Learning Acoustic Guitar

I love playing the guitar—especially the acoustic guitar. Why? It is so easy and convenient. You just pick it up and play. There are no cords to plug in and no amps to buy. You can just sit back and play. There is nothing quite like sitting under a particular tree in the public park near my home and play on a warm spring day. There is a simple joy to be found with just you, the guitar and the clouds overhead.

Of course there is the attention factor. I can’t recall a day I’ve played at the park and someone hasn’t stopped to chat. Need a conversation starter? Learning acoustic guitar is it. And here’s the nice thing about it, it doesn’t take a lifetime of practice to get started. Buy a cheap acoustic guitar, learning guitar chords is a snap (well, some basic one at least), and jam out! You’d be surprised at how many songs only use three basic chords. Just play those three chords with all your heart and soul. From time to time you can add a few more chords and before you know it you;ll have a jam band of your own.

You don’t have to be able to read music, or take lessons from a professional, or buy the most expensive equipment. There are many resources for beginning guitar lessons on the Internet for free or for purchase that can help you progress as far as you like. The key to it is beginning. Learning acoustic guitar is only impossible to those who never start. There are quality, affordable acoustic guitars that will fit your budget. Stop making excuses and give it a shot.

Good luck and your adventure with learning acoustic guitar.

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I noticed something the other day. A guy just learning acoustic guitar basics was working hard on a song. He sat on the floor for hours a day and practiced and practiced until he had it perfect. He had it nailed and sounding really good.

That night he went to an open mic night at a local restaurant to show the new song off. He stood up at the mic with the guitar strapped around his neck and bombed! It was horrible—like he had never played the song before. I thought it was the old case of the nerves striking again. It takes time to get used to standing in front of strangers.

When he came off the stage I asked him about his debacle. He gave me a surprising answer. He said, “Man, I had trouble making the chords. I’ve never played that song standing up.” I had never thought of that before and wanted to share this insight with you.

When you are learning acoustic guitar chords, practice sitting and standing using a guitar strap. There is a difference in the angle of the neck of the guitar which can make the “feel” of the chord a little different. The difference was big enough to throw my friend off completely. He was bad, really bad. You can learn from his mistake though. If you intend to preform in front of people, you will most likely be standing up. Get a guitar strap and fiddle with the length until you find a comfortable position. Higher up is usually easier for most people, but it may not look quite as cool. A little cool is worth the trade off in comfort, I would say, but that’s just me. Find what works for you.

Remember, while learning acoustic guitar isn’t hard, it still takes time. If you have learned a song and are comfortable with it, I encourage you to find (or make) an opportunity to preform it. It might be at a open mic or just for friends and family. Give it a try.

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As I’ve said before, when learning acoustic guitar, don’t just learn chords. Find a song you want to learn how to play and learn those specific chords. Of course, if you are just learning how to play the acoustic then you’ll want to find some easier songs to play. Dave Mathews is a popular acoustic musician but he can play some finger twisting chords that will frustrate the newbie. To help you out, I’ve assembled a list of some acoustic songs you can learn easily and not be embarrassed to play them in front of your friends.

Here’s the list of acoustic songs for those learning acoustic guitar basics.

Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd

Chords needed to play it: C, D, Am, G, Em

Time of your Life by Green Day

Chords needed to play it: G, Cadd9, Em, D (notice that three of the chords are repeated from the song above)

Hey There Delilah by Plain White T’s

Chords needed to play it: D, F#m, D, F#m, Bm, G, A, D/A,

The Scientist by ColdPlay

Chords needed to play it: Dm7, Bb, F, Fsus2, C, C7

Start by looking up the cords on the Internet. Try a search using keywords like “chord charts” or “guitar tab.” Print a copy out if you can, so you’ll have them handy. Search again using terms like “(name of song) guitar tab” and you should find it easily. Guitar tab will tell you when to change the chords. You’ll still need to be familiar with the song so download a copy and try to play along. It may take a little time, but before you know it you’ll have the song down. Did you notice a lot of the chords are repeated from one song to the next? It makes learning the next song easier since you already know a few of the chords.

Learning acoustic guitar isn’t so hard, right? There are tons of guitar tabs on the Internet, so look for your favorite song and give it a shot. Remember, there are really complicated guitar chords out there so you may struggle with some songs. Stick with the easy ones for now and work your way up.

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We’ve look at a few things dealing with the left hand, but what about the right hand? We’re getting learning acoustic guitar into high gear today. Today we’ll spend a few minutes on the pick and strumming the strings. Hopefully, you have practiced the D chord a little, so you’ll have at least one chord to play.

Today I want you to watch this video from Anthony Iglesias via YouTube.  He will give you some very helpful tip for learning acoustic guitar.

I’m interested in hearing your comments about the video. Was it helpful.?

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Here is the good news. You don’t have to learn to read music to play the acoustic guitar even at the highest levels. Here’s the bad news. You still have to learn how to read chord charts. Here’s the other good news. It really easy and I’m not just saying that. Chord charts and tab (to be discussed later) are the basic tools to learning acoustic guitar quickly.

To show how to understand how to read a chord chart let’s look at one.

The vertical lines (the ones going up and down) represent the 6 strings of the guitar. The one all the way to the left is the low E string. That’s the big fat one. The next vertical line the the second string from the top and so on and so on.

The horizontal lines represent the frets on the neck of the guitar. The first little box at the top left is the fret at the top near the neck. I put in a picture of real guitar’s neck to show you the part of the neck that corresponds to the chord chart.

The circles are where you are supposed to place your fingers to make the chord. The numbers tell you which finger to use: 1=index finger, 2=middle finger, 3=ring finger, and 4-pinkie finger. Some chord charts don’t give you the numbers, so you have to figure out which finger goes where on your own, but I’ll try to always use the numbers to help you out.

The X at the top means when you strum the strings, don’t hit the strings with the x at the top. In the example above, you would not strum the first two strings. If you see an O at the top, that means to play that string “open” or with no finger on that string.

To make this D chord, you’ll place your index finger on the second fret on the fourth string, your middle finger on the second fret of the last string, and your middle finger on the third fret of the fifth string. Now starting with the third string, you’ll strum down. And that is it. You have just played the D chord! You are well on your way to quickly learning acoustic guitar chords!

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When you begin learning acoustic guitar basics, you should begin with the very basics. Today we’ll talk about the parts of the acoustic guitar, their names and what they do. Thankfully, on an acoustic guitar, there are very few parts and they are all very simple.

You can break the acoustic guitar in two main parts, the body and the neck. Let’s start with the body of the guitar.

The body is the big hollow lower section of the guitar with the hole in it.

1.The big hole is the Sound Hole. Obvious right? It is what makes the sound. The hollow body and hole act as the amplifier an electric guitar would use.

2.The little strip of material behind the Sound Hole is what attaches the strings to the body of the guitar and is called the Bridge. Not as obvious. Sometimes, this is used to adjust the “action” of the guitar, but we’ll get into that later.

Now on to the neck.

3.The face or front of the neck is called the Fretboard. Each little metal brackets are called frets.

4.The top of the neck is called the Head Stock.

5.The little strip of metal or wood that separates the Fret Board from the Head Stock is called the Nut. It has small grooves for the strings to fit in and keeps them evenly separated.

6.On the Head Stock are a six little knobs called Tuners. These are used to tune the strings.

Now you know the basic parts of the acoustic guitar. Learning acoustic guitar basics is where you start but I know you want to get to the fun stuff. Stay tuned!

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