How to Learn the Guitar in a Few Steps

Every year in the United States, over 2 million guitars are bought and half of them are by first-time owners.

That number continues to grow as more people begin to learn and then fall in love with a guitar. If you’ve been wondering how to learn the guitar, you’re not alone. Learning guitar can seem complicated, but the reality is that it isn’t a difficult instrument to learn, in fact, it can be easy.

1. Learn the Strings

Each string on a guitar is tuned to a specific note. E, A, D, G, B, E is standard guitar tuning from the bottom string to the top, smallest string. Once you learn what each note is on each string, you can begin to take the next step in learning how to play.

2. Open Chords

The next, basic step to learning guitar is to learn the open guitar chords. Most songs can be played by only knowing 3-5 open chords. Arguably the most popular open chords are C, G, D, and with these three chords, you can play thousands of tunes.

Open chords are also how you will learn the difference between major and minor chords. This is important, as many songs use both major and minor chords with major chords being more upbeat and minor chords sadder.

3. Scales

All music is based on scales, and guitar music is no different. If you want to learn to play guitar, you’ll need to learn scales. Each scale has specific sharp and flat notes which inform the musician what notes are appropriate to play, and what notes aren’t.

4. Read Tabs

Once you learn how to make basic chords and you learn the scales, you can begin to study guitar tab or tablature. Easy guitar songs have basic tabs and chord charts that are simple, while more complicated songs can take quite some time to master.

5. Lessons

If you want to learn guitar, you can do it all on your own, but lessons with an experienced teacher will make things easier. If you want to know how to learn the guitar, then you can find guitar lessons here. A teacher will be able to help you put together all of the individual aspects of playing.

They will also be able to give you advice on gear, help you learn songs, and show you more than just the basics. Music is an expansive field of study, and guitar is no different. You can learn how to play some songs without trying too hard, but to truly understand the guitar will take a lot of time and work.