Day 1: How to get started playing guitar!
Before we can get to the nitty gritty of playing guitar you are going to need some supplies. Some of the things you will need to get started in your guitar playing journey would be things such as your guitar (if you don't have one yet, a tuner, guitar picks (unless you wish to play using finger style), cables (if you have an electric guitar) and the type of guitar you want.
Picking a tuner: There are many tuners out there in the world to pick from, and thanks to the power of the internet you can also find many free apps or free websites! Some really good tuners would be Snark tuners and korg tuners, there are many other tuners out there, but these are the most common types of tuners and my personal favorite. You can find these tuners at a pretty fair price online. If however you don’t wish to put down the money to buy a tuner I recommend the GuitarTuna app. It’s a very simple, easy to use app and it’s free! The only problem about using a phone tuner is that they are very sensitive to sound and you might have trouble picking up the sound on your phone or other device, unlike the snark which you place on your guitar headstock and it uses the vibration of the wood, or the korg tuner which you can plug into it with a guitar cable.
The next is guitar picks, the type of guitar pick you use is going to depend on the style of music you wish to play. For example, if you play country songs you might like soft or medium picks, but if you play hard rock or heavy metal you will most likely prefer to use heavy picks. For a beginner I recommend medium picks, you can go to a guitar center and they have a lot of free guitar picks that you can use, I believe it’s only one per customer but it’s still free and you get an idea if you like medium picks. Personally I recommend Jim Dunlop 1.0 mm heavy picks, I recommend going to amazon and buy in bulk, you can get a pack of 36-72 for around $10-$15! Just look up dunlop picks blue on amazon.
The third thing is cables, now this only applies if you wish to play electric guitar, but hands down, the best type of cables are MONSTER cables! They’re a little pricey, but they last FOREVER! I have my first monster cable since 2005 and it still works to this day! Another great things about monster cables is that they have a lifetime warranty! So if they do stop working, drop by your local guitar center or other licensed Monster cable dealer and have them exchange it for you! They are a little pricey though so if you can’t afford them, just get standard cables, they will last a few years. Things to keep in mind would be things such as cable length (if you wish to move around the room or play shows in the future) and any possible noise that may be produced by the cable.
Guitar type. What type of guitar do you want? An electric? Acoustic? Which style of music do you want to play? All these questions depend on you. However, I see a lot of people who choose to go with acoustic guitars first because they believe that it will be easier then an electric or they are not ready for an electric guitar or that electric guitars will cost thousands of dollars. The truth is, electric guitars are actually MUCH easier to play then acoustics! The reason is, is acoustics normally have a fatter next and steel strings! The fatter neck makes it difficult for you to wrap your hands around the guitar and the stronger steel strings requires more force in order to push down on the fret in order to produce the sound. You can find a lot of good, used electric guitars and amps in guitar center, and they also have bundle deals! Look up fender strat packs! Those go for only $135-$150! If you wish to save money, visit a local guitar center and check out there selection of used acoustics, they have a good selection of acoustic guitars from anywhere to $40-$100! But if you do choose to go acoustic, ask for a classical acoustic with nylon strings! Nylon strings are easier to play then steel strings and don’t require as much force to be used in order to play!
How To Read Music:
Now we are going to start with the actual learning of the guitar! And first we are going to start with how to read tablature! Tablature is much simpler then actual music notation, and I HIGHLY recommend while you are still in the beginning stages to avoid learning to read standard music notation, you will thank me for this later!
Tab consists of six lines, each line representing a string on the guitar. The line closest to the top represents the high e string, which is the thinest string closest to the floor. The string on the bottom of the tab paper represents the low E string which is the thickest string on the guitar closer to the ceiling. The high e string is also known as string one while the low E string is known as string 6. Here is a graphic visualization of what I am talking about with the names and number of the strings listed right beside it.
Numbers are placed on these lines to signify which string and fret is played. Take a look at the next example to see a visualization of what I mean.
This concludes day one of the 10 day beginning guitar course. If you want to get started playing guitar and reach your goals quickly then click here for more information on how to get started!