If you're just starting out on guitar, or perhaps you've just taken your very first beginner acoustic guitar out of its box and you're raring to get playing, this is the place to start.

Here in the first of a series of beginner guitar lessons, Guitar World's Greg Coulson takes you through the absolute basics, starting off by showing you how to hold your guitar and play your first notes.

Check out the video above and read on for more tips to help you on your way.

Holding your guitar sitting down

You'd assume holding your guitar is a fairly self-explanatory experience, right? Well, yes, but like anything technical, there's a best way to do it – and, when it comes to playing the guitar, you're best off getting it right from the start.

So, assuming you're right-handed, you'll have the guitar's body perched on your right leg with the neck in your left hand. Keep your back reasonably straight and resist the urge to slump forward.

Why is all this important?

Get your posture right and your fretting hand (the hand on your guitar's neck) will have the best reach for all six strings. And that means you're setting yourself up to be the best player you can possibly be.

Ideally, the thumb on your fretting hand should rest in the middle of the back of the neck, with enough reach to move slightly higher or lower if you need to.

Holding your guitar standing up

Essentially, the same rules apply for playing standing up but it's more critical to position your guitar correctly. That's because, depending how tight you like your strap, it's far easier to have your guitar hanging too low or too high – and this makes playing more difficult.

Generally, if your guitar hangs too low it'll be harder to position your fretting fingers on the strings – you just won't be able to reach. Playing with your guitar too high typically solves the issue of reach, but some players find it uncomfortable for their backs.

Everyone is different though – you may have longer fingers or a shorter back – so experiment to find the optimal position for you. Just remember, it all depends on being comfortable and being able to reach the strings so that you can play cleanly.

How to use a pick/plectrum

Though you can pluck the guitar strings with your fingers, using a pick (aka plectrum) is the more common approach for a clearer tone – especially on electric guitar as opposed to acoustic. These are our top tips for any beginner picking the strings for the first time:

1. Hold the pick between your thumb and first finger.

2. Use as little grip strength as you can. Grip too tight and your fingers will tire – and you'll keep dropping those picks!

3. Keep your other fingers relaxed, hanging freely.

4. Use the very tip of the pick for plucking single notes. It helps with accuracy.

The world of guitar music is awash with players who've broken these 'rules,' but this is a great starting point for any beginner guitarist.

Playing your first notes

Just like picking, there are some finer points when it comes to fretting the strings. First up is finger pressure.

In our video, Greg demonstrates just how little pressure you really need to press the string down – and it's worth trying his exercise out.

Also, keep your fingers as close to the frets as possible (not in the gaps between them) and it's even easier. The less pressure you use, the easier guitar playing is.

Finally, be aware that it's normal for your fingertips to hurt a bit at first. Don't worry about it – it gets better!

Next up: How to play your first chords!

• Need more help? Here's our pick of the best online guitar lessons

When it comes to online guitar lessons designed for those just picking up the instrument, Fender Play – the supremely smooth and easy-to-use tuition platform from one of the industry's giants – is simply without competition. Now, with 60% off Fender Play subscriptions this Black Friday, there's never been a better time to get yourself – or a loved one – started on guitar.

Picking up the guitar for the first time can be quite intimidating. Even if your greatest musical love is that of guitar-driven music, it can be hard to shake the memory of fourth-grade recorder or piano lessons.

While conducting R&D for Fender Play, Fender itself discovered that a whopping 90 percent of those learning the guitar for the first time abandon the instrument within their first year of playing.

With that in mind, the company gave Fender Play a remarkably personalized feel.

You begin by selecting which instrument you'd like to learn (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, or ukulele). If you select guitar, you're immediately greeted with a number of tuition paths to follow.

Don't want to spend your time learning Mary Had a Little Lamb? (Unless, of course, you mean this one) Fender offers a choice of half a dozen genres right off the bat – rock, pop, blues, country, folk, and R&B/soul. Upon your selection, you'll be taken down a learning path featuring five to seven levels, depending on your genre and instrument of choice.

Fender compiled a huge library of songs for the app, unrivaled by any of its competitors, and the company is constantly adding to it, ensuring the platform never grows stale.

You can run Fender Play as a web application that runs in any browser, or as an app for iPad, iPhone, or Android, giving you plenty of flexibility in your learning process.

Our four-and-a-half star Fender Play review goes far more in-depth into the platform's features, now that we've piqued your curiosity. Needless to say, for those who just picked up the guitar, and have no idea where to start; well, you're looking at where to start.

If you're looking for a Fender guitar – perhaps a Stratocaster or Telecaster? – to go with your new Fender Play subscription, be sure to check out our Black Friday Fender deals guide, and take a gander at our full Black Friday guitar deals while you're at it.

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There’s something special about acoustic guitars. The resonance of the wood right up against your ribs is a unique experience. In this lesson, we’ll go over six easy strumming patterns so you’ll be ready for any acoustic situation. Visit Guitar Tricks for more in-depth and step-by-step acoustic guitar lessons, too.

When learning how to play guitar, the first strumming pattern you need to understand is the simple eighth-note downstroke/upstroke pattern. It’s as straightforward as it sounds: a simple down-up-down-up strumming pattern in an eighth-note rhythm. To make this more interesting, we’ll be doing this with both ‘straight’ and ‘swing’ feel (more on that across the page) in examples 1 and 2.

Next up is a folk/country strumming rhythm, which alternates between the bass strings and the higher strings. Because folk music is narrative driven, the feel of this strumming pattern is a great complement for that storytelling.

We’ll also take a look at a great acoustic rhythm for you singer-songwriters; the eighth-note downstroke, complete with palm-muting for volume control, a drier feel and the option to accent the chords you play.

In our final example, we’ll switch up the time signature to a 6/8 feel. This is a super-fun meter to play in which is perfect for campfire songs or late-night singalongs. Instead of counting to four to keep time, you’ll count two groupings of three beats to get the feel. Again, follow the tab and head to the video lesson for more assistance.

Example 1. Eighth Notes

This is basic strumming for acoustic guitar. Note that the strumming pattern goes: down, down-up, up-down.

Example 2. Swing Rhythm

For a swing feel, simply space out your down- and upstrokes so that the downs last twice as long as the ups. It’s also known as triplet feel.

Example 3. Folk/country pattern

This pattern adds a nice motion to your chords. Notice that the main technique is targeting your pick to alternate between striking individual bass notes followed by the higher notes of the chord.

Aim to be as precise as possible on the bass notes, but a little freer on the higher notes. It often doesn’t matter if you don’t hit every note of the chord, as long as your timing is good.

Example 4. Eighth-note downstrokes

Implementing some palm-muting with this rhythm will give you a signature singer/songwriter acoustic vibe. The idea is to rest the side of your strumming hand gently over the strings where they meet the bridge. Aim for just a little light muting of the strings’ natural resonance.

Example 5. Playing in 6/8

Changing the meter from 4/4 to 6/8 will give your acoustic playing more depth. The trick is counting to six along with the music.

Try saying ‘1 2 3 4 5 6’, ‘1 2 3 1 2 3’ or ‘ 1 & a 2 & a’ to keep time, emphasising the first and fourth beats to establish the groove. Start with downstrokes on all six beats, then try adding some upstrokes between the beats – as we’ve done in the tab here. The important thing here is to get very comfortable with the groove and feel.

• Guitar Tricks’ step-by-step lessons will be your guide to learning how to play guitar. With our Core Learning System, video feedback, practice reminders and Custom Lesson Plans you will save tons of time on your guitar learning journey. Guitar Tricks has a 14-day free trial plus a 60-day money-back guarantee so you can purchase with confidence.

To borrow a song title from Radiohead’s worst album, anybody can play guitar. The world is full of virtuosic talents and genre-pushing pioneers, but they all had to start from the same place: knowing absolutely nothing about the instrument they would come to partially define.

You might be planning to start your own journey with the acoustic guitar, but feeling a little awe-struck by the potential of the instrument. The good news is there’s not that much between you and Joni Mitchell – besides thousands of hours of practice, a little music industry luck, and, of course, these first few furtive steps into learning the acoustic guitar.

So, if you want to learn the guitar, and feel a little bit of decision paralysis about the whole thing, you are in precisely the right place.

Step 1: Buying your first guitar

Where else to start but with the guitar itself? Every budding guitarist needs one. You might be content with borrowing one from a friend or family member, but in my opinion having an instrument to call your own is important. Learning on your own guitar also enables you to learn your guitar, and how it feels in your hands – allowing you to get more familiar with your instrument over time.

Buying your first acoustic can be a difficult expense to navigate, though. It’s hard to justify spending a decent amount on an instrument you might not reliably love, particularly if you’re not sure you’ll stick to learning yet. Thankfully, your first guitar needn’t be a pricey one!

All you need is something that fits the size of your body, that intonates well and that holds its tune. Intonation refers to how well your guitar keeps tune at different points of the neck, and is impacted by a few things – including quality of materials, and quality control. In short, rather than picking the cheapest possible learner acoustic, you should consider an entry-level acoustic from a brand with name recognition.

There are many great acoustic guitars for beginners out there, but a good starting point might be Fender’s range of beginner-friendly instruments, in which you’ll find a variety of well-made models covering different sizes and sounds. Across all brands, different models of guitar will feel different in your hands – neck type being a key variable for beginners.

Narrow-necked acoustics might be easier to get your hands around initially, but if you feel a bit fat-fingered to begin with you might prefer the space a wide-necked guitar gives you. Ideally, you’d be in a bricks-and-mortar shop trying out guitars for how they feel in your hand – but don’t think too hard about this! There’s no “right answer”; what matters is you end up with a guitar that you, fundamentally, like.

Step 2: Invest in a few essential accessories

The guitar is really all you need to get started learning, but there are some essential accessories you should buy alongside your guitar to make your life a little easier. One such accessory is a strap, which enables you to play comfortably while standing up. Another would be a guitar tuner; while there are many free guitar tuner apps available for your smartphone, a clip-on tuner is far more convenient (and dramatically reduces the chance of you getting distracted by ‘the apps’ mid-practice).

Your guitar’s strings will need changing eventually, and regularly thereafter, even if you’re not playing on them often. Whether finger-sweat, general crud or exposure to natural humid air, your guitar strings will inevitably begin to degrade through oxidation – resulting in difficulty keeping in tune and a less-than-pleasant ‘flat’ sound.

Learning how to change your guitar’s strings for the first time is an adventure all of its own, and one aided by some simple provisions: fresh acoustic guitar strings (naturally), some wire snips, and a string winder for speedily engaging your tuning pegs. Oh, and our guide to re-stringing an acoustic guitar!

Last but not least, you may want to stock up on guitar picks. These are many and varied, and can come in handy even if you’re determined to learn fingerstyle. However many you intend to buy, double it; they’re cheap, as you will inexplicably lose more than you expect to.

Step 3: Don’t rush your development

Before you start to think about capital 'L' learning, you should take a little time just to get familiar with your guitar – its weight and dimensions, how it feels on your lap or hanging from your shoulder by its strap. Comfort and familiarity are hugely helpful for learning the acoustic guitar – something which goes for the theoretical as much as the tangible.

This means you should consider familiarizing yourself with the chromatic scale, and which strings on your guitar are tuned to which notes. Knowing that, conventionally, guitar strings are numbered 6 to 1, lowest-pitch to highest-pitch, and knowing the standard EADGBE guitar tuning, will reduce some basic barriers between you and those first difficult lessons.

Generally speaking, it can be helpful to gen up on some basic music theory before you begin. This might elicit some groans, particularly from those who have preconceived notions of music theory as a restrictive academic framework. Theory isn’t the ‘stern Principal’ of music, though; it’s simply a way to give specific concepts a vocabulary. This makes it easier for you to eventually express your ideas to other musicians, or indeed to understand what your guitar tutor or learner’s handbook is on about in the first place. Speaking of which…

Step 4: Getting lessons

If you want to learn somewhat formally, with a human tutor, you’ve two essential options: learning online, or in person. Online guitar lessons greatly increase the pool of potential tutors, but video calls introduce a level of abstraction to learning that can be difficult for beginners to circumvent. In-person lessons, meanwhile, can be much more tactile, and much more productive. If you’re an active, hands-on learner, you might benefit from being in the room, and having some three-dimensional fingers to mirror. But these lessons can be more expensive, and also more difficult to organize around a busy life schedule.

Of course, the variable that matters most is the tutor you pick. There needs to be some synergy between you, whether in music taste, playing style or mode of learning, to ensure you get the most of your sessions. This is why many tutors will offer you a free trial lesson, so you can get a taste of how they work.

Step 5: Self-led practice

Formal lessons are incredibly instructive (duh), but not a necessity for learning the acoustic guitar. It’ll come as no surprise to you that the internet is an incredible resource of knowledge and wisdom with respect to learning the acoustic guitar, from chord and scale guides to comprehensive libraries of chord sheets and tablature (aka ‘tab’ – an easy-to-follow, paint-by-numbers alternative to stave music) for practically any song.

Teaching yourself is simultaneously easy and hard. You can follow your nose with respect to what you want to learn, but you’ll encounter some difficulties with discipline, and the forming of bad habits. Try to keep yourself to an hour of practice a day, half of the time given to practicing the basics – getting to know basic chord shapes, running scales for finger dexterity, and practicing to a metronome for picking-accuracy and speed. It’s also good form to check in with the pros every now and then, whether via a formal guitar player’s handbook or a YouTube tutorial or two.

While anyone can indeed play guitar, there’s another truism to bear in mind: guitar is the easiest instrument to learn, and amongst the most difficult to master. A guitarist’s learning journey is never over, no matter how good they get at bashing out 'Wonderwall'. So don’t get too frustrated if you don’t feel like you’re advancing. You will, and you will also never quite be ‘done’ anyway. Enjoy the journey!

So, your little one has aspirations of becoming a rock star, and despite not knowing your dreadnoughts from your Stratocasters, you now find yourself scrolling through pages and pages of entry-level guitars in search of the perfect instrument to kick off their musical journey. Well, don’t worry, Guitar World is here to help! We have put together this guide to buying a guitar for your child and we’ll happily walk you through the process.

We're well aware that guitar stores – even visiting them online – can be intimidating places, and guitars themselves aren’t exactly the easiest products to understand, especially if you have zero experience with them. 

Below you’ll find our five key tips for selecting a guitar for your child, as well as a few recommendations to help get you started.  

1. Be aware of your child’s musical ambitions

Okay, so your child has asked for a guitar – but what type of guitarist do they want to be? Guitars come in two main flavors, acoustic and electric, and the type of music your little one wants to play will determine which you should buy. 

If they are rock fans with ambitions of playing face-melting solos and gut-punching riffs, then you’ll need to go down the electric route. However, if they want to follow in the footsteps of Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift and become singer-songwriters, then an acoustic guitar is the instrument for them. 

Now, you’ll hear many teachers recommend that all students start on an acoustic instrument – or worse yet, a beginner classical – but we don’t agree with this viewpoint. We believe that every student should start with the instrument they want to play in the first place. Not only will this ensure they are engaged from the beginning, but it means there’s no wasted time. 

So, before you start looking at guitars for your child, have a conversation with them about their favorite artists and what they want to learn. This should inform which style of instrument you purchase. 

2. Pay careful attention to the size

Guitars come in various shapes and sizes, so it’s important to select the correct one for your child. As a general rule of thumb, you want to make sure your little one can easily reach the end of the neck while in the seated position without stretching too much. 

Typically we’d suggest that under 12s should opt for a 3/4 or short-scale guitar as these instruments are much smaller and easier to navigate if you only have little arms. For older kids – 12 and up – we’d recommend going with a full-sized guitar. That said, if you are going down the acoustic route, you may want to avoid the dreadnought shape, as these can be a little cumbersome to get your arm around. 

If you are worried about what size is right for your child, the best thing to do is visit your local guitar store and try out a few models. You’ll quickly recognize when a guitar is too large or too small for them.  

3.  Price vs quality

When it comes to beginner acoustic or electric guitars, you really don’t need to spend too much to get a great instrument. That said, you want to ensure that you are buying the best quality instrument you can afford. The better the instrument's build quality, the better it will play and the more chance your little one has of sticking with it!

We highly recommend sticking to the major brands. Big companies such as Squier, Epiphone, and Yamaha will always guarantee a certain level of quality, meaning you can buy with confidence, knowing you are getting them a good guitar. 

Yes, you’ll probably be able to find something a little cheaper on Amazon, but in our experience, it won’t exactly be the most playable instrument in the world – and an unplayable guitar is about as useful as a chocolate teapot! 

4. Don’t forget the accessories

To give your child the best possible chance of sticking with the guitar, you’ll want to ensure they have everything they need to play properly. A selection of guitar picks, a spare set of strings, a guitar strap, a guitar tuner, and a gigbag for carrying it around to and from lessons are all must-have accessories. 

Of course, electric players will require an appropriately sized practice amp and a guitar cable to connect the two. 

Check out our guide to beginner guitar gear essentials and accessories to learn more. 

5. Get their new guitar professionally setup

The term “setup” refers to the process of adjusting a guitar to make it as playable as possible. Now, whether it’s a $100 beginner electric guitar or a $4,000 Custom Shop model, every guitar will benefit from a professional setup. This is not something you’ll be able to do yourself, so we highly recommend speaking to a professional. Your local guitar store is a good place to start. 

A good setup will ensure that the action – how far the strings are from the fingerboard – is set correctly and that your child can play their new instrument with minimal effort. It will also guarantee that the intonation is set correctly and that the guitar plays perfectly in tune all the way up the neck. 

Of course, there is an extra cost associated with getting your instrument professionally setup, but it can make all the difference and transform a once difficult guitar to play to one that is effortless. 

Beginner guitar recommendations 

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• Try something new with one of the best beginner ukuleles
• Get all you need with the best accessories for beginners

As the wife of a professional guitar writer and an avid gig-goer myself, my life has always revolved around guitars, bands, and live music. To me, music is everything. It’s what I use to relax and escape, and I count everything from ‘80s goth darlings The Cure to grunge titans Nirvana, as well as a few heavier acts such as Alexisonfire and Deftones, as my all-time favorites. 

As you can imagine, our house is littered with instruments and musical equipment – we currently have around 30 guitars scattered around in various rooms. For years, I’ve longed to be able to pick one up and play it, although I'm sure my husband would be very nervous to let me hold his beloved ES-335 – you never know, maybe by the end of this process I’ll be allowed to have a go on it!  

So, with that in mind, imagine my excitement when I got the opportunity to finally learn the guitar via the online guitar lesson platform, Fender Play. For the purpose of this article, I was granted access to a full Fender Play subscription and was sent a Fender CC-60S Concert beginner acoustic guitar. I opted for this particular model as I am only 5' 1" and find large-bodied acoustics to be too cumbersome to hold. Thankfully, I didn’t have any bother with this guitar and found it to be very comfortable and easy to play. 

While I’ve certainly held a guitar before, I am starting my guitar journey as a complete novice, not knowing any chords, techniques, or even how to tune the damn thing. Over the last 8 weeks, I’ve been charting my progress in the form of a weekly diary – writing down my thoughts and experiences of using the Fender Play app on my phone.  

As someone with a very demanding job and a busy life in general, I can't commit to sitting down with my guitar every day – as much as I'd like to. Instead, I will make time once a week to practice along with the app and work through the courses. Of course, I'll try my best to practice whenever I have a spare few minutes. 

Week 1 – getting to know the app 

For my first session, I just wanted to get a feel for the app and my new guitar. The first step was to unbox my shiny new instrument – something I was very excited about. Yes, we already have too many guitars in our home, but this one is mine! I must say, I love this guitar's aesthetic. The sunburst finish looks great and I certainly don't think it looks – or feels – like an entry-level guitar. 

Of course, next I needed to get the Fender Play app onto my device of choice. After downloading the app, my first impressions were good. The app is very user-friendly and easy to set up with the prompts given. I had to answer some simple questions about my ability and my reasons for wanting to learn, then I was ready to go. 

The app looks sleek and is easy to navigate. Aside from the Home screen, there are three main sections: My Path, Songs and Skills. I’ve chosen to start with the My Path section, as I am a complete beginner, and I feel that I need the direction of the instructor-led courses before I can progress to focusing on specific songs or skills. 

This isn’t essential, however, as I'm free to access any of the menus from the start, giving me the leeway to choose how I would like to start my own learning journey.

I browsed through the other menus to familiarize myself with the app and its contents before starting the courses, and I’m now feeling ready to take on the first course.

Week 2 – choosing my path 

Okay, this is where the hard work begins. This week I am starting the first course in My Path. There are several different paths to choose from, based on genre, for each of the instruments covered by the app (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass and ukulele). I am choosing to start with the Essentials path for acoustic guitar, as I am a complete beginner and I want to make sure I can cover the essential skills before focussing on specific styles or genres.

The Essentials path has eight courses, starting with a tutorial that shows how to play your first notes and how to tune your guitar. This is useful for me as I have never tuned a guitar before and wouldn’t know how to approach this. I like that the app includes guidance on such simple skills that are often overlooked, as this makes it feel accessible to a rookie like me. This first course starts with explaining how to hold your acoustic correctly and how to pick a string on an acoustic. 

These basic skills might seem obvious to a seasoned guitar player, but for someone who is starting from scratch, it is good to have instruction and reassurance that you are playing correctly. The instructor explains the aim of the lesson clearly, demonstrating how to pick the strings before inviting you to do it alongside them.

I find this style of instruction beneficial as someone who learns visually. It's good to be able to watch the instructor while attempting to pick myself. Each video has a practice mode version, which you can follow after the instructor video and repeat until you feel confident with the skill you are learning.

