It seems to many that mastering the guitar is unrealistic and it will take years to play at the highest level. There is some truth in this, but do not despair, because talent and daily training can work wonders. This article will help you understand where to start playing the guitar and how to approach it properly. Knowledge is power, and in this case it is hidden in preliminary preparation and main chords. It doesn’t matter how old you are, after all, mastering a guitar is useful for self-development, and no one has yet canceled the pleasure of playing songs with your own hands. As they say, forward and with the song!
What is necessary for fruitful learning
- First of all, desire, because without it you don’t even want to eat, not just mastering the skills of the instrument!
- Secondly, a guitar (preferably a good one).
- Thirdly, precious time, which flows like water through fingers; and the sooner you start classes, the better.
- Fourth, educational materials that are easy to get nowadays.
How to choose the right guitar
Having pre-planned an individual training schedule and armed with a desire, you can safely go to a music store (or visit a virtual one). At first glance it seems that even the most poor-quality guitar is suitable for a "teapot", but this is far from the case. After all, if she is constantly upset, and even the strings will hurt her fingers, no normal training will be discussed. In addition, you can prettyly pat your nerves not only to yourself, but also to your relatives. Have pity on them! So, where to start playing the guitar? From choosing a decent instrument with thin and soft strings. If you don’t have the opportunity to buy a guitar, but there are musicians friends, borrow it from one of them. And when you get involved in the process, buy yourself a more or less high-quality tool at a reasonable price.
Two kinds of the same tool
Acoustic guitars are divided into two types: dreadnought and classical. There is an opinion that the second is most convenient for beginners due to its wide neck and nylon strings. Due to these features, the risk of “dirty sound” is sharply reduced, and the fingertips do not suffer as much as when playing metal strings. But if your plans do not include the execution of masterpieces like the “Caprice” of Paganini, opt for a dreadnought. It has a louder sound due to strings made of metal materials, and a narrow neck allows you to quickly master the swapping of chords. In addition, the fingertips in a short time will become so coarse that the corns will simply cease to arise. However, if you want to accustom them to string pressure gradually, install soft nylon on your dreadnought.
To start learning how to play the guitar without a hitch, visit the store with a friend who knows a lot about this instrument. This will deprive the seller of the pleasure of lying around a “teapot” and imposing a product that has been gathering dust on the wall for years. It is also necessary to choose carefully because each instrument has its own subtleties that a simple layman sees far from immediately. Appearance is a secondary matter. It is much more important to choose a guitar that will be convenient to play. Important details: strings, splitting mechanism and the presence of the neck control. Next, you should familiarize yourself with the work of the instrument in order to gain a deeper insight into the essence of where to start playing the guitar.
Device
Having obtained this wonderful tool, you need to get to know it better. In order to understand where to start learning to play the guitar, look at it carefully:
- Soundboard. It is the “body” of the instrument and resembles a woman’s figure.
- Vulture. Fastens to the deck, continuing it. Frets are marked on it and the strings are stretched along which your fingers will slide.
- Neck head. Strings are attached to its pegs.
The entire fretboard is lined with metal sills that divide it into frets. They help to reproduce sound during impact on the string. Frets are considered to be from the head of the neck, and not vice versa. A standard guitar has six strings, and the thinnest is called "first."
Important stage
Before you start playing the guitar, you need to configure it correctly. Without this, nothing will work. A special tuner that can be found in the music store can help here. However, this is not necessary, as there are special applications for the smartphone, which are a digital version. The device will tell you which string to tighten and which to loosen. If it is possible to tune the instrument on the piano, then be sure to use it, since this is an ideal option.
On the fifth fret, all the strings can sound on one note (except for the third, which is tuned to the fourth). Therefore, there is a method that allows you to tune your guitar without any help, and it consists in the following:
- The first string should be tuned to "mi", and if your hearing is not perfect, you still have to use another instrument or tuner.
- The second is clamped on the fifth fret, after which the corresponding peg is pulled up until the sound becomes the same as that of the first open string.
- The third is clamped on the fourth fret and tightened until it sounds like the second string in the open state.
- The fourth is clamped to the fifth and pulled to a similar sound with the third open.
- From the fifth and sixth steps are repeated, and when all the strings sound in unison, you can safely proceed to the beginning of the lesson of playing the guitar.
