How quickly can you learn to play the guitar? Enjoy your new guitar skills! Strings and fret numbers

How to learn to play guitar from scratch?

Probably, many of us have at least once thought about how we can learn to play the guitar at home. Learning to play the guitar is a fairly simple, but at the same time very painstaking process that requires patience and attention. In this article, we will look at the basic theory that will help you quickly learn to play the guitar.

Basic Elements of a Guitar

Let's list the basic concepts that you will need when learning to play the guitar.

Frets are areas on the fingerboard that are separated by transverse partitions (saddles) and are numbered starting from tuning mechanism at the end of the fingerboard (I, II, III, etc.).

The classical bass guitar has 6 strings, which are numbered from bottom to top from 1 to 6. String “1” is the thinnest, and “6” is the thickest.

Before you pick up a guitar, you must learn three things:

• be able to hold your right hand relaxed and free;
• sit correctly;
• hold the guitar correctly.

Hand placement and finger numbering

With our right hand we make sound on the guitar. It is very important that the hand is relaxed. Put your right palm on your knee and twitch all your fingers in turn as if you were playing strings. This exercise must be repeated several times to feel how the fingers are becoming more free and independent of each other in movements.

The left hand should tightly grip the fingerboard when playing. The thumb is either slightly bent or straight, but in any case it should always be parallel to the frets. Don't press thumb the left hand is strongly pressed towards the bar, because this may cause pain in the thumb muscle. To make it easier to describe the process of playing the guitar, the fingers of the left hand are numbered:

• index - 1;
• average - 2;
• unnamed - 3;
• little finger - 4.

First sound production

To begin, take the first string on the third fret with the first finger of your left hand, and thumb pluck this string with your right hand to produce sound. Your goal is to achieve a ringing and clear tone of sound. To do this, you need to place your first finger as close to the threshold as possible.

Next, repeat the exercise with the first finger on the other string and on the other fret and achieve a clear sound. Practice in this way until you clearly remember the numbering of frets, fingers and strings, and also consolidate the ability to produce ringing sounds.

While playing, sit straight, but not tensely. Do not press the guitar too hard to avoid distorting the acoustic effect.

How can you learn to play guitar from scratch?

The most important thing in playing the guitar is to be able to play chords. First, let's look at one of the most common and simple chords - the Am chord. For it we will need to use strings 2, 3 and 4, fingers 1, 2 and 3 and frets 1 and 2.

1. With finger 1 you need to pinch string 2 on the 1st fret;
2. With finger 2 we pinch string 4 on the 2nd fret;
3. And with finger 3 we also pinch string 3 on the 2nd fret.

Once all your fingers are in place, lift the strings slightly with your right hand and listen to the sound you get. If the sound is not very clear, then try Place the fingers of your left hand closer to the saddle, and keep your right hand as relaxed as possible. After you achieve a ringing sound, you can try to study other chords, diagrams of which can be viewed on the yf website muzykantam.net.

If you can't get the sound you want, your guitar is probably out of tune. Experienced guitarists can tune it by ear, but for musicians starting from scratch, there are special services that allow you to tune your guitar online. For example, tuneronline.ru. There are also electronic tuners, which can be purchased at music stores.

To strengthen your chord picking skills, you need to repeat the same chord until you can play it intuitively, that is, without thinking about the placement of your fingers.

Further training

After you learn how to play chords, you can begin learning more complex things, including fingerpicking and strumming on the guitar. You can learn the basics of playing the guitar using these techniques in the article.

Also, for maximum efficiency in learning to play the guitar from scratch, after learning the chords, you can use the services of tutors or take courses to achieve real mastery.

The guitar undoubtedly represents the most desirable musical instrument, which attracts millions of aspiring musicians with its aura. Millions of people buy this musical instrument in the hope of quickly learning how to play, but give up this idea literally the next day. This is due to the difficulty of playing the guitar, large quantity playing technician and technician. The instrument itself plays a role. Depending on the guitar you buy, it will be more difficult or easier for you to take your first steps in music, but you will stumble and fall in any case, but do not get upset ahead of time.

If you want quickly see the result and surprise your friends or conquer the fairer sex, then you just need to follow the tips listed below that will allow you to achieve the desired result.

1) If you are choosing your first guitar, then you should choose the classic version of the instrument. This immediately begs the question about the differences between classic version and western guitar. The Western guitar differs from the classical one in having a narrower neck and rather sharp and hard metal strings, which can seriously damage the skin. The classical guitar has a much wider neck and softer nylon strings, which will not damage the skin during the game. Naturally, nylon strings are much softer, and the wide neck allows you to quickly memorize and play new chords. At the same time, you will not injure your fingers on metal strings, which can seriously harm the delicate skin of the fingertips.

