Tutorial : How to play guitar? (The Basics)

Singing in acapella is good but singing with accompaniment is better. Singing while playing a musical intrument is a fantastic talent. Music instruments like guitar, piano/keyboard, beatbox, etc. But the instrument that is most likely to be used in accompanying vocals is guitar.

WHAT IS A GUITAR?

Guitar is a musical instrument with a fretted fingerboard, typically incurved sides, and has six strings, played by plucking or strumming with the fingers or a plectrum. It has two kinds, the acoustic or electric. Acoustic guitar is for acoustic songs while electric is for rock songs but both kind could be used for other genres not just for the specific genres that I have just said.

TRIVIA : DID YOU KNOW THAT CEBU IS THE GUITAR CAPITAL OF THE PHILIPPINES?

Cebu has a flourishing guitar industry. Specifically in the Lapu - Lapu Mactan where the center of the guitar industry in Cebu. If Cebu is the Guitar Capital of the Philippines, then in Cebu the Guitar Capital is in Lapu - Lapu Mactan. There are many events that happen in Cebu connected in how guitar-making started in this region and passed on to generations. Legend has it that the Spanish friars trained villagers, so they no longer have to send their guitars to other countries specially to mexico when they needed to repair it. The music-loving people in Cebu took the livelihood to heart until over the years, it has grown into a bigger and thriving industry. Now, there are many of guitar manufacturers and producers in Cebu, making it the Guitar Capital of the Philippines.
To read more about it, just click the link below :
http://www.choosephilippines.com/specials/buy-local/4459/cebu-home-world-class-guitars/img-11067

WHEN DID I START PLAYING GUITAR?

I started playing guitar when I was on 7th grade. I worked hard just to know how to play it. My fingers got scars but I didn't give up. Until I learned the basics of it and then eventually the slightly complex. I'm no a professional, I'm just a boy trying to learn about how to play it. Until now I am still learning about it but on complex stage, I mean not in the basics anymore.

WHO TAUGHT ME HOW TO PLAY IT?

My mentor is my neighbor who is a former band member. He taught me the basics of it then eventually I learned. And after knowing the basics, I bought a song book that has a chord chart at the back. I did self study too because I am eager to learn and I want to know how to play it better. After many years learning it, I joined a band. I learned more things when I am still in the band. I learned how to play other musical intruments like bass guitar and drums.

So much for my background on my guitar journey, let us now start the guitar tutorial (The Basics).

Tutorial : How to play guitar? (The basics)

THE OBJECTIVE :

• To know the basics on how to play guitar.

MATERIAL/S THAT WILL BE USED :

• Guitar (Ofcourse you can't do this tutorial if you don't have a guitar)

THE STEPS ON HOW TO PLAY GUITAR (THE BASICS) :

1. Get the guitar

Get your guitar, the first thing to do in this tutorial. You can't do anything if you don't have a guitar or you don't get your guitar.

2. Knowing the parts of the guitar and its function

You must know the parts of the guitar and its function in order to know where is the certain part for the certain function you want to do.

THE HEAD STOCK - It is like a real head. Without it, the guitar is basically useless and it cannot be played.

THE TUNING KEYS - An important component of the guitar. If damaged or used improperly, the guitar will not be tuned, and your playing will suffer.

THE NUT - It plays an important role in the placement of your strings. It is the horizontal white bar, just below the guitar headstock.

THE FRET BOARD - It is the long, wooden section of guitar on the guitar neck that holds the frets.

THE FRETS - These are the silver bars running across your fretboard. The frets plays an important role in the user's playing abilities.

THE NECK - It covers far more than just the fretboard; it has a whole section that actually attaches to the body.

THE POSITION MARKERS - These are the circles on the fretboard, in between the frets. They mark certain frets, for easy reference.

THE STRINGS - The heart of the guitar, the part that makes the songs and melodies and arpeggios and chords come to life.

THE SOUNDHOLE - This is where the acoustics happen. It's best to play just over the soundhole on the guitar, for bigger or maximum sound.

THE BODY - The body of the guitar is like a hourglass shaped piece of the guitar that holds several other parts essential to the user's playing.

THE BRIDGE - A safe haven for strings, and they're final destination down the long road of the guitar.

THE SUDDLE - Just as the nut holds the string in place at the top of the guitar, this does the same at the bottom.

THE STRING PEGS - These holds the string into place into the body of the guitar. If one comes loose, so does the string.

[Images source] https://spinditty.com/instruments-gear/The-Parts-of-a-Guitar-What-Theyre-Called-and-Used-For

3. Knowing the major chords (A - B - C - D - E - F - G)

Note : Make sure that your guitar is on tune.

Image source : https://goo.gl/images/UEgHRh

Each string in the guitar has corresponding chord in tune.
6th string - Lower E
5th string - A
4th string - D
3rd string - G
2nd string - B
1st string - E

You must learn these major chords in order to learn those other chords.

These are the major chords :

CHORD A

This chord sounds like this :

CHORD B

This chord sounds like this :

CHORD C

This chord sounds like :

CHORD D

This chord sounds like this :

CHORD E

This chord sounds like this :

CHORD F

This chord sounds like this :

CHORD G

This chord sounds like this :

Visual Representation of the fingers where they must be located for a certain major chord :

Image Source : https://goo.gl/images/Y8NeeN

4. Knowing how to strum/ pluck

Strumming is playing the guitar by sweeping the thumb/fingers or a plectrum up or down across the strings. Your strumming depends on the song you want to play. If it is mellow then your strumming is slow and if it is lively your strumming is fast. You strumming depends on the beat of the song.

The proper hand formation for strumming :

plucking is hitting each string according to the song (the beat of the song) to produce sounds which are harmonic.

The proper hand formation for plucking :

5. Practice doing both chords and strumming/plucking together

Here is a video tutorial on how it is done :

In this video, I played the first song that I learned to play in the guitar. The song is entitled "The Passenger Seat". I give the chords which composed the song, the strumming pattern, and how it should be done. I sing a little then give a tune so that the viewers can follow.

So those are the steps or should I say the basics of playing guitar. Follow me for more tutorials @jembee.

These are my two owned guitars!

Drop a comment if I miss or forgot something which is essential for learning. Glad to hear that 😊