How to play guitar: 12 steps to start playing

Have you ever dreamed of becoming a skilled guitar player? Or have you ever just wanted to play for fun? Countless aspiring guitarists, both young and old, dream of playing their favorite songs on the guitar. Whether you’re looking to play for your own pleasure or you have your sights set on the big stage, it’s never too late to start playing. The fact that you’ve come here shows that you are ready to learn!

Congratulations! Now, let’s get started on your journey toward playing like your guitar heroes. Our blog has many helpful guides to learn the guitar. Follow the links in this article to read more and improve your guitar skills.

1. Choosing between an acoustic and electric guitar

First off, you must choose what kind of guitar you want to play. As a beginner, you should consider acoustic and electric guitars. You can find detailed buying guides for both acoustic and electric guitars in our blog.

Acoustic guitars

Acoustic guitars are a great choice for beginners. An acoustic guitar with nylon strings is one of the most accessible options for beginners. In addition, acoustic guitars are fairly affordable. However, if you’re committed to playing the guitar, don’t go for the cheapest option. Investing in a quality acoustic guitar will ensure your instrument lasts for a long time and is good to play with once you’ve advanced beyond the beginner stage.

Electric guitars

Electric guitars are typically more expensive than acoustic guitars, but they are more versatile. It’s not a bad idea to invest in an electric guitar as a beginner, especially if you’re looking to play rock music and want to play more than just chords. Just remember to get an amp and a good distortion pedal if you want to rock out.

2. Learning the guitar parts

If you want to play the guitar, you should know the parts of the instrument. Some of the most important guitar parts include:

• body
• fretboard
• frets
• neck
• headstock
• strings
• tuning pegs

Your guitar may have certain characteristics, depending on whether you’ve chosen an acoustic or electric guitar. For example, acoustic guitars usually have a sound hole, while electric guitars have various knobs and plugs.

3. How to hold your guitar

Your choice between electric and acoustic will influence how you hold the guitar. The way you hold a guitar also depends on your personal preference. Acoustic guitar players usually hold the instrument on their lap while sitting down. You may place the guitar against either your left or right leg.

You can also play sitting down with an electric guitar, but some guitarists prefer to play standing up. In this case, you need a guitar strap.

Hold the guitar so that the thickest string (the low E string) is closest to you when looking down. The hand holding the guitar neck is known as the fretting hand. The other hand, in this case the right hand, is called the picking hand or the strumming hand. Left-handed guitarists use their left hand for picking.

Left-handed players can use a regular guitar and play it just like right-handed players. They can also flip the guitar the other way around and use their right hand as the fretting hand. Another option is to look for a left-handed guitar.

4. Learn the guitar strings and fretboard

As mentioned, the fretboard and strings are important parts of the guitar. Starting from the lowest string, the strings are E, A, D, G, B, and E. The low E string is the one closest to you when holding the guitar and looking down. Pressing the guitar strings against the fretboard (also known as fretting) may hurt your fingers at first. However, as you play the guitar, your fingers will get stronger and stop hurting.

Nylon strings are great for beginners, because they’re easier to press against the fretboard than steel strings. The strings will not ring properly if you don’t press them hard enough against the fretboard. Remember to press the string just above the fret but not directly on top of it.

5. Tune your guitar

Learning guitar can be unpleasant if your guitar is not in tune. That’s why it’s important to ensure your instrument is tuned correctly. As a beginner guitarist, you don’t need to worry about alternate guitar tunings yet; focus on learning the standard EADGBE tuning first. EADGBE refers to the six strings of the guitar from lowest to highest.

An electric tuner device makes tuning your acoustic or electric guitar easy. However, the easiest (and cheapest) way is to use a free online guitar tuner app, like GuitarTuna. A guitar tuner app is with you wherever you go. You don’t need to carry a separate device with you; a mobile phone is all you need!

6. Play basic guitar chords

Before jumping headfirst into playing intense guitar solos, start with simple chords. At this point, you should be more familiar with guitar chord charts, as they’re an excellent way to visualize how different chord shapes are formed. Start off by learning the basic open chords, also known as cowboy chords. These can be divided into major and minor chords.

If you can’t remember how to play a specific guitar chord, check out our library of guitar chord charts.

Major chords

It’s good to start things slow when learning how to play guitar. Start by learning a few basic chords – just a few simple guitar chords are enough to play an entire song! The A, D, C, and E chords are good major chords to learn first. Here’s an example of the guitar chord chart for the major E chord:

Minor chords

Great minor chords for beginner guitarists include the minor A and minor E chords. Minor chords are written with a lowercase “m” next to them. These two chords are written as Am and Em. Here’s how to play the minor E chord:

You can tell the difference between major and minor chords by their sound: a minor chord sounds dark and sad, while major chords have a brighter and happier sound.

7. Learn how to strum guitar chords

To play a guitar chord, you need to strum multiple strings at the same time. However, to play some guitar chords, like D and C, you have to avoid playing certain strings. Because of this, some chords are easier to play than others. In addition to not playing all strings, you need to make sure you don’t accidentally mute any strings by laying your hand on top of them.

Once you get the hang of strumming some basic open chords, you can start experimenting with upstrokes and downstrokes, as well as more complex strumming patterns and chord progressions. You can also try your hand at different chord types, including barre chords, which require you to hold down multiple strings with the same finger.

