How to Play the Guitar for Beginners

Introduction
These instructions are intended to show anyone who has no music experience how to begin to
play the guitar. There are many things involved in playing the guitar well, but these instructions
will cover a few of the most important and basic points so that you can begin to play music on
the guitar.

Materials
Before you start playing, make sure you have the right materials listed below.

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Terminology
If you are new to music, you may be unfamiliar with the anatomy of a guitar and the
terminology used to describe music. The information below tells you all you need to know to
understand how to start playing music.

Music Terminology
 Notes – The Individual sounds made by the guitar
 Chord – A group of notes played at the same time making one collective sound
 Finger Numbering – The fingers of the left hand are numbered in such a way that can
be represented in visual diagrams.

Guitar Anatomy Finger Numbering

Playing Notes
A guitar makes sound when a string is pressed down on the fretboard with your left hand while
strumming the strings with the guitar pick held in your right hand. This is described in greater
detail below.

Left Hand Placement

The left hand should curl around the neck of the
guitar so that the thumb is behind the neck and
the four fingers are hovering above the
fretboard.

Finger Placement
When pressing down a string, the finger should
be placed on the right side of the fret, slightly
before the next fret as shown. It should be
upright so that it is not touching any other
strings and should be firmly pressing the string
down.

Left Hand Position

The right hand should be positioned so that the
pick is hovering over the strings and the
forearm is resting lightly on the body of the
guitar as shown.

Action Step
 Try playing your first note. Pick any string and any fret to press down on. Strum
that string with your pick while you are pressing that same string down with your
left hand. Keep trying until the note is clear and no buzz is audible. Try this on
different strings and different frets. Have fun, you are playing your first notes!

Playing Chords
This is the most advanced part about playing the guitar. It may take a few tries to be successful,
but it is worth your patience! The instructions below describe how to play the C chord shown
below.Here are four simple chord diagrams that will help you start to play chords on the guitar.
The diagrams represent the guitar neck as though you were looking straight down at it so that
the far-left string shown is the low E string, the thickest string. The vertical numbers to the left
of the chord diagram represent fret numbers, with the first fret being the furthest fret from the
body of the guitar. The numbers inside the dark circles represent finger numbers as described
earlier in this document. Press the corresponding fingers down and strum all of the strings you
are pressing down and those marked with circles with one fluid motion. Do not strum the
strings marked with an X.

1. Place your left hand around the neck of the guitar as previously described.
2. Look at a chord diagram for a C chord. Notice that the fingers will be placed on the first,
second, and third frets. The first fret is the fret furthest from the body of the guitar.
3. Press the corresponding fingers down as shown on the chord diagram. The line to the
far left represents the low E string, the string closest to your thumb.
4. Notice which strings do not need to be played shown at the top of the chord diagram.
An x represents a string that will not be played. An o represents strings that will be
played.
5. Strum the strings that do need to be played with your right hand in one fluid motion.
6. Play this chord until the sound rings out and doesn’t sound clunky.

Practice playing the other chords shown using the same method as listed above.

Moving Forward
Your guitar skill will
only improve with
time and practice. Learning how to play these four chords well is a great way to start playing
music and provides a firm foundation to learn more about the guitar.