Lesson 1 Hello Guitar!

Lesson 1

Hello Guitar!

Jump to lesson Contents Lesson 1 · Hello Guitar! Lesson 2 · Chord Placement Lesson 3 · Chord Switching Lesson 4 · Strumming Lesson 5 · Re-Strumming Lesson 6 · Let’s Play Lesson 7 · Le Barre Lesson 8 · Re-Le Barre Lesson 9 · Plucking Lesson 10 · Re-Plucking Lesson 11 · Guitar Theory

In this introductory lesson, we will learn about the anatomy of a guitar and how it works.

Section 1 of 5

1.1 Types of Guitars

Guitars come in three main types:

1. classical guitars (with metal + nylon strings)
2. acoustic guitars (with metal strings)
3. electric guitars (with solid bodies)

You can learn to play using any type of guitar but the recommendations below can greatly improve your chances of mastery:

• Size matters!
  Choose a guitar size/ shape that is comfortable to hold and play.
• Get a proper setup!
  "Setup" in guitar terms are tweaks to optimise the height of the strings from the fretboard for ease of playing.
  Learning to play using a guitar that has been properly set-up would be less painful on the fingers.

1.2 Parts of a Guitar

Just like you don’t need to know all the parts of a car to be able to drive it, you do not need to know every single part of a guitar.

Knowing the parts shown in the diagram would suffice.

1.3 Holding the Guitar

1.4 Guitar Theory

Notes are sounded when the strings vibrate.

The open strings on the guitar (without pressing on any frets) correspond to the following notes:

E

1st stringE

B

2nd stringB

G

3rd stringG

D

4th stringD

A

5th stringA

E

6th stringE

Pressing each higher fret corresponds to a half-step / semitone in music theory i.e. C → C#; E → F (see diagram)

1.5 Tuning the Guitar

Use the Guitar Tuner below to tune each string. It works in your phone or computer browser and needs no download.

How to use:

1. Press Start tuner in the tuner above and allow microphone access when your browser asks. Position your device near the guitar.
2. Choose the 1^st string (high E) in the tuner, then pluck the open string.
3. If the string is in-tune, the needle will sit in the green zone and the tuner will show “In tune”.
4. Otherwise, the words “Flat” (too low) or “Sharp” (too high) will be shown.
5. Tighten (for flat) or loosen (for sharp) the tuning key for the string until the tuner shows “In tune”.

Repeat Steps 2-5 for the rest of the strings, choosing each string in the tuner for its respective note.

Not sure what a string should sound like? Press Play reference note to hear the target pitch.

Relative Tuning: 5^th Fret Method

Using the 5^th fret method, we can tune the strings relative to one another.

The basis of this method is that the note of an open string is the same as that of the 5^th fret of the string before it.

For the method to work, you must first ensure that one of the strings is tuned correctly either using the tuner, tuning fork or piano etc and then use that string as the reference.

For example, I would make the 6^th string (low E) the reference.

• Play the 5^th fret of the 6^th (E) string and then play the open 5^th (A) string. Their pitches should sound the same. Otherwise, tighten or loosen the 5^th string to change the pitch until they sound the same.
• Repeat for the rest of the strings.

Exception

When tuning the 2^nd string, use the 4^th fret of the 3^rd (G) string instead.

Next lessonLesson 2 · Chord Placement

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