Learning to play guitar is an exciting and enriching activity that can bring hugh rewards in self confidence and personal satisfaction. Guitar provides gratification for people and learning to play guitar is just one way that you can have this enjoyment for yourself and others. The method you decide to use to learn to play guitar is up to you. While playing is not something you pick up overnight, it’s not impossible to play a guitar. It just takes determination and practice...practice...practice!

Guitar

Guitars come in all sizes, shapes and types. There is the acoustic guitar which has a hollow body and doesn't require an amplifier, although some do have pickups mounted on them for playing through an amp for more sound. These guitars can be played with either steel strings or nylon (more for classical style) on them. Some are flat and arched tops, and come with different width necks and scale lengths. You can buy a 6 string or a 12 string acoustic guitar. There is also the electric guitar which is played through an amplifier. These are somewhat easier to note than the acoustic because the strings are not as heavy a gauge and usually the strings are closer to the frets so it take less effort for your fingers to note the strings. If you're looking to buy your first guitar start small by buying an inexpensive one or borrow one from your friend. Before buying a guitar you should get some advice form a guitar teacher or someone that knows the guitar on how to decide whether you should learn to play guitar on an acoustic or electric guitar, and just what to look out for if you choose to buy a used guitar.

Lessons

Today with the Internet, computers and video, guitar lessons can be taken as if you had a guitar teacher, showing you where to place your fingers, the fine points of picking, and what pentatonic scales sound like, all in high definition video. There are video lessons of impressive quality for any style of guitar playing. There are CDs with information on almost any style of guitar playing you can think of. There are hundreds of web sites that even offer free lessons, most of which are very well created and can certainly be applied to your practice habit.

Strings and Tuning

There are many different varieties and gauges of strings. There are strings that are steel, nylon, bronze plated, nickle plated, flat wound, round wound, light gauge, heavy gauge,etc. In the early stages of practice, when you're learning how to play the guitar, your fingers will become sore and tender from noting the strings, but over time they will become hard and calloused.

Tuning your guitar involves adjusting the pitch of each string so that they play the correct note. Tightening the tuning peg raises the pitch of a string, while loosening the peg lowers the pitch. Since beginners usually have a hard time telling whether or not a string is in tune just by ear, it is often a good idea to purchase an electronic tuner.

Beginner

Start with proper training from the beginning regardless of what type of lessons you choose, and learn to play guitar the right way before bad habits are formed. Start with a beginner program and then progress from there as your ability and understanding grows.

Learning to play guitar is like many other activities, it takes effort and determination but the reward is very much worth the effort. Learning to play guitar is like learning any other skills. One important thing to keep in mind when learning how to play guitar is that playing should be enjoyable. Learning to play guitar is like a long journey...you don't get there overnight.