TEN ESSENTIAL POINTS TO REMEMBER:

1. Patience – Learning an instrument requires patience. Many of the techniques take time to master.
Even fingering chords can be quite challenging. This is normal so do not get discouraged. It takes time to
get your fingers, tendons, and muscles used to bending in the ways necessary to play guitar. Take your
time, be patient and it will come.

2. Attitude – A positive attitude goes a long way. You can do this, so try and stay positive and remember
that your guitar playing is an evolution.

3. Proper technique – Utilizing the proper techniques and learning the proper fundamentals is essential
for beginner guitar. Any bad habits that you start off with will be very hard to untangle later as well as
they will impede your progress down the road. So strive to follow the technique guidelines closely at
first and then later down the road you can develop them into your own personal style – first learn the
rules, then go ahead and break them!.

4. Fingernail length - Keep the fingernails on your fret hand short. If your nails are too long they will
interfere with the fretting of notes on the fingerboard. If you press straight down with one finger on a
solid surface, like a tabletop, and you feel the nail hitting the table before your fingertip, your nails are
too long and will need to be cut.

5. Cleanliness - Wash and thoroughly dry your hands before picking up the guitar. It will keep oily
residues and dirt off the fingerboard and your hands will be clean and not slide around on the neck.
Wipe the neck down with a soft cloth after playing as this keeps the neck clean and prolongs string life.

6. On Discomfort - Fingertip soreness and wrist discomfort is normal for the beginning guitarist. As you
play more your fingertip calluses will build up stronger and the discomfort will get less and less. But if
you feel major pain in the wrist or arm - STOP. Big pain is your bodies’ way of telling you something may
be wrong. Give it a little rest and go back to it later and check to ensure you are utilizing the proper
techniques.

7. Slow down - Playing slow and in time is ALWAYS better than playing fast and sloppy. Always master a
concept at slow speeds before trying to play it faster. Speed comes with time.

8. Notes on the neck – Not at first but eventually you want to try to memorize the notes on the neck
and the notes that make up a given chord or a scale. You just don’t want to solely rely on just fingerings
or shapes. It will make you a better guitarist in the long run and you will be able to speak “the language”
of music when conversing with other musicians, writing songs, playing with your friends, or in a band
situation.

9. Develop your ear – I say these words often, I feel developing your ear is one of the most important
things you can do as a guitarist or musician.

10.Music theory - A little theory is a good thing. Not in the beginning but eventually putting time into
learning some music theory has great value. It will move your playing forward faster and allow you to
communicate the language of music to other musicians. 11. Fun – Give yourself plenty of “fun time” on
the guitar doing what you love to do best – learn a song, write a new tune, do fun stuff. Don’t spend all
your time just studying and working new concepts. HAVE FUN AND STAY POSITIVE – practice does not
have to be drudgery!
Table
Parts of GUITAR

It is crucial to know your instrument. You might get bored going through every part,

but the basics are the root. Once you know it inside out, nothing can stop you from

playing your favorite song!

Let me introduce you to all the parts of a guitar.

1.HEAD- The upper part of the guitar is called the Head or Headstock. You will
usually find the brand name of the guitar here. Besides that, bindings are also
presented at the edge of head.
2.TUNING PEGS- The Tuning Peg is integral to the guitar presented on the sides,
also known as Machine heads. There are 6 tuning pegs – 3 to the right and 3 to the
left. With the tuner’s help, these tuning keys are twisted in a certain way to set the
intonation. The tuning is also known as Standard Tuning.
3.NUT- Before we move towards the neck of the guitar, there is a tiny part between
the Headstock and the neck where strings rest, called Nut. Nut plays an important
role when you pluck a string.
4.NECK- The wooden neck of the guitar is popularly known as the Fretboard. The
guitar neck is where the strings rest. On the neck, you will find small boxes between
two metal strips. These boxes are identified as FRETS.
5.FRET POSITION MARKERS- I would say fret markers are underrated. They
must be considered an essential part of the guitar. Fret Markers are white dots on or
at the guitar’s sides. They are usually presented on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th,
15th, 17th, and 19th fret.