I am also following the lesson on how to tune your guitar this week. Although I am finding this tutorial useful, the tuning functionality is not built into the app itself. This isn't a big deal as I was able to download the Fender Tune app to my phone myself and use it to tune. However, I feel that it would have been nice to have the tuner integrated into the Play app and ready to go. Despite this, my guitar is now tuned for the next lesson and I now know how to hold my instrument and pick the strings – I'll be a rock star in no time!

Week 3 – playing my first riff

It’s now time for me to tackle the next course in the Essentials path, 'play your first riff.’ Again, this course starts with the basics, showing me how to fret notes. I’m following the lesson and practice videos and continuing to practice throughout the week until I am confident that I have nailed this skill. The instructor video gives a detailed overview of how to fret, including tips on finger placement, which I find useful.

Now that I am more confident in my fretting ability, I am progressing to the next video in the course, which shows how to play a simplified riff from Purple Haze on your acoustic. 

I find it exciting that I am being shown how to play such an iconic riff while I’m still at an early stage of the process. This keeps the path method of learning interesting and helps me avoid any temptation to skip to the Songs menu. The video starts with a cool intro of the instructor playing the riff along with the song, which sets the scene nicely before starting the lesson.

Again, the instructor talks through how to play the riff first. A diagram of the frets appears at this point in the video, highlighting the notes to play. Again, I find this really helpful as a visual learner. 

The song is played at a slower pace on the video, which is perfect for playing along as I learn the riff. I enjoyed this lesson as it allowed me to continue to practice the fretting and picking techniques I had learned in the previous week while also putting them to use to learn a riff. The lesson itself is short (just under 3 minutes), and after playing along with the lesson and then playing through the practice mode a couple of times, I was able to play the riff with confidence. 

This definitely gave me a sense of achievement and progression, which I feel is crucial to keep me engaged and motivated – I'm looking forward to next week! 

Week 4 – learning to read tab 

The app notified me to return and complete my next lesson if I wanted to maintain my learning streak. Although I was planning to return today, I appreciated the reminder to stay on track. 

This week, I’m doing the next course in the path, which explains how to read guitar tablature. This starts with a lesson on how to read tab, followed by a lesson on strumming in time, and then ends with showing the user how to play the Stones' classic (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. I was keen to work through the first two lessons so I could progress to learning the song.

The tab reading lesson starts with an explanation of the strings and their corresponding notes and how numbering on each string relates to the fret that the note should be played on. This seems straightforward, but I decided to follow the practice mode a few times to ensure I had fully grasped the concept and was able to keep time while doing so before progressing to the next lesson. It's worth noting that, the playback speed on the practice mode lesson can be changed, allowing me to go a little slower if needed.

Next is the ‘strum in time’ lesson, which introduces whole, half, and quarter notes. Following this lesson has given me awareness and understanding of the importance of timing when strumming, allowing me to build some rhythm into my playing.

I really enjoyed the final lesson on Satisfaction, as I felt it brought everything I had learned in the previous lessons together. At first, this seemed a little daunting as it was more challenging than the previous lessons, but I felt reassured by the instructor's guidance and her calling out the fret numbers as I played along with her. 

I also like that the videos give you the benefits of learning from an instructor but also the independence to pause or repeat the lesson as you please if you need to recap.

This riff did feel a little trickier than the previous Purple Haze riff, and I struggled a little with being able to stretch my fingers between frets. I decided to spend time in the practice mode, playing the riff over and over until it felt more comfortable, and I made use of the reduced playback speed to allow me to nail the notes down before picking up to full speed. 

I have continued to do this exercise a few times over the week, and I now feel like I have mastered being able to play the notes accurately while also keeping time. This feels like a win, and I’m really happy with my progress so far!

Week 5 – playing chords

The next course in the path focuses on playing chords and then using them in a song. I’m feeling a bit apprehensive as I do find chords quite intimidating but based on my experiences with the app so far, I feel optimistic that it will help me to learn this new skill.

The course starts with a lesson on one-finger chords, which is good to ease me into this uncharted territory in my guitar journey. With the clear instructions given in the video, I soon find myself strumming the two chords along with the instructor. 

By this stage of my learning, I am feeling more familiar and confident with reading the tab along with the video, and playing the notes on the frets and strumming the strings is all starting to feel much more natural. Just as I thought the strumming of select strings (only three in this case) might take a little time to get used to, the instructor went on to explain how this should get easier with practice, so once again I went over to the practice mode after the lesson.

The next lesson on reading a chord diagram was also useful in training me to ensure that I strum only the correct strings. After this short lesson and associated practice, I went on to the final video in this course, which shows you how to use chords to play Barry White’s Cannot Get Enough of Your Love Babe. As with the previous courses, it was nice to end by playing part of a song to bring all of my new skills together - you could say I cannot get enough of this guitar thing! 

Week 6 – time to tackle Green Day

This week I am continuing with the next two courses, which are also focussed on chords, starting with mastering the D chord before moving on to learn some minor chords. This feels like a step up from last week’s single course, but I certainly feel ready for the challenge.

My first thought is that these chords are more complex than those I learned previously, since they require the use of two or three fingers on different frets. Again, I found this challenging due to the need to stretch my hand across the frets. 

Fortunately, the lesson videos use different angles to show the placement of the fingers on the fret, for example, from above, which helped me to visualize the placement from the player’s perspective. 

This course also features an ‘Ear Training’ lesson to teach the player the difference between Major and Minor chords and test their ability to recognize different chords and pitches. I guess that this would be an important skill for more advanced players, and I like that the app is introducing this idea now, although I am at an early stage of learning.

To end my learning for this week I took the lesson on playing Green Day’s Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). This song uses all the chords I had learned in the previous lessons, with the added complexity of switching between multiple chords in the same song. This took some additional practice after the lesson so I could build the muscle memory to change between the chord shapes quickly enough and to remember the correct strings to strum for each chord, in addition to the notes to play on the frets. 

I definitely found this demanding as it was the most complex thing I had attempted to play so far, bringing together all of the skills I had learned to date into one song. I will need to continue my practice for this into next week before I am confident enough to play it through, but I feel that I have made a lot of progress and really stepped up my learning this week.

Week 7 – more practice needed

This week I want to continue practicing playing ‘Good Riddance’. I am going to re-watch the instructor-led video to refresh my memory on what I learned last week, before moving to practice mode.

I spent an hour in practice mode, starting on 75% speed to allow me time to make those tricky chord transitions. After a few repeats at reduced speed, I decided to attempt playing along with the full-speed practice, but I’m not quite there yet. I feel a little frustrated that I’m not yet able to play through at full speed but looking back on the progress I have made in the last seven weeks, I am proud of how far I have come. 

After some reflection and a much-needed break, I re-visited this task later in the week and gave it another go. I decided to watch the lesson video again before returning to practice mode. After a few more attempts, I finally managed to play through the song at full speed. My transitions and strumming weren’t perfect yet, but Rome wasn’t built in a day! I will continue to practice this song in the coming weeks, with the aim of perfecting my newly learned techniques.

Week 8 and beyond – looking to the future 

This week I am attempting the final course of the path, which is called ‘You’re a Player Now’. This made me smile as someone who never thought it would be possible to play music myself. Although I am still very much a beginner, when reflecting on the past eight weeks, I have accomplished fundamental skills that I can build on, such as reading tab, playing chords, strumming and fretting. I really appreciated the flexibility.

I tested myself with the final exam at the end of the path courses, before eagerly exploring to see what else the app has to offer. There is so much more content to access as you progress in your guitar journey, with alternative paths to follow, as well as the skills videos that allow you to really focus on fine-tuning your playing techniques. But more exciting is the Songs library, which allows the player to put their new skills to the test and master songs by their favorite artists. The library is easy to filter by your chosen genre and playing ability. 

To my surprise, when filtering to 'easy' and 'rock’, I had lots of exciting options to choose from, most notably Black by one of my favorite bands, Pearl Jam. I was also happy to see that several songs by Nirvana were in this category and within my current capabilities to attempt.

I’m glad that I have taken the opportunity to learn with Fender Play. The app is accessible to all levels and has allowed me to learn independently at my own pace, with the flexibility to switch between paths, skills or songs as I please. This gives a sense of freedom and keeps things interesting. 

I loved how the lesson videos were short and engaging, making them perfect to do in the evening after work when I might only have a short amount of time to play. Following the series of videos allowed me to take a structured approach to learning, even when I was busy and short on time. I really feel the app helps to make playing music accessible to anyone and proves that you don't need to spend hours a day to learn a new skill. 

I should also mention that I really appreciated the diversity of the instructors across the videos, particularly that they featured other women, as it felt more relatable for me.

So, if you are looking to learn the guitar for the first time, I'd highly recommend downloading Fender Play and giving it a go. I am so proud of my progress and I can’t wait to continue my journey and explore all of the great features Fender Play has to offer. Also, my husband better watch out... I'm coming for his job! 

Looking to follow in Annie's footsteps? Below you'll find a deal on both Fender Play and the CC-60S 

New to guitar? Our buyer's guides will help you choose the best gear

• Explore the best acoustic guitars for beginners
• The best guitars for kids: top electrics and acoustics for children
• The best beginner classical guitars
• Guitar accessories for beginners and beginner guitar gear essentials

Most people assume learning how to play bass guitar is simple: four strings and a pickup. We agree. Within minutes of holding a bass for the first time, you'll be able to play a couple of notes.

But while the bass can offer an 'easier' route into a band by virtue of essentially single-note accompaniment, remember that the other instruments revolve around your most central contribution. So, if the bass looks like an easy instrument to play, it's never an easy instrument to master.

The first thing to get to know about the bass is where to find all the notes, and to begin to recognize the all-important patterns that are formed on the neck.

It's also important to get a couple of basic techniques under your fingers, otherwise you're going to waste a lot of time having to rectify bad habits later.

We’ve compiled some of the basics of how to play bass guitar for you to explore right here (and if you haven't already got yourself a beginner bass guitar at this stage, we can point you in the right direction).

How many strings does a bass guitar have?

A bass guitar typically has four strings, tuned (low to high) E A D G. These strings are tuned a full octave lower than the bottom four strings of an electric guitar – so if you play a low E string on a bass and guitar at the same time, they will sound in tune with each other.

Four-string basses remain the most popular instruments, especially for beginners. But five-string basses, which add a low B string below the E, are increasingly common, especially among contemporary R&B styles. Some virtuoso bassists, such as Thundercat, even stretch out to six strings.

But we'd recommend any beginner bassist starts with four strings. While that's two fewer than a guitar, that doesn't mean bass guitar is any easier to master – there's a whole different set of styles and technique to learn. Starting with…

Pick or fingers?

One of the first decisions any beginning bass player has to make is whether to pluck the strings with the fingers (usually the index and middle fingers), or to use a guitar pick.

There are no hard and fast rules about this, though bassists who play hard rock/metal usually opt for a plectrum style in order to facilitate the rapid 16th-note basslines occasionally found in those songs. A note played with a pick generally sounds 'cleaner' in fast-played sections, and a deeper sound can also be used because of this increased note definition.

Fingerstyle players normally have a smoother-toned, mellower sound. Often, the main difficulty with this technique is developing consistency between the two different plucking fingers – this will take considerable effort and practice to achieve, but it's well worth it.

Try both and see which feels more comfortable. It may be best to persevere with both styles for a while, until one or other starts to feel more natural.

The fingerstyle technique should look as if your fingers are walking on the string. Make sure that on each string the right hand plays; first finger, second finger, first finger, second finger, etc. Don't be tempted to use only the first finger.

If you wish to use a pick, try using alternate pick strokes. Move the hand from the wrist for these up/down plectrum strokes, not the whole forearm.

The other vitally important technique to learn at this stage is to think in terms of what is called 'guitar fingering', ie, using 'one finger per fret'. Practice the following tab example to get a real feel for combining the two elements of right- and left-hand playing. Give both pick and fingers some time at the moment – both will be invaluable in the near-future.

Now we'll let you into a secret that can take some players years to discover. The great Billy Sheehan is famed for his ability to play very high-speed licks on a bass, but maintains that, though it looks difficult, the actual theory is not so.

“I remember when Space Invaders and games like that first came out,” Sheehan told Bass Player. “I couldn't get anywhere near the huge scores some of the kids were racking up. I'd just shoot away at anything until I watched some of these high-score heroes in action, and the penny dropped! They were playing in patterns, and could anticipate the movements of the targets at any given time. 

“That was it: I applied that system to my bass playing using pattern boxes, or chord shapes, which I got to know really well, and could move about the fretboard. I probably use about three patterns to get the high-speed effects.”

Such patterns allow you to confidently play a sequence of varied notes behind a specific chord using, as Sheehan rightly states, a moveable shape. These patterns can be complex. but at this stage they can simply be the individual notes of a major chord played in arpeggio form, ie, one after the other. 

Let's try out just this kind of pattern, as might be applied to some chords that a guitarist would ask you to play in a band situation.

Check the following chord progression:

This chord progression forms the basis for such tunes as Wild Thing by The Troggs or Grease's Summer Loving, or the chorus of The Beatles' Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds. Basically, this style of chord diagram is telling you to play four beats of G, four beats of C and so on. When you reach the end of the sequence, start again from the top.

To begin with, you could only play the root notes to accompany such a chord progression, but after a while, this is going to get boring, and so it's important to know which other notes go to make up, in this particular case, a major chord. 

Now let's use a (moveable) pattern of notes, which go to make up the G, C and D chords, and in this instance would be major arpeggios.

Now set a click track to tick away at a nice easy speed, say, 60 beats per minute, and play each of the major arpeggios in order of the chord progression. This will get you into the system of the moveable chord shape, and don't forget, though we've used only three specific chords, the major arpeggios can be used for any major chord. If the chord was A major, you could now play an A major arpeggio.

Once you’re familiar with the idea, try experimenting with different chords and arpeggios to see what you can discover.

How to play slap bass

The intricacies and techniques of slapping the bass have been written about many times over.

Basically, the idea is to punctuate basslines with additional percussive sounds – the 'slap' referred to in the name is primarily performed in a 'thump and pluck' style, where the thumb 'thumps' the low strings, A and E, striking them against the fretboard, while the little finger usually hooks itself under the G string and plucks the string, allowing it to then snap against the fretboard – no note is really made, just a resonant and heavily-muted representation of the string's note.

To play 'dead notes', hold the fingers of the fretting hand together and place them flat over the strings with the 4th finger at the 7th fret, taking care not to push down too far on the strings. 

Bring the side of the thumb of the picking hand down on to the last fret of the E string – this should give quite a magnificent 'thump'. Leave the fretting hand exactly where it is and repeat the process for the A string.

In order to give an approximation of the octave sound with dead notes, thump and pluck between the E and D strings, and then the A and G strings. After the thumb has hit the E string, as the wrist rotates to lift the thumb from the string, the first finger should scoop under the D string to 'pluck' it.

Now repeat the pattern with stopped notes on F# and B. Make the upper octaves short.

The next example shows a hammer-on exercise based on E minor and A minor pentatonic scales. Hammer-ons let you tie notes together smoothly, with no silence between them.

Hold a note down on the fifth fret. Slap the string, and then tap down sharply on the same string two frets up from the first fretted note. The hammer-on directly follows the first thumb-hit.

Our final example combines a hammered b7 root with an octave root 7 pull-off in a simple riff.

For those wishing to study the history of slap bass playing, take a listen to Larry Graham on Hair, which is one of the finest examples of slap-funk bass playing.

Consider this Day One, a return to factory settings, a reboot for your playing. We run all kinds of lesson on GW but now we're taking things back to the fundamentals – a preflight check before you pick up an electric guitar for some woodshedding.

Before skipping ahead and losing sleep on the finer points of sweep picking, here are the things you’ve got to get as good at, and to stay focused on. And number one is a non-negotiable.

1. Check you are playing in time

Choose a simple piece of music you know well and try playing in time with a metronome. Aim to synchronise onbeat notes with the click. If it doesn’t seem fully aligned, you may need to work on your timing. Slow down a little and try to feel the rhythmic pulse more tightly.

2. How clean are your chords?

Put your fingers in the wrong position and you’ll end up with annoying fret buzz, so aim to play most chords using the very tips of your fingers as close to each fret as possible. Barre chords, of course, need a flat finger. Keep your thumb roughly opposite your fingers for maximum strength.

3. Are you playing too fast?

You don’t have to be a shredder to want to play fast. We’ve all tried to play a song at full speed before we’ve fully learnt it, usually resulting in fluffed chord changes and solo lines that don’t quite link together. Play slowly to a metronome or drum beat and try to improve your speed by a small amount every day. 

4. Check your lead techniques

There’s always an optimum position for your hands to be in when you’re playing lead guitar. Make sure you’ve got the techniques sorted…

String bends

For most first-, second- and third-finger bends place your thumb on the top side of the neck (sometimes called a ‘baseball bat grip’) for maximum strength. You may need to adjust position for fourth-finger bends.

Hammer-ons and pull-offs

Can you play a pull-off as you lead out of the hammer-on (and vice versa)? If not, adjust your hand position. You’ll need a firm thwack for a hammer-on, then a flick of the finger to pull off.

Alternate picking

The ability to pick in a down-up ‘alternate’ pattern is crucial. To practise, choose one note and play it down-up-down-up in time with a metronome. If your timing is choppy or uneven, slow down.

One-finger-per-fret hand position

For the minor pentatonic scale, hand position isn’t so crucial. If you want to play more complex tunes and solos you need all four fingers. Arrange the digits next to each other at consecutive frets.

• Need more help? Here's our pick of the best online guitar lessons

We love to imagine that guitar gods are gifted their talent in a pact with the Devil, rather than having to sit through years of guitar lessons. After all, education is hardly rock n’ roll, is it? 

There is YouTube, that bottomless pit of guitar tutorials. Sure, it’s never been easier to teach yourself how to play the guitar, yet it’s also never been harder to know where to start. That’s why we believe that lessons are the best way to learn, a process that will see you progress further faster with more fun and far fewer frustrations. They’re the best shortcut you can take to becoming well, if not a guitar god, then at the very least a musician worthy of the title guitarist.

In fact, the novice attrition rate is so high – research in 2019 by Fender discovered a 90% abandonment rate within a year – that taking lessons could be the one thing that saves you from jacking the whole guitar thing in and taking up golf. Which really would be the work of the Devil.

While it’s almost certainly true that Clapton, Hendrix and BB King, together with quite a few others from that era, were self-taught, just think how much smoother their journey to greatness would have been had they had guitar lessons. 

1. Lessons are more affordable than you think

While we’re not in favor of skipping about the internet without focus – watching a little bit of everything but learning a whole lotta nothing – there’s nothing wrong with online learning, provided it has structure. 

Free sites, such as JustinGuitar.com, or paid-for online guitar lessons, like Guitar Tricks, Yousician, Fender Play or Simply Guitar, enable you to learn at a fraction of the cost of attending one-to-one, face-to-face lessons with a real teacher. Whether they are better value or not depends on the preferred learning style of the student, as well as the proficiency of the teacher.

Subscriptions to these online tools cost around $/£100 - $/£150 per year, which isn’t an insignificant amount, but it probably works out at less than the cost of four hours of one-to-one tuition. Either route will enable you to explore the true value of your guitar. 

2. Guitar teachers ain’t what they used to be

Paul McCartney famously tells the story of how, when he was a teenager, he traveled across Liverpool by bus just to meet a guy who could show him how to play a B7 chord. Back in the day, good guitar teachers were thin on the ground. Invariably, they were either a grumpy old dude in the local music store who knew a handful of chords and one position of the minor pentatonic scale, or a terrifyingly strict classical guitar type with zero tolerance of ‘popular’ music. 

Today, the variety of genres available to learn from one-to-one tuition is staggering. If qualifications are your thing, some teachers will offer curriculums in rock and other contemporary styles. Gone is the stuffiness of yesteryear, replaced by teachers and learning paths that enable you to play music that’s relevant and enjoyable to you and your peers.

3. Structured learning motivates you for success

Many beginner guitarists give up within months because they lose the will to keep practicing. Often, this isn’t because practicing is particularly demanding, it’s because they’re making little meaningful progress. The dream of mastering the guitar, an aspiration that once burned with such an incandescent flame, is suddenly dulled. Why the loss of appeal? Because there’s no structure. Grabbing an Oasis riff here, and a fragment of a Guns N’ Roses solo there, may be fun for a while, but it isn’t going to help you progress much as a musician in the long term. Before you know it, you’re glued to your phone again.

A teacher, whether that be an app or a human, can set you on a pathway paved with realistic goals. You’ll benefit from a roadmap of specific, measurable and attainable skills to learn, reinforce and re-apply in the future, giving you the best possible foundation on which to build success. Better still, the sense of achievement you’ll earn every step of the way will keep you coming back for more, making it almost impossible to quit.

4. A good teacher teaches you accountability 

How many times have we promised ourselves that we’re going to act, only to renege on that promise just hours later? If you’re anything like me, I suspect it’s quite often. However, if you promise somebody else that you’re going to act, especially somebody who’s relying on you to come through, then I bet you rarely let them or yourself down. Sharing our ambitions with another person, so that we become more accountable to them, is a sure-fire way to maintain drive. 

Employing a teacher adds an additional layer of accountability that makes practice non-negotiable. 

5. Nip bad habits in the bud

Bad habits wreak havoc on your chances of developing a sublime guitar tone. Poor posture, excessive tension, lousy dynamics, floating your fingers way above the fretboard, inaccurate fretting, bad muting technique, mediocre picking technique and failure to bend to the correct pitch are just a few of the no-nos that directly affect your guitar’s sound. 

Sadly, many beginners, and even intermediate guitarists, are oblivious to the fact that their playing is being spoiled by one or more of these common faults. 

