When you are ready to learn to play your guitar you have a few choices. You can:

• Muck around for years learning no more than a few riffs, or
   

• Spend a lot of time and money finding a good guitar teacher paying them by the hour,
  or
   

• Learn in the comfort of your own home with an excellent home study course.

There are numerous Home Study Courses available both on and off line. I cannot vouch for all of them but I can recommend the ones I am familiar with.

You will find a number of courses in the resource column.

A Home Study Course that I highly recommend is Jamorama.

I like this course for a number of reasons:

• It's multi-media and not just another boring text book

• The chord diagrams are real photos

• It comes pack with lots of other goodies

• It comes with full support and scope to advance your playing

• I use it myself

It is the basis of your 5 free guitar lessons so check it out and sign up today to get a little taste.
 

What is Required to Play Guitar?

Firstly you need to have your own guitar of choice -
whether it is a:

• 6-string classical,

• 6-string acoustic,

• 6 electric guitar or

• 4-string bass guitar.

and a practise amp with leads if you are going electric.

You can start with a second hand instrument or even hire one to try it on for size.

• For your comfort invest in a guitar strap - holding a guitar for long practise sessions without one can be fatiguing even when sitting.

• A second sets of strings is handy for when one gets broken. This means that you don't have to wait before getting back into it again. A good resource for strings is Sfarzo

For the beginner, try "light" strings until you have built up some finger strength.

• If you are not good at tuning, and don't like wasting time tuning your guitar, invest in an electronic tuner.

• Last but not lest a variety of picks (plectrums).

Secondly, you need a safe place to store your guitar.

A guitar case (hard) or guitar bag (soft) is a good idea for when you transport your guitar and a guitar stand to rest it in when you are not playing it.

All these things are for your guitar's protection.

Reading and Writing Tab

At some point in your journey you will need to learn to read Guitar Tablature (tab) and will want to write tab of your favourite songs. Here is a basic tutorial about reading and writing guitar tab.

Click Here for Tab Tutorial

Tuning Your Guitar:

The guitar is a transposing instrument. Its pitch sounds one octave lower than it is notated. A variety of different tunings are used.

The most common by far, known as "standard tuning" (E-A-D-G-B-E),
is as follows:

• 1st string: e (a major 3rd above middle C—329.6 Hz) (highest tone)
• 2nd string: B (a minor 2nd below middle C—246.92 Hz)
• 3rd string: G (a perfect 4th below middle C—196.0 Hz)
• 4th string: D (a minor 7th below middle C—146.8 Hz)
• 5th string: A (a minor 10th below middle C—110 Hz)
• 6th string: E (a minor 13th below middle C—82.4 Hz) (lowest tone)

A guitar using this tuning can tune to itself by the fact, with a single exception, the 5th fret on one string is the same note as the next open string; that is, a 5th-fret note on the sixth string is the same note as the open fifth string. The exception to this rule is the interval between the second and third strings, in which the 4th-fret note on the third string is equivalent to the open second string.

Standard tuning has evolved to provide a good compromise between simple fingering for many chords and the ability to play common scales with minimal left hand movement. There are also a variety of commonly used alternate tunings - most of which are chord voicings that can be played on open strings or made by moving the capo.

There are several mnemonic devices used to remember the standard tuning (E-A-D-G-B-e) such as:

• "Eventually All Dedicated Guitarists Become Experts",

or in reverse order (e-B-G-D-A-E)

• "Easter Bunnies Get Drunk At Easter",
• "Even After Death Good Boys Eat" and
• "Every Bad Guitarist Deserves An Execution".

Drop D Tuning

Many guitarists use a long established (centuries old) tuning variation where the lowest string is 'dropped' two semi-tones down. Known as Drop-D (or dropped D) tuning it is, from low to high, DAdgbe'. This allows for open string tonic and dominant basses in the keys of D and D minor.

It also enables simple fifths (powerchords) to be easily played without the need for a high technical skill level. Many contemporary rock bands downtune the entire tuning by several semi-tones, making, for example, Drop-C or Drop-B tunings.

However this terminology is inconsistent with that of "drop-D" as "drop-D" refers to dropping a single string to the named pitch. Often these new tunings are also simply referred to as the "Standard" of the note in question e.g. - "D Standard" (DGCFAD).

Scordatura

As with all stringed instruments a large number of scordatura are possible on the guitar. A scordatura (literally Italian for "mistuning") is an alternate tuning used for the open strings of a string instrument. It is an extended technique used to allow the playing of otherwise impossible melodies, harmonies, figures, chords, or other note combinations.

See Resource Links for some excellent courses

Resource Links

Free 5 Part Course

What is Required to Play Guitar

Reading and Writing Tab

Tuning Your Guitar

"Jamorama – the Ultimate Guitar Learning Kit"

Highly Recommended
Click here

"Guitar Tutor Pro"

Professional Guitarist & Tutor shares his Mastering Guitar Guide
Click Here!

"The Beginners Guide to Unlocking the Guitar"

An Easy Weekend Course
Click Here!

"Guitar Scales Method"

Multimedia software for mastering guitar scales and improvisation
Click Here!

"QuickBeat" instant download.

Jam With A Drummer!  Fun music lesson in groove.
Click Here!

Guitar Chords Finder
Gives you the possible names of a chord. Simply place the fingers position by clicking on the guitar neck, click play to hear the chord. The chord names are automatically shown on the right.