This area is for guitarists and those wanting to learn guitar. It includes free guitar lessons for beginners and intermediate guitarists. Learn how to play better guitar today!
Margaritavilleis the defining song of Jimmy Buffet‘s career. Reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977, it also hit #1 on easy listening, and #13 on country charts as well. The song is also ranked 234th on the RIAA list of Songs of the Century. The song was a mix of two subjects that included a drink he found at Lung’s Cocina del Sur restaurant in Austin, Texas, and his observance of the first wave of tourism into Key West, Florida. It forever made him the voice of those wanting to live the island live. To learn how to play Margaritaville on guitar, all you need to know are three easy chords and steady strum.
Listen to the song in the video above so that you remember how it goes.
Get the Margaritaville guitar chords and lyrics. This version shows you an A7 chord, but that is optional. You can just play an A chord in it’s place if you wish.The fingerings you need to know are for the standard open D, A, A7 (optional) and G chords. Note that on the original record, they sped up to the tape, so that the song sounds like it’s in E flat (Eb). But if you see Buffet in concert you can see that he plays it in D.
Watch the video below to see how to play the chords and chord progression. It is good to use a metronome (as found in the eMedia Guitar Toolkit) to help you keep a steady tempo.
Watch this video from eMedia Interactive Rock Guitar, which uses the eMedia Animated Fretboard to make it even easier for you to see how to change between the D and G chords.
eMedia Interactive Rock Guitar also helps you master common guitar techniques like palm muting and barre chords, which are used in the middle section of Free Fallin’ and in many other rock, pop and country songs. It also includes Jam tracks to help you learn lead guitar and other great guitar songs like Tired of Waiting for You and You Really Got Me (Kinks), All Right Now (Free) and others.
Intermediate Version
If you would like to learn how to play Free Fallin’ on guitar with the same chord voicings as Tom Petty, then you will need to use slightly more difficult chord fingerings. His version has the guitar with a capo at the first fret and uses the E, Aadd9, and Bsus4 chords. as seen in the video below.
Wild Thing was written by James Wesley Voight, (better known by his stage name Chip Taylor) who is an American songwriter also known for his song Angel of the Morning. Wild Thing was a big hit for British band The Troggs in 1966, but also was played by other famous musicians including a great version by Jimi Hendrix. To learn how to play Wild Thing on guitar, all you need to play are three easy guitar chords.
Listen to the song in the video above so that you remember how it goes.
Get the chords and words for Wild Thing. It is an easy guitar song that only uses A, D and E. It sounds great just using easy power chords, regular open chords or the Hendrix version uses an Asus4 chord instead of the standard A chord.
Watch the video below to see how to play the chords and chord progression. It is good to use a metronome (as found in the eMedia Guitar Toolkit) to help you keep a steady tempo.
Watch this video from eMedia Interactive Rock Guitar, which uses the eMedia Animated Fretboard to make it even easier for you to see how to change between the D and G chords.
eMedia Interactive Rock Guitar also helps you master common guitar techniques like palm muting and barre chords, which are used in the middle section of Free Fallin’ and in many other rock, pop and country songs. It also includes Jam tracks to help you learn lead guitar and other great guitar songs like Tired of Waiting for You and You Really Got Me (Kinks), All Right Now (Free) and others.
Intermediate Version
If you would like to learn how to play Free Fallin’ on guitar with the same chord voicings as Tom Petty, then you will need to use slightly more difficult chord fingerings. His version has the guitar with a capo at the first fret and uses the E, Aadd9, and Bsus4 chords. as seen in the video below.
A digital guitar tuner makes tuning your guitar easy. Once you learn how to tune a guitar with a digital tuner, you will probably only use this technique as it makes tuning your guitar so much easier. It listens to the note you play on your guitar via a microphone or guitar/line input or by sensing the vibration of the instrument as you play. Then it shows you visually whether the note is in tune. Visual feedback comes in a variety of forms from spinning dials to blinking lights to moving meters. The point of the feedback is always simply to inform you whether the string is in tune or you need to tune it up or down.
Steps for Tuning with a Digital Tuner
Make sure you know the basics of How to Tune Your Guitar, such as the names of the notes in standard tuning.