It’s a tricky area of learning, where few of us have the necessary levels of self-awareness or comprehension, which is why a good face-to-face teacher is so invaluable. They can observe, diagnose, foster good habits and prevent bad ones from forming, all within the course of a lesson.

Remember, it’s much harder to break a bad habit than avoid it in the first place.

6. Timing is everything

You can achieve a great deal with books and YouTube tutorials, but they’ll do almost nothing to help you with music’s most critical component – timing. Many guitarists, particularly those who learn in isolation at home, are truly awful at playing in time. Left to their own devices, they may eventually be able to play some obscure chords and a difficult solo or two. But in a group with other musicians? Their playing will likely prove disconnected and chaotic.

Issues such as playing ahead, playing behind, speeding up through the course of a song or completely mistiming some notes within a phrase, are all very common. Fortunately, under the watchful eye of a guitar teacher, timing can be greatly improved with exercises such as duets and simple jam sessions. 

Gamified apps that feature animated fretboards are also useful at teaching novice guitarists to play in time.

7. Feedback is instantaneous

Learning on your own is a lonely pastime, one that’s often plagued with self-doubt. ‘This sounds off, am I playing it right?’ ‘Is this chord really the correct one?’ ‘How on earth do I reach that fret when the rest of my fingers are still tied up further down the neck?’

A teacher will provide instant feedback, readily pointing out which parts you’re playing well, and which parts need more work. Importantly, they’re on hand to help you through the passages that require more explanation or attention. 

One of the most frustrating parts of learning any instrument is that many solutions only appear blindingly obvious after someone else has pointed them out. Having a teacher can save an awful lot of time that would otherwise be wasted on simple, yet exasperating, problems.

8. Navigating plateaus

Learning to play the guitar is rarely a linear experience where progress is even and consistent. Often, we’re riding a high, a period characterized by rapid improvements. Inevitably, though, these are punctuated by short spells of low achievement, but thankfully these can usually be overcome quite quickly.

Occasionally, our skills can plateau, a dangerous state because when we’re demoralized for any great period of time, it’s easy to become disenchanted to the point of giving up. 

A skillful guitar teacher can inspire you to break through these lean periods by revealing fresh approaches to learning, thereby re-fuelling your desire to play.

9. Music theory that’s all gain, no pain

Like it or not, to grow as a musician eventually you’re going to have to take a deep dive into music theory. There are a few ways of accomplishing this. You can assimilate it over many, many years of playing, or you can study books on theory, most of which are drier than the Atacama and just as impenetrable. 

Alternatively, you can make learning theory relevant and fun by relying on your music teacher or app to drip-feed you small, relevant doses as you progress through your curriculum. This third way is by far the quickest and most palatable for most guitarists.

10. There’s a world of music out there for you to discover

If you’re lucky, you’ll sign up with a teacher who loves to share their broad knowledge of music by introducing you to as many different genres as possible. Not only will this expand your awareness, but it may also encourage you to play styles you wouldn’t ordinarily listen to. 

We all gravitate to music that we’re most familiar with, which can quickly steer our playing into a rut. Playing something completely unexpected can be fun and a wonderful way to break free from our self-imposed rules of conformity. Love metal? Why not try bluegrass? It worked for John 5.

11. Let’s get social

For millennia, music has been largely a social activity – jamming together is not only fun, it’s well-proven to be good for our mental health. Taking lessons gives you the opportunity for social interaction and through your teacher, you may even be introduced to a wider circle of musicians.

If you suffer from performance anxiety, working with a teacher may provide you with a safe space in which to build your confidence. What’s more, if you want to reach your true potential as a guitarist who can improvise freely, then you’ve got to start playing with others. Your teacher could very well be the perfect jam partner.

New to guitar? Here’s our pick of the gear you need to get started

• Explore the best acoustic guitars for beginners
• Or plug in with the best beginner electric guitars  
• The best guitars for kids: top electrics and acoustics for children
• Best beginner guitar amps: top guitar amplifiers for newbies
• Guitar accessories for beginners and beginner guitar gear essentials

Choosing to learn to play the guitar is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. Mastering your new six-string friend will teach you dedication, patience and perseverance, as well as stimulating your brain and reducing stress. Join a group, or perform regularly, and your social life will get a boost too. More than anything, playing the guitar is an incredibly joyful experience that brings reward after reward. It’s downright good fun!

Of course, learning isn’t always plain sailing, so to launch your playing career with the best possible start we’ve put together a list of 13 things every beginner should know – covering techniques, tone tips, gear choice and more. Start well, end well!

1. Buy the right guitar

You can learn to play on any guitar. After all, many of the guitar gods of the ’60s and ’70s learned to play on atrocious instruments, simply because that’s all that was available to them. However, if you’ve got the budget, buying a guitar that suits your needs best is going to smooth your learning path immensely. 

Traditionally, novices would be palmed off with a god-awful cheap, nylon-stringed acoustic with an action a mile high and a neck as broad as the Mississippi. Fortunately, times have changed. The first thing to consider is the genre of music that got you excited about playing the guitar in the first place. If it’s predominantly acoustic – folk, fingerstyle, Latin jazz and so on – then an acoustic guitar is probably the way forward. If you have more of a taste for blues, rock or metal then an electric guitar will almost certainly be more your thing. Trying to play an acoustic genre with an electric guitar and vice versa is feasible, but it can suck much of the fun away.

Bear in mind that, due to their lower action and lighter strings, electric guitars can be easier to learn on than acoustics. They also tend to be more stable and less resistant to temperature change, so they stay in tune longer. Additionally, building a good electric guitar is far less expensive than building a good acoustic, because it doesn’t require the same level of skill or investment in materials. So, if you’re on a budget then an electric guitar package, complete with small practice amp, makes enormous sense. We cover the acoustic vs electric guitar for beginners debate in more detail here.

Always buy the best guitar you can afford because it will invariably sound better and be easier to play. Cheap acoustics are notoriously hard to tune and unpleasantly difficult – read painful – to play.

For the best buying advice check out our buyer’s guides covering the best acoustic guitars for beginners and the best electric guitars for beginners available today.

2. Going acoustic? Buy the right size

Acoustic guitars come in a variety of shapes and sizes, labelled with a bewildering number of names. In the classical guitar world, nylon-strung guitars made for children and smaller framed adults look and play just like scaled down versions of a full-size guitar. These may be 1/2 size (Requinto), 3/4 size (Cadet), 7/8 size (Senorita) and 4/4 (Full size). If you are a budding classical player blessed with a smaller build, then an appropriately sized classical guitar will be easier to play and will help you to avoid the back and shoulder pain that a model that’s too big will almost certainly introduce.

Steel-strung guitars are also available in a range of sizes, so you’ll see labels such as OO, OM, Grand Pacific and Dreadnought. Unfortunately, few of these names are standardized, which means that although two brands may make a GC or Grand Concert guitar, they’ll measure up significantly differently. 

Many novices are wrongly drawn to dreadnoughts – a name penned by guitar manufacturer Martin, and one of the few that is now fairly standardized across many brands – solely because they’ve seen these big guitars in the hands of their favorite artists. Bigger is better right? 

The fact is, steel-strung guitars vary in size mostly for tonal reasons, rather than fit, and the bigger the guitar the more volume and bass response it will have. Buying a mid-sized guitar, like a Martin OM or a Taylor Grand Auditorium will not only fit most players better than a dreadnought, it will also sound sweeter and more balanced. So, don’t be afraid to go for a smaller guitar – the tone will probably be better.

Size is not such an issue for electric guitar players. That said, tall, broad guitarists may find they dwarf a Gibson Les Paul, or a Fender Telecaster, so are better off with a larger guitar such as a Gibson ES-335.

3. Learn to keep it in tune

Yep, it was in tune when you bought it, but now listen to it. Sadly, even the best guitars don’t stay in tune very long because the vast majority are made of wood, which is very susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity. 

Letting your guitar drift out of tune isn’t going to damage it, but it will hurt your ability to learn. This is because it’s vital to gain the skill that will let you match pitch to a position on the fretboard, or to distinguish the interval between two or more notes. At best, practicing with an out-of-tune guitar makes this process painfully slow, at worst, impossible. 

Tuning is a bit of a chore, but guitar tuners are ubiquitous and cheap, in fact, many tuning apps are free. Beginners should probably stick to standard tuning at first, in which the strings are tuned low to high (thick to thin) E A D G B E, but in time don’t be afraid to experiment with alternate tunings such as Drop D and Open C.  

4. Learn the right way to pick

If you’ve never used a guitar pick, aka plectrum, before, then you’re probably wondering how best to hold it. Grip your pick firmly, but not too tightly, between the finger and thumb of your picking hand, which will be the right hand for many of us. Don’t bend your wrist awkwardly, your thumb and arm should be pretty much in a straight line.

Initially, start picking the lower (thickest) open E string in a downward motion – a downstroke – before moving one-by-one on to the rest of the strings. Try to make the strings ring out clearly with a full sound. Then, practice picking the high (thinnest) open E string in an upward motion – an upstroke – before moving back through the rest of the strings. 

As you pick a string, the movement should come from your wrist rather than your arm or your shoulder. Try to limit your range of motion when picking so that the pick never moves too far away from the strings. Otherwise, it may take you too much time to pick the next note. Some guitarists favor slanting the tip of the pick downwards slightly too, so that the pick more easily glides over the strings.

5. Work out the best way to fret

Fretting can be tricky to learn, but get it right and your tone will improve immeasurably. Frets are the metal strips – fret wire – that line up all along the fretboard and they are numbered consecutively from the first fret, which is the one closest to the headstock. Don’t confuse the nut with frets. The nut sits adjacent to the headstock, has slots in it to support the strings and is usually made of bone or some kind of composite (although brass nuts are a thing too).

To play the first fret, place the tip of your finger on any string directly behind the fret wire and press down firmly. Pick the string with your other hand and you should hear a clear sound ringing out with a decent amount of sustain. By pressing your fingertip behind the fret you’ll be bringing the string in direct contact with it, limiting the length over which it can vibrate, thereby increasing its pitch. Press directly on the fret wire and you’ll end up with a muffled sound. Press too far behind the fret wire and the string will probably buzz when being picked. 

A common mistake that beginners and even some intermediate players make is to press too hard, which can quickly result in hand strain and sore fingertips. Practice applying just the right amount of pressure. Too little and the note will be indistinct and suffer buzz. Too much and your fingers will hurt. You need just enough pressure to coax a really nice, clean sound from your guitar.

6. Are you sitting comfortably?

There are numerous ways to sit with a guitar. Classical guitarists tend to sit with their knees apart and, if right-handed, with the guitar resting predominantly on the left leg. A few of the rest of us adopt this rather formal position too, or opt for a more relaxed hold by resting the instrument on the right leg. Some players are comfortable crossing their legs and others swap between many positions, seemingly on a whim. 

Unless you are a classical player, there’s no right or wrong here. Just try your best not to hunch over the guitar, instead keeping a straight back and a straight but relaxed neck. Also, make a real effort to keep the guitar parallel to your body. You won’t be able to see the fretboard, which takes some getting used to, but you’ll be less likely to hunch over your guitar, and memorizing the fretboard becomes much easier.

7. Take a stand

At some point you’re going to want to perform your guitar skills in front of a live audience, which may necessitate playing your guitar standing up. Whether you choose to play your guitar high up on your chest like Tom Morello, or slung mean and low like Johnny Ramone, is entirely up to you, but work hard at keeping your posture intact. 

For most guitarists, aligning the center of the body of the guitar with the hips appears to be the optimal position. This puts the instrument roughly in the same place as it is when you are playing seated, giving both arms plenty of freedom and enabling the fretting wrist to operate through a good range of movement.

8. Master strap skills

It’s just a strap, right? How hard can it be? 

Well, you’re going to need a good guitar strap if you plan on playing much standing up. We recommend choosing a wide, soft strap because it will spread the weight of your guitar, which can be significant, across your shoulder. Many acoustic guitars don’t have an end pin at the neck, so pick a strap with a strap tie or ties. This can be fixed to the neck with a simple knot.

Most of us practice sitting down so, as mentioned in tip 6, it makes sense that our guitar adopts a similar position when we play standing up to perform.

First, make sure your strap is fastened to the end pins on your guitar. Strap locks – small horseshoe-shaped pieces of metal or composite material secured to your strap ends and that clip securely onto your guitar’s end pins – are a worthwhile upgrade if you rock a lively stage presence. Sit down with your guitar and adjust the strap length to take up any slack. The strap shouldn’t be tight, but the guitar should be well supported. Stand up, and you should find the guitar remains in roughly the same position in relation to your body.

Most guitarists don’t use a strap when seated but some find it a real help in keeping their guitars securely in place. Using a strap can be especially useful for keeping in check guitars that are poorly balanced or are coated in a slippery, high gloss finish.

9. Learn some cowboy chords

Guitars may take a lifetime to master but you can be knocking out some of your favorite songs in no time once you’ve learned a few basic open chords. 

This handful of open chords, often nicknamed ‘cowboy chords’, are really all you need to make a start. Each chord is named after its root note, which is usually the lowest note in the chord. Major chords are derived from a major scale and tend to sound happy and upbeat. Minor chords are derived from the minor scale, making them sound more solemn and mysterious.

• A Major
• A Minor
• E Major
• E Minor
• D Major
• D Minor
• C Major
• G Major

These chords are called open chords because they include open strings, which is why you’ll also find them played at the top of the neck. Once you’re comfortable playing this selection, add further nuance and character to your repertoire with extended chords, such as 7ths and 9ths. Then, experiment with barre chords, moveable chord shapes that can be played up and down the fretboard.

10. Schedule your practice

Sadly, many people give up playing the guitar after just a few months. Often, this is because they become disillusioned by a lack of progress, which is commonly due to lack of practice. Signing up for one-to-one lessons, or online guitar lessons, can really help here, because both teacher and app will set you goals that give you that extra push to practice consistently with intent.

If these options are beyond your budget, then at the very least put time aside to practice. Try to schedule at least five sessions a week lasting a minimum of 15 minutes each, preferably longer. 

Otherwise, if you don’t prioritize your practice, other stuff in your life – work, kids, pets, TV, gaming – will squeeze your guitar playing until it feels impossibly hard to make any progress at all. 

Learning to reach a good level is relatively easy, provided you practice.

11. Train your ears

This is a skill that most of us lack, simply because when you first start it seems almost impossible. Ear training enables the brain to make a connection between the fretboard and the notes we hear. In other words, with practice, you should be able to replicate a solo played by your favorite guitarist just by listening to it. More usefully, you’ll be able to play the melodies and riffs you hear in your head, a vital skill for anyone who wants to be able to improvise creatively. Who doesn’t?

Ear training is a huge subject that’s equally important for beginners as it is for advanced players. Make a start by carefully listening to a piece of music you know well – nothing too complicated – and then try to reproduce it on your guitar. Perhaps start with a simple solo.

You’ll find this skill, known as transcribing, almost impossible at first but persevere because it will become easier. Don’t beat yourself up if you make mistakes either, they are all part of the learning process.

There are plenty of apps out there that will help with ear training – they’re especially useful for identifying intervals – but looping a simple piece of music is an effective and inexpensive way to start.

12. Dial in the right tone

The controls on your guitar are usually relatively easy to get your head around. Typically, there’s a volume control and a tone control for each pickup plus a switch that enables you to blend one pickup with another for a hybrid tone.

Some amps, however, have myriad knobs with curious names such as Master and Presence. What’s going on? 

Gain

This knob adjusts the amount of gain in the preamp section, which determines the level of distortion in your tone. It’s a critical tone-shaping tool that enables you to take advantage of a saturated, distorted tone at (relatively) lower volume levels. Usually a feature of more modern amps.

Master

This adjusts the amount of gain in the power amp section. In rock’s heyday, in the late-’60s and 1970s, guitarists relied on driving the power amp section of their amps to achieve those creamy distorted tones we all love. Unfortunately, pushing a power amp section into distortion is not at all ear friendly, which is why many modern amps now feature a gain control to drive the preamp instead, or as well as. Power amp distortion responds well to dynamic playing. The more you dig in, the more your tone will become progressively distorted, back off and your tone will begin to clean up.

Bass, middle, treble 

These knobs EQ your guitar sound. They can be used to shape your tone – the infamous scooped midrange old-school metal sound for example – or in a band performance context you can alter the EQ of your sound to let other musicians shine through. For example, you don’t want to be taking up the same frequencies as the keyboard player, or you risk your band sounding muddy. 

Presence 

This adjusts the high-range frequencies, adding texture and making your sound livelier. It becomes more noticeable as you play louder. 

Reverb (and other effects)

Your amp may feature reverb and other effects that can be dialed up and down, or switched off completely. 

Tonal Tips

To shape a brand-new tone from scratch, start with flat, neutral settings and make small adjustments, one at a time from there. Flat settings are typically dialled in by turning all EQ knobs to 12 o’clock and the gain controls to 6 o’clock. 

For high-gain rock and metal sounds, try turning the gain and presence up, while keeping the mids dialed back for that aforementioned scooped sound.

To dial in a decent blues tone, try light gain, moderate bass, middling mids and high trebles. For jazz, roll back the treble, and warm up the mids without overcooking the bass. Dial the gain right back for a clean tone.

Always make small adjustments one at a time, or you’ll quickly get lost. Have fun, you’ll soon get the hang of it!

13. Learn all the notes on the fretboard

Wow, this sounds like an advanced topic but it’s actually surprisingly easy. Start by learning all the notes and their corresponding fret positions on the low E string. There are only 12 notes (an octave) starting with E, which then repeats at the 12th fret. 

Once you’ve learned the position of these notes, which may take a week or two, you’ll be delighted to learn that you’ve pretty much got the D string – the fourth string – down too. The same series of notes, an octave higher, can be found two frets up the neck on the D string. For example, the first fret on the low E string is F and the third fret on the D string is also F. 

In turn, knowing the D string enables you to easily work out the notes on the B string – second string – because the same series starts a further three frets up the neck. For example, the sixth fret on the B string is also an F. 

Of course, the high E string, the first and thinnest string, mirrors the low E string, so you’ve already learned this one without realizing it. This just leaves the fifth string and the third string. You will have to learn the note positions on the fifth string but once you’ve mastered them, you’ll find the same series just two frets up on the third string, just like before. 

If you’re completely new to music and the guitar, you may find this all sounds a bit too confusing. Don’t worry, a quick look at a fretboard diagram will make it much easier to understand. Take your time, there’s no rush.

Learning to play the guitar can mark the start of a journey that has the potential to lead down many different paths. For most of us, it’s the beginning of a lifetime hobby – something that brings us joy, happiness and a sense of achievement. It could help you travel and see the world, and meet people you otherwise might not. It might even lead to a career in music. 

However, before you go down any of these paths, it’s important that you get a few things down – practice, technique and the desire to play the guitar are crucial to it actually going anywhere. 

I’ve been playing guitar for over 20 years, and in those years I’ve toured extensively, recorded in studios around the world, played on a ton of sessions, produced other musicians and taught students aged from 6 to 66. As such, I’ve met guitar players at all stages of their journey; from those picking up the instrument for the first time, to fully-fledged pros, and it’s incredible how often certain things crop up that can slow a player’s progress down, particularly when it comes to beginners. When I speak to other tutors and producers they often remark on the same thing.

These mistakes are easy to make for beginner guitarists. Even more experienced players can fall into some of these traps too, so if you do, don’t beat yourself up. For each mistake, there’s usually a simple and quick fix that can set you back on the right path. It’s also important to note that each player’s journey is unique, so if you know that something is working for you and you’re making progress, trust your instincts.

1. Trying to run before you can walk

Yes, that old saying applies to playing the guitar. So often players want to learn flashy solos without covering the basics first. To be fair, that’s understandable – the solo from Beat It is undeniably cooler than the C major scale. 

However, by covering the basics first, you’re arming yourself with the skill, knowledge and dexterity that will make these more difficult pieces easier later on down the line. Things will also make more sense, so you can then integrate what you learn from other players into your own playing more seamlessly and naturally.

Whilst learning your first sets of chords and scales, you’re getting to know the instrument – how to fret notes properly, how to hold your guitar etc. Don’t skip past this bit in favor of the more ‘fun’ bits, as it really is crucial. It’s as simple as this: cover and master the basics and you’ll become a much better guitarist than if you don’t.

2. Disregarding certain genres of music

My biggest singular piece of advice to any musician starting out is to listen to as much different music as possible. You might have discovered and garnered an interest in the guitar through something like rock or punk, and it’s cool to delve further into that world. However, keeping an open mind to other styles of music will help you develop more as a player and musician.

For example, on the surface, pop music or drum’n’bass might not be your thing, but you’ll hear some incredible chord sequences and melodies in many pop songs. By listening to and absorbing some of these, you can then incorporate bits into your own style of playing – even if that’s a completely different style. Likewise, you can listen to some of the wild DnB beats and weave those rhythms into your metal guitar playing for something completely different, but still heavy.

In the world of rock guitar, you can come up with a Zeppelin-style riff, and it will sound cool, but it will be instantly recognizable as Led Zeppelin-influenced. On the other hand, borrow a three or four chord sequence from one of the songs from something like the Frozen movie (I’m making a point here), change the key and stick it in your rock song, and you’ve suddenly got an interesting base for a melody or solo that’s still in keeping with your music, but is more attention-grabbing than your standard rock chord sequences. The lesson here is essentially: be open to all types of music. 

3. Becoming gear obsessed

As guitar players, there’s usually always something new we want (or claim we need). Whether that’s a new pedal, a vintage guitar or a different kind of amp, there’s always something to distract us from what’s actually important – playing. 

New gear can inspire you to play more, and it can even take your playing in different directions, but it’s important not to become more focused on that than you are on actually playing the instrument itself.