2) You shouldn’t start by studying notes. If you don't have music education, then you should not start studying with musical notation. Yes, knowing the notes can help a lot, but it is absolutely not necessary. It can take several months to learn how to sight-read music, so don't waste your precious time.

3) Learn to read tablature (so-called tabs). It is tablature that is a fairly convenient analogue of sheet music. The difference is that it won’t take you more than two days to study tablature. Everything will depend on the time you spend on training. The tablatures are as easy to understand as possible, and you can become an expert after just a few hours of practice with the instrument.

4) Learn to play basic chords. Yes! You should start learning with chords. It is enough to know only 3 - 4 chords. This will allow you to learn your first song and even start singing. After this, you can proudly declare that you can play the guitar!

Guitar hand placement

Right hand

Using the right hand, the sound is produced on the instrument. Relax your hand, round your arm and start playing freely. Playing the guitar you must:

• sit correctly;
• hold the guitar correctly;
• be able to play freely and relaxed with your right hand.

Left hand

Your left hand should grip the fingerboard tightly, with your thumb slightly bent but always parallel to the frets. There is no need to put a lot of effort (pressure), as the muscle will hurt later.

Designation of fingers for picking on a guitar

Layout of sounds on a guitar

Chords for beginners

Chord - sound of several strings at the same time. Used to use chords left hand, and the right one is responsible for brute force. All guitar songs are created from chords, so it is important to know them.

Basic chords for beginners

What do you need to know about chord diagrams?

Strings: in front of you 6 horizontal lines- these are the strings on the guitar. The first string is the highest line, the sixth is the lowest.

Frets: This vertical lines. Each distance from nut to nut is called a fret.

Round circles in the diagram: all these big ones bold dots are the place where the string should be clamped.

How to play Am chord on guitar

When playing chords, make sure that the strings are pressed well and that your fingers do not touch adjacent strings.

To play a chord Am play:

• Second string - first fret ( index finger left hand);
• Fourth string - second fret (middle finger);
• Third string - second fret (ring finger).

Use brute force schemes

Picking scheme based on the Am chord (A Minor): 5 (p) -3 (i) -21 (ma) -3 (i). The playing pattern will be as follows: we pull the fifth string with our thumb, and then we pull the third string with our index finger, then together with the middle and ring fingers we pull the first and second strings, then we pull the third string with our index finger.

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Learning to play the guitar part 1.2 - video

Anyone who wants to learn to play the guitar willy-nilly has a hundred questions of this kind: “how to learn to play the guitar?”, “is it difficult, etc. Once about 10 years ago I asked the same questions, but I don’t have the Internet it was - and I studied on my own, collecting information bit by bit from my friends... Now everything is much simpler.

I want to say right away that learning to play the guitar is not difficult. It all depends on your endurance, desire and time that you are willing to devote to learning. If you are patient you have great desire play, everything will work out!

So, you have a guitar and a desire to learn how to play. Let's gather our motivation... let's go!

First you need to become familiar with guitar tuning - after all, you cannot play an instrument that is not prepared for playing. can be done completely independently, or you can configure it using a tuner or through online setup. A tuner is a special device that shows whether a string is tuned or not. If it shows that it is not in tune, then the string needs to be raised/lowered. Thus, by tuning each string, you will tune the entire guitar. Is your guitar tuned? This means you can start learning directly.

First, you need to become familiar with your guitar playing position. Usually you can find debates everywhere about how to sit properly when playing the guitar. For example, in music school They teach the classic landing, when the bar is higher than the soundboard. However, many professionals hold the guitar straight when playing the guitar, without tilting... It's up to you. In my opinion, there should be no clear rules for seating; you need to sit in a way that is comfortable for you.

Afterwards you need to read, fight, search. Find out what movements the right and left hands make when playing the guitar. Combat and grappling are a set of movements that are performed right play, near the resonator hole. Chords are a special position of the hands (fingers) of the left hand on the fretboard. Once you learn a few chords and strumming, such as strumming 6 and Dm, E, C, G, A, you can easily play your first song. Often they play their first song after learning only 3-4 chords and one beat - a 6-stroke. For example, many people play “Pass”, “A Star Called the Sun” or “A Pack of Cigarettes” by the group “Kino” as their first song. This will not make you a guitarist yet, but you will learn the basics. After this, you should increase your knowledge in the number of chords, strums and strums. It will be mandatory to learn H7, D. After them, you should move on to learning barre chords. You should start with the F chord.

