How to learn to play the guitar: a detailed guide for the most independent

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The life hacker figured out where to start, how not to lose motivation and achieve results. It turned out that everything is not as difficult as it seems.

Before you start

For many, mastering the guitar is an overwhelming task that takes years. This is partly true, but only if you want to master the instrument at a professional level.

Much more often people want to learn how to play the guitar in order to perform their favorite songs in a company or just for fun. In this case, learning will not take much time and effort: in two or three months, you can easily learn the basic chords and methods of playing.

Do not give up, even if you have already had a bad experience. Talent is only a tenth of success. Determination and regular practice are much more important.

What is needed

1. Guitar.
2. A wish. It is even more important than the instrument itself.
3. Time to study. You can easily find it, too, if the desire is strong enough. Moreover, 30 minutes a day is enough for you.
4. Tutorials. There are no problems with them at all: you can buy a tutorial in a bookstore, watch video tutorials on YouTube, and find chords on the Internet.

As you can see, nothing supernatural.

Select and buy a guitar

Let's assume that you have the desire and the time. It remains to acquire a tool. They say that any guitar is suitable for a beginner, but it is not. When the strings hit the frets and cut into the fingers, and the guitar does not hold in tune, there can be no question of any progress.

A bad tool will almost certainly discourage learning.

Therefore, it is better to find a good guitar. At first, you can borrow a tool from one of your friends, and then, if it goes well and you like it, get your own. Not necessarily expensive and branded, the main thing is more or less high quality.

There are two main types of acoustic guitars: classical and dreadnought (western). There is an opinion that classical guitars are more suitable for beginners due to the wide neck and nylon strings. The first feature reduces the chances of accidentally hitting an unnecessary string with your fingers, because the distance between the strings is greater than that of the dreadnought. And the nylon strings themselves are softer than metal ones, so they don't bite so much into the pads of the fingers and they get less calluses.

On the other hand, if the performance of classical compositions is not included in your plans, it is better to take a dreadnought right away. This guitar sounds louder and louder due to the metal strings, and on a narrower neck it is more convenient to pick chords. Again, playing metal strings will make your fingers harden more quickly and there will be no more calluses.

As a compromise, you can take the dreadnought and replace the metal strings with nylon ones, at least during training.

Going to the store for a guitar, take a friend with you who knows how to play: each instrument has a lot of little things and a beginner may simply not notice them. Choose a guitar not only for its looks, but also for its convenience. Pay attention to the ability to adjust the neck, the mechanism of the tuning pegs, strings.

Learn the guitar

The tool was bought (or borrowed from friends), and you are one step closer to the goal. Take a close look at the guitar.

Most of it is called a deck. A neck is attached to it, ending with a head with pegs: with the help of them, the strings are pulled.

The neck is divided into frets by metal saddles, against which the strings are pressed to produce sound. The first fret is at the headstock, the last fret is at the deck.

There are only six strings. The countdown starts from the bottom, the thinnest.

Tune your guitar

Before you try to play, the guitar needs to be tuned. Do not be alarmed, even a beginner can do it. And without this skill, you will not be able to play.

By tuner

You will need a tuner in the form of a separate device (you can buy in a music store or on the same AliExpress) or a smartphone application. In both cases, tuning consists of alternately pulling or releasing all strings in accordance with the tuner's prompts.

5th fret

This method does not require any additional equipment. Its essence is that the strings, clamped at certain frets, sound in unison and can be tuned relative to each other.

According to the rules, the first string should be tuned to the note E, using a tuner (for example, its online version) or another tuned instrument as a reference. However, this only makes sense when playing in a group, so that all instruments sound in the same key.

If you play alone, and even more so just learn, then the first string can be tuned arbitrarily, approximately by choosing its tension. All others are configured like this:

1. Press the second string at the 5th fret and loosen or tighten until it sounds the same as the open first string.
2. Press the third string at the fourth fret and tune in unison with the second string open.
3. Press the 4th string at the 5th fret and tune to the open 3rd string.
4. Press the 5th fret at the 5th fret and adjust to the open 4th fret.
5. Squeeze the sixth in the same way at the 5th fret and tune in unison with the open fifth.

It sounds complicated, but in reality everything is as simple as shelling pears. Each string pressed down at the 5th fret should sound in unison with the previous lower string. The only exception is the third string: it must be clamped not at the fifth, but at the fourth fret.

The setup process itself is also extremely simple. For example, to tune the second string, you need to loosen it, and then pull the open first one and gradually rotate the second peg until the sound of both strings merges into one tone. That's all.

