You have finally decided, you have a guitar, with strings and even a pick. You already have everything to take your first steps with the guitar and emulate your favorite guitarists. The time has come to learn to play but with so much information available, youtube, books, etc., you wonder where do I start?!

Start with the basics, with the essentials to play right away with a list of the first 7 things you have to learn with the guitar if you start from scratch. If you succeed you will never give up, you will continue learning and above all you will have a great time, here we go!

Tune the guitar

The first thing you should do before playing anything has tuned the guitar. All guitars go a little out of tune with humidity, and heat, taking it from one place to another,…tuning it takes a moment, it costs nothing and you can do it well with a physical tuner or with your mobile phone with a free app (are becoming more accurate). Standard tuning from the 6th string (the thickest) to the bottom 1st string (the thinnest) E, A, D, G, B, e.

Change the strings

If you have a guitar at home without changing the strings for a long time, change the strings! We don’t want you to catch a disease from the dirt on those strings. Your fingers will thank you and the guitar will sound much better. Don’t worry if just changing them instantly takes you out of tune, that’s normal. Fine-tune, play, tune, play… in the end they will reach a stable point.

Basic chords

Learn to play the 7 universal basic chords to play millions of songs. Really, you just need to know these chords to play your favorite songs. Eleven you know placing these chords you will not have any problem with sharp or flat chords (you just have to move the chord figure one fret next or previous) and for the capo problem, take it easy, practice, and follow these 3 tips to master the capo.

Rhythm and strums

You already know the chords, good! Now we have to give rhythm to those chords. This is one of the most difficult points but doesn’t get overwhelmed, it takes time, internet tutorials with strumming direction arrows help a lot. In the beginning, it simplifies the strumming a lot, as if you only strum down (down arrow). It is better that you get the chord change well, and later on, you will be able to complete the corresponding strum.

The most important discovery: It turns out that you always match the down strum to the downbeat, no matter how complex the strum is.

Read tablature

Finger on fret 2 of the 5th string, finger on fret 2 of the 4th string, and finger on fret 1 of the 3rd string and you have an E chord. This is what tablature is all about, making it very easy, for beginners, for most people who don’t know how to read music theory, a great invention. Then we have elements and details of techniques such as bending, legato, vibrato,…etc. that with a little practice you won’t need to study it because when you see the same thing repeated in so many songs you will have it memorized without realizing it.

Play songs

If you choose songs that you like from the beginning, you will achieve that as they sound the most similar to you. You will be invaded by a feeling of pride and satisfaction never seen before. And that will make you more hooked on the instrument. That you continue learning and continue advancing. There is no better way to stay motivated with your favorite songs.

Fifth chords

An element that unconsciously kept me from abandoning the guitar after 2 days because of the capo. And continuing to progress while I was learning songs was the fifth chords, also called power chords. Fifth chords are so to speak a very simplified version of basic chords. You cheat a little because you don’t play the full chord. And is very easy to play allowing you to keep moving forward and not get frustrated. Since almost everything he played was a rock. And the great guitar riffs are full of fifth chords, it was perfect for me.

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