A new pedal might sound cool, but it won’t make your fretting any cleaner. A vintage guitar might have some amazing pickups fitted, but that doesn’t matter if your playing is sloppy. A different kind of amp will no doubt unlock some new tones, but what good are they if you don’t have your scales locked down? Hopefully you get the point I’m making – new gear is great, but don’t let it distract you from mastering the art of guitar playing. 

The only thing you really need to focus on at this early stage is arming yourself with the right beginner acoustic guitar or beginner electric guitar.

4. Not playing along to something

Whether it’s music, backing tracks or just the good old fashioned click of a metronome, playing along to something can really help improve timing.

If you play without something that has a steady beat, you can trick yourself that you’re getting better, but you might not be. Say if you’re trying to master chord changes and you think you’ve got it down – you play one chord per bar and you’re keeping the tempo in your head. It’s easy to slow down subconsciously to make that change easier. Try it with a click to make sure that you’ve really got the change down. Start super slow and gradually build up the tempo. It doesn’t have to be all the time, but using a metronome should be a regular part of your practice. 

If you want something more interesting, there are tons of free drum tracks or backing tracks available online so you’re not just playing to a click. Some of the backing tracks can give you a style of music that you might not normally play to as well, which can be a nice change and present new challenges. 

5. Ignoring music theory completely 

I’m not saying you need your Grade 5 theory before you pluck a note, but reading up a bit on music theory as you’re learning the guitar will definitely help. It isn’t essential, but many guitarists find that music theory helps unlock things earlier on in their playing and helps things just make a bit more sense. 

Even if you’re just learning what keys are, or what a major and minor scale is, you’re arming yourself with a bit of knowledge that can help make your guitar playing journey that little bit easier. Learning different scales and what the relationship between the notes means can enhance your understanding of music, as well as your dexterity, plus they can make for great warm-up exercises. 

6. Relying solely on an electronic tuner

This might be quite an old-school take given how reliable and affordable tuners are nowadays, but I’m a big believer in being able to tune by ear. 

Electronic guitar tuners are great – I use them all the time, and I’d say that they’re an essential accessory. However, it’s definitely worth learning how to tune by either using the fifth fret method, or harmonics. Not only will this save your bacon if the battery in your tuner goes, but it’s also great for training your ear. Developing your ear – that is, learning to identify notes, intervals and whether something is sharp or flat can help you learn songs without the need for videos or TAB (it’s also a great party trick!).

After doing it this way for many years, some players find that they can tune automatically by ear without harmonics or fretting making it much quicker and easier to tune up.

7. Believing that all TABs are created equal

There are some great free resources out there, but there are also some terrible ones. Tablature or TABs are an easy way of reading guitar music, and there are tons of websites out there that show you how to play nearly every song imaginable. Google ‘Your Favourite Song TAB’ and chances are, it will come up.

This sounds great, right? Yes, and no. Whilst there are some sites that show you how to play songs correctly, there are just as many that show you the wrong way. There are loads of TABs written by someone that might not be much further along in their playing than you, giving you the wrong advice. I’ve seen it a number of times – someone has painstakingly followed TABs for a song, only to come out at the other end with something that sounds nothing like it should.

Try and opt for highly rated TABs, or use a reliable source. Online guitar lesson websites, like Guitareo often have a wide range of material, and it tends to be pretty accurate. 

8. Ignoring technique

Good and proper technique will make you a better player, enable you to play faster, and fret chords more cleanly. Just as importantly, it also prevents both short and long term injuries. 

There’s nothing wrong with teaching yourself to play the guitar; that’s how loads of people start out and there are loads of advantages to doing it this way. However, without any sort of one-to-one feedback, you can form bad habits in terms of technique eg. not fretting properly, angling your arm or wrist awkwardly etc. You might be able to play like this, but in the long run, you could be slowing yourself down, or even damaging your tendons or muscles.

There are plenty of websites and YouTube videos that showcase good guitar technique so it’s easy to check that you’re on the right track. Of course, if you’re having lessons, then this is something your teacher will go through with you. 

9. Keeping old strings on

When you’re just starting out playing the guitar, you naturally want to concentrate on learning. The thought of guitar maintenance seems like something you’d do much later on down the line. However, small bits of maintenance can keep your instrument feeling and sounding fresh. 

The easiest way to keep your guitar in tip-top condition is to change the strings. How often you do this depends on how much and how hard you play, but you’ll want to think about changing them after a couple of months or so.

You might not notice it, but your strings will start to sound more lifeless as bits of dead skin and dirt weave their way into the string windings. When you put a new set on, you’ll notice straight away that they sound better – more top end, more dynamics and they feel much smoother. 

The thought of changing your own strings might seem daunting at first, but there are loads of videos available showing you what to do, step-by-step. You can take it to a guitar store and they’ll do it for you, but it’s definitely a valuable skill to learn!

10. Playing only what you’re told to play

If you’re taking lessons, your teacher will likely tell you what to play, and it’s wise to listen to them. However, it’s worth finding the stuff you really want to play – take a crack at it, or ask your teacher to give you an arrangement. Playing the music you really want to play might not immediately get you closer to completing your grades (if that’s the path you’re taking), but it definitely keeps things fun and helps you stay interested in playing.  

You can also create some cool unstructured practice by simply putting on some of your favourite music and trying to find the notes on your guitar. Without any TABs or videos, see if you can find the root note, or figure out what chords they’re playing – doing this can help train your ear, but also just keep things light-hearted and fun. After all, that’s what guitar playing is supposed to be!

Strumming is probably the most essential guitar technique in existence. The word itself is a synonym for playing guitar, and your non-musician friends might ask you to strum a few chords for them at a party.

It’s taken for granted that any guitarist in any style should be able to do it, but the technique is actually surprisingly involved. You can spend a lifetime learning to make a simple chord progression sound good, but you’ll likely be offered a lot more gigs than someone who only practices shredding licks. 

Good strumming needs to be in tune and in time. That sounds obvious, but there’s a world of subtlety to unpack in that. Your acoustic guitar could be in tune and correctly set up, but if you over-squeeze, bend a string, or pick too hard, the resulting chord can still sound off. Because of the guitar’s design, open chords will never be absolutely in tune but they will sound sweeter with an accurate, light touch. 

Playing in time is another lifetime quest. The more you play with great musicians (on a record if you don’t know any in real life!) and a metronome, the more your ear will pick up subtle timing differences. As you develop your timing you’ll be able to place your chords where they sound best. 

You’ve heard people say ‘tone is in the hands’, and how you strum is a major part of this. The angle of your pick, how much of the pick crosses the strings, and how hard you strum all change the tone. If you sound scratchy or thin, keep trying different angles and motions. Look for approaches that feel easy: when it feels good, it will usually sound good, too.

Example 1. Focus on upstrokes

If you’re struggling with timing or evenness, it’s probably your upstrokes. Practise using only upstrokes until they feel and sound as good as your downstrokes. Don’t let too much of the pick cross the strings. 

Example 2. Add accents

If all your strums are the same volume, it will sound tedious. Practise placing accents on the strong beats at first (shown in bar 1), and then in less obvious places (bar 2). 

Example 3. Silence followed by a deafening roar

Dynamics are a highly underrated aspect of music – so take control with your strumming arm. See how quietly and loudly you can strum, and practise moving smoothly between those extremes. We’ve demonstrated the effect here in this example. 

Example 4. Learn to swing

Varying degrees of swing can totally change the feel of a part. There’s no right or wrong here, just different approaches for different musical contexts. We’ve played our example with both swing and straight feel so you can hear the difference. 

Example 5. Your ultimate goal!

Your aim is for complex rhythms like this to sound smooth and even – though don’t worry if it takes a while to build up to it. Here, your wrist should be moving down-up constantly as you count ‘1 e & a 2 e & a’. A very slight bend in the wrist will help you stay loose. 

Beginner guitar: You’ve got a new beginner acoustic guitar or beginner electric guitar, or maybe your goal for the year is to dust off that guitar you’ve owned for years and finally learn to play. You’re raring to get going, but now you need to learn how to play guitar.

Here, we guide you through everything you need to know: tuning the guitar, holding the guitar, playing chords, reading tab and even playing your first guitar solo.

Now, read on to take your first steps and learn how to play guitar. Happy playing!

Lesson 1: Tuning up

Using an electric tuner

You should tune up every time you play, so we recommend using an electronic tuner. Hardware tuners start at about $5 and there are several free smartphone apps you can use, too.

• These are the best guitar tuners you can buy

Simply play an open string on your guitar - the tuner detects the note you’ve played and will show you whether the pitch of the string needs to be higher or lower. 

All you have to remember is the order of the strings (fat to thin: EADGBE) so you know that you’re definitely tuning to the right note. Tighten the string with the string’s tuning nut to raise the pitch, or loosen it to lower the pitch.

Tuning manually

You can also tune your guitar without a tuner so it’s in tune with itself. To tune the fifth (A) string, play the 5th fret of the sixth string and the open fifth string. These two notes should sound the same. Repeat this process for every string except the second (B) string, where you should tune to the 4th fret of the third (G) string.

Lesson 2: Holding your guitar

Holding your guitar correctly will help you play better and avoid developing bad habits that will be hard to undo later.

Lesson 3: Your first chords

Believe it or not, learning a few basic chords means you can play hundreds of songs from the likes of Ed Sheeran to AC/DC and more, and are an essential ingredient in learning how to play guitar.

Essential info

• Two or more notes played together are known as a 'chord’.
• There are two main types of chords: major and minor.
• Major chords are referred to by the chord’s letter name. So a G major chord is ‘G’.
• Minor chords have a small ‘m’ after the letter name. So ‘A minor’ is written as ‘Am’.
• Your fingertips may hurt at first. This will pass as you get used to playing.

Major chords - bright, happy sound

You understand chord boxes, now have a go at these easy major chords and check them against the audio examples below.

Minor chords - dark, mournful sound

These minor chords have a sad, moody sound compared to major chords.

Learn the shapes and check them against the audio examples below.

Technique check

Nail your fretting technique and make those chords ring out cleanly – clean chords are an essential part of how to play guitar.

Lesson 4: Faster chord changes

Try these three chord changes to make your moves more efficient and start switching shapes at warp speed.

Chord change 1: E to D

A change like E to D requires a big movement for each finger to get from one chord to another. Practice the change repeatedly, focusing on keeping movements small.

Chord change 2: D to Dm

Keeping your fingers anchored down on notes that are shared between two chords will save you moving fingers you don’t need to. The D and Dm chords have one note in common.

Chord change 3: Am to E

Some chords share identical finger patterns on different strings. Am to E, for example. Play Am then lift off, holding your fingers in the same shape as you move.

How to read guitar tab

Once you know how music is written down, you can follow tons more guitar lessons, which will teach you how to play guitar in a variety of different styles.

The group of six lines marked ‘TAB’ represents the guitar’s strings. The bottom line refers to the fattest string; the top line is for the thinnest string. The numbers tell you which fret to place your fingers at.

When numbers are stacked on top of each other you should play these notes together. This example shows three single notes followed by a D chord. Traditional notation appears above the tab and tells you how long notes should last. Don’t worry about this part for now – get started with just the tab.

Lesson 5: Strumming

The biggest part of nearly every song consists of playing chords, so a great strumming technique is essential.

Downstrokes

This example features downstrokes using D and A chords. Strum lightly, making sure only the tip of your pick makes contact with the strings. If too much of your pick is showing it may snag in the strings. Remember to only strum the strings contained in each chord.

Downstrokes and upstrokes

If you’re feeling comfortable with downstrokes you can try upstrokes. This exercise uses the same chords as the previous example, but there are upstrokes (marked V) in between the downstrokes. Aim for even, steady timing with every strum lasting the same amount of time.

Easy chord progression: A D E

The ‘one-four-five’ is one of the most common chord progressions in rock and pop. ‘One-four-five’ refers to the order of the chord names: A, D and E are the first, fourth and fifth chords in the sequence: A B C D E, and this is sometimes written as Roman numerals (I-IV-V). G, C and D are also a I-IV-V progression. 

Don’t worry about the theory for now, just remember that the progression can be found in countless songs, including: The White Stripes' Hotel Yorba, Ramones' Blitzkrieg Bop, Led Zepellin's Rock And Roll, The Troggs' Wild Thing, and Jake Bugg's Lightning Bolt.

We’ve prepared a backing track that uses A-D-E-A chords so you can practice your first I-IV-V progression with the chords you’ve already learned.

Lesson 6: Lead guitar

Lead guitar isn’t just the impossibly fast stuff you see played by shredders on YouTube. In fact, the history of rock is littered with players famous for a sparser soloing style, such as David Gilmour, John Frusciante, Alex Turner and many more.

Lead guitar covers any kind of melody and is usually played one note at a time. The minor pentatonic scale is used as a basis for soloing by almost every guitarist in the world – so it’s the first scale you should learn, and a key component of how to play guitar solos.

Although it has a technical name, it’s really easy to play. There are five different notes in it and the first note is repeated at a higher pitch - so you play six notes in total.

E minor pentatonic scale

The idea with scales is to play the notes one after another, instead of all together, as you would with a chord. Use your second and third fingers, as shown by numbers. The notes from low to high are E, G, A, B and D.

Lead guitar melody

This simple lead guitar melody uses the E minor pentatonic scale you just played. Make sure you only play one string at a time and keep your pick motion quite small to avoid unwanted extra movement that will slow you down.

Strumming is probably the most useful technique you’ll ever learn. About 90 per cent of what an ordinary listener considers ‘guitar playing’ involves it, and once you can do it, you’re off and running.

‘Scratching’ – strumming while choking the strings with your fretting hand – is a good way to start. Your fretting hand doesn’t have to do much, so you can concentrate on pick technique. You can hear it in Isaac Hayes’ Theme From Shaft and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.

It’s great when a student listens a lot to a certain style, because they can hear when it sounds right. For funk strumming you need a light, relaxed touch. The challenge is getting the upstrokes to feel good. If you feel like the pick is fighting to get over the strings, you probably won’t sound good.

You can reduce resistance by trying a thinner guitar pick, and stopping the pick extending too far between the strings. Imagine it gliding over the top instead. You can create ‘accents’ (emphasis) by strumming a little harder or by hitting more strings on the beat than you do off the beat.

That will groove better and help you to feel the pulse. Strumming is not very similar to many everyday movements, so it’s challenging to help students figure out how it should feel. You can get closer by thinking of shaking water off your fingers, or the African finger snap.

Technique check...

Get your fingers in the right place and those funky string scratches will groove!

1. Fretting hand

Rest your fingers lightly across the strings anywhere on the neck. Don’t press the strings onto a fret.

2. Pick

A thinner pick (0.73 mm or thinner) produces less resistance for strumming or scratching. Softer materials like nylon can also help.

3. Pick angle

On your upstrokes, letting the tip of the pick point to the floor can help it glide over the strings.

4. Picking hand wrist

Your wrist should feel loose. A slight bend helps to stop it locking.

Strumming technique

1. Simply strum four evenly-timed downstrokes here.
2. Fig 2 shows down-up style strumming. Keep the downstrokes from Fig 1 going and add upstrokes in between.
3. All downstrokes here, but the main idea is to hit more strings on the beat than you do off the beat.
4. Fig 4 has the same movement, but you hit strings on upstrokes, too.

Welcome to the first lesson in my economy picking series for GT. This lesson will help you understand the principles of economy picking and give you a practice routine for development. As the name suggests, economy picking is a system for increasing picking efficiency by making the most of directional motions between strings.

Economy picking differs from alternate picking in the way string changes are handled. Alternate picking uses opposing motions, where the pick stroke that completes one string in a stream of notes will be opposite to the pick stroke that begins the next string. 

A down stroke on the third string, for example, would be followed by an upstroke if we immediately switched to the second string. The pick must pass down across the second string without striking it before doubling back for the up stroke.

When we economy pick, we still use down and up strokes along one string but take the shortest route when changing strings. A down stroke on the third string would be followed by another downstroke to the second string. This avoids passing across the second string. It’s like a mini-sweep and the most economical way to pick notes on different strings. 

In a three-notes-per-string drill, like Example 1, alternate picking uses opposite pick strokes between strings and changes the strokes for each string as you add more (bars 1-3). With economy picking (bars 4-6), a single approach replaces the previous pick stroke flipping, so the pick never escapes the plane of the strings.

Players like Eric Johnson and Yngwie Malmsteen, use economy picking in one direction (ascending in their cases), while the godfather of economy picking, Frank Gambale, engineers his lines so that almost every string change occurs using the shortest distance between two points: sweeping.

For maximum flow, there are two principles to learn and apply: Rest Strokes and Picking Orientation. Both concepts will set up the pick for fast string changes.

Rest strokes

Sweeping a string change works best when the pick leaves one string and comes to rest directly on the next. The new string will sound when the pick is released from its resting position (like strumming a chord rather than picking individual notes in one direction).

Using separated, individual down strokes or up strokes in a row creates more work for the picking hand, compromising efficiency and speed. For our examples you must get used to resting the pick on each new string and releasing it as the lick continues.

Picking orientation

Economy picking works best when the pick is angled to suit the sweep direction. Angling the back end of the pick down towards the floor sets up a downward picking orientation for ascending lines (Figure A - above) and raising the back end of the pick lightly towards the ceiling (Figure B - below) sets up an upward picking orientation for descending lines.

Use the following drills to develop your ascending and descending economy picking, using rest strokes and picking orientation, and next month we’ll tackle direction turnarounds using three strategies.

On the record

Frank Gambale hit the scene with Brave New Guitar in 1986 with a fully-systemised command of economy picking. Developed back in his native Australia before moving to the US, Gambale mastered a picking system useful for scales and arpeggios alike, known as economy picking, sweep picking or speed picking. 

Also check out the playing of Eric Johnson and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Example 1: Alternate vs economy

Compare the picking of bars 2-4 with bars 6-8 (considering the repeat markings). As you add more strings to the alternate picking option, the pick strokes from the previous bars are flipped. With economy, one approach fits regardless of using two, three, or four strings.

Example 2: Building ascending economy strokes

If you’ve never tried economy picking before, start with this C Major triad using an ascending sweep only. Angle the pick in the downward picking orientation and use a rest stroke from the sixth to the fifth string each time.

Example 3: Adding scale notes

Bar 1 outlines an ascending A Minor triad while bar 2 expands this into a larger A Minor scale fragment. Picking the string changes works in the same directional manner for both phrases.

Example 4: Using full scales

Building up to economy picking through full scales, bar 1 uses two strings and bar three uses three strings of an A Minor scale. After speeding this up, go back to alternate picking to see the fluidity you’ve accomplished with the economy pick strokes.

Example 5: Alternating between two and three-string groups

Here’s a higher scale fragment with a1n, 3E Phrygian tonality, alternates between two- and three-string groups.

Example 6: Picking odd numbers of notes

Since economy picking works so well with odd numbers of notes per string, these four A Minor patterns begin with either one or three notes on the lowest string and continue with three-notes-per-string shapes.

Example 7: Descending development

Let’s use descending triads to hone the upwaœrd sweeping motion. This ‘circle of 5ths’ progression isolates each string pair. Use upward picking orientation and upward rest strokes when you approach this example.

Example 8: Straight 16th-note playing

To make a steady picking line out of the previous triads, play straight 16th notes and monitor your timing.

Example 9: Descending scale fragments

These D Dorian fragments will prepare you for the continuous stream of notes in Example 10.

Example 10: Building picking stamina

Shortening the quarter notes from the previous examples will build stamina for your descending economy picking.

Example 11: Daily workout routine

Complete your economy picking routine by applying this picking form to any three-notes-per-string scale. Combine examples 2-11 for a 10-minute daily workout.

Defined as the distinct repetition of sound, dedicated delay effects were first seen in recording studios in the 1950s in the shape of cumbersome tape-echo units that used reels of magnetic tape (just like an old audio cassette) to record and play back sound. 

Solid-state technology brought delay to a more practical stompbox format in the 1970s. And, although many of the most common delays these days are digital, many replicate the natural warmth and grain of much-loved early tape echoes and analogue pedals. 

Here, we’re looking at five ways to use your delay effect, from epic atmospherics and post-rock ambience to synth-like swells and timed rhythmic parts. 

On the subject of timed delays, you’ll need solid rhythm skills, of course, but also an understanding of how delay time (usually expressed in milliseconds) relates to musical tempo (expressed as beats per minute). Read on, as we cover what you need to know. 

Delay Essentials: Jargon Buster

Pedal terminology

Feedback: Feedback refers to the number of times your signal repeats. Depending on your pedal, it can vary from one repeat to infinite echoes.

Time (aka rate): Every pedal allows you to control how fast the echoes come. Some pedals display measurements in milliseconds. Others require you to use your ear.

Tap tempo: This manually syncs the time of your delay to the song you’re playing. In most cases you’ll simply stomp on a footswitch in time with the music.

Mix (aka effect level): This knob controls how loud your guitar’s repeats are compared to the input signal.

Analogue delay: Analogue delay pedals use a so-called Bucket Brigade chip –a capacitor array that gives them a distinctively dark sound that’s increasingly lo-fi as you apply longer delay settings.

Digital delay: Digital delays are generally more pristine in timbre than the analogue kind. Depending on who you ask, you might hear them described as brighter, or even clinical. Some pedals, like the Boss DD-3, deliver a distinctive tone of their own that sits somewhere between clinical and the darker, grungier tone of an analogue delay. Fully featured digital units emulating classic delays are commonplace.

