MAIN Art & Culture Music How to Play Guitar

Do you have great admiration for rock, folk or classical guitarists and want to play just like them?

It takes hours of practice and dedication to get good, but learning the guitar offers a lifetime of rewards.

Guitar basics - starting out

Step by step instructions for learning the guitar are available all around the Web.

Really basic beginner instructions usually start with learning the anatomy of the guitar with basic terms such as strings, neck, body, bridge, frets and fretboard.

From there, guitar newbies are introduced to how each string sounds with the highest and lowest notes on either side of the fretboard. The thickest string on your guitar is a low E, the thinnest is a high E, and in between them is A, D, G and B.

One standard mnemonic for remembering each note is Eat All Day Get Big Easy, although there are a wealth of other extra-memorable mnemonics created by beginners such as Eat a Dead Goat Before Easter! Each letter represents a note that is played separately, or as chords — harmonious pairings of notes.

Musical notation, unique to guitars, is called guitar tablature or guitar tabs for short, i.e.,

"Come As You Are" by Nirvana:

E|------------------------------
B|------------------------------
G|------------------------------
D|------------------------------
A|--------0---0---------2-----2-
E|0-0-1-2---2---2-2-1-0---0-0---

Learning how to read music is of course absolutely necessary for learning how to play, but in the beginning just following the tabs to relatively easy guitar songs such "Lay Lady Lay" by Bob Dylan, or "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles, help beginners to get the hang of it.

And, no joke, the only way to become good at playing guitar is - practice!

More about how to learn guitar around the Web:,

Around the Web, learn more about how to play guitar from the ground up — with tips & tricks covering everything from buying your first guitar, holding it correctly, tuning it accurately, and learning tabs and chords — to performing your first solo, or discovering the secrets of writing your own songs for the guitar.

Just up ahead, browse our top picks for free guitar lessons online offering the guitar newbie the secrets of success to making the guitar easier to learn and play ...

Basic Guitar Lessons - A collection of how-to videos with beginner lessons for learning basic guitar licks, fret hand, classical guitar and tuning. Also browse the long menu for more advanced lessons and specific tutorials on acoustic, country, flamenco, electric guitar, and lots more.

How to Tune a Guitar - Step-by-step illustrated lesson with related links & resources, from WikiHow.

Guitar and Bass Lessons - Guitar Noise - Hundreds of blog postings with tips & lessons for beginners and more advanced players with audio, podcasts, free newsletter sign-up.

How to play Electric Guitar: Quick start, tips and tricks - Lessons on learning chords & scales, guitar tabs exercises, how to tune a 12 string guitar, and related tips.

Learn Classical Guitar - Tutorial for beginners - Extensive online guide with tips on choosing a guitar, how to play, guitar tuning, suggested reading, and related how-to feature articles.

Folk Guitar Tutorials - Helpful collection of tips, advice and feature articles on tuning, tabs, chords, playing & practicing, fingerpicking and flat picking, plus a free downloadable guide.

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