Beginner's Guide to Playing Guitar

How do you walk into a store and buy the right acoustic guitar for your price range? Learn how to judge a good guitar by the tone and feel of the instrument.

The anatomy of an acoustic guitar and a human body have more similarities than you would think. Identify all parts, including the head, the neck, and the body.

Have you decided to purchase your own electric guitar? Awesome! After you’ve determined a price range, watch this lesson on how to consider feel and sound.

Ever wonder how so much rock ‘n roll can come from one tiny Fender guitar? Learn the anatomy of an electric guitar and discover the marvels of amplification.

What’s the difference between a sharp and a flat note? A whole and a half step? Watch this lesson and familiarize yourself with important guitar terminology.

Check out this lesson for advice on how to hold your guitar and pick. You’ll learn details of the folk and classical postures, and how to best hold your pick.

Learning how to play guitar? This lesson examines the basic physics of sound, from pitch range to volume control. Discover how to create the sound you want!

Learning how to play guitar? Here’s a tip on basic picking: the pick rest. Watch and discover hand positioning and proper strumming techniques for a beginner.

Teaching yourself how to play guitar? Watch this lesson for tips on basic fretting techniques. You’ll learn principles such as finger and hand positioning.

Check out this lesson for music theory basics on a guitar. Learn the name of each string, the musical alphabet, the rule of sharps, and the twelfth fret trick.

Find out how accessible reading music can be. This lesson on how to read tabs will cause you to pick up that old guitar and learn a few new songs.

Don’t think your fingers are dextrous enough to play the guitar? Try this exercise that teaches you how practice changing strings and moving up the neck.

Beginning guitarists, get over the hump: start playing and transitioning between each note smoothly with legato, not staccato, articulation.

Reading music may be hard, but reading chord stamps can be easy! Beginning guitarists: learn how to read chord stamps and soon be playing your favorite song.

After lots of jamming, it's natural for your guitar strings to go out of tune. Learn how to tune each string efficiently with a clip-on tuner.

Learning how strumming guitar chords resembles raking leaves: easy does it. Check out this lesson and discover techniques for producing an open, whole sound.

Here’s a small tip that will last a lifetime of guitar playing: curl the last knuckle of each fretting finger. Watch and discover the importance of the curl.

Don’t think you’re cut out for playing guitar? Think again! Everyone gets frustrated. Listen to these words of advice; they will urge you to keep on pickin’.

So you want to be a rock ‘n' roll star? This lesson gives you the tools you need to play hundreds of songs on the guitar. All it takes is nine simple chords.

Almost every song played on the guitar involves some sort of chord progression. Check out this lesson on how to transition from one guitar chord to another.

Pick up your guitar and check out this lesson on basic rhythm technique. Learn about whole and half notes, quarter and eighth notes, and even sixteenth notes.

Learn how to strum like your favorite guitarist! This lesson will teach you tips for how to focus on guitar strumming techniques ranging from easy to complex.

Does your guitar pick keep sliding out of your fingers? Check out this lesson on how pick gauge affects strumming and determine which pick is right for you.

Are you learning guitar and having trouble strumming? This lesson offers easy solutions for strumming issues, from using bigger strums to moving down the neck.

Why do you want to play guitar? To be a songwriter, a studio player, or a casual player? This lesson will help you determine your goals and how to get there.

Want to master the guitar but don’t know where to start? This lesson gives you the lowdown on how to practice to achieve your desired skill level.

What sort of precautions should you take if you own a guitar? This lesson covers the the basics of guitar care, from temperature to stands to moisturizing oils.

If you’re learning how to play guitar, your fretting hand probably grows tired quickly. Discover ways to strengthen your fingers without your guitar.

Feeling frustrated playing guitar? That’s normal! This lesson reveals that learning how to play guitar isn’t about talent; it’s about dedication and practice.

Ever come across slash chords, such as C/G or D/F#, on a chord chart? Learn how to read these chords, known as inversions, with this tutorial.

Once you have a general understanding of inversions, or slash chords, on guitar, watch this lesson and learn how to put them to good use in chord progressions.

Investigate one of the most important aspects of music: this lesson shows you how to construct a major scale from anywhere on a single string of your guitar.

Take some time to learn about intervals, or the relationships between notes in a scale; chords and embellishments will start to seem like second nature.

Ever wondered why guitarists use capos? This lesson covers the pros: from shifting keys to form otherwise impossible chords to accommodating a singer’s range.

Like blues or roots guitar? You'd better learn the shuffle. This lesson shows you the difference between straight and shuffle guitar strumming patterns.

Don’t get scared away by a little bit of music theory! This lesson shows you how to memorize the notes on a treble clef staff with two mnemonics.

Chord charts—basically simplified sheet music—are a common medium for learning songs on the guitar. Learn the structure and symbols used in chord charts today!