Timed delay: A quick look at delay time (in ms) at different musical tempos (bpm) will give you an idea of how they relate to a song’s speed and rhythm:

120bpm: 500ms (quarter note) 250ms (eighth note) 125ms (16th note)

90bpm: 667ms (quarter note) 333ms (eighth note) 222ms (16th note)

60bpm: 1000ms (quarter note) 500ms (eighth note) 250ms (16th note)

Dotted eighth-note delay: You need to understand a nugget of music theory to employ the classic dotted eighth-note delay. A standard quarter-note rhythm is counted ‘1 2 3 4’. Eighth notes are twice the speed, and you’d count ‘1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &’ to keep time.

A dotted eighth is equal to 1.5 eighth notes. So, if you set a delay to a dotted eighth the repeats fall halfway between the eighth notes you play, giving a cascading run of evenly timed 16th notes.

Example 1. Timed repeats

Our first example is inspired by The Adults Are Talking by The Strokes, and, like the New York quintet, we’re using delay to add timed, rhythmic repeats in the gaps. That means we need to match the delay time to the tempo of the track. 

Our track is at 160bpm, so a delay time of 375ms ensures the repeats land on the downbeat. 

Example 2. Ambient wet sound

Here we use the delay to create a spooky ambient effect in the vein of the Arctic Monkeys’ Dance Little Liar. The delay is set to an eighth-note repeat (300ms, to match our track’s 100bpm tempo) with the feedback set to two repeats. We’ve kept the effect level high (70%) for that ambient ‘wet’ sound. 

Example 3. Dotted eighth-note delay

This rhythmic effect appears in Buckethead’s Big Sur Moon and Dream Theater’s Lifting Shadows Off A Dream. These riffs are played as an even run of eighth notes, but the repeats are set to dotted eighth notes, so the echoes are heard in between the played notes. 

Our example is at 120bpm and the delay time is 375ms. The effect level is identical to the dry guitar sound. 

Example 4. Gradual fade outs

Devin Townsend uses long delays for ambience and weight in songs like Greetings and Truth. In our example, the delay is set to a quarter-note triplet repeat, (500ms at 80bpm). Set a long feedback to allow the notes to gradually fade away. 

Example 5. Dual-delayed synth pad effect

In this Tool-inspired part there are two separate delays which combine to create a smooth synth-pad-like effect. 

One delay is set to an eighth note (500ms) and the other is a quarter-note delay (1000ms), both with the feedback set as high as possible.

Nobody ever finishes learning the guitar. You could be a master classical guitarist and a novice at blues; or you might be a virtuoso with a guitar pick but uncertain with fingerstyle. Yet some essential skills let you play in a huge variety of situations. Get these down and you’ve completed your guitar apprenticeship.

Here, we break down those essential skills to get you quickly on the road to guitar mastery – the 10 things every beginner guitarist needs to know. We’re taking a look at the chords and scales that form essential learning, and we’ve provided some exercises for you to try out. 

Treat each exercise as something to build up to – and if an example is too tough to play at first, break it down into shorter ‘phrases’ and gradually piece it together as you improve. And why not try recording yourself playing our riffs and licks, too? It’s a great way to track your progress.

• Learn how to play guitar chords for beginners
• Also check out our guide to singing and playing guitar at the same time
• Explore the best acoustic guitars for beginners
• Our pick of the best guitars for kids

1. Learn your amp

Unsure how to set your guitar amp? Start with treble, middle, and bass at 12 o’clock. Try turning bass to zero and then to maximum, and listen to the differences. Put it back to 12 o’clock and repeat with the middle and treble knobs. Try it with various gain settings and listen to how the amp behaves. 

If possible, crank the master volume. The same settings sound different and the guitar feels different at high volume. These settings are only ever suggestions: even if we all had the same gear, every room sounds different. Try playing in your bedroom, bathroom, and garage and see how much the tone changes. 

2. Tune up by ear

Everyone needs an electronic guitar tuner, but you should still learn to tune by ear to train your sense of pitch. While tuning, you might get confused whether a note is flat or sharp. If that happens, loosen the string so it’s definitely flat, and tune back up. 

This will ‘reset’ your ear so it’s easier to hear the right pitch. Some machineheads also work more efficiently when tuning up rather than down, so the guitar stays in tune better.

See our guide on how to tune a guitar for more info.

3. Essential chords and scales

The 10 chord shapes shown below are the most important ones you need to know. Many more advanced chords are related to these shapes in some way. And if you only ever learn two scales, learn these. 

The minor pentatonic scale is probably the most commonly used shape in lead guitar, and the major scale is the basis for most music theory. 

4. Finger positioning

Correct fretting

Aim to fret with your fingertips close to the frets, but not on top of the metal.

Incorrect fretting

Fretting inaccurately will cause fret buzz or even sound the wrong note!

Thumb position

This position allows maximum stretch for one-finger-per-fret scale shapes.

5.  Open chord strumming 

Wondering how pro guitarists change chords at lightspeed? They cheat! Throwing in one or more strums of open strings just before a change buys time to prepare the next shape. 

In the tab, there’s one strum of open strings before most changes, but if you need longer just move your fretting hand earlier while you keep strumming. 

6. Minor pentatonic alternate picking

For lead guitar, down-up style ‘alternate’ picking is the most efficient way to play: follow every downstroke of the pick with an upstroke so you’re plucking the string every time the pick passes it. 

Once you’ve mastered two pickstrokes per fretted note, as tabbed, you can also try three, four, or one.

7. Hammer-ons and bends

Your hammer-ons should be in time and about the same volume as the picked notes. The bends need to be exactly in tune. You’ll be able to tell if you do it right, because the first picked note after each bend should be exactly the same pitch as the bent note.

8. Major scale descending sequence

To improvise confidently, you need to know your scales inside-out. This exercise increases familiarity with the shape as well as being a useable lick. Pick with all downstrokes at first, but it can also be an advanced alternate picking workout.

9. Shifting powerchords 

Moving cleanly between powerchords is about muting. The gaps between stabs should be silent, so drop your picking hand gently onto the strings to mute them. For the slide, keep pressing into the strings as you shift the chord shape up two frets.

10. Changing between barre chords

Playing only on beats 2 and 4 like this is a classic soul guitar trick. To get the timing, listen for the snare drum and sync up with it. Use the rests to prepare the next chord shape. Soul greats like Steve Cropper often only strum three strings from within these shapes.

Beginner guitar: New guitarists tend to pick every note in the same direction. Most favour downstrokes, though a few gravitate to upstrokes. 

Still, seeing as your pick has to travel in the opposite direction to get back to where it started, you may as well pluck another note on the way. That way you can play twice as many notes with the same amount of movement. 

Known as alternate picking, this technique is how shredders and bluegrass flatpickers get their speed – but it’s a core part of soloing, whatever style you play. 

We recommend getting started by repeatedly picking one single note. Aim for a motion that feels comfortable, sounds good, and where every note is roughly the same volume. 

With these basics covered, read on and we’ll help you take your playing to the next level with a handy scale exercise, some technique tips and a pair of inspiring musical ideas for you to try out. 

Wrist, forearm or elbow?

Which body parts should you move for your picking motion? You can find amazing guitarists who pick primarily with their wrist (Yngwie Malmsteen), forearm rotation (Paul Gilbert), and elbow (Michael Angelo Batio) – though, like we say, alternate picking isn’t exclusive to virtuoso shred. 

Regardless of the music you’re into, try to be mindful that you’re not tensing up, as this can lead to pain and injury. As long as you feel relaxed and sound good, any of these motions (or a combination of them) are valid.

Picking scales: Double-pick scale notes to improve your technique

Usually with scales you’ll play each note once, then move on to the next one. A great way to hone your picking skills is to pick each note two or four times instead. For example, in G major you’d play G G, A A, B B, and so on.

Technique check

1. Trigger grip

Finding a comfortable grip is essential. For a ‘trigger’ grip, place the pick on the side of your index finger. Drop your thumb on top to hold it in place.

2. Pad grip

A variation on the trigger grip, here the pick is pinched between the pads of thumb and forefinger.

3. Pad-side grip

Kind of halfway between pad and trigger, the pick is on an angle. Use whichever of these methods feels most comfortable and in control. 

4. Three finger or middle finger

It’s fine to use thumb and two fingers (like James Hetfield, shown here) or thumb and middle finger (like Eddie Van Halen).

Example 1.  Outside-style alternate picking

This melodic rock lick will help you get used to swapping between strings using the ‘outside’ method (a downstroke on the lower-pitch string, then an upstroke on the higher one). It just means you’re approaching each string from its ‘outer’ edge.

Example 2.  Inside-style alternate picking

More melodic rock lead playing here in our ‘inside’ picking lick – so this time your pick approaches the strings from in between them. Make sure you are using strict down-up-down-up picking. It’s a key part of the alternate picking technique.

To hone your skills further, check out 5 alternate picking exercises that will speed up your guitar playing.

Beginner guitar: The major scale is the basis for most Western tonal music. There are other scales, but we understand them by how they relate to the major scale. Luckily, it’s familiar because you’ve been hearing it since before you were born. Most nursery rhymes use the major scale, and it’s been used by every composer and songwriter from Liszt to Lizzo.

The first step in learning how to play the major scale on guitar is to get your fingers around it. We’ll use a shape with a four-fret stretch on several strings. That might take some getting used to, but it’s mostly down to getting your hand in the right position. 

You want to know this scale inside out – it’s going to serve as a framework for technical exercises and improvisation from now on. Your fingers need to know where they’re going so your brain is free to think about music. 

Once you know the scale, let’s dive into improvising with it. We’ve written one example of the kind of thing you can do, but be brave and start experimenting. There are no negative consequences to making bad sounds in the privacy of your own home! If you play something that sucks, you’ve learned something.

Major scale shape

Play through these notes from low to high and you’ll soon be ready to tackle our tab examples.

Technique check

1. CROSSING STRING TECHNIQUE

When crossing strings you need to have your first finger on the 4th fret and your fourth finger on the 7th fret at the same time so that the notes flow smoothly.

2. THUMB POSITION

Wide stretches are much easier with your thumb positioned vertically near the centre of the neck, roughly opposite your first or second finger.

3. GOOD HAND POSITION

For maximum stretch, your fingers should approach the strings as close to 90° as your body mechanics allow.

4. BAD HAND POSITION

If your fingers approach the strings at an angle, stretching is nearly impossible and you’ll fluff the notes.

Example 1. Major Scale with Rhythm

Hopefully you’ve already played through the scale shape shown on the previous page, so now try this line, or even invent your own. It’s the same notes, just a different rhythm. This way you’ll improve your sense of rhythm and scale knowledge at the same time.

Example 2. Rock Lick

This lick uses only notes from the A major scale. There are no big stretches, so you can use a different finger/hand position to make the bends easier if you need to.

Because the guitar has two E strings, E major is often the first chord beginners learn. It uses all six strings, so your strumming hand can go wild, it’s pretty easy, and it sounds great.

For the same reason, it’s also one of the most used chords in guitar music. In fact, it’s a rare guitar album that doesn’t have a version of this chord. So this guide on how to play the E chord on guitar is an essential for all players.

We’ll start by showing you open E major and E minor shapes. Then we’ll look at two popular barre chords, followed by a few extended E chords that you can use to impress your friends, wow your dates, and flex in guitar stores.

How to play the E chord on guitar: open E

Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin', AC/DC’s Back in Black, The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood, Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop, and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Pride and Joy all prominently feature open E chords.

Here's how to play the E chord on guitar in its most classic shape: first finger, fret 1 on the G string; second finger, fret 2 on the A string; and third finger, fret 2 on the D string.

Pick each string one at a time like our audio example to make sure every string is ringing clearly. If they’re choking, you’re probably either not fretting firmly enough, or accidentally touching a string that should be left open.

How to play the E chord on guitar: E minor

E minor is even easier: take the same shape you just used for E major, and remove your first finger. That’s it! It’s really easy to mute the G string with the underside of your third finger, so keep a really big gap there.

If you do find that you keep muting the G string by mistake, there is some good news: the resulting chord is an open E5 power chord, and with distortion it sounds huge for big rock intros.

How to play the E chord on guitar: E barre chords

The E shape barre chord is right up at the 12th fret. Barring all six strings with your first finger, add your second finger to the G string, fret 13; your third finger to the A string, fret 14, and your fourth finger to the D string, fret 14. You can see how that is related to the basic open shape.

The A-shape barre chord is more commonly used for E. It’s at fret 7 – you barre from the A string to the high E. Then you fret the D, G, and B strings all at fret 9. You can either do that with a different finger for each string, or by barring with your third finger. They both sound equally good, so it’s really up to you which you play.

Although you normally avoid the low E string for A-shape barres, here you could leave it open for a really big sound.

How to play the E chord on guitar: E chord variations

E6

Starting with a normal open E major shape, add your fourth finger to the B string, fret 2. That gives an E6 chord. You can also use this as a substitute for C# minor 7 in a pinch, because it contains the same notes in a different order.

E7

If you’re up for a barre chord, try E7 using the A shape. It’s arguably easier than the regular E major barre, and sounds great for things like the intro to I Saw Her Standing There by the Beatles.

As with E major, barre fret 7. Then add your third finger onto the D string, fret 9, and fourth finger onto the B string, fret 9. The challenge is making sure your barring is clean enough to hear the G string fret 7 clearly. That’s the all important 7th note which gives the chord its name.

Emaj9

Up for a challenge? Try this Emaj9, as used by Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Mayer. It’s fiddly to get into, but it’s a beautiful sound. Second finger plays the A string, fret 7; first finger the D string, fret 6; third finger lands on the B string, fret 7; and your fourth finger plays the G string, fret 8.

Gear up with our beginner guitar guides

• Take your first steps with the best acoustic guitars for beginners
• Or plug in with the best beginner electric guitars
• Start them young with the best guitars for kids
• Essential guitar accessories for beginners
• Give you playing a boost with the best online guitar lessons

Beginner guitar: If you’re new to guitar, A major is one of the chords you should learn first. For this open chord, all your fingers play the same fret, so it’s easy to play and easy to remember.

It’s also one of the most common chords in guitar music. It’s the first chord in hard rock classics like All Right Now by Free, Hammer to Fall by Queen and Highway to Hell by AC/DC, but it’s also the home chord for ballads like Adele’s Someone Like You and Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars. Whatever style you want to play, you’ll need to learn how to play the A chord on guitar.

Our guide to playing A chords is in three sections. First, we’ll show you open A, with three different fingerings to try. Check them all out and see which works best for your fingers.

Next up, there are two barre chord shapes to give you more choices. If you’re playing with another guitarist, having each of you playing different shapes can really fill out the sound. Finally, we’ll look at variations for the open and barre chord shapes. You’ll never be stuck for an A chord again!

• How to play guitar chords for beginners
• How to play the C chord on guitar

How to play the A chord on guitar: open A

A major is easy to remember on guitar because every note you play is on the second fret, on the D, G, and B strings. There are three common ways to play this. Feel free to try them all to see which is right for you.

First up, try your first finger on fret 2 of the D string, second finger on fret 2 of the G string, and third finger on fret 2 of the B string. This is the most popular fingering. Watch that your third finger doesn’t accidentally choke the high E string.

If you’re struggling to fit all three fingers into the same fret, you could try using fingers 2, 3, and 4 instead. These fingers are usually slimmer, so will buy you a little more space. They’re also the fingers you’ll be using when you move on to playing barre chords, so trying this variation now will give you head start later on.

Finally, you can play all three fretted notes by barring with your first finger. This is the way more experienced guitarists often do it. It’s trickier at first, but faster once you get it down.

How to play the A chord on guitar: A major barre

The E shape A major barre chord is played at the 5th fret. Barre all six strings with your first finger. Finger 2 takes the G string, fret 6; finger 3 the A string, fret 7; and finger 4 lands on fret 7 of the D string. Try rolling your barring finger slightly onto its side, where it’s easier to apply pressure.

The A shape barre chord for A major is all the way up at the 12th fret. Avoid playing the low E string. The frets are close together here, so squeezing three fingers into one fret is a challenge. Don’t use more pressure than you have to while fretting.

Squeezing too hard will only hurt your hand and can pull the notes sharp. You might prefer the alternative fingering, where you barre the D, G, and B strings with your third finger. If you take that one, you’ll need to choke the high E string (although you’ll probably find that happens anyway!).

How to play the A chord on guitar: A major variations

A7

If you want to vary the sound from the vanilla open A chord, A7 and Asus2 are two great places to start. The version of A7 we’ve chosen appears in Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Pride and Joy and many other blues and rock n’ roll tunes.

In that context, it works well as a substitute for A major. Whichever way you normally play an A major, just add a spare finger to fret 3 on the high E string, and you’ve got an A7.

Asus2

Asus2 is a classy sounding chord that will work in most contexts where you would normally find an A major. It’s easy to play, too: make an A major shape, then remove your third finger from the B string, so that the open string rings instead. That’s it!

You’ve heard this sound in songs like Behind Blue Eyes by the Who, Champagne Supernova by Oasis, and The Flame by Cheap Trick.

A major 7

More advanced players can check out this four-finger version of A major 7. Fourth finger takes D string fret 7, third finger G string fret 6, second finger B string fret 5, and first finger E string fret 4. Note that, despite their similar names, A major 7 is a very different sounding chord from A7!

A major, Keith Richards style

Lastly try this nifty three string shape, beloved of Keith Richards. You’ll also find this shape in many riffs by Queen and Kiss. Although your first finger is technically only needed on the G string, it’s standard to barre the D and B strings as well, so you can pull off to those strings, Keef-style.

Gear up with our beginner guitar guides

• Take your first steps with the best acoustic guitars for beginners
• Or plug in with the best beginner electric guitars
• Start them young with the best guitars for kids
• Essential guitar accessories for beginners
• Give you playing a boost with the best online guitar lessons

Beginner guitar: If you’re confident at strumming, it’s time to look at rhythm patterns with a slightly more advanced 16th-note approach. That means every quarter-note beat is divided into four, so we can count the bar by saying “1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a” (ie, in 4/4 time there are 16 strums in every bar).

Count that out loud as you play, alternating between down- and upstrokes; if a strum falls on an ‘e’ or an ‘a’, it’s an upstroke. Practice until it’s easy and automatic. When that’s working well, aim to keep the same motion going all the time, so that your picking hand acts as a metronome.

You’ll start to feel exactly where in the beat each strum lands. If you’re up for a challenge, listen to our audio examples and play them with and without a swing feel. Famous songs with 16th-note swing (also called a halftime shuffle) include Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke, Toto’s Rosanna, and Imagine Dragons’ Natural.

Sus chords: Four easy shapes to use for your rhythm workout

You’ll need to keep your focus on strumming and good timing, so these are all easy shapes which shouldn’t test your fretting hand too much. Hopefully you already know D, A, C and G major open chords – these are simple variations on those basics.

Technique check: Get your fingers in prime position to make those licks easier

1. Too much pick: If your upstrokes sound choppy or feel awkward, chances are your pick is digging in between the strings, making it hard to strum evenly.

2. Correct pick: Instead, imagine your pick gliding over the surface of the strings rather than going in between them. Strumming should feel smooth and easy.

3. Strumming from the wrist: Your strumming movement should come mostly from the wrist, and ideally each down- and upstroke will stay close to the top/bottom of the strings.

4. Strumming from the elbow: A little bit of elbow movement is fine, but bear in mind that this is a bigger motion that’s likely to throw your timing off. Approach this with care.

Ex 1. Straight 16th notes

Practice this 16th note strummed pattern with any of the sus4 chords you’ve learned. The rhythm doesn’t change so focus on steady, even timing. If the technique you use sounds good and feels comfortable, it works!

Ex 2. 16ths and Quarter Notes

We’re ramping up the rhythmic complexity here, so follow the picking directions exactly, and keep your picking hand moving down and up constantly, even when you’re not striking the strings.

Ex 3. Starting on an Upstroke

This one is more challenging because some of the patterns begin on upstrokes. If you’re moving your picking hand with a straight 16th note rhythm, you’ll automatically be in the right place. It becomes automatic with practice!

Beginner guitar: Whether you admire BB King’s sublime phrasing, Ed Sheeran’s acoustic flourishes, or Eddie Van Halen’s scorching runs, you’ll need to master legato technique. 

‘Legato’ is an Italian word that simply means to play smoothly, but electric guitarists use it specifically to refer to notes played without picking – your fretting fingers sound the notes instead. 

Here, we’re looking at authentic rock and blues licks using only fretted notes from the pentatonic scale.

If you’ve ever tried to improvise a solo, you’ve probably had moments where you couldn’t think what to play. These repeating licks are useful vocabulary to have for those situations.

Once you’ve mastered the mechanics, they don’t require much brain power, so you can concentrate on deciding what to play next. And once they’re in your muscle memory, you can develop terrifying speed with them if that’s your thing.

Technique check: Get your fingers in prime position to make those licks easier

1. PULL-OFF (BEFORE)

Let gravity help you play pull-offs by using the weight of your hand to fall off the string, ‘plucking’ it in the process.

2. PULL-OFF (AFTER)

Spot the difference in wrist angle from the previous picture. This tiny wrist flick will make your pull-offs much clearer.

3. HAMMER-ON (BEFORE)

The key to effective hammer ons? Hit hard, and from a height. For now it’s just about generating enough finger power.

4. HAMMER-ON (AFTER)

Finish the hammer-on in the same position you would start a pull-off, so you can switch rapidly between the techniques.

Example 1. Simple pull-off lick

Ignore the usual ‘one finger per fret’ approach; high up the neck, frets are closer together, so use whatever fingers are comfortable.

Example 2. Pull-offs and string bend

This is a similar lick to the last one, but played on first and second strings this time. Notice that all these notes are from the E minor pentatonic scale.

Example 3. Simple hammer-on lick

Here, you’ll need a partial barre on the 12th fret to move smoothly between the notes on the first and second strings.

Example 4. Variations

You’ll get more mileage from all our licks if you mix and match the endings. The last note of each lick can be used to end any of the others.