The most important thing is that after the first song you play, you will have a huge charge of motivation that will steadily push you to improve your playing skills. By the way, on the Internet there are very high-quality video lessons and analyzes of many simple songs that you can easily master in short term. I would advise you to start by studying the songs “Pass”, “A Star Called the Sun”, “Pack of Cigarettes”, “The Bend of a Yellow Guitar”, etc. Many simple songs can be found among army songs or marching songs.

Having learned a sufficient number of chords and learned how to quickly play and change them, you should familiarize yourself with tablatures. Tablatures - special way notes on how to play music. It looks something like 6 strings drawn, on which it is alternately indicated where and how the strings should be clamped. If all the chords can be learned, then tablature is in the category of “the more I know, the less I know.” There are a countless number of them, they are replenished every day. Tablatures allow you to study modern music and songs of different directions and complexity, starting with “Grasshopper” on one string and ending with the most complex arrangements. Having learned what tablatures are and learning how to use them, you will discover huge world songs and melodies played on the guitar by modern musicians, bands, etc.

Along with studying chords, tablatures, strumming and strumming, you will encounter many different techniques sound productions, for example: harmonics, pull-offs, hammers, vibrato, glissando, etc. For example, harmonics are performed by plucking the string and simultaneously muting it. Natural harmonics are performed on the 12th fret, artificial ones - on any fret. All of them make the sound more beautiful and complement the playing with special notes. They are not difficult if you study everything gradually and do not jump to a level that you cannot handle.

Thus, learning to play the guitar is not as difficult as it might seem to you at first. Advice for those who want to start - start!. The sooner you start your training, the sooner you will become interested in this topic - the sooner you will be able to play the guitar. All in your hands! A short tutorial in front of you, you just read it... Good luck!

Useful articles:

The guitar tutorial is based on personal professional experience and consists of two sections: “Useful Articles” and “Guitar Lessons”. Guitar lessons for beginner guitarists are presented in articles with gradual gradation from simple material to more complex. It is for those who want more or to a lesser extent This tutorial is intended to help you master an instrument within a certain period of time with minimal knowledge of music theory. The theory is given only when there is a certain experience in mastering the instrument at the accompaniment level, subject to the desire to comprehend the secrets of mastery of guitar technique and solo performances. The first three lessons are introductory and contain information about the history of the guitar, its structure and how to properly tune the guitar. The fourth lesson is presented in the form of guitar chords for beginners and two songs by the Kino group based on four simple chords. You will learn how to play strum on the guitar from the fifth lesson, which talks about strong and weak parts as the basis of guitar strumming, and also provides examples of simple options guitar fight. It should be noted that further learning to play the guitar without knowing the notes on the neck of the instrument is ineffective and therefore the table with the arrangement of notes on the guitar is presented in full in the article of lesson No. 6. Only after this lesson, the picking on the guitar for beginners in the seventh lesson is simple and clear to perform, and in lesson No. 7 the positioning of the right hand is presented. The next three lessons are beautiful short plays, which can be learned without knowledge of music theory using only an abbreviated table of notes on the guitar neck. In each of these lessons, abbreviated tables of the location of notes on the fretboard are presented for clarity. The lessons are based on the already familiar guitar pickings of lesson No. 7, where they are shown in open strings tool.

In the “Useful Articles” section of the guitar tutorial there is a lot of necessary information on issues that are not included in the “Guitar Lessons” section. There are a wide range of articles on how to choose the right acoustic guitar with detailed description the entire selection process. Special attention is paid to the issue of choosing strings for beginners, and also which guitar to choose for a beginner. Presented chord chart for six string guitar gives the most complete idea of ​​the chords played on the first frets of the guitar neck, which is convenient for both beginning guitarists and those with some experience in playing the instrument. This section of the tutorial also focuses on how to properly practice the guitar. At what hours is it best absorbed? new material and how much time you need to devote to the instrument in order to achieve maximum success in mastering the guitar. The tutorial is also presented in the article “How to read chords for a guitar”, which describes in detail all possible spellings and schematic images of chords, followed by a link to the article “How to read tablature for a guitar”, which is an addition to the previous material and gives a more complete idea of possible chord spellings.

Many people consider mastering the guitar an impossible task that takes them long years. This is partly true, but only if you want to master the instrument at a professional level.

