Entertainment
How To Play Guitar
If you want to learn how to play guitar there is a secret. People who understand the guitar progress rapidly in their playing. People who do not, can spend years learning songs, plodding along slowly but never really getting it. They never make real progress or become independent guitar players. Don’t let that happen to you.
A normal guitar has six strings, each of which has a different size and note value. In standard tuning, the bottom string (also the skinniest and highest sounding) is an E note. In the same way that we numbered each of the strings, we will also assign a number value to each of the fingers on your fretting hand so that you know which fingers to use when creating a chord.
Learn to be patient. A guitar needs time. It will reward you if you put in the effort. From learning new chords to developing the rhythm of your strumming, you will often need a considerable amount of patience. Make sure you have access to all the resources and tools that you need. Any decent music store should have tools for acoustic and electric guitars: plectrums, guitar capos, tuners, artist chord books, electric guitar pedals and amps.
Play songs you’re familiar with. Buy songbooks of your favorite bands—but make sure the songbooks include the chords, not just the notes. The Beatles songbook is a good place to start, especially the “Rubber Soul” songbook. More modern songbooks might mainly consist of bar chords. Acoustic-based records are the best place to start.
Guitar playing involves muscles that you have never used before, so naturally they will become sore. Do not give up. Doing drills is not fun. It takes a lot of commitment. Again, do not give up. Through repetition and practice you will develop muscle strength and eventually muscle memory, which is very important in guitar playing.