6.STRING-A guitar string is a taut length of metal wire or nylon used to produce
sound when plucked, struck, or strummed on a guitar.

7.FRET- A guitar fret is a raised metal strip embedded along the fingerboard of a

guitar, used to shorten the length of the vibrating string, thereby altering the pitch

produced when the string is pressed against it.

8.BODY- Do you hear a vibration when you hit a string? Yes, this is where you

experience the magic!You hear that sound because of the maple Sound Box. This

small chamber in an acoustic guitar, also known as Sound-hole, works as

an amplifier. It intensifies the note you play, and hence you experience

a reverberated sound.An electric guitar has a small body than an acoustic guitar.

9.SOUND HOLE- The guitar sound hole is a circular opening located on the body

of an acoustic guitar, allowing sound to resonate and project from the instrument's

hollow chamber, enriching its tone and volume.

7.PICK GUARD- When you pluck the strings hard with Plectrum, it might create a
scratch. Hence, the pickguard or scratch plate is placed on the guitar’s body to
protect it from abrasion.

8.BRIDGE & SADDLE- Many people get confused about the Bridge and Saddle of

the guitar. Both the terms are complementary. The bridge is presented on the bulky
part of the guitar, that is, on the body. It supports the strings to rest.

Whereas, Saddles function just like the Nut. They are usually made of plastic and

affixed to the bridge. They maintain spacing between the strings and the body by

lifting the strings, so that they convey vibrations .

9.BRIDGE PINS Below the saddle, you will see six dots. These are

the bridge pins that hold and secure the strings.

10.END PIN- It’s a pin at the end of the body and the top of the neck where you

can attach the guitar strap. Some guitars have an additional hook on top of the

body. It holds the guitar in place and makes the standing performances more

comfortable.

GUITAR HOLDING TECHNIQUES

GUITAR STRINGS

A standard guitar has 6 strings that vary in size and is tuned in the following configuration: E-A-

D-G-B-E From top to bottom the strings are numbered 6-1. The thickest string that sits atop the

guitar is called the low E or the sixth string. After the low E, the strings decrease in size in the

order of A D G B and high E. The low E has the deepest or lowest sound. The high E sits at the

bottom of the guitar and is the thinnest chord, resulting in the highest pitch.

GUITAR FRET
When you place your finger on a fret the key or sound of the string will change. Each fret results
in a different note for every string. For example, when placing a finger on the first fret of the low
E string, the note will change from an E to an F.
A standard guitar consists of 22 frets. Each fret has a metal barrier separating it from the other
frets. The 1st fret is the one closest to the head of the guitar. Frets are numbered in order from
1-22.

GUITAR FINGERS

The thumb is used to hold the neck of the guitar. The pointer, middle, ring and pinky
fingers will all be used on the fretboard in different places.
• Pointer finger is the 1st finger
• Middle finger is the 2nd finger
• Ring finger is the 3rd finger
• Pinky finger is the 4th finger
TUNNING THE GUITAR

GUITAR TABS
TAB, also known as Tablature, is a common way of notating music for fretted stringed
instruments (guitar, electric bass, ukulele, mandolin, etc). We will be looking specifically
at reading TAB for guitar in this post, but the same concept applies for different
instruments with frets.

1. Understand the tablature format: Guitar tabs typically consist of six

horizontal lines, each representing a string on the guitar. The line at the
bottom represents the low E string, while the line at the top represents
the high E string.
2. Look at the numbers: The numbers on the lines indicate which fret to
play on that string. For example, if there is a "3" on the 4th line, you
would play the third fret of the D string.

3. Chords are the numbers stacked on top of eachother: When there are
more than one note set in the exact same position but on different
strings, its a chord.

4. Left to right: Much like reading a book the Tab reads left to right.

FINGER EXERCISES