C major is one of the most useful chords you’ll ever learn – so figuring out how to play a C chord on guitar is an essential step for every player.

It’s so foundational that it appeared on both sides of the debut singles by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. So far in 2021, the humble C chord has appeared in hits like Let’s Go Home Together by Ella Henderson and Tom Grennan, and Leave Before You Love Me by Marshmello and Jonas Brothers.

Of the five basic open chords on guitar (C, G, D, A, and E), C is one of the more challenging because of the stretch needed to play it, but if you practice often, your hand will develop the flexibility you need.

If you’re new to playing chords, it’s a good idea to practice in very short bursts so your fingers don’t start to hurt. Grab your guitar to strum a couple of shapes every time you boil a kettle or use the microwave, and you’ll soon be playing fluently.

Sometimes you might want options besides the standard C major chord to give a variety of sounds. Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered with shapes that can substitute for C in various contexts. For more advanced players, there are barre chord shapes below, too, to give you more options.

How to play the C chord on guitar: open C

To play the C chord on guitar, place your first finger on the first fret of the B string, your second finger on the second fret of the D string, and your third finger on the third fret of the A string. Try to avoid plucking the low E string when you strum the chord.

Pluck the strings one at a time to check they all ring clearly, as on our demo. If any of the strings sound muted or choked, don’t panic. If one of the open strings is choked, it is probably the underside of one of your fingers accidentally catching it. Try to adjust your hand to make more space.

If the fretted notes sound bad, it might be that you are not pressing hard enough. Try to get your fingers close to the fret wire (the metal part) without being on top of it.

That’s where you need the least pressure to get a clear sound. It will take time to be able to stretch your fingers comfortably into this shape. If you’re struggling, try leaving off your third finger. That leaves an A minor 7 (Am7) chord. Try C major again once you’re comfortable with Am7.

How to play the C chord on guitar: C barre chords

When barring, it’s often easier to roll slightly onto the side of your finger then trying to keep absolutely flat. The side is a little tougher and bonier, which makes it easier to apply pressure. Barre chords are moveable, so once you’ve mastered these shapes, you can play 12 different chords with each of them by moving to different frets.

We’ve shown two different ways to play the A shape. The first is to use all four fingers. The stretch between your first and second finger might feel large. Try getting just those two strings working, and if necessary start higher on the neck, where the frets are closer together.

Pro secret: if you’re struggling to fret the high E string accurately, you can leave it out. That note (G) is already being played an octave lower on the D string, so it’s not essential.

The second method is to barre the D, G, and B strings with your third finger. If you do this, you’ll probably mute the high E string. That’s fine. A few jazz Jedis are able to bend their third fingers so the first string still rings clearly, but as we’ve already said, you can leave that note out anyway.

How to play the C chord on guitar: easy C chord variations

Here are two alternatives to an open C major chord that sound great and give you different sonic options. The first, Cadd9, is extremely common, especially when switching between C and G major chords, because it is similar to a common G major shape.

You can leave your third and fourth fingers down and just hop your first two fingers up and down by one string to move between the two. You can hear that method in songs like Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day, Perfect by Ed Sheeran, and Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns n’ Roses. Cadd9 almost always works as a substitute for C major, and it sounds great.

Cmaj7 is a beautiful alternative to C major, although it doesn’t work quite as universally as Cadd9. Your ears will quickly tell you where it’s wrong though! Without diving into music theory, Cmaj7 will often work in jazzy songs and ballads, and almost always sounds terrible in the blues. To play it, simply remove your first finger from the open C major chord you learned above. Easy!

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If you know how to play an open E chord, F should be easy – just move it up one fret, right? If you’ve tried that, you’ll know it doesn’t work, because the open strings need to ‘move’ too. 

Full barre chords use your first finger like a capo, so you can use just a couple of shapes to play any chord. This process opens up a whole world of chords that can’t be played in open position. Eventually, you’ll learn to apply pressure evenly across all six strings with your first finger. 

It’s worth practicing barring all the strings without forming a chord, but it isn’t necessary for this lesson’s shapes. You’ll be fretting notes on the middle strings with your other fingers, so it won’t matter if your barre isn’t perfect yet. You should also practice playing open chords without using your first finger, to get used to the shapes your other fingers will be making. 

The four most important barre chords you need to know

The shapes we’re using are called the ‘E shape’ and ‘A shape’, even though you can use them to play any chord. That’s because they’re based on the fretting shapes used for the open E and A chords you already know (and their minor equivalents). 

Make sure you’re really confident with those open shapes before you try these barre chords.

Technique check

1. Finger angle

Try angling your barring finger slightly for an effective barring technique. The side of your finger is harder than the front, so it’s easier to apply pressure.

2. Leaving out a string

If you accidentally mute out the high E string on this shape, just leave it out. Then your first finger doesn’t even have to play a full barre!

3. Third-finger barres

Some guitarists prefer making the A major shape by barring with their third finger instead of fretting each note with a different digit. 

4. Muting the bass string

For the A shapes, including this minor version, you can stop the sixth string ringing out by stubbing up against it with your first finger.

Barre chord practice examples

Example 1. Barres for arpeggios

The arpeggio picking here will test the accuracy of your barring. Listen to every note and make sure it rings out cleanly. If you struggle, try changing to a partial barre, and practise playing just the top three or four strings. 

Example 2. Funky stabs

These A (and A minor) shapes are great for funk guitar styles. Disco legend Nile Rodgers forms the full chord shapes but generally only strums two or three strings from each one. It’s a neat trick that gives him his signature sound. 

Our list of the 50 greatest guitar riffs reads like a who’s who of the history of rock, with classic acts hitting the heady heights of, well, pretty much the entire top 50 if we’re honest. Newer acts received far fewer votes by comparison. 

Perhaps it’s just a matter of renown; it’s just harder for younger bands to be as well-known as acts who may have been around for 40 or 50 years. Here we’re looking how those classic riffs were written.

These aren’t exactly songwriting secrets. More, common themes and threads. Techniques and musical devices that can be recycled and reimagined when you write your own riffs. You get the idea, so let’s get started...

1. The Arpeggio Method

As Heard In: Ain't Talkin’ ’Bout Love, Sweet Home Alabama, Don’t Fear The Reaper, Message In A Bottle

Arpeggios feature highly in our top 50, and they’re a simple idea: just play a chord one note at a time. Try ’em with a clean sound (as heard in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama), or heavy things up with a higher gain tone (as on Van Halen’s Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love). Palm-muting is a handy way to keep those ringing chord tones under control when you’re using distortion.

These shapes are classic fare. We’d say they’re pretty easy, but watch out for that Summers style sus2 stretch shape. Sus chords are oft-used in classic rock, so look to find new versions built around these other shapes.

Ex 1. Sweet Reaper

The idea here in our example arpeggio riff is to form the chord shapes with your fretting hand and use your pick to articulate the notes as directed. The notes should ring out together in a sonorous, piano-like effect.

2. The Minor Pentatonic Method

As Heard In: Whole Lotta Love, Killing In The Name, Life In The Fast Lane

Guaranteed to rock, the E minor pentatonic scale allows you to make plentiful use of the guitar’s heaviest note – the bottom E! Of course, pentatonic riffs, unison bassline and heavy drum backbeat was a winning formula as far back as late '60s Cream and Led Zeppelin, but it’s still relevant today, with bands like Greta Van Fleet and Royal Blood making it their core creative approach.

We’ve mapped out the notes of the E minor pentatonic scale for you here. Only on the bass strings, of course! Riffs are in and widdle is out, remember, so keep it low and mean when you write your own riffs.

Ex 2. Whole Lotta Riff

Our idea here should give you a feel for some typical E minor pentatonic phrasing. The 3rd, 5th and 7th frets figure highly, as does the open sixth string. Also look out for those quarter-tone bends.

3. Open String Pedal Tones

As Heard In: Symphony Of Destruction, Walk, Angel Of Death, Enter Sandman, 2 Minutes to Midnight

The open E pedal note is a core thrash metal sound. Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and Metallica’s James Hetfield were at the forefront of developing the '80s British heavy metal sound into new territory with more technicality and speed. 

Slayer took the ideas to greater extremes and still today, the boundaries of heavy open-string riffs are being pushed, with bands like Meshuggah utilising eight-string guitars to allow for more open-string pedal note options and more adventurous sounds.

In music, a pedal is a note which is played repeatedly throughout a musical phrase and a lot of riffs rely on using the open E or A string as an anchor point, particularly in heavy metal. The Phrygian mode shown here will help you get in a metal mood.

Ex 3. Thrash It Out

In this example, we start with a Dimebag-meets-Dave Mustaine powerchord riff, followed by some Jeff Hanneman trills and finally some Iron Maiden-inspired scale sequences. All typical riff tricks found in our top 50.

4. Blues Scale Method

As Heard In: Purple Haze, Layla, Johnny B. Goode, La Grange

The blues scale is the basis of classic riffs like Purple Haze, Scuttle Buttin’ and Johnny B. Goode, which are all examples of melodic riffs. This one scale shape seems to contain an endless supply of riff ideas. 

In classic rock and blues, riffs are often based around the I and IV chord change - Am to D5 in the key of A for example. Both of these chords can be found within the A blues scale and it is helpful to view them as one and the same.

Look at the blues scale shape shown here. You can trace Am and D5 chords within it and indeed many more; try creating your own chord shapes from the scale and using the shape to write riffs which you can combine with them. 

Ex 4. Purply Blues

In this example, we start with a Hendrix-inspired string-bending lick, followed by some Billy Gibbons La Grange doublestops. After repeating the opening lick, we change the to IV chord (D5), then finish with a flurry of notes a la Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughan. All played within the confines of the A blues scale.

5. Rhythmic Chords

As Heard In: Smoke on the Water, All Right Now, (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, No One Knows, Crazy Train

The rhythm of a riff can be just as, if not more important than the chords themselves. Try clapping the rhythm of Smoke On The Water, Back In Black or You Really Got Me and the chances are people will know the song without any melodic information. Combining a strong rhythm, with some rocking chords is a recipe for an effective riff.

Here we have four chords which act as the basis for our example riff. Blast them out for straight ahead rock or experiment with adapting the shapes by moving one or two fingers around. This works particularly well with the open A. We’ve shown some variations in green.

Strummer Lovin'

This riff starts in A, and uses some variations on the open A shape, before using some Angus Young-inspired changes G to D/F#. In bar 3 we switch to A minor with some Josh Homme-style chords and finally we have some Rolling Stones-style triads, played on the treble strings.

Beginner guitar: If you’ve only fretted one string at a time with each finger, it’s time for your digits to earn their keep with our guide to how to play partial barre chords. ‘Barring’ means pressing two or more strings with one finger. 

With just four fretting fingers, barring is essential for playing chords across all six strings at once, and it has many other uses. Partial barring shows up in the intro to Johnny B. Goode for example, and almost anywhere a lead guitarist plays two notes on adjacent strings.

When barring, you’ll use the pad of your finger to fret two strings, and for three or more strings you’ll need the rest of your finger. You won’t have calluses there yet, so go carefully to avoid blisters. Once you get the hang of pressing two strings at once, you’ll need to fret cleanly with your other fingers. 

Barring changes the angle of your hand, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself accidentally choking strings. Start by trying Dm7. With just two fingers, it’s the simplest barre chord in standard tuning.

Technique Check

1. Just a barre 

Start off by getting comfortable with barring two strings with the pad of your first finger.

2. Dm7 Chord

Next, move down to the 2nd fret and add a finger to make Dm7. It's often more comfortable if you angle your first finger slightly. 

3. Movable major shape

Adding your third finger gives you a major chord which you can move around the fretboard – no open strings!

4. Movable minor shape

When barring three strings, make sure your knuckle isn’t directly over a string – it’s hard to apply any pressure when you bend your finger!

Example 1. Rock 'n' roll barres

This Chuck Berry-style lick is a great introduction to barring. Use the pad of your first finger to press down on the first two strings at the same time.

Example 2. Simple arpeggios

If you need more time to change chords, stop each chord a beat or two early to prepare the next.

Beginner guitarists, prepare to have your life changed! You can play any power chord you like with just one shape. It’s easier than most open chords and with a distorted guitar tone it actually sounds better.

Regular major and minor chords contain three notes: a root note, a 3rd (which can be major or minor, ie, a different note), and a 5th. A power chord leaves out that 3rd interval – the most colourful note – leaving just two notes. So, because power chords are neither major nor minor, you can use one shape for almost everything.  

Many power chord riffs are played with palm-muting, which creates a chunky, percussive sound. To do this, place the side of your picking hand on the strings just where they leave the bridge saddles. Keep as close to the bridge as possible: too far and you’ll hear an unmusical clunk. In the right place you’ll hear the usual notes, just with a tighter attack and less sustain.

These are the two (very similar) shapes you need to know. For a fatter sound, try fretting the fourth string with your fourth finger on the G5 chord.

Technique check: get your fingers in prime position and your power chords will rock!

1. ‘CLASSICAL’ THUMB POSITION

Keep your thumb centred on the back of the neck roughly opposite on of your fretting fingers for maximum strength and stretch.

2. ‘COLLAPSED’ THUMB POSITION

Players like Billie Joe Armstrong who wear their guitar low prefer this thumb position for power chords, which can enable a more relaxed wrist.

3. STUBBING

If your low E string keeps ringing out, you can ‘stub’ the tip of your index finger against it to mute it out.

4. PALM-MUTING

This is where your hand should be for palming muting: resting against the bridge saddles for the strings you want to mute.

1. Hard-rock power chords

This is a classic hard rock style power chord riff, but you could apply it to punk and metal, with a bit of sonic experimentation. Try to maintain the power chord ‘shape’ with your fingers all the time, so when changing chords you just drop your hand into position.

2. Gradual palm-mutes

This riff will help you develop the skill of switching quickly between palm-muted and unmuted picking – essential for punk and metal rhythm parts. Palm-muting is fairly easy – you just need to find the right spot for your hand. Gradually releasing the palm-mute is more of a challenge, so practise slowly.

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Beginner guitar: Previously, we've looked at how to play lead guitar using the E minor pentatonic scale. Here, we extend the idea, add the octave below and introduce a new note. This variant of the scale might just be the basis for more classic rock, blues and funk riffs than all other scales combined!

Single-note blues-scale riffs are especially popular with funk-influenced rock bands from Wild Cherry to Extreme, who take funk basslines and convert them into hard grooving guitar parts.

By adding one vital note to the E minor pentatonic scale (a Bb note: 1st fret, fifth string) you get the E blues scale, a nastier, dirtier beast. It’s remarkable how much difference adding one note to a scale makes. 

This note is dissonant, so don’t land on it for long periods unless you want a deliberately harsh effect. As a passing note between A and B though, the Bb sounds great. Read on and we’ll explain all...

Essential scales

Technique check 

1. The "Blues Curl"

Technically known as quarter-tone bends, the idea behind this bluesy technique is to bend the string slightly, but not enough to sound like the next fret. Played on the 3rd fret G note, you’ll create a sound halfway between G and G#.

2. Finger position: E minor pentatonic scale

Play the E minor pentatonic scale with your first and second fingers if you need to play notes higher up the fretboard...

3. Finger position: E blues scale

...but use your first, second and third fingers for the blues scale so your first finger can play the extra Bb note.

1. Minor pentatonic funk-rock

This is a funk-rock riff with hints of the Chili Peppers, or, if you use more overdrive, Aerosmith. Without a Bb note, this line is pure E minor pentatonic. Feel free to use hammer-ons wherever you need to: picking every note is harder and can sound too rigid.

2. Blues scale rock

This is a Led Zeppelin-influenced riff. You can hear how the blues-scale Bb note at the 1st fret makes the riff sound meaner. Not convinced? Try playing this vital note over the audio track to hear the clashing harmony. Finally, take care not to speed up here. Slower is heavier.

10 of the best classic riffs that use the blues scale

1. Gary Clark Jr. – When My Train Pulls In
This riff is pure E minor pentatonic. No need for that pesky blues-scale Bb note just yet!

2. Aerosmith – Walk This Way
Joe Perry’s riff starts on the open A string, but it is E blues scale, we promise!

3. AC/DC – Beating Around The Bush
Though recorded half a semitone below standard tuning, this uptempo rocker is all E blues scale.

4. Black Sabbath – Into The Void
Another open-position E blues scale riff, although Iommi added a D# note into the mix.

5. Tom Petty – Running Down A Dream
Mike Campbell’s riff moves the blues scale notes up to the 5th, 6th and 7th frets of the sixth string.

6. The Doors – Roadhouse Blues
Another riff played above the 5th fret instead of staying within the open-position shape.

7. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Good Time Boys
Lots of higher notes to filter out here, but the lower part of the riff is based in the E blues scale.

8. Led Zeppelin – Heartbreaker
Jimmy Page’s legendary A blues scale riff is tricky to pick up by ear. The first note is a low G, not a root note.

9. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Life By The Drop
SRV’s intro lick is played in the same A blues scale shape as Page’s masterpiece.

10. Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love
This classic riff is played up at the 10th fret in the D blues scale. Like an A shape, but 10 frets higher.

Music is made up of sequences of chords (known as chord progressions) – so that means you need to be able to change from one chord to another. 

It takes time to develop fretting skills, so don’t be discouraged if it takes a while. Even experienced guitarists can struggle with new chords. 

It’s a matter of training your fretting fingers to move quickly and with as little movement as possible. Try out these two tricks to make your changes as smooth as can be.

Anchoring your fingers: C and Am

C and Am share two fretted notes (as well as an open string) played by the same fingers. Keep these fingers in place as you change between the two chords.

‘Keeping two fingers ‘anchored’ in place helps guide your third finger as it moves. In reality, you may have to make tiny positional adjustments – but basically, these two fingers don’t move.

Moving in a block: Em and Am

Look at Am and Em side by side and you can see they both use the second and third fingers at the 2nd fret, but on different strings. This can make the change easier.

Because the shapes are similar, it’s possible to move your fingers in a ‘block’. Simply keep your second and third fingers formed in the shape of the chord as you move.

One-minute chord change challenge

1. Choose two chords to practise

2. Set a timer for a one minute countdown

3. Swap between your chords as many times as you can

4. Note down your score and try again

The rules:

• If any notes don’t ring clearly, discount that chord from your total

• Be strict with yourself so you get a true picture of your progress.

Once you can play a few chords, the next job is to play a rhythm – and the good news is if you can count to four, you’re halfway there. Just count ‘one, two, three, four’ with steady, even timing and match your strumming to your counting. 

If you can tap your foot, that’s great for helping your body to feel the groove and stay in time.

First, here’s the essential info.

Strumming in time

Downstrokes

Choose a chord, count ‘one, two, three, four’ and play a downward strum on each number.

Down and upstrokes

Keep your count going, but this time alternate between downward and upward strums.

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• Take your first steps with the best beginner guitar amps
• Beginner guitar gear essentials and guitar accessories

Strumming a D chord

In a chord you play several notes at the same time – that’s why the numbers are ‘on top’ of each other in the tab. We’ve played it twice, first with downstrokes then alternating between down and up.

Strumming an E chord

Here’s the same example, this time with an E chord. Hopefully you’re getting the idea by now so try out your new strumming skills with all the chords you’re comfortable with.

Before you start playing, you need to know how the guitar works.

Broadly, guitars fall into one of two categories: acoustic and electric – and, though the inner workings of electric guitars are slightly more complicated, the good news is that the guitar is easy to get started with.

Your guitar probably won’t be identical to either of these, but it will work in the same way. Here’s the important info. 

How the acoustic guitar works

1. STRINGS: A standard acoustic guitar has six strings made either of metal or nylon.
2. BODY: The vibration of the strings resonates the guitar body to make the sound of the strings louder.  
3. SOUNDHOLE: The soundhole affects the tonal quality and volume of the strings when they’re plucked.  
4. MACHINEHEADS (aka tuners): The strings are attached to the guitar here at the machineheads...  
5. BRIDGE ...and to the guitar body here at the bridge.  
6. NECK: Press down on the strings here to change the pitch of the strings when you pluck them.   
7. FRETS: Metal frets tell you where to put your finger for every musical note on the guitar.

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How the electric guitar works

1. STRINGS: The strings on an electric guitar are made of metal...   
2. PICKUPS: ...so that the magnetic pickups can ‘pick up’ the sound and turn it into an electrical signal.  
3. BODY: Most, though not all electric guitars are made of solid wood, unlike the hollow-bodied acoustic.   
4. BRIDGE: This guitar has a ‘tremolo arm’ to ‘bend’ the sound of the strings, but standard ‘fixed’ bridges are commonplace too.   
5. VOLUME/TONE CONTROLS: This guitar has one volume knob and two tone controls. Some guitars have separate controls for every pickup.  
6. PICKUP SELECTOR: There’s a reason for having three pickups: they all sound different! The selector lets you experiment with these sounds.  
7. OUTPUT SOCKET: Known as a ‘jack socket’, your cable goes in here to send your guitar’s signal to your amplifier.

• Just starting out on guitar? Make sure you are holding your guitar – and your pick – correctly in how handy beginner lesson.

You may be thinking, “Do I really need a lesson on holding a guitar?” Well yes, as it turns out, because there’s a best way to do it. And it’s the same with how you hold your pick.  

Get your posture, grip and hand position sorted in the early stages of your guitar-playing journey and you’ll save a lifetime of trying to undo bad technical habits mis-learnt early on. Let’s get it right from the start.

• How to play guitar chords

Sitting

If you’re right-handed, the guitar rests on your right leg. Find a chair where you can have both feet flat on the floor. And, sitting or standing, if you can keep a straight back and shoulders level, your spine will thank you.

Fretting finger position

You’ll need to use your fingertips for accuracy. For most playing contexts, your thumb should be on the centre of the back of the neck, pointing either vertically, or slightly towards the headstock.