8. Read guitar tablature

When you want to play more than just guitar chords, guitar tablatures or “tabs” will come in handy. Guitar tabs are an easy way to read musical notation and learn to play. Individual notes are visualized as numbers on horizontal lines that represent the strings of a guitar. Open strings are represented with a zero (0), while the letter X stands for muted strings. The line at the bottom represents the lowest E string, and the one on top is the high E string.

You can use guitar tabs to play chords as well. However, tabs are a versatile tool for guitarists of all skill levels, as they show slides, bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs, double stops, and so much more. These techniques may not be the first ones you learn as a beginner, but it’s good to start practicing them as you grow and improve. Learn how to read guitar tabs if you want to play more complex melodies besides just chords.

9. Practice picking and using a guitar pick

Playing individual notes is possible with your thumb and other fingers. This is known as fingerpicking. However, a guitar pick will come in handy, especially if you’re playing an electric guitar. A pick is a great tool for strumming chords on an acoustic guitar as well. Guitar picks come in many sizes and materials, but the most important aspect of a pick is its thickness.

When picking individual strings with a pick, hold it between your thumb and index finger. Leave the other three fingers free, and don’t grip the pick too tightly. The pick should stick out of the side of your thumb with the nail of your thumb facing up toward you. Pick individual strings slowly at first. Then, start increasing the speed and pick both up and down. Don’t get discouraged if you pick some incorrect strings, as you’re still getting used to playing with a pick.

10. Learn minor and major scales

Guitar scales and music theory may feel intimidating. However, as you’ll soon notice, guitar scales are a great way to explore the fretboard and understand where to find different notes. Guitar scales are also helpful when you want to improvise a guitar solo or start writing your own songs. Just like with chords, there are both major and minor scales.

Yousician has great exercises to master different scales on the guitar. Playing the scales up and down is an effective way to memorize them. As your fingers get used to playing the scale, try playing faster to develop dexterity and improve your skills.

11. Start playing your favorite songs

Now, let’s get to the part you’ve probably been waiting for — playing your favorite songs on the guitar. The days of carrying around massive books full of guitar notes and chords are over, as the internet offers guitar tabs for pretty much any song you can think of. Just Google the song title and add the word “tab,” and if you’re lucky, someone else has already taken the effort of transcribing the song into guitar tablature.

In addition to normal guitar tabs and chords, you can use an interactive music-learning app like Yousician to play guitar songs. Go ahead and check out Yousician’s full library of popular songs, where you’ll find different artists, bands, and musical genres. Who knows – maybe your favorite guitar song is waiting there!

12. Practice, practice, practice

After you’ve gotten the hang of playing guitar chords, tuning your instrument, navigating the fretboard, and reading guitar tablature, the most important thing you can do is practice. Make it a part of your daily routine. Although your fingertips may hurt at first, your hands will get used to playing the guitar as you gain finger strength and develop muscle memory.

Learn guitar basics with Yousician!

Although practicing the guitar is important, don’t forget that playing should be fun. Your motivation will run out soon if you take things too seriously and don’t make playing the guitar enjoyable. That’s where Yousician comes in.

Yousician is your personal guitar teacher that helps you master the art of playing the guitar. Follow Yousician’s interactive guitar lessons at your own pace as you gradually learn more and more skills. Yousician’s song library contains hundreds of popular songs that you can play with the guitar. A practice session with Yousician makes for a fun and motivating guitar lesson, as the app gives you real-time feedback that motivates you to improve your guitar-playing skills.

Download Yousician on your computer or mobile device to start playing and get started on your musical journey today.

Frequently Asked Questions about playing the guitar

As a beginner guitar player, you probably have a bunch of questions about getting started. Here are some words of encouragement for anyone looking to start playing guitar.

How long does it take to learn to play the guitar?

The time it takes to learn to play the guitar varies greatly from person to person. In addition to how often you play, the type of practice and your personality will influence how fast you pick up new skills and techniques. It also helps to have prior musical experience from playing another instrument, such as the piano.

No matter what, consistent practice will get you far as you pick up new chords, playing techniques, and songs along the way. With consistent practice, you can pass the beginner stage in a matter of months and reach intermediate level in one to three years. Mastery of your guitar, however, will take years of dedicated practice – but think of it as a good thing, as there’ll always be more to learn!

How often should I practice?

As a beginner, try to dedicate 15-30 minutes of practice on most days. If you feel like it and you’re enjoying the process, do even more! However, don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a day here and there. In the end, consistency is key when learning how to play guitar. Although you might not always see progress from day to day, you’ll get better slowly over time without even noticing. To get the most out of your practice sessions, remove unnecessary distractions and focus on your playing – while having fun, of course!

Do I have to learn music theory to play the guitar?

While playing guitar is possible even without a thorough knowledge of music theory, knowing some things will help you progress and better appreciate the craft. Some knowledge of music theory will also help you learn and understand new songs more quickly. Still, don’t let music theory stop you from playing if you only want to have fun and learn your favorite songs!

How can I learn guitar at home?

Learning to play the guitar from zero can feel daunting if you don’t know where to start. That’s why it’s always better to have a helping hand to encourage and guide you on your journey. Playing guitar can be easy, even at home and without a teacher who walks you through every step of the learning process. Online guitar lessons and interactive music-learning apps make it easy to start at home, even if you don’t have a real-life guitar instructor teaching you how to play.

Can I learn to play the guitar by myself?

Being a self-taught guitarist is not unheard of – the story has it that some iconic guitar players, such as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, taught themselves how to play guitar! Learning guitar by yourself is easier than ever, thanks to the wonders of the internet and music-learning technology. With apps and other resources at your fingertips, even on your smartphone, you can learn at home and become a proficient player!