As you can see, the tuning process is quite simple: pinch one open string and compare with the clamped one (twisting the peg to the desired result). The main thing in this matter is not to overdo it, otherwise you can drag it and break it.
How to start playing the guitar
So, we finally got to the main point of the issue. Despite the apparent lightness, for dummies the beginning of playing the guitar in practice is not so simple: either the strings “get along”, then painful corns appear on the fingertips, or even the hands are taken away. And the point here is not only that this occupation of lazy people does not tolerate. Only regular training will lead to the desired result. “There would be a desire, and the opportunity will appear by itself!”. Now do the following:
- First of all, we sit down more comfortably: throw one foot on the other, or arrange some kind of stand under the left (for right-handed people). This is done so that it fits neatly into the bend of the deck and fixes the instrument.
- Next, we bring the right hand to a relaxed state, and the left hand we hug the neck “by the neck”. After all, the frets we need are located exactly there. It is important to remember that the thumb should lie parallel to the bar, and you can’t strangle it strongly with your hand: it’s worse for yourself.
- The first fret is under the head of the neck, and the string numbering starts from the bottom. We try to play solo on the thinnest string: we clamp and “step” along frets. The simplest thing is to pick up the song "A grasshopper was sitting in the grass." The main condition is to achieve crystal sound. Now repeat the same thing on the remaining strings, but turn on all four fingers.
Where to start learning to play the guitar, in addition to the Grasshopper?
In order to bring automatism on one string to automatism, you can use such terrifying motives as:
- The Imperial March of Star Wars
- Introduction to “Iron Man” Black Sabbath;
- "Smoke above the water" Deep Purple.
After the hands will be “friends” with each other, and the melody will flow like a clean and sonorous trickle, it is necessary to go to the main thing - that is, to chords.
Main stage
It is impossible to play a single song without chords, since they are the main element in the skill of playing the guitar. At first, you will have to suffer with them, but the result will help you forget all the unpleasant moments of training.
In standard chords, you need to clamp three strings at once, and in more complex ones, a “barre" is used. There are also quarts and fifths that can be mastered only after bringing your game to perfection. But you shouldn’t bother once again, because for simple yard songs it’s enough to know only three chords: E, Am, Dm. They are universal and allow you to play almost any song.
Chords
When it became more or less clear where to start playing the guitar, you should get acquainted with the names of triads. Each chord is marked with a Latin letter, which tells its main note, this: C - to; D is re; E is mi; F - fa; G is salt; A - la; H - si. A miniature incremental m indicates that the triad is minor. In all other cases, the chord is major.
On paper, they are depicted in the form of special patterns - fingerings. This is such a square, lined with six horizontal stripes and three vertical. Finger spots are usually marked with bold dots. There is also a numbering of the fret, which is written in Roman numerals. There are more detailed fingerings, which indicate which fingers to press on the strings and which strings should not sound. For example, Am is taken as follows: the cushion of the index finger is placed on the second string of the first fret; middle - on the fourth of the second; nameless - on the third of the same fret. A similar principle is used with other simple chords, and the diagrams always show where to click.
When you manage to master the three standard guitar triads, you can learn a few more to learn how to play more complex compositions. C, A, D, Dm and Em are quite simple, but F, Fm and H are much more complicated and can make you nervous. The fact is that the latter are performed using the barre. This means that the index finger is placed on all the strings of the fret, and another 2-3 strings are required to be clamped. Achieving a clear sound is not easy, but in practice, you can master them. You can learn something from Viktor Tsoi or “Aria” - then training will be a pleasant experience. In our high-tech time, you can learn how any song is played, and unfamiliar chords to learn.
For the right hand
Sound is extracted in two ways: by stripping the strings or by fighting. In some songs you can find one and the other, and this does not affect the chords themselves.
- Busting - alternating rhythmic twitching of strings in the specified order.
- Fight - hit the strings up and down.
Both those and others were invented a lot. However, the schematic diagrams usually indicate which battle or brute force is used. When you master the simplest of them, the rest will also seem easy.
Conclusion
Now that the answer to the question of where to start learning to play the guitar has become transparent, continue hard training and try to devote at least a couple of minutes a day to the instrument. The main thing in this business is patience, so do not betray the value to your rubbed fingers and the deaf sounds of the strings. Over time, they will become firm as heels, and will not feel pain, and practice will allow you to play clean and beautiful.