Set up your digital guitar tuner to detect pitch. If you have an electric guitar or electric acoustic, use the tuner line-in if possible to eliminate background noise. Use the method below that matches your tuner and guitar: LINE-IN: If your tuner features a 1/4″ input jack and your guitar features a pickup and 1/4″ output (all electric guitars and some acoustic guitars), plug an instrument cable between the two and make sure your volume knob is turned up on the guitar (if it has one). MICROPHONE: If your tuner has a microphone, place the tuner on a table in front of you or on your lap as you hold your guitar. If you have an electric guitar, place it in front of your amplifier. If you are using a software tuner, sit close to your laptop’s built-in microphone or place an external USB microphone in one of the positions already mentioned. CLIP-ON TUNERS: If your tuner is designed to detect vibration (all clip-on tuners), go ahead and clip it on the guitar headstock (the part of your guitar that has the tuning keys).
Play a guitar string.
Look at the tuner to see if the string is flat (too low in pitch), sharp (too high in pitch) or in tune.
Adjust the pitch of the string up or down as indicated by the tuner using the guitar tuning key. Watch the guitar tuner display to make sure you’re adjusting the string in the appropriate direction.
The tuner will show you when the string is in tune (the string light turns green, a center indicator is illuminated, etc.).
NOTE: It’s important to know which note you’re trying to attempting to tune and the order of the note names. The note names are ordered alphabetically and cycle to the beginning after “G.” In other words, A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C., etc. Some digital guitar tuners will confirm that you’re in tune, but you could be tuned to a “D” note when you’re attempting to tune the “E” string. You would have to tune up to get to “E.” The eMedia automatic tuner software is unique because it shows you how close you are to the standard tuning notes. This takes any guesswork out of tuning with a digital guitar tuner. Also note that many digital guitar tuners can operate as bass tuners as well. If you need a bass tuner, double check that the model you purchase has this ability.
You can also find guitar tuning apps for mobile devices, such as the iPhone.
Hardware Tuners
PitchBoy digital guitar tuner example.
Digital tuners can be dedicated hardware devices. For example, the PitchBoy digital tuner in the picture here is a great, basic digital guitar tuner that is only $9.95. It fits on a key chain, and even comes with eMedia Introductory Guitar or eMedia Introductory Bass lesson software. Other hardware tuners are available in many different configurations, from a number of companies.
Chromatic Tuners
Chromatic tuners can detect and display the names of all 12 notes in the Western musical scale (A-A#/Bb-B-C-C#/Db-D-D#/Eb-E-F-F#/Gb-G-G#/Ab) and are also available as hardware or software. Digital guitar tuners with a pitch display are chromatic tuners. Chromatic tuning is useful for tuning your instrument with alternate guitar tunings.
Some chromatic tuners track note ranges much higher and lower than those available on guitars and basses. This is why chromatic tuners are the standard tuner found in a school band or orchestra environment. The screen on the digital tuner might also display the frequency of the note (such as 440 Hz for an A note).
Tuning the guitar with relative tuning requires that you have one string (preferably the low E) that you know is tuned to the correct pitch. You can tune the string by using a reference pitch from our free online guitar tuner or by using a digital guitar tuner. Once you have that string tuned, you can use that string to tune all the other strings using the relative tuning technique described below.
In relative tuning, open strings are matched to fretted notes of the same pitch on other strings, as seen in the chart here and description below.
5th string played open = 6th string played with finger held behind the 5th fret.
4th string played open = 5th string played with finger held behind the 5th fret.
3rd string played open = 4th string played with finger held behind the 5th fret.
2nd string played open = 3rd string played with finger held behind the 4th fret.
1st string played open = 2nd string played with finger held behind the 5th fret.
Relative Tuning Process
The relative tuning technique requires that you have already tuned your low E (the 6th, or thickest) string. You can use a reference tone such as a reference note tuner or a guitar that is already in tune.
Play the low E string and turn the tuning key associated with that string to tighten/loosen the string until it matches the reference pitch.
NOTE: If you’re having trouble matching the pitch, try loosening the string so you can hear it’s definitely a lot lower than your reference pitch, and then tighten the string until it’s in tune. You will hear the sound waver or “beat” slower and slower, the closer you get to being in tune. This wavering will stop when you are in tune.
Fret the low E string at the fifth fret and play the string. You are hearing the note “A.” This becomes your next reference note.
Play the A string (string 5) and adjust the corresponding tuning peg key until the sound you hear matches the reference pitch from the tuner
Use the chart above to continue the process for each of the strings from lowest (thickest) to highest (thinnest).
Once you’re all tuned-up, try playing a few chords to make sure everything sounds right, and make adjustments as needed. Your ear will develop over time so that eventually you’ll be able to tune your guitar quickly.
This time-honored classic has a beautiