Ahh, the age old question. There’s just so much to cover with guitar, that it’s just not possible to learn everything well in this lifetime. It can also be hard finding beginner material if you are interested in lesser known genres.
Then of course, there’s a reason why you picked up guitar. You may be eager to learn a song or two, or you may dream of becoming a kind of shred god….but you need to learn to play first.
So where does one start? What should you learn first when picking up guitar? I’ll give you my best advice as someone who was a true beginner not long ago.
Also, if you’re not sure what sort of equipment to get when starting off guitar, check out my article on items every guitarist should have. I picked up guitar again just before the pandemic started, so it was troublesome for me having to get new items when I finally had a need for them.
1. Know The Names Of The Strings & How To Tune
Before you even dream of playing, you need to get your guitar in tune. Playing with an out of tune instrument is just setting yourself up for failure. You’ll be wasting time as nothing will sound right and you can’t train your ear. Not to mention, it will be even more unbearable for those around you.
So before anything, get comfortable with the Chromatic scale. This is a musical scale that includes every single note available. The letters are A to G, which are 7 notes, and then there are sharps/flats between every note except B & C, and E & F, so there are 5 sharps and flats, making a combination of 12 notes.
This is easier seen on a piano as they seperate the sharps and flats, but on a guitar, every note is equal and seperated by the frets.
In guitar, they count strings backwards. So the thickest one, the one closest to your face, is 6, and the thinnest one, closest to the floor is 1. If you would like to understand the basics of music a bit more, definitely check out my beginner music theory lessons starting with Scales & Modes.
In order from 6 to 1, is E A D G B E.
If you haven’t purchased a tuner, you can use a free phone app like GuitarTuna. Tuning apps will have normal tuning as their default, and they can usually tell which string you are attempting to tune, making it super easy for beginners to remember these details.
In most cases, if you move the tuning peg away from you, it will make the note higher, but be sure to check it out. Tune your guitar before every session. Take your time!
2. Get Comfortable with Holding A Pick
Even if you plan to play fingerstyle or classical music, I think playing with a pick is a better way to start while you are beginner. Most rhythm and lead players play with picks, and most styles also require it.
Picks helps with timing, makes your notes more even (fingers have different strengths and thicknesses), and allows more flexibility later on.
Picks are weird, it’s not going to feel right at first, it’s going to move, it’s going to slip, it’s going to fall. That’s normal, don’t worry.
3. Practice Alternate Picking and Strumming
Regardless of what you want to focus on, it’s best to get the basics out of the way. You’re going to want to get comfortable with playing a single string up and down, then all string up and down.
Don’t even worry about chords or notes just yet. Just get comfortable with this pick and strumming, as this is something you’ll need to do all the time moving forward.
Take your time. Do this everyday with or without fretting any notes. Get comfortable with this new motion and the resistance of your strings.
4. Practice Spider Exercises
Now, let’s get your left hand involved. Before moving forward, understand that you’re not going to sound good for a few weeks or months. Even if you know the notes or scales, it’s going to take some time for your left hand the build the strenght to press down on strings fully so that notes ring clearly, and it’s also going to take some time to coordinate your left and right hand.
A spider exercise is pretty simple. Pick any fret, and give each finger their own fret. Starting with the index finger, You’re going to press down on their assigned fret and pick that string with your right hand. After, you’re going to use your middle finger to press the fret next to and pick the string again, then your ring and your pinky. Then you’re going to move your left hand up to the 5th string and repeat, then the 4th, all the way up and down. This is not as easy as it sounds.
5. Learn Your First Chords
In guitar, there are 8 common open chords. There are a few other open chords, and there are barre chords, but don’t worry about that for now.
Be patient with chords. You are doing finger acrobatics and you need to develop the stretch and muscle memory to really get anywhere with this.
The basic open chords are: A Major, A Minor, C Major, D Major, D Minor, E Major, E Minor, G Major.
If you remember the Chromatic scale above, there are chords for all 12 notes, and there are various chords outside of Major and Minor, but some are rarely used, and other’s require barring, which is an intermediate skill. So don’t worry too much, you can still play quite a few songs with just the basics!
When you start practicing a chord, be sure you are using just your fingertips to press the notes down. If your finger is touching the adjacent string, it’s going to mute it, and the chord won’t ring clearly. How do you know? Pick each string and ensure it is ringing.
Some chords do not require you to strum all 6 strings, and while you’re starting off, I’d say to just avoid strumming the X strings with your right hand. Some will use their left thumb to go over the top and mute it, but for now, you need to get comfortable with your thumb being near the back of the guitar. Hooking over is going to make it really hard to play the chords initially, and it’s going to make it even harder to transition between chords.
6. Learn To Read Tab
Whether you plan to play songs or create your own, or learn by ear, learning tabs is going to be valuable for majority of resources while you’re learning.
Most tabs will list the thickest string at the bottom, so be aware of this. 0 means an open string, and anything higher is something you press. If numbers are stacked on top of each other, that means they are played at the same time. If there is nothing visible, then that string is not being played at all.
I have written an article with everything you need to learn about tabs, from setup and tuning, to what symbols mean, and timing, so definitely check it out here. And if you’ve been wondering if you should learn tabs, perhaps advanced guitarists are telling you to avoid it, I have written a rebuttal here.
After you learn to read tabs, the world of guitar will open to you. You can find written tabs on Youtube, along with tab sites like Ultimate Guitar and Songsterr. I especially love Songsterr because they only have 1 or 2 tabs for most songs, and the majority of them have playback so you can hear it and ensure you are playing it right. I write about the other benefits for Songsterr here. Knowing how to read tabs will help you tremendously as a learner!
Moving Forward
From here on out, your path will depend on your focus. While being a well rounded guitarist is amazing, it’s still good to be aware of what you want to do and focus more on that. It can be tempting to try various things, but there’s only so much time in the day, and if you don’t practice a certain skill regularly, you are going to forget it really quickly.
If you are more interested in lead, then you’ll want to learn the major scale, minor pentatonic scale, and then techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs, vibrato, slides, bends, maybe tapping and sweep picking.
While learning solos are cool, and definitely beneficial when practicing scales and learning techniques, definitely take time to work on improvising. Learn to play the sounds you have in your head and figure out your own style. Start with the blues and get started on improvising as soon as possible. Don’t neglect rhythm though!
Definitely check out my article that goes over the basics of scales and modes. Not only will you save a lot of time trying to learn and memorize scales, but you’ll also save yourself from confusion (trust me, a lot of advanced guitarists still don’t realize how simple they really are).
If you are more interested in rhythm you’ll want to focus on learning more chords, chord progressions, and strumming patterns. Learn techniques such as palm muting and percussion slaps. Definitely look into arpeggios, triads, and power chords as well. After you get those down, you can start practicing barre chords (the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll get comfortable with them).
If you take the time to learn theory on how chords and progressions are made, you’ll be able to create your own songs in no time. But until then, focus most on making your chords ring out clear, practicing chord changes, and strumming in time with a metronome.
Be patient with chord changes, it’s going to be hard initially, you’re going to take breaks, your strumming’s going to suck, but rhythm is an invaluable skill that is useful in every musical environment.
To get a head start on understanding chords, be sure to check out my article going over the basics.
Definitely consider subscribing to my blog or bookmark this site. There’s a lot of beginner information and tips that is hard to find elsewhere, or is overcomplicated.
Also, feel free to follow and/or connect with me on Instagram @key2nostalgia. I’ve been documenting my playing since near the beginning. A lot of the time, my best still had mistakes as it was a little too fast or complex for my skill level, but I’m learning and getting better. I hope to inspire people like you to keep going!
Happy playing~