Try to play

Finally we got to the fun part - the game itself. It seems that there is nothing complicated here. Know yourself, hit the strings with your left hand and hit them with your right: you've seen this a million times and you've probably tried it yourself. Why then doesn't it work? The strings are rattling, the pads of the fingers are burning, and the joints are tired and numb.

It's all about the experience that comes with practice.

Take your guitar and sit on the edge of a chair or sofa, crossing your legs, or placing your left foot on a low stand, such as a stack of books. This will prevent the tool from hitting the chair and sliding off your feet.

The right arm should be relaxed, and the hand should not be twisted. The left hand covers the neck, but the thumb is always parallel to the frets. It is also not necessary to squeeze the bar that there is strength, otherwise the brush will quickly get tired.

As you already know, fret numbering starts at the headstock, and the strings start at the thinnest, lowest. Try playing random notes by pressing the first string with your index finger at different frets. Try to press down on the string fully so that it sounds clear. It won't be easy, but the technique will develop over time.

Try playing other strings as well as plugging in the rest of your fingers, letting them get used to.

Learn to play tunes on one string

Just making sounds is boring. Therefore, to make it more interesting, you can learn simple melodies on one string and practice on them. Here are some ringtones for example.

Classic "A grasshopper was sitting in the grass":

Deep Purple's Smoke Over Water:

Intro to "Iron Man" Black Sabbath:

Melody from the movie "Boomer":

Imperial March from Star Wars:

Take some time to play on one string. Bring your actions to automatism and achieve the coordinated work of both hands. Practice until the melodies sound smooth and clear, without stopping or stumbling.

During this time, the fingers will get used to the loads, which means that it will be possible to move on to more complex things.

Learn to play chords

The next step you have to climb is playing chords. It's much more complicated than single-string melodies, but don't be discouraged. After learning the chords, you can already play full songs.

The principle is the same, but you will need to press not one string, but several at once: usually three, less often two or four. There are many chords. However, for most of the songs, only five or seven are enough. To begin with, let's learn the three main so-called thieves chords: Am, Dm, E.

All chords are designated by Latin letters, depending on the base note:

• C - before;
• D - pe;
• E - mi;
• F - fa;
• G is salt;
• A - la;
• H - si.

If there is a small letter m next to the chord designation, it means that the chord is minor. If there is no such prefix - major. Chords are read either by letter designation or by name. For example, "a-um" (Am) or "G major" (G).

Chord patterns are called fingering patterns. A fretboard with strings is drawn on them. The frets are signed with Roman numerals. Arabic denote the strings and, in circles, the fingers with which to press the strings (1 - index, 2 - middle, and so on). A zero opposite the string means an open sound (unpressed string), and a cross means that the string should not sound.

Let's go back to our thug chords. Here are their fingerings:

To play the Am chord, you need to place your index finger on the second string at the first fret, with your middle finger on the fourth string at the second fret, and with your ring finger on the third string at the second fret.

The rest of the chords are taken according to the same principle: we look at which frets and which strings you need to press.

On these three chords, you can already play simple yard or army songs. But it's better to learn three more chords, with which the repertoire will expand significantly. Here they are:

There shouldn't be any difficulties with the first two, but the third is slightly different from the previous ones. It uses a barre - a technique when all the strings are clamped on the same fret with the index finger. Barre chords are a little more difficult than open chords, but with practice, you will master them too.

As always, to make learning more interesting, you can train right away on any song. For example, on the canonical "Pack of Cigarettes" by the "Kino" group or "Watchmen" from "Boombox".

You can also find on the Internet any other songs that you like (for example, by request "chords on louboutins"). If you come across unfamiliar chords in the selection, you can try to find another one or just learn something new.

Learn combat and brute force

There are two ways to produce sound: busting and fighting. Some songs are played only by brute-force or only by fighting, others by both methods. The chords are the same, the only difference is whether you pluck the strings with your fingers or strike them.

There is a huge amount of brute force, as well as battles. And in different songs they are, of course, different. Usually, in the analysis, along with the chords, it is indicated which brute force or fight should be played.

Let's take a look at a few of the most common ones. The rest you will learn along the way.

What's next

Now that you have gotten to know the basics, learned the chords and got your hands on a little, the main thing is not to give up training. Your fingers will ache and become tangled when you rearrange chords, and the strings will not always sound.

Don't stop at all and just keep playing. Every day you will get better and better, and in the end you will achieve your goal.

Finally, a few tips that will help you learn to play the guitar on your own and will not give you despair:

1. Always use multiple sources of information to fill possible gaps and inaccuracies from one teacher to another.
2. Play every day: Exercise regularly will build confidence. Remember that talent is only a tenth of success, everything else is practice.
3. After you've learned a couple of songs and can play them with ease, be sure to invite your friends and play for them. Listeners will help develop charisma and point out flaws.