Standing

Wear the guitar high enough that you can place your fingers on any string at any fret. Wearing it low might help you channel your rock ’n’ roll mojo, but it’s harder to reach around the neck – so you won’t play as well.

Picking – Trigger Grip

Your pick rests on side of your index finger, with your thumb on top.

Picking – Pad Grip

The pick rests between your thumb and the flat pad of your index finger.

Picking – Middle Finger Grip

Your pick rests between the pad of your middle finger and thumb. Optionally, your index finger can be included for support.

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A chord is three or more notes (some scholars say two or more) played at the same time. That’s the technical description, but when it comes to learning guitar chords for beginners, all you need to know are that chords are our bread and butter, the core of all rhythm playing, and, in fact, the thing you’ll spend most of your time doing.

The most important thing to know when it comes to how to play guitar chords is that you’ll have to fret several notes at once – then these shapes can be used to play literally thousands of songs, including a host of easy guitar songs for beginners.

Here, we’ll take you through how to play all the essential guitar chords for beginners, including 'open chords' (so-called because they use the guitar's open strings) in both major and minor shapes.

D chord

This is how your fingers should be arranged for the D chord. Your first job is to try to make sure every fretted string rings clearly. Be careful not to push or pull the strings to one side as you fret the notes, or they’ll sound out of tune.

Strum downwards to play the three fretted notes and the open fourth string. Remember, ‘X’ means the string should be silent.

Fret boxes are diagrams of the guitar neck with dots telling you where to put your fingers for a given chord. The numbers tell you which finger to use (1=index, 2=middle, 3=ring, 4=pinky). Strings marked with an ‘X’ at the top should stay silent. Listen to the audio track to hear how this D chord should sound.

E chord

Here’s a new chord, this time E. The dots tell you to use your first, second and third fingers. Hopefully you can work out which strings and frets to place your fingers on. There are no ‘X’s, so strum all six strings.  

Keep your thumb opposite your fingers. This position gives you maximum squeezing power and ensures your fingers reach the spot without muting out the open strings. If your thumb goes out of position, you’ll have to squeeze harder and harder to keep the strings pressed down.

C chord

This three-finger C chord is a bit of a stretch, so don’t worry if it takes a while to master it. 

Troubleshoot: Getting your fingers closer to the frets is better than squeezing harder.

A chord

Some guitarists prefer to use their second, third and fourth fingers for this A chord. Either method is fine. 

Troubleshoot: Squeeze three fingers into one fret space. You’ll have to break the ‘stay close to the fret’ rule to fit.

G chord

If you’ve tried this shape and wondered if we’ve made a mistake, don’t worry. G is the toughest chord of all for beginners.  

Troubleshoot: Fret the first string and strum only the four thinnest strings for ease.

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• Take your first steps with the best beginner guitar amps
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A minor chord

‘Minor’ refers to the dark, moody sound, and A minor (Am for short) has only one different note to a standard A chord. See if you can spot it.  

Troubleshoot: The main problem here is angling your fingers too much and muting the first string. Stay on your fingertips.

D minor chord

Just like A minor, the mournful sounding D minor has only one different note to D. Chords named with just a letter (C, A, D etc) are known as major chords. 

Troubleshoot: Aim to spread all three fingers out so they’re as close to the frets as they can be.

E minor chord

This is one of the easiest guitar chords. Try playing it with any pair of fingers, e.g., first and second, second and third, or third and fourth. 

Troubleshoot: Once again, make sure you fret right on your fingertips or you risk accidentally muting out the open strings.

• 50 guitar chords you need to know

You’ve got the gear you need, now here’s how to dial in a sound. Start with your guitar amp’s volume low, then raise the gain from zero until you like what you hear. 

More gain puts you in rock and metal territory; a low-gain ‘clean’ sound is better for funk, folk and softer music in general. 

Once you like the sound, turn the volume up and add reverb to taste. If you can’t hear anything, check your guitar’s volume is set to maximum.

1. Volume

Keep the volume low when you fire up your amp and while adjusting other controls. Guitar amps can be fiercely loud and the gain knob raises the level more.

2. Reverb effect

Reverb is an ambient echo, a bit like being in a big church hall. Many amps don’t have reverb; others include a raft of special sound effects for you to experiment with.

3. Bass/Middle/Treble

Depending on size, your amp may have a single tone knob or bass/middle/treble EQ controls. Learn what they do by turning each from zero to maximum while you play.

4. Gain

This knob is sometimes labelled ‘drive’ (overdrive) or ‘dist’ (distortion), and there might be a ‘channel’ switch to activate it. More gain = more rawk, but also more volume.

6. Input

Plug your instrument cable in here and into your guitar’s output jack.

7. Rear panel

Speaker output jacks and mains power will be here. Take extreme care to ensure you’re plugged into the guitar input, not an output

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• Beginner guitar gear essentials and guitar accessories

Pianos are tuned once or twice a year. Electric guitars are different – they need tuning every day. They can even go out of tune while you’re playing – so one of the first lessons you need to learn is how to tune a guitar.

Armed with a reliable guitar tuner, you’ll find a lot of the guesswork in tuning an electric guitar is taken care of – you simply adjust the tuning pegs based on what the tuner tells you. Here’s what you need to know.

1. String names

You’ll need to know these inside out. From thickest to thinnest, the strings are E, A, D, G, B and E. Think of a mnemonic like “Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie” to help you remember it, or make up your own one.

2. Using a tuner

Your tuner will automatically detect what note you’re on. In this picture, the red lights are right of centre, telling us the string is a bit too tight (aka sharp) to be an E note. If the red lights were left of centre, obviously that’d be because the string was too loose (aka flat).

Watch out for a ‘#’ symbol or a spot next to the note name. That indicates a sharp note, which means you need to loosen the string a fair bit.

Troubleshooting

If your guitar is really out of tune, it might say a different letter entirely (e.g., you pluck the G string and the tuner says ‘F’). In that case, you just need to know the alphabet.

If the tuner is saying a letter that comes earlier in the alphabet than you’re expecting, the string is a long way flat/loose; keep tuning up until you see the right letter.

If the letter comes later in the alphabet, you’re a long way sharp. The exception is if you’re tuning the ‘G’ string and the tuner reads ‘A’: then you’re very sharp.

Now tune up

We’ve covered the basics, now here are the specifics on how to tune a guitar. Remember, there are only three possibilities for whether your guitar is in tune: each string is either flat (too loose), sharp (too tight) or ‘in tune’ (just right).

The gauge on your tuner tells you which it is – you just have to adjust your guitar’s tuning pegs.

3. Six-in-line machineheads, string flat

To raise the pitch (correcting a string that sounds flat), turn the machine head anti-clockwise and tighten the string.

4. Six-in-line machineheads, string sharp

To lower the pitch (correcting a string that’s sharp), turn the machinehead clockwise, lowering the tension in the process.

5. Three-a-side or reverse headstock

If your machine heads point to the floor, the directions are reversed: clockwise to raise the pitch and anticlockwise to lower it.

Beginner guitar: We’re pretty sure nearly all our readers could quickly play a few 7th chords – say... Am7, D7 or Cmaj7. These are easy chords that beginners might play in the open position, and more advanced players might tackle as barre chords or in open tunings.

So why, you may ask, would we go to the trouble of writing a lesson if it’s all so easy? Well, although the shapes can be easy to play, there’s still a lot of music to be made from these chords. 

And understanding how they’re built and the sounds they’ll help you create is a great springboard for your songwriting and riff ideas.

What follows is a quick look at four different kinds of 7th chord, all presented with a D root note. 

They're similar shapes, with each chord having just one different note to its predecessor. It’ll help if you know the notes of the D major scale (D E F# G A B C#) - so try to map those out in the open position on your guitar. 

It’s also useful to give each note a number (1 2 3 4 5 6 7), because this is a core part of music theory. Grab your guitar and let’s get started!

1. D major 7 (aka Dmaj7)

Hopefully you know how to play a basic open D chord. Well, Dmaj7 changes the familiar shape by adding a new note: a C# note, which is a major 7th interval in the key of D major.

Character: Mellow
Notes: D F# A C#
Intervals: 1 3 5 7
Interval names: Root note, major 3rd, perfect 5th, major 7th

2. D dominant 7 (aka D7)

Dmaj7 and D7 differ by just one note (as would any similar pair, eg, C7 and Cmaj7), and they're a semitone apart. So, whereas Dmaj7 has a major 7, D7 uses a b7 - a C note. If you can see the notes changing, you're halfway to understanding the theory.

Character: Tense
Notes: D F# A C
Intervals: 1 3 5 b7
Interval names: Root note, major 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th (or flat 7th)

3. D minor 7 (aka Dm7)

Another commonly used chord, Dm7 has one different note from D7 - a minor 3rd F note instead of D7's major 3rd F#.

Character: Moody
Notes: D F A C
Intervals: 1 b3 5 b7
Interval names: Root note, minor 3rd (or flat 3rd), perfect 5th, minor 7th (or flat 7th)

4. D minor 7 flat 5

If you’ve understood that each of the chords we’ve looked at involves a simple note change, you can probably work out how to play Dm7b5 just by its name. Yep, just move the 5th down a semitone.

Character: Biting
Notes: D F A b C
Intervals: 1 b3 b5 b7
Interval names: Root note, minor 3rd, diminished 5th (or flat 5th), minor 7th (or flat 7th)

Stay on track!

Here are three tracks to help you come to terms with how these chords interact with one another. The first is a vamp around D, Dmaj7 and D7, and the second jams around Dm, Dm7 and Dm7♭5. The final track is a guitar-free mix for you to jam along to using any of the chords from this lesson.

“I’ve always played chords and rhythm. How can I get started playing lead guitar?”

 Lead guitar is an all-encompassing approach to playing, so try not to think of rhythm and lead as separate disciplines. Lead guitar is simply taking the spotlight so your guitar becomes the, er, “lead” instrument. 

Think about how, say, Joe Bonamassa might blast out a fiery blues-rock solo or how Johnny Marr might drop into a run of sparkling arpeggios during a lead break. 

Funk maestro Cory Wong usually takes a “rhythm as lead” approach, crafting chord extensions into a melodic run. Three totally different players and three different ways of playing lead guitar.   

“Interesting! I’ll keep an open mind then. But how should I get started?”

Well, let’s keep it simple to begin with. For our purposes, we’ll think of lead guitar as playing one note at a time. Basically, the opposite of chords – which have several notes. 

It might sound simplistic but bear with us. It’s the best way to get started, and, if you’re only used to playing chords, you’re going to need to learn to move one finger at a time. Start by fretting just one note and picking the string. It should be nice and easy... 

“Just one note? That’s much easier than playing chords!”

Single notes don’t really need a lot of strength. The real challenge is the speed and dexterity involved in moving from note to note – usually several times in every bar of music. Chords are more static. Try switching between four different notes using different fingers – that’s the skill you’ll be aiming to build up. 

“Ah yes, that is harder. What next then?”

Here’s the bit some guitarists find boring... Learn a scale. Even just one shape will get you started and help you choose which fingers to use when you plot out a solo. The scale shape in the boxout on the right will get you underway. 

“I’m doing it, but it is tricky...”

It takes time to develop coordination, especially in the fourth finger (that’s the pinkie!) – which always seems to lag behind the others. Keep at it and, for now, use the scale shape to help you decide where to put your fingers as you try our tabbed melodic rock lick below. 

This should provide a challenge for you to gradually build up to. Start slowly, and with patience and practice you’ll soon be rocking.

Scales and bends – Lead guitar essentials

1. Using a scale
Look at the scale diagram for the A minor pentatonic scale above. The dots tell you where to put your fingers to play this easy scale. Your fretting fingers are represented by numbers 1 to 4. Remember, play one note at a time starting from the lowest one. 

2. Bends
Bend the string to change the note – it’s a great alternative to fretting every single note you play. Use all your available fingers to hold down the string and bend it towards the middle of the fretboard.

Now you have learned the A minor pentatonic shape, have practised your bends, it's time to put it all together in our example before – a slow rock ballad lick in A minor.

Slow melodic rock lick

This lick uses the A minor pentatonic scale, but you’ll be jumping up to the 9th and 10th frets then down to the 3rd fret too. Break the lick down note by note and practise as slowly as you can. 

BU/BD tells you to bend the string up (BU) then down (BD), but just play the 6th and 5th frets without a bend if you can’t manage it yet.

Beginner guitar: For many guitarists, music theory is often considered a bit of a grind. TG’s opinion on this thorny subject?  We would argue that theory can help you become a much better player. Understand a few essential basics and you’ll fuel your creative fire in new ways. All of which brings us on to the subject of this lesson.

As guitarists, we all play minor chords every time we pick up the instrument – they definitely count as essential basics! The thing is, those chords can be played in countless different ways. For instance, they can be broken down into arpeggios where you play the notes one at a time.

Or, alternatively, if you know how a chord is built, you can use it as a pool of notes to base a solo around. You see where we’re going?

Here then, we’re looking at the structure of those everyday minor chords you already know. The shapes are of course nice and easy. See if you can find the notes of the chords in other parts of the fretboard and you’ll soon be playing new chord shapes and new licks all around the neck.

1. A Minor Problem!

Here’s an A minor chord – you recognise the shape, right? It’s a mix of A, C and E notes; the intervals are a root note (A, shown as a ‘1’ here), a minor 3rd (C) and a 5th (E). 

They’re called ‘1’, ‘3’ and ‘5’ because they’re the first, third and fifth notes of the A ‘natural’ minor scale (A B C D E F G). Still with us?

2. Moving On Up

The guitar is unusual because most notes are repeated in various places on the fretboard.

With that in mind, here’s another A minor chord. Same notes and intervals – just arranged in a sightly different order. 

So what? Well, each shape will inspire you to play new riffs and licks – each one falls differently under your fingers after all. The more shapes you learn, the more creative you’ll get.

3. Easy D Minor 

Another easy chord – this time, D minor. Again, there’s a root note (D, of course!), a minor 3rd (F) and a 5th (A) – the first, third and fifth notes in D minor (D E F G A Bb C). 

The gaps between D, F and A are the same as the gaps between A, C and E – and it’s the same for all minor chords. 

Just start on a new root note and work out the minor 3rd and 5th intervals.

4. D Minor Higher Up

Hammering the point home, here’s another D minor chord. Once again, it’s a mix of D, F and A notes – the root, minor 3rd and 5th intervals. It’s worth knowing the difference between minor and major 3rds too. 

A minor 3rd is three semitones above the root note and has a mournful sound; a major 3rd is four semitones above the root and makes the chord sound bright and happy.

Stay On Track!

Our short backing track is a jam around an Am-Dm chord progression. Try strumming along on the chords, playing arpeggios or writing your own licks using notes from the chords.

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“Okay, what on Earth is chord tone soloing?”

Solos are usually accompanied by a set of chords called a progression. Each chord contains notes - these are the chord tones. In this situation, though, we’re going to play them individually (known as an ‘arpeggio’) and use them for soloing.

“Surely chords are chords? How do you use them in solos?”

Some guitarists like to map their lead lines - either by writing solos in advance or by being skilled improvisers - to these chords to give their playing a synergy with the rest of the music. The most effective way of doing this is to use the notes from the chords being played.

“Gotta be honest, I’m feeling a little intimidated right now...”

Chord tone soloing can get really complex, but don’t get bogged down in the theory at this stage; just aim to incorporate some notes from chords in your playing. If you know the chords in the music, you’re equipped with loads of notes that’ll work in a solo.

“If I’m not getting deep into the theory, what’s the point?”

If you base your leads on scales exclusively there’s a tendency to move around the scale by playing the next highest or lowest note - this quickly gets old and leaves your solos sounding like streams of notes that are the musical equivalent of repeatedly going up and down a ladder. Using chord tones automatically produces bigger jumps between notes (aka ‘intervals’) and can be a platform for some really creative ideas.

“That sounds interesting, where can I hear it in action?”

You can hear jazz pioneer Charlie Christian deftly playing over fast chord changes in the jaw-dropping Solo Flight. It doesn’t always have to be so technical, though. Slash’s main theme in Guns N’ Roses’ Estranged shows how chord tones’ bigger intervals can be used to create a catchy melody.

“I’m sold! Where do I start?”

The first step is to get these new note combinations under your fingers. They will feel odd at first, especially when you have to move across strings on adjacent notes. The first tab exercise shows you the notes/tones from G, Am, Bm and C chords. Our second example shows how you can add a smattering of this new approach to a lead guitar lick.

More chords...

These six chords are all from the same key (G major, as it happens), but they’re not bog-standard open shapes. Plotted across the highest strings and ascending the fretboard, they’re perfectly suited to wailing leads - once you start playing chord tones, anyway!

Step 1. Play each chord as a chord - just strum like any other chord, taking care to keep the idle strings quiet.

Step 2. Now think 'lead guitar', and play each note from each chord separately.

1. G, Am, Bm and C chord tones

Start very slowly and gradually build up speed. Make sure none of the notes bleed into each other.

2. Lead guitar lick

Play the scale a few times before attempting this melodic lick. This will help you get used to how the scale sits under your fingers.

Theory helps explain the creative aspects of music. Ponder on that for a moment. Theory isn’t there to give you strict rules to follow - it’s your music and your rules! No, theory should help explain what’s going on. 

The structures and scales you learn are just commonly-used patterns. Get to grips with them and gradually you’ll understand how the guitarists you love write and play.

Which brings us on to this lesson on suspended (or ‘sus’) chords. Most guitarists start playing sus chords long before they know how they work - there are loads of easy shapes, after all. 

So, how does knowing the theory help you? Well, once equipped with a little essential knowledge, you can start to plot new shapes around the fretboard.

You’ll develop your ear, too, and start improvising around these essential shapes. And if chords aren’t immediately exciting to you, just remember that you can write riffs, arpeggios and melodies around these ideas too. Before you know it, you’ll be incorporating these ideas into your playing.

1. Nice an' D'easy!

Let’s start with one of the easiest chords of all - D. It’s a beginner guitar chord and super easy to play. The notes are D, F# and A, just spread out in a different order to make it easier to play. 

Let’s move on to the theory, then... The D major scale has seven notes: D E F# G A B C#. Try to remember that D, F# and A are the first, third and fifth notes; we've marked them 1, 3 and 5.

2. Getting it sussed

Dsus4 is about as easy as guitar chords get. If you were using your first three fingers to fret the D chord, just drop your fourth finger down to play the new note. Theory-wise, you’ll be ditching the 3rd (F#) and replacing it with a 4th (G). 

The 3rd is said to be ‘suspended’ in favor of the 4th, hence the name D ‘sus’ 4.

3. Now try A

Let’s try it with another easy open chord - this time A. Again, aim to identify the notes and their corresponding intervals. Get your head around that and you’ll be well on your way to sus chord mastery all across the fretboard. 

The notes in an A chord are A, C# and E - the first, third and fifth notes of the A major scale (A B C# D E F# G#).

4. Asus4

Look back at D and Dsus4. Remember, we ditched the 3rd interval and replaced it with a 4th. Well, the shape’s slightly different here, but the process is the same. Play the 3rd fret on the second string and your 3rd interval (C#) becomes a 4th (D) to give you Asus4. 

Whichever major chord you’re playing, you’ll find the 4th one fret higher than the 3rd.

“Scales. Everyone talks about them, but what are they?”

Basically, a scale gives you a skeleton set of notes to make music with. A musical scale climbs up through a sequence of notes (ascending) and back down (descending), almost always using the same notes.

“Okay, they sound boring. What’s the point?”

Scales have a bad rep because some people focus on the misapprehension that if you learn them you’ll be forced to do endless scale practice instead of playing real music. Not so! Scales are music’s building blocks - the basis of the music you love. 

They are used in riffs, solos and to make chords. Ignore them at your peril.

“That makes sense. Where do I start?”

The minor pentatonic scale is used by loads of guitarists, so it’s a great first scale to learn. Although it has a long name, it’s easy to play. It has five different notes, with the first note repeated at a higher pitch, so you play six notes in total. 

The first note is where the scale gets its name. The first scale shown below starts with an E note, so it’s the E minor pentatonic scale. Simple!

1. E minor pentatonic scale

Play each note one after the other and try to make them all the same length. You’ve got four fretting fingers - the numbers in the dots tell you the best one to use as you play each note.

2. The G major scale

Again, make sure you use the fingers shown for each note - this help’s with accuracy. Listen out for the brighter, happier vibe of the major scale compared to the edgier minor pentatonic scale.

“Right, I’m armed and ready - what actual music can I play?”

Our first tab example is a simple, fun riff based on the E minor pentatonic scale. Get stuck in.

“That was better than I thought, did you mention something about lead playing, too?”

The major scale is used in all Western genres. Pop, rock, country, jazz, indie - everywhere! The scale has a bright, happy sound found at the heart of nursery rhymes like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but, more importantly, in soaring melodies like Steve Vai’s Liberty and the main theme in Star Wars. 

Our second tab example uses the G major scale and is a great opportunity for you to play your first epic melody. 

“I want more!”

The two scales on the right will keep you busy for a while. Don’t fall into the trap of learning endless scales - work on how to use these well first. Use them to create your own riffs and melodies. 

If you don’t know where to start, try changing just one note in our examples. If you stick to the notes in the scale it’s almost impossible to play a duff note.

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Pedal tones? So this is about stomp boxes?

Pedal tones is actually a reference to the pedals found on organs - like those you see in churches. The organist would step on these pedals to produce a long, sustained ‘pedal’ tone - usually low in pitch - to provide a deep full sound to accompany the notes played on the ‘regular’ part of the organ by the player’s hands.

Okay, I guess. What’s it got to do with guitar playing?