Much more often, people want to learn to play the guitar in order to perform their favorite songs in a company or just for fun. In this case, training will not take much effort and time: in two to three months you can easily learn the basic chords and ways of playing.

Don't give up, even if you've already had a bad experience. Talent is only a tenth of success. Determination and regular practice are much more important.

What you will need

1. Guitar.
2. Wish. It is even more important than the instrument itself.
3. Time to study. You can do it easily too, if the desire is strong enough. Moreover, 30 minutes a day will be enough for you.
4. Teaching aids. There are no problems with them at all: you can buy a tutorial in a bookstore, watch video lessons on YouTube, and find chords on the Internet.

As you can see, nothing supernatural.

Choosing and purchasing a guitar

Let's assume that you have the desire and time. All you have to do is get the tools. They say that any guitar is suitable for a beginner, but this is not true. When the strings touch the frets and cut into your fingers, and the guitar does not stay in tune, there can be no talk of any progress.

A bad instrument will almost certainly discourage you from learning.

Therefore it is better to find good guitar. At first, you can borrow an instrument from one of your friends, and then, if things work out and you like it, get your own. Not necessarily expensive and branded, the main thing is more or less high quality.

There are two main types acoustic guitars: classical and dreadnought (western). There is an opinion that they are more suitable for beginners classical guitars due to the wide neck and nylon strings. The first feature reduces the chances of accidentally touching an unnecessary string with your fingers, because the distance between the strings is greater than that of a dreadnought. And the nylon strings themselves are softer than metal ones, so they don’t dig into your fingertips as much and cause less calluses.

On the other hand, if performing classical compositions is not part of your plans, it is better to immediately take a dreadnought. This guitar sounds louder and more resonant due to metal strings, and on a narrower neck it is more convenient to play chords. Again, when playing on metal strings, your fingers will become rougher faster and there will be no more calluses.

As a compromise, you can take a dreadnought and replace the metal strings with nylon ones, at least for the duration of training.

When going to the store to buy a guitar, take a friend with you who knows how to play: each instrument has many little details and a beginner may simply not notice them. Choose a guitar not only by appearance, but also for convenience. Pay attention to the possibility of adjusting the neck, the tuning mechanism, and the strings.

Getting to know the guitar

The tool is purchased (or borrowed from friends), and you are one step closer to the goal. Take a close look at the guitar.

The larger part is called the soundboard. A neck is attached to it, ending with a head with pegs: with the help of them the strings are stretched.

The neck is divided into frets by metal sills, against which the strings are pressed to produce sound. The first fret is at the headstock, the last is at the soundboard.

There are only six strings. The countdown starts from the bottom, thinnest one.

Guitar tuning

Before you try to play, your guitar needs to be tuned. Don't be alarmed, even a beginner can do this. And without this skill you will not be able to play.

By tuner

You will need a tuner in the form of a separate device (you can buy it in a music store or on AliExpress) or an application for your smartphone. In both cases, tuning consists of alternately tightening or loosening all the strings in accordance with the tuner's prompts.

By the fifth fret

This method does not require any additional equipment. Its essence is that the strings, clamped on certain frets, sound in unison and can be adjusted relative to each other.

According to the rules, the first string should be tuned to the note E, using a tuner (for example, its online version) or another tuned instrument as a reference. However, this only makes sense when playing in a group, so that all instruments sound in the same key.

If you play alone, or even just learn, then the first string can be adjusted arbitrarily by approximately selecting its tension. All others are configured like this:

1. Press the second string at the fifth fret and loosen or tighten it until it sounds the same as the open first string.
2. Press the third string at the fourth fret and tune it in unison with open second string.
3. Press the fourth string at the fifth fret and adjust it to the open third string.
4. Press the fifth on the fifth fret and adjust it to the open fourth.
5. The sixth fret is clamped in the same way on the fifth fret and tuned in unison with the open fifth.

It sounds complicated, but in reality everything is simpler than simple. Each string pressed at the fifth fret should sound in unison with the previous one, bottom string. The only exception is the third string: it must be clamped not on the fifth, but on the fourth fret.

The setup process itself is also extremely simple. For example, to tune the second string, you need to loosen it, and then pull the open first string and gradually rotate the second peg until the sound of both strings merges into one tone. That's all.

Let's try to play

Finally we got to the most interesting part - the game itself. It seems there is nothing complicated here. Know to press the strings with your left hand and hit them with your right: you’ve seen this a million times and probably tried it yourself. Why then doesn't it work? The strings rattle, the fingertips burn, and the joints become tired and stiff.

