You’re all set to begin learning the guitar. That’s incredible. You’re about to embark on a life-changing journey that will be both challenging and rewarding.
To help you get started, here is a list of ten things that every beginner guitarist should know about what should a beginner guitarist learn first.
These fundamental skills, which range from holding your instrument to playing open chords, are essential for building a strong technical foundation.
Ready? Let’s get this started.
The First 10 Things Beginner Guitar Players Should Learn
Knowing About The FretBoard
It is important for students to learn how to read notated guitar music. In regard to the music score, guitarists should know the names of the notes on the frets.
This will aid them in improving their guitar skills and making right technical finger placement judgments. Learn the notes from A to G including all the sharps (A#, C#, D#, F#, G#)
Working on rhythm drills for five minutes, 2-3 times a week, is also recommended.
How To Hold A Guitar
Guitarists should hold their guitars with their right hands on the necks if left handed and left hands on the neck if right handed.
Place the guitar on your lap if you’re sitting or use a guitar strap if you prefer to stand. Move the guitar and strap around until you feel comfortable.
How To Hold A Pick
A guitar pick is a small piece of plastic used to strum the strings on a guitar. You can strum them with your finger too.
Using a pick for strumming creates sharper & brighter notes. Pick styles range from thin to thick.
Beginners should start with a thinner pick since it is easier to control. Place the pick in the hand you will be plucking the strings with. Place it between your thumb and index finger.
You can also hold it with both your index and middle finger too. Play around with this and see what feels the best for you.
As long as you feel comfortable, and the pick is stuck in your fingers, you’re doing it right!
When it comes to what to play, you will need to learn some chords. We recommend checking out YouTube tutorials and getting lessons with a 1-1 guitar teacher. They will also show you the tuning.
When you play a song, the guitarist plays a chord or group of strings together. Each string produces a certain sound when played. To tune the guitar, you need to adjust the tension of the strings.
To do this, many musicians use a tool called a tuner. This device allows you to adjust the strings until they produce the correct pitch.
Tuning A Guitar
Tuning a guitar is all about adjusting the strings to optimise the sound quality. Strings require tuning because they can fall out of tune for several reasons, including regular playing and temperatures.
For a beginner, learning how to tune a guitar is among the basics you should know. It can be challenging but gets easier with experience.
The best place to start is learning the standard guitar tuning process. It involves tuning from the 6th string at the top of the guitar’s neck, which is the thickest and lowest-pitched string. Then, tune the 1st string at the bottom of the guitar’s neck. This is the high E string, the thinnest high-pitched string. After tuning these two strings, you can proceed to tune the remaining 4 strings.
The String Names
You must learn the string names at the start as this makes it much easier to know where to strum your first chords from, string names (standard tuning) E A D G B and e running in order 6 5 4 3 2 1.
Playing Open Chords
Open chords are a type of chord with one or more unfretted strings. Because of this, you require less pressure to strum a string, unlike a fingered string, which requires more pressure since it’s partially dampened.
Open chords are among the simplest chords to play, making them a great learning step for a beginner. Once you have mastered open position chords, you can easily move to learn other chords, like the barre chords.
There are 8 common open chords to master;
E major chord
A major chord
D major chord
G major chord
C major chord
E minor chord
A minor chord
D minor chord
Strumming In Rhythm
Strumming is the act of fretting a guitar’s strings to play a chord with a rhythm. While knowing about chords is important, strumming in rhythm is what gets you to produce notes or a melody.
This can be quite challenging to master, especially for beginners. It’s very important to practice a lot. In the beginning, you can start by strumming the rhythm on one chord.
Once comfortable, you can proceed to practice with real songs, especially those that you already know and love.
Create An Ideal Learning Environment
Guitarists should place their guitars prominently displayed in their homes. This will help them be motivated to practice more often.
A well-ventilated room should maintain an ideal temperature for playing guitar. If the room feels too warm or too cold, you may not be as motivated to play.
Your guitar could become out of tune as temperatures fluctuate.
Lighting should be bright enough to see the strings clearly too. A practice stool should be adjustable. You should be able to comfortably sit and play the guitar on these stools.
Practice rooms should be private and quiet so that you’re not distracted. If you would like, you can make it a place that inspires you to practice.
Learn With Other New Players
Guitarists can get together with other people to share tips and tricks, learn from each other, and be inspired by others’ success.
Fender Play has weekly video lessons featuring expert instructors teaching popular guitar skills. Players can also connect with other players and watch videos of them playing.
Build Skills By Learning Songs
Guitar lessons should be done with a song in mind. Practice strumming chords and learning how to play them. Learn about different types of chords and scales.
Practice these skills while listening to songs that you enjoy. Explore Fender Play’s collection of songs and see if any of them appeal to you.
Then, check out Fender Play’s recommended songs for beginners.
Pick Up Songs By Ear
Guitarists should be consistent in practicing different notes and chords. Practice helps them learn to recognize notes and chords in songs.
They can also learn to identify the key of a piece of music. Knowing the notes and chords in songs helps them figure out the chord progression and riffs used by artists.
Over time, you will be able to hear songs and play along with them just by ear. However, this takes time and a lot of practice. But, keep at it, and you’ll be there before you know it!
Be Patient
Guitar learning requires time and effort. Patience is needed to develop good habits. Beginners need to spend some time practicing each day.
Guitarists should learn how to play by ear, but also be taught proper technique. Learning to read music can be important too but not vital in the early stages.
Final Thoughts – What Should A Beginner Guitarist Learn First?
If you are a beginner guitar player, then by following these tips you can aim to be skilled in next to no time!
However, it is important to remember that becoming a good guitar player can be a lengthy process, so be patient and have fun!
I hope you got what should a beginner guitarist learn first.
My name is James Ledley and I teach Guitar Ukulele and Bass full-time. I’ve been teaching professionally, full time, since 2006 and run my teaching business from Lurgan, Co Armagh N Ireland. My goal is to help everyone fulfil their dream of turning their passion for music into playing Guitar, Ukulele or Bass.