Guitarists use the pedal tone a little differently. Rather than have a sustained note ring out (which is usually called a drone), guitarists use the pedal tone as a constantly repeated note that stays the same while notes and chords move around it.

Fair enough, where can I hear them in action?

We’re glad you asked! You can hear it in old-school 80s riffs like Bon Jovi’s Raise Your Hands and Van Halen’s Man On A Mission. If you want to hear an advanced version of a pedal tone riff , the driving bass riff heard on Muse’s Hysteria changes between multiple pedal notes.

I’m ready for action, where do I start?

Example 1 is a classic metal style riff that shows how you can use the palm-muted fifth string as a pedal note against two-string powerchords played on the middle two strings. The low A note drives the riff along, while the powerchords provide the contrast.

That was easy enough, how else can I use them?

They can also be used on higher strings as riffs or even in solos. Just check out the solo on Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Suck My Kiss. Example 2 uses the open first string as the pedal tone while quickly moving around the neck. You can hear guitar legend Angus Young use this kind of idea in the AC/DC classic Thunderstruck.

So far so good. Is there anything else I can work on?

Plenty, as it happens. We’ve shown you some basic riffs to get started, but there’s lots you can do to modify our two examples. Experiment with changing the order of the chords or notes between the pedal tones. Alternatively, change the number of times you play the pedal tones between the chords. Once you’re done with that, we’ve provided you with some more shapes so you can make up your own riffs.

Powerchords and pedal tones

Make sure you mute the fifth string a little, but play the powerchords un-muted - this will stop the pedal note blending with the chords.

Playing on one string

As soon as you’ve played each fretted note, release pressure on the string and start moving to the next fret - this will help you play the riff at full speed.

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Compared with simple strumming, the beautiful and intricate sounds of fingerstyle guitar are a step up, technically speaking.

Still, you shouldn’t be intimidated by this way of playing. Follow a few simple tips and try out our practice exercises here and you’ll be able to tackle countless numbers of fingerpicked songs. 

We’re presenting the most essential skills here, so make sure to devote some practice time to them.

Organise your picking hand

Your thumb (marked p in the tab) picks the three bass strings, while your first (i), second (m) and third fingers (a) each play one of the top three strings. 

Our Ed Sheeran influenced riff is a great way to practise staying disciplined. Also try using your thumb on the third string in the F and Dm chords.

Easy practice drill

This flowing arpeggio pattern is great for accompanying a vocal part. It’s also a good drill to practise your fingerstyle skills with. 

Make sure your picking fingers hover close to their respective strings – this keeps movement to a minimum and helps with speed and fluency.

Use hammer-ons and pull-offs for hooks

This passage uses hammer-ons and pull-offs to create a hooky riff – a creative way to take basic fingerstyle skills to the next level. 

Make sure your fingers cover their assigned strings at first, then try playing the two-note shapes with your first and second fingers.

Having taught countless private students over the years, I’ve found that, among many unschooled and do-it-yourself homeschooled guitarists, rhythm is an area commonly lacking in understanding and training.

This represents a potential developmental weakness that can seriously hinder one’s ability not only to solo in time, but on a more basic level, communicate and function effectively in a band situation, or read a transcription without having to rely on listening to the recording to figure out the phrasing. 

In any case, it is very beneficial to be able to conceptualize and internalize rhythmic structures and patterns in your head, or mind’s ear, and to be able to do so while playing your instrument and tapping your foot in an even, steady pattern, with the foot taps occurring either on every beat, every other beat or every third beat, depending on the song’s tempo and groove.

The first step in acquiring these skills is to learn how to verbally count rhythms, and a great way to do that is to learn how to read them on paper or a computer screen. For the sake of leaving no one behind, let’s start by covering the basic principles of rhythm and rhythmic notation. 

Some of you may already be familiar with this foundational material, which, by the way, is all based on elementary-school arithmetic and fractions, so please bear with me and consider it a worthwhile review.

Most popular music is conceived in what’s called “4/4 meter,” also known as “4/4 time,” as indicated in sheet music and Guitar World’s rhythmic tab notation by the visual symbol, or time signature, 4/4 (four four), appearing at the beginning of a piece of music. 

The top number, or numerator of the fraction, if you will, tells you how many beats there are in each measure, or bar, of music, in this case, four. So you would basically count one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, etc, with a slight emphasis, or accent, on one, what’s known as the downbeat of the measure.

The bottom number, or denominator, of the time signature indicates what kind of rhythmic value is serving as the foundational beat, around which everything else is calibrated. The number 4 signifies that a quarter note receives one beat. So, in 4/4 meter, we have four quarter-note beats in each bar of music (see FIGURE 1).

A quarter note is indicated in rhythmic tab by a straight vertical line appearing directly below a tab number, or stack of tab numbers if it’s a chord. In standard sheet music, the vertical stem would be either below or above a solid (darkened) notehead, depending on its location in the staff.

As you know, 4/4 = 2/2 = 1. In 4/4 meter, these values all equal one complete bar of music, rhythmically. So you can have four quarter notes, each held for one beat, two half notes, each held for two beats (played on one and three) or one whole note (played on one and held for the full duration of the bar; see FIGURE 2).

In rhythmic tab, a tab number or stack of tab numbers enclosed in a circle or oval, with a vertical stem below it, indicates a half-note. A circled number or stack of numbers with no stem signifies a whole-note. In standard notation, a hollow notehead is used instead of a tab number.

Getting back to fractions, 2/4 = 1/2. Thus, two quarter notes equal one half note. Likewise, two half notes equal one whole note (2/2 = 1/1, or simply 1). To make a food analogy (my favorite kind!), picture a loaf of bread, fresh from the oven. 

Unsliced, it represents one bar of music in 4/4 time and the duration of a whole note. If you slice the loaf in half (like cell division), that represents two half notes. Slice each of those halves in half, and you will then have four quarters, or quarter notes. 

You could, of course, continue cutting the loaf many different ways and into slices of varying thickness, and dividing a bar of music into many smaller rhythmic values of varying duration. That is something we will explore in upcoming lessons.

Finally, in a bar of 4/4 meter, you can have several possible combinations of quarter notes and/or half notes that add up to four beats, as you cannot have a shortage or surplus of rhythmic values within a measure - they must always equal 1, or one whole note, per the 4/4 time signature.

Other possible permutations are:

• A half note followed by two quarters (1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1; see FIGURE 3) 
• Two quarter notes followed by a half note (1/4 + 1/4 + 1/2 = 1; see FIGURE 4)
• Quarter, half, quarter (1/4 + 1/2 + 1/4 = 1; see FIGURE 5).

Senior Music Editor “Downtown” Jimmy Brown is an experienced, working musician, performer and private teacher in the greater NYC area whose personal and professional mission is to entertain, enlighten and inspire people with his guitar playing.

“Obvious question. What’s a powerchord?”

Powerchords are slightly different to the major and minor chords you already know. Hopefully you remember that major chords have a bright, happy sound and minor chords sound dark and sad. Well, by leaving out the most colourful notes, powerchords have a more solid, neutral sound. Perfect for rock and metal, then!

“Can you give me some examples of songs with powerchords?”

Sure! Powerchords can be heard everywhere so there are virtually limitless tracks to check out. For a classic option, listen to the verse in Black Sabbath’s Paranoid which features Tony Iommi’s palm-muted powerchords. 

The verses in Queens Of The Stone Age’s Go With The Flow also stay on powerchords. Following an intro of ambient arpeggios and melodic riffs Tool’s 7empest settles into powerchord grooves at 1:46. Slipknot’s Unsainted is way down in drop B tuning but the pre-verse and verse riffs are still powerchord-based.

“How do you play powerchords?”

There are a handful of shapes to learn and these alone will cover thousands of powechord-based songs. Take a look at the examples below where we’ve outlined four shapes for you.

“The last two shapes are a bit harder.”

If you’re struggling with a stretch, try practicing higher up the neck where the frets are closer together. Gradually move lower down to improve your stretch. It’s also worth knowing that you don’t have to play every note. Try playing just the lowest two notes of each shape. Or just the highest two. It won’t sound as heavy as the full three-note shapes, but the history of rock is littered with two-note powerchords.

“Got it! Shall we play some music?”

Yes! Take a look at our first tab example below where we’ve used two-note powerchords in the open position. It should be fairly easy to play.

“It’s pretty easy, but these aren’t the same shapes we just looked at.”

That’s because they’re down in open position. That just means the root notes are played on open strings. Take a look at the B5 shape - it’s a powerchord with its root note on the fifth string. A5 is the same, just two frets lower.

“I get it. What’s next?”

The second tab example includes full three-note powerchord shapes. Keep an eye out for the root notes - they’ll help guide you as you change position.

Ex 1 - Open position powerchords

In bar 1, the root notes are open strings, which makes these powerchords easy! Bar 2 ends palm-muted; use the side of your pick hand to deaden the strings.

Ex 2 - Three-note shapes

We’re using two powerchord shapes here - with fifth- and fourth-string root notes. Switching between the full shape and just the root note adds shape to the riff.

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Even though I’ve been playing now for almost 40 years, I still feel like I have more to learn than I’ll fit in this lifetime. 

Recently I’ve been re-examining the process of being a beginner guitar player and the struggles people encounter, and it seems at the beginning of the guitar journey there are a few very common hurdles that almost all beginners face. 

Knowing about these will help beginners avoid them and teachers help them to never happen.

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• These are the best beginner electric guitars right now

1. Finger pain

The first hurdle almost every new player faces is Finger Pain! Many experienced players will have completely forgotten about this, but the pain is real. It’s such a big deal in fact that the next installment of this column will be dedicated to exploring ways to avoid it - it’s the most common reason that people give up. 

In short, beginners should not practice for long periods, press down only when it’s really needed and be sure they are placing their fingers in the perfect position where possible (right next to the fret).

2. Chord changes

Once the pain starts to fade, the student then starts to notice that they can’t Change Chords as fast as they need to play songs (surely the point of it all). I’ve found getting students to do as many changes as they can in a minute and recording the results is the most effective tool in my online beginner course, One Minute Changes. 

If you’re a teacher then you might want to check it out, the results are quite remarkable, even after a few weeks.

3. Rhythm and strumming

A month or so in, when the pain has subsided and the fretting fingers are finding the chords faster, along comes the next challenge - rhythm and strumming. It’s a funny thing that moving one’s arm consistently and evenly in a relaxed way can be so hard - but it’s the biggest hurdle for most beginners. 

I teach it now with the student muting the strings on the neck so no chord is played - it allows them to fully focus on the timing and making sure the hand and arm are relaxed.

The vast majority of beginner guitarists I meet are holding a lot of tension in their arms, so getting them to relax and feel the down strum as a drop can help and then there’s just a small amount of effort needed to raise the arm. There are times when the arm doesn’t move consistently, but for beginners I feel it’s by far the best approach; the arm will move evenly, down on the beat, up on the ‘ands’.

Muted practice of a consistent strumming pattern over a few weeks is a very effective tool for anyone struggling with rhythm - and one I still employ for my own practice of more difficult rhythms - removing the note part really allows us to focus intensely on the time.

4. Picking individual strings

Most beginners decide they’d like to pick notes individually too and then they discover that Picking Individual Strings is another new challenge. I’ve found that using a fourth finger anchor on the guitar body is the most effective tool for beginners. 

Of course there is a massive range of techniques available for more advanced players, and they can and should be taught later - but in the beginning, I think the most effective route is learning to just use down picks on individual strings and letting the hand learn where the strings are.

5. Learning songs

A beginner’s journey should, in my humble opinion, be centered on Learning Songs. I recommend half of all practice time should be playing songs, if not more. I’ve met many frustrated students that have been taking lessons for six months and done a wide range of scales and exercises but no songs, and they’re ready to quit. 

We all get into music to play songs and music we love - so if you’re a teacher, give them as many songs as you can; and if you’re struggling to find good beginner songs you can now choose songs by chords on the ‘songs’ page of my site and I’ve had a lot of great feedback from teachers. 

Not wanting to sound like a salesman, but my Beginner Song Course App is a kind of guitar karaoke with hundreds of songs - the perfect beginner tool because most beginners will struggle to sing and play at the same time, and just bouncing between two chords can be pretty boring.

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When you add a backing track and have the melody played plus drums and bass, it makes the playing songs experience so much richer and fun for a beginner - again I get amazing feedback from teachers that recommend it for their students. They have so much fun that they stick at playing a lot longer.

I hope this is of value to any beginners, or teachers that are working with new guitarists, as it makes the initial stages of the journey that bit more fun. Wishing you safe travels and much laughter!

For more information, head to Justin Guitar.

“What’s the minor pentatonic scale?”

This is a sequence of notes which guitarists use a lot. And we mean a lot! It appears extensively in blues, metal, jazz and almost any pop- and rock-based styles for that matter. Greats like Angus Young and BB King as well as more contemporary rockers like Scott Holiday, Jake Kiszka and Joel O’Keeffe base loads of riffs and solos around it.

“Interesting. Tell me more.”

Well, the minor pentatonic scale gets its name from ‘penta-’ meaning ‘five’ and ‘-tonic’ meaning ‘tones’, or, more simply, ‘notes’. Obviously, what we’re telling you is that it’s a five-note scale. And, just like a minor chord, there’s a dark, moody vibe – that’s what minor means, if you remember. 

“It’s a moody five-note scale. I get it! How can I use it in my playing?”

The easiest way to use the scale is to play one note at a time – so that means you’ll be playing simple solos or riffs. We’ve looked at pentatonic solos before so let’s look at riffs here.

“Okay. What exactly is a riff?”

It’s a fairly loose term but generally it refers to a short repeating line of music. Think of tracks like Layla by Derek And The Dominos, Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes or BLOW by Ed Sheeran, Chris Stapleton and Bruno Mars. They are not all 100 per cent strictly pentatonic (close though!) but they’re solid examples of riffs.

“I get it. Show me the scale!”

Sure! In Shape Up Your Playing [below] we’ve given you two shapes of the E minor pentatonic scale.

“Not sure I understand the second shape…”

It’s still the E minor pentatonic scale, but we’ve added some notes below the E. Try ignoring the low notes and just playing from E to E – you’ll start to get a feel for the low notes soon.

“Okay. How do I start playing my own riffs?”

Try playing our first tab example below to get the idea. We took a handful of notes from the first shape and just, well, played around! Improvising like this is a great way to write riffs. Just aim for something simple that sticks in your mind, rather than playing a solo.

“The second tab example seems harder…”

There’s a quick flurry of notes at the start, admittedly, but it’s all taken from the scale shapes we’ve looked at. Play through the scales again and it should start to feel familiar.

Two essential minor pentatonic scale shapes

There are two shapes to learn here. Spend most of your time on the first one – it’s the easiest one to remember because it starts and ends on a root note. It’s also played in open position, which makes it a bit easier. 

1. E minor pentatonic scale in open position

The dots tell you where to put your fingers on the fretboard. You'll be playing one note at a time, so, if you start on the lowest note and work your way up you'll have E, G, A, B, D and another E note.

The second shape moves the scale up the fretboard and includes three notes below its root note but we can explain that!

2. Further up the fretboard

This is the same scale but starting on a higher E. They might be in a different part of the fretboard, but these are still the same five notes (E, G, A, B and D). It doesn't matter where you play them - these five notes always form the E minor pentatonic scale.

Example 1. Easy open position riff

Take a look at the first scale shape then play this riff where we’ve used every notefrom the E minor pentatonic scale. Try reordering them to make up your own riff.

Example 2. Same scale, different position

This one’s a bit harder. Just remember it’s still the E minor pentatonic scale because the notes are the same (E G A B D).

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Understanding basic rhythm notation is really important for guitarists. Yes, we normally learn using tabs and that’s not going to change: tabs are fantastic.

The one thing tabs lack, though, is representation of rhythm. However accessible they are, you have to learn rhythmically how to articulate the represented notes by other means.

Some guitarists play using only notation, while others use tabs accompanied by lots of listening to interpret the rhythms. The ideal way is to play using tabs accompanied by rhythmic notation, meaning you get all the information you need in one swoop.

Studying notation can run very deep, with ties, dotted notes, triplets and many more elements meaning there is a great deal to study on the subject. The purpose of this article is to give guitarists a very basic overview of understanding and reading the basics of rhythm notation.

Once you get to grips with the below, or indeed if you already understand it, then go ahead and look into the subject in more detail.

1. The whole note

The whole note (essentially just a circle) is so called because it fills the whole of a bar of 4/4 time - the most common time signature in western music. As such, it lasts for four beats.

There shouldn’t be too much difficulty practicing and playing whole notes as they fill the entire bar. So there isn’t much that can go wrong. The important thing is to be aware of what they are, how long they last, and how they’re played.

Practice playing whole notes by simply setting a metronome, then playing notes or chords, ensuring each lasts for a whole 4 beats.

2. The half note

Clearly, a pattern is emerging. The half note lasts for half a bar and therefore, discussing 4/4 time as we are, it lasts for two beats. The whole note described above can be subdivided into two half notes, i.e. in the time you can play a whole note, you can fit two half notes.

As you can see above, the half note is an empty circle with a stem. 

The only real rhythmic variations involving half notes occur if the bar in question is not simply divided into two half notes. There is a little more to think about if it is divided up differently, For example a half notes followed by two crotchets or by four quavers (see below for more on what this means).

Again, as this is just an introductory overview, take note of this note’s name, appearance, length and function. Begin to look out for it in whatever notated music you can find.

Practice playing half notes by setting a metronome, then fitting 2 equal notes per bar, 2 beats each.

3. The quarter note

The quarter note is so called because it lasts one beat - a quarter of a bar of 4/4 time. This means, therefore, that you are able to fit four of them into one bar. You may have heard the term 'four to the floor' - meaning when a drummer plays the kick drum on every beat, i.e. four quarter notes per bar.

As above, these notes can be combined with notes of other lengths to create various rhythms, so make sure you take on board what a quarter note looks and sounds like and how long it lasts so that you’re equipped to interpret and play any basic rhythm you may come across.

It’s a good idea to look at notation for a song you already know and pick out what you can see from the rhythmic notation, using the fact you already know this song well to further your understanding of the notation and vice versa.

Practice playing quarter notes by setting a metronome then playing a note or chord on every beat. Now that you’re learning several types of note/note length, remember to practice bars comprising mixed rhythms and varying note lengths simultaneously.

4. The eighth note

1/8 of a bar or half a beat long, the eighth note is half of a quarter note. This means a quarter note can be subdivided into 2 half notes. You can see this in practice quite easily by doing the following exercise:

Simply strum down repeatedly, effectively playing on every beat. Here you are strumming quarter notes. Now add in those invisible up strums, i.e. strum up after every down strum the way you would in a very basic simplistic strumming pattern. Here you have turned a quarter note rhythm into an eighth note rhythm by subdividing those quarter notes into eighth notes.

The reason why two images are shown here is that when multiple eighth notes occur in sequence, they can be ‘beamed’ i.e. joined by the horizontal bar shown. So you may see them in either of the visual forms above. Either way they’re eighth notes, and either way they last half a beat.

Practice eighth notes by setting your metronome and playing not only on every beat in the bar, but on every ‘off-beat’ too (i.e. the spaces between the beats). Take care, because the eighth note is the first point at which not everything you play will be ‘on the beat’.

As mentioned above, there is a whole world of rhythm notation out there beyond the contents of this article, but ensure you’ve fully absorbed and internalized the above before moving on. 

Not only as these are the basics, but also because - as you can see from the way the above information has played out - very often with notation, rhythm and all music theory, each thing you learn kind of depends on your previous knowledge of the thing.

Alex Bruce is a writer for GuitarTricks.com

Recently, I've been experimenting with five-note patterns, or quintuplets.

A quintuplet is when you fit five notes where you'd usually fit four. For example, you can fit 20 16th-note quintuplets in a normal bar where you'd play five evenly spaced notes for each beat.

These rhythms can be challenging, so I wanted to give you some exercises and licks that will help you develop a "feel" for them.

When you first try to play quintuplets, you'll most likely find it difficult to evenly space each note. For this reason, when learning quintuplets you must take a very methodical and disciplined approach.

Being able to accurately play quintuplet licks and sequences will add dynamics to your playing and give you more interesting options when composing solos.

The first exercise is to play the first five notes of the A minor scale looped to a metronome. This exercise can be challenging due to the odd number of notes in each grouping. This means your picking hand will have to alternate between starting each beat with a down and up stroke. I suggest using strict alternate picking for this exercise.

Here's a slightly more musical idea using the same A minor scale but playing in different positions along the same two strings. When you've mastered this exercise, try playing the the scale in every possible position on these two strings.

Here's a repetitive idea using an F# minor pentatonic scale. I simply descend through the scale five notes and repeat the same pattern every beat. There are two possible ways to play this phrase. The first is to arrange the notes within a regular pentatonic shape as demonstrated in the first half of the bar. The second is play the final A note on the D string as demonstrated in the second half of the bar. I gave you these two options because you might find one of them easier. Practice them both and see which one you prefer.

Here's a single-string pattern based off the E minor scale. This is very simple but can sound interesting in a solo. I find this lick difficult at higher tempos even though technically it's easier than the previous examples. It's a sort of "tongue twister" for your fingers.

To end, try playing an entire A minor scale sequenced in quintuplets all the way up and down the neck. It will take a lot of practice to memorize each position, but after mastering it,you should have a good understanding and feel for quintuplets.

Cheers!

Will Wallner is a guitarist from England who now lives in Los Angeles. He recently signed a solo deal with Polish record label Metal Mind Productions for the release of his debut album, which features influential musicians from hard rock and heavy metal. He also is the lead guitarist for White Wizzard (Earache Records) and toured Japan, the U.S. and Canada in 2012. Follow Will on Facebook and Twitter.