It's all about experience, which comes with practice.

Take your guitar and sit on the edge of a chair or sofa, crossing your legs or placing your left foot on a low stand, such as a stack of books. This way the instrument will not rest against the chair and slide off your leg.

The right arm should be relaxed and the hand should not be twisted. The left one covers the fingerboard, but the thumb is always parallel to the frets. There is also no need to squeeze the bar as hard as you can, otherwise your hand will quickly get tired.

You already know that fret numbering starts from the headstock, and strings - from the thinnest, bottom. Try playing random notes by pressing the first string with your index finger on different frets. Try to fully press the string so that it sounds clear. It won't be easy, but over time the technique will improve.

Try playing on other strings, as well as using other fingers, letting them get used to it.

Playing melodies on one string

Just making sounds is boring. Therefore, to make it more interesting, you can learn simple melodies on one string and practice on them. Here are some example tunes.

Classic “A grasshopper sat in the grass”:

"Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple:

Introduction to “ Iron Man"Black Sabbath:

Melody from the movie "Boomer":

"Imperial March" from Star Wars:

Spend some time playing on one string. Bring your actions to automaticity and achieve coordinated work of both hands. Practice until the melodies sound smooth and clear, without stopping or stuttering.

During this time, your fingers will get used to the loads, which means you can move on to more complex things.

Playing chords

The next step you have to climb is playing chords. This is much more difficult than single string melodies, but don't be discouraged. Once you learn the chords, you will be able to play full songs.

The principle here is the same, but you will need to press not one string, but several at once: usually three, less often two or four. There are many chords. However, to perform most songs, only five to seven are enough. First, let's learn the three main, so-called thieves chords: Am, Dm, E.

All chords are indicated with Latin letters depending on the main note:

• C - before;
• D - re;
• E - mi;
• F - fa;
• G - salt;
• A - la;
• H - si.

If there is a small letter m next to the chord symbol, this means that the chord is minor. If there is no such prefix - major. The chords are read either by letter designation, or by name. For example, “a-um” (Am) or “G major” (G).

Chord patterns are called fingerings. A neck with strings is drawn on them. Frets are signed with Roman numerals. Arabic denotes the strings and - in circles - the fingers that should be used to press the strings (1 - index, 2 - middle, and so on). A zero opposite the string means an open sound (unpressed string), and a cross means that the string should not sound.

Let's return to our thieves chords. Here are their fingerings:

To play an Am chord, you need to press the second string on the first fret with your index finger, the fourth string on the second fret with your middle finger, and the third string on the second fret with your ring finger.

The rest of the chords are taken using the same principle: we look at which frets and which strings need to be pressed.

With these three chords you can already play simple yard or army songs. But it’s better to learn three more chords, with which your repertoire will expand significantly. Here they are:

There should be no difficulties with the first two, but the third is a little different from the previous ones. It uses barre - a technique where the index finger is used to pinch all the strings on one fret. Barre chords are a little more difficult than open chords, but with practice you can get the hang of them.

As always, to make learning more interesting, you can practice on some song right away. For example, on the canonical “Pack of Cigarettes” by the group “Kino” or “Watchmen” by “Boombox”.

You can also find any other songs that you like on the Internet (for example, by searching for “Louboutin chords”). If you come across unfamiliar chords in the selection, you can try to find another one or simply learn something new.

Fight and bust

There are two ways of sound production: busting and fighting. Some songs are played only by fingerpicking or only by strumming, others by both methods. The same chords are used, the only difference is whether you pluck the strings with your fingers or hit them.

Overkill, like fighting, exists great amount. And they are, of course, different in different songs. Usually, in the analysis, along with the chords, it is indicated which fingering or strumming should be played.

Let's look at some of the most common ones as an example. You'll learn the rest as you go.

What's next

Now that you have become acquainted with the basics, studied the chords and have gained some experience, the main thing is not to give up on your training. Your fingers will get sore and tangled when changing chords, and the strings won't always sound.

Don't stop under any circumstances and just keep playing. Every day you will do better and better, and in the end you will achieve your goal.

Finally, a few tips that will help you learn to play the guitar on your own and won’t let you despair:

1. Always use multiple sources of information to fill in possible gaps and inaccuracies from one teacher to another.
2. Play every day: Regular exercise will boost your confidence. Remember that talent is only a tenth of success, the rest is practice.
3. Once you've learned a couple of songs and are comfortable performing them, be sure to invite your friends over and play for them. Listeners will help develop and point out shortcomings.