Here is a list of what we consider to be the guitar basics – the things that everyone who is thinking about buying or learning the guitar should know.
Included here are: the different types of guitar available; how notes and chords are played; how guitar music is written down; and a look at the various guitar playing styles.
This list of guitar basics is by no means comprehensive, but it will be invaluable for those thinking about taking up the guitar.
Links to further free information available on this site are provided below, and throughout the article.
Guitar Basics – Types Of Guitar
There are four basic types of guitar: acoustic, electric, classical and bass.
Acoustic Guitars have steel (or equivalent) strings. They are used in nearly all styles of popular music. Acoustic guitars can be used as solo instruments or to provide accompaniment for singers or other instrumentalists.
If you see a solo singer / songwriter strumming chords while singing, he or she will probably be using an acoustic guitar.
An example of a famous acoustic guitarist is Tommy Emmanuel.
Electric guitars rely on amplifiers to produce a usable sound – they emit only a very quiet, metallic sound played unamplified. Beginner guitarists usually find electric guitars easier to play than acoustic guitars, because the fingers need to exert less pressure on the strings to produce notes and chords.
The basic (or ‘clean’) sound of the electric guitar can be altered by electronic means. This means that electric guitars are extremely versatile tonally and can go from gentle strumming to distorted heavy metal sounds with the flick of a switch.
Read more about the types of electric guitar here.
An example of a famous electric guitarist is Steve Vai.
Classical guitars (also called ‘Spanish guitars’) are strung with nylon strings (although the three lowest strings are wound with metal). They are used to play classical music such as that written by Bach, Sor and Albeniz.
Classical guitars are used in rock and pop music, mainly to add a Spanish sound to the music. An example of a famous classical guitarist is John Williams.
Bass guitars have four strings, which are tuned: E, A, D, G (the same notes as the lowest four strings of a standard guitar, but tuned an octave lower). Bass guitars generally provide the bass lines in rock, pop and jazz music, but they can also be used to play lead lines.
An example of a famous bass guitarist is Sir Paul McCartney.
Other Types Of Guitar
There are many variations within each of the main types of guitar. Some guitars have 7 or 12 strings. Some bass guitars have five or more strings. Some electric guitars are ‘semi-acoustic’. Some acoustics are ‘electro-acoustics’. However, because this article is dealing with the guitar basics, these variations will be covered elsewhere!
Guitar Basics – Tuning
A standard guitar has six strings, which are tuned E, A, D, G, B, E, from low to high. The strings are numbered 6 to 1 from low E to high E.
There are other ways of tuning a guitar, but this is by far the most common. Guitar notation is written an octave higher than it is played.
Playing Notes And Chords
Pick Or Fingers?
A pick (or plectrum) is a small rounded triangular piece of plastic which is held between the thumb and index finger of the right hand. It is used to pluck or strum the guitar strings.
Classical guitarists and ‘fingerstyle’ acoustic (and some electric) guitarists use their fingers to pluck the strings.
The left hand is used to ‘fret’ the notes, by holding the string down at the desired position on the fingerboard.
The right hand is used to sound the strings by causing them to vibrate, either by using a ‘pick’ or by using the fingertips or nails.
Guitar Basics – Left Or Right-Handed Guitar?
‘Left-handed’ guitars are available, which means that each hand’s role is reversed. However, people who are left-handed do not necessarily have to use left handed guitars.
(As a left-hander who has played standard, right-handed guitars all of his life, the writer of this article would discourage the automatic use of left-handed guitars by