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By: Derek Gordon
Learn How to Play Acoustic Guitar - Tips and Tricks
If you've decided to take the plunge and learn the guitar, you
would make a wise choice by starting acoustically. The
steel-string acoustic is considerably more difficult to play
than an electric or nylon-string classical because of the stress
on your fingers, but start with the hardest and the others will
make you feel like you have powerhouse fingers. Ultimately, you
will get calluses on whatever you decide to play, but the steel
string acoustic has many benefits, including:
* A crisper sound than nylon strings.
* More mobility than an electric. You can take to the beach, the
park, etc, without having to carry amps and pedals.
* Stays in tune longer than a nylon string acoustic.
Here are some things that you're going to have to address if
you're just starting on the acoustic guitar:
* Should I use a finger pick? This is your choice. Many
guitarists don't feel comfortable using picks, and not doing so
tends to give you a more immediate experience. However, some of
the top guitarists in the world use picks, so there's certainly
no big disadvantage to doing so.
* What should I do about these calluses? They're natural,
but if the pain is supernatural, then you can rub your
fingertips with aloe vera. I've heard that soaking your hand in
a bowl of ice is also useful. If you want to accelerate the
callusing, you can rub isopropryl on the fingertips 3 times a
day for a week or two.
* How do you read tablature? You can look at a tab 101
lesson I wrote here.
* How do I play the basic chords? You can start by taking
a look at the mini-lesson below.
---- E-------------2-------0--------2-------0-------1-------3--------
---- B----2-------4-------1--------3-------0-------1-------3--------
---- G----2-------4-------0--------2-------1-------2-------0--------
---- D----2-------4-------2--------0-------2-------3-------0--------
---- A-------------2-------3-----------------2-------3-------2--------
---- E-------------2-------0----------------0-------1--------3--------
Let's take a look at the fingering for each. If you want to
strum, you can use a pick or your middle finger with thumb
resting lightly on top. The chords go from A to G, moving from
left to right on the chart.
Fingering:
* A Chord: Index finger on 4th string (from the bottom)
in second fret; middle finger on the 3rd string in second fret;
ring finger on the 2nd string in second fret. Other strings
played open. Cheat hint: If you're double-jointed, you can play
the A with just the index finger.
* B Chord: Index finger covers the all 6 strings on the
second fret; middle finger on the 4th string in 4th fret; ring
finger on the 3rd string in 4th fret; pinky finger on 2nd string
in 4th fret. Cheat hint: If you're double jointed, you can play
the B with just the index and ring fingers.
* C Chord: Index finger on 2nd string in first fret;
middle finger on 4th string in second fret; ring finger on 5th
string in third fret. Other strings played open.\
* D Chord: Index finger on 3rd string in second fret;
middle finger on first string in second fret; ring finger on
second string in third fret. Other strings played open.
* E Chord: Index finger on the 3rd string in first fret;
middle finger on 5th string in second fret; ring finger on
fourth string on the second fret. Other strings played open.
* F Chord: Index finger covers all strings in the first
fret; middle finger on 3rd string in second fret; ring finger on
the 5th string in third fret; pinky finger on the 4th string in
the 3rd fret. This chord is probably the most painful to play
for a beginner, so don't 'fret' if you're hurtin' a little. * G Chord: Index finger covers the 5th string in the
second fret; pinky finger covers the 1st and 2nd strings in the
third fret; thumb wraps over to cover the 6th string in the
third fret. Note that there are a few ways to play this
chord...I'm showing what I believe to be the simplest.
If you found the F Barre chord (and probably the B chord) to be
particularly painful and awkward, you're not alone. You can
alleviate the stress on your index finger somewhat by focusing
the pressure on the strings that you need to play with it. In
general, though, realize that pain and awkwardness is a very
normal part of learning how to play the acoustic guitar. It will
alleviate over time, and you'll regret if you give up too
quickly because of it.
If you're interested in a very popular online course that will
have you playing great acoustic or electric guitar in no time,
check out Jamorama.com.
About the author:
Derek Gordon has been playing guitar for 14 years - at home, at
the beach , and even on stages in front of hundreds of people.
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