Essential Guitar Basics
Get started with guitar the simple way

Welcome! This series of guitar basics lessons should be your very first step with learning to play guitar.

It's tempting, when starting out, to rush this stage because you'll be keen to get playing your favourite songs, or even your own music as soon as possible. It's important, however, to go through these lessons in your own time, one step at a time, and ensure you're 100% confident with each step before you move onwards and upwards.

Remember - There is no deadline. There is no exam!

So don't make it your goal to learn guitar as quickly as possible. Instead, make sure that you get it right first time, so it saves you the hassle of having to come back and brush up. Let's make this ride as smooth as possible.

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Some essential guitar basics to keep you going...

Use the guitar basics course on this site to learn the following essentials:

1) How to hold the guitar

Learning how to hold the guitar properly is obviously essential! That goes for standing and sitting positions, hand positioning on the guitar neck and positioning your arm correctly for the most comfortable playing. Get certain elements of this wrong, and you could risk strain injury and/or unnecessary obstacles when you come to playing chords and strumming.

2) Fretboard basics

Getting to know the guitar's fretboard is another essential step. The aim, eventually, is to know the fretboard like the back of your hand, because once you do, you will be able to visualise note/string relationships as second nature. This should be understood before you play your first chord/note!

3) Tuning up the guitar

Get into the habit of spending 5 minutes tuning up each time you pick up the guitar. This lesson covers the absolute basics of physically tuning your guitar and the various aids you can use to help tune up accurately.

That's it! 3 simple steps to take before you move onto chords, strumming and other guitar playing elements. Like I said before, don't get impatient - before you play anything make sure you are confident with the above 3 basics.

So, once you're confident with the above 3, head back to the beginner guitar lessons page to see what the next step is.