st string are left open. Also, you should not play the 6th string at all. Make sure you are playing on your fingertips so that all the strings ring out cleanly.



The last chord you will learn is an "A." For an "A" Chord, you will just need your 1st finger. Your 1st finger will play the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings on the 2nd fret. You will essentially be "barring" the 2nd fret. You will have to flatten your first finger across those 3 strings. Make sure to also play the 5th string open.

Once you have memorized the three chords, "G," "C," and "A," you will have to practice switching between those chords, in time! The best way to get good at switching chords is to practice with a metronome.

A metronome is a device which simply keeps time by beeping at a set interval, referred to a BPM (Beats per minute). If you set the metronome at 60 BPM, the metronome will beep or click at 60 beats per minute.

A metronome is essential for practicing because it forces you to play to a beat. The best way to practice switching chords would be to allow the chord to ring for four beats and then switch to another chord for four beats, and continue that pattern until you can smoothly make these changes.

Although it seems like switching chords should be easy, it is actually a rather difficult skill that may take a while to master. Also, many apps exist for various phones that are free or relatively cheap to download. Good luck!

Now that you have memorized the 3 chords, "A," "C," and "G," we will apply them to learning the chorus of "Sunshine of Your Love." By learning those chords, you will now be able to play the entire song of "Sunshine of Your Love"!

Notice, in the chorus section of "Sunshine of Your Love," you will start out with an "A" chord. You then have a considerable amount of time to switch to a "C," and then less time to switch to a "G." If you can read the rhythm above, GREAT. If not, don't worry about it.

For now, listen to the song to hear how the rhythm goes, or even better, watch the video below, so that I can show you exactly how this section is played.