Getting Started

• The guitar is one of the most versatile of musical instruments. It can be used to play a huge variety of musical styles such as folk,country,blues,rock,pop,classical and flamenco, and can be played either solo or with other people.
• many beginners ask whether the guitar is easier or harder to learn than other instruments.

• After covering the basics, playing the guitar is at difficult as you want to make it. It depends how proficient you want to become in your chosen style.
• Once basic open chords have been learnt and some simple accompaniment techniques developed, the guitarist can play many folk,country,blues,rock and pop songs.
•  However, within each of these styles there are many guitarists who have taken their craft far further and play to a very high degree of technical proficiency.
• This blog stresses the importance of good technique from the very beginning

The names of the open Strings

The names of the open strings, starting from the thickest string, are: E A D G B E, A convenient mnemonic is ‘Every Adult Dog Grows Bark Eat’ , the initial letter of each word giving the letter names of the strings, starting from the bottom string. The sounding string – the thinnest string-is referred to as the top string.Beginners often get the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ string the wrong way round, thinking the bottom string is the one nearest the ground and the top string one nearest the player’s head.

Relative Tuning Method

Whatever type of guitar you play, it should be tuned before you practice-ideally,this means everyday! A guitar with new strings will go out of tune for perhaps a couple of weeks until the strings settle-new string will stretch causing the pitch of the strings to go flat(that is,lower in pitch).Changes in temperature will alsocause strings to go out of tune so try to keep the guitar where the temperature is relative constant-not too hot and nao too cold.
The relative tuning method enables one to tune the guitar so it will be in tune with itself,though not necessarily at the correct pitch overall unless one has something to tune either the top or bottom string to,such as a tuning folk to give ‘A’ an the top string 5th fret.
Assuming you don’t have something to use as a reference note,start with a bottom string since this is likely to vary less in pitch than top string.Assume the bottom string is at the correct pitch.Then:
Play the bottom string at the 5th fret.Tune the open 5th string to this note using machine head.
Play the 5th string at the 5th fret.Tune the open 4th string to this note.
Play the 4th string at the 5th fret.Tune the open 3th string to this note.
Play the 3th string at the 5th fret.Tune the open 2th string to this note.
Play the 2nd string at the 5th fret.Tune the open 1st string to this note.

Using a Tuner

• Whilst it is obviously a very useful skill to be able to tune the guitar by ear,most beginners find it difficult and it can take weeks or even longer before beginner can tune the guitar accurately and quickly by ear.
• A common alternative is to use an electronic tuner.

Chord Diagram

Chord is actually a combination of notes.
Note means a particular sound.
Look at the example chord diagram opposite.The fingers of the left hand are numbered 1 to 4,starting with the index finger.So,the index finger is finger 1,middle finger is 2,ring finger is 3 and pinky is 4.
If you are left-handed,you have to imagine a mirror image of the right-handed chard diagram – everything is reversed.As already stated,chord diagrams are not always written for left – handers so you’d better get used to reversing them!

‘Easy G’, ‘Easy G7′ and ‘Easy C’ Chords
These chords have been simplified for the beginner, hence their names which distinguish them from the ‘proper’ versions of these chords.’Easy’ simply means that the chords are played with one finger only of the left hand and does not necessarily mean that the reader will whiz through these chords with only the merest application; all musical examples in this blog should be approached slowly and methodically,striving to produce a musical sound.
Sit on the edge of a seat of medium height, feet flat on the floor.The hoolwed part of the body of the guitar should sit on the right thigh.The neck of the guitar should slope gently upwards and the body of the guitar should be at right angles to the ground – this makes it difficult to see the fretboard,but in the long term we are aiming not to look at the fretboard in order to place the fingers.The back of the guitar should rest against your lower chest.
Press strings against fretboard with the tips of the fingers-left hand nails must therefore be kept short.The fingers should be gently curved throughout each of the three joints of the finger.Finger should be placed immediately behind the frets-not on top of the fret,which will produce a dull sound,and not half way between the frets, since this will produce a buzzing note.
Holding down notes on the guitar will hurt the tips of the left hand fingers for the first couples of weeks or so until the fingertips toughen up and calluses are developed. It is especially important for the beginner to practice to practice regularly-say 10 minutes a day,at least five days a week.Too much practice and the pain may be off-putting and discouraging;too irregular practice and the fingers won’t get a proper chance to toughen up.
Take each of the chords in turn and play through the required number of strings very slowly one note at a time.

Now we are going to play these chords in a progression. Strum the ‘Easy G’ chord four times, ‘Easy G7′ four time and ‘Easy C’ eight times.Then repeat.