 left-handed people unless they have tried very hard to play a standard instrument.)
Guitar Basics – Playing Styles
Classical & Fingerstyle Guitar Playing
Classical and fingerstyle guitarists, as has already been stated, do not use picks. This gives more control over the notes and chords being played. A solo classical guitarist can produce self contained music, made up of separate elements such as bass lines, chords and melody lines, without relying on other musicians. However, it is harder to play fast solo lines with the fingers than with a pick. Another drawback is that it takes more effort to produce as much volume with fingers as with a pick, and strumming can also be harder.
Rhythm Guitar Playing – Chords
A chord is simply a group of notes played at the same time. There are many different types of chord, each with the own individual sound. The three most common types of chord are major, minor and dominant seventh. Chord symbols are often used instead of the full names. The root note of the chord is given first, then the symbol for the kind of chord to be played. If there is just a letter with no symbol, then a major chord should be played. E.g. C = C major, Cm = C minor, C7 = C dominant seventh, D = D major, Dm = D minor, D7 = D dominant 7th, etc.
Guitar chords are often shown as chord boxes. There are diagrams representing the fretboard that show where the fingers should be positioned to play a particular chord.
Strumming means rhythmically playing chords to provide an accompaniment for other musicians or singers. Chord playing is one of the main guitar basics. A pick is generally used to strum chords, although the fingers or thumb can be used. Most non-classical players start off by learning chords. Many famous songs can be played using as few as three chords, so chord playing is a good way of introducing beginner guitarists to playing music.
Lead guitar usually means improvising guitar solos, but it can also mean taking the main part, rather than an accompanying part, in a song. Lead guitar solos are usually built on guitar scales, such as the major scale, pentatonic scale or blues scale.
Riffs are short musical phrases that are repeated at various parts of a song. They can also be used as introductions to songs, and as accompaniment parts.
Many guitarists get by without reading traditional musical notation. This is because much popular music is improvisatory in nature, and also because guitarists also have two other ways of reading music: chord charts and tablature (usually shortened to TAB).
Chord charts show where in the music the chords should be played.
TAB is a way of writing music for fretted instruments. It shows the fret number at which the fingers should be positioned. It is often shown underneath traditional musical notation.
Traditional music notation
Traditional music notation (‘the dots’!) is used by all guitarists, but only for classical guitarists is the ability to read music considered to be an essential skill. However, in order to become a good all round musician, it is a good idea to learn how to read music from the beginning, no matter what kind of guitar you play.
Additional information on guitar basics is available on these pages:
Guitar Basics – Summary
We hope that this page has been useful to you if you are thinking about learning the guitar. The guitar in all of its forms is a versatile and expressive instrument, with the potential to give years of pleasure to the player. Because the guitar basics are the same for all types of guitar, you can change between them depending on where you are in your musical career. Many classical guitarists started on electric or acoustic instruments, and vice versa. So, now you know the guitar basics, take the next step and visit your local music shop or find a local guitar teacher using our guitar teacher directory. We wish you many years of happy guitar playing.
Guitar Command is a dedicated publisher of music and tuition material for the guitar. Our high-quality Guitar Backing Tracks are used by thousands of guitarists all over the world.