A lot of people play the guitar today, some are self taught, and some take lessons either formally or informally through friends and family. I mean you can also take virtual lessons online, or watch some youtube videos. If you wanted to teach yourself guitar, there is more than enough information out there that is easily available.
BUT... If you are new to Guitar, all of this can be a little confusing. If you don't know anything about Guitar, or Music, I will explain a few concepts in this post that will help make your journey a little easier for you. For this post, I thought to myself and asked a few of my friends this question - "If you were going to give advice to someone who is picking up the guitar for the first time, what would you tell them?"
So here it goes...
#1 - In my opinion (this doesn't mean it is fact) I believe the easiest way to learn how to play Guitar is to learn how to play songs you like. If you don't like Heavy Metal, and every time you pick up a Guitar you try to play Heavy Metal riffs - you are likely to put the guitar down since some of them can get pretty complicated. So stick to playing stuff you ACTUALLY like.
#2 - Power Chords and Strumming Patterns
Since I Believe the best way to learn how to play is to actually start playing, it would make sense to learn how to play the easiest chords and get used to strumming.
Power Chords, (you may see them listed as x5 chords...such as G5, A5, D5 etc) are the cornerstone behind music like punk rock, and all other kinds of rock. Almost any song you can play with power chords if you really wanted to. So how do you play a power chord?
Just follow these exact steps:
#1 - Using your pointer finger, hold down the third fret on the E string. This note is G.
#2 - Using your ring finger on the same hand, place your ring finger right next to your pointer finger on the E string, 2 frets up so it is on the 5th fret.
#3 - To make this work, we just need to move your ring finger down one string. The string directly below the E string is the A string. You already should have your ring finger on the 5th fret. The last step is moving your ring finger from the E string to the A string. Just move it down to the string below it. You should now be holding two string down.
#4 - Strum the guitar to see how it sounds. It may feel awkward if it is new to you, so you will have to keep practicing until it becomes natural to hold your hands and fingers in these positions. Below I am going to draw a diagram of how this should look like.
E - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A - - 5 - - - - - - - - - -
E - - 3 - - - - - - - - - -
^^^
What I have drawn above me is what is referred to as a TAB. This is a way for Guitarists to communicate how to play something to other guitarists in a way that is easy to understand. The letters on the left hand side represent the strings on the guitar. The bottom E is the heaviest string, and the top E is the lightest string. The numbers refer to what frets you should be hold down, on that string, to make the chord.
This shape can be used all over the neck of the guitar, on any strings, and it will create a pleasant sound. To know what chord you are playing, you need to know the root. For example, in our example we played a G power chord, often referred to as G5. This is because the 3rd fret is G. Don't even worry about what the 5 means, it's not that important unless you plan on getting into music theory. Just know that when you see 5 after a letter for a chord, like A5, you a playing an A power chord.
If you took the same shape, and slide it up the neck of the guitar to the 7th fret, you would be playing a B power chord. That would look like this.
E - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A - - 9 - - - - - - - - - -
E - - 7 - - - - - - - - - -
When playing power chords, you want to lay your fingers across the rest of the strings lightly. What this does is mute the strings, freeing you up to get crazy with strumming patterns. To get good with power chords, practice playing them with different strum patterns, using root notes on the E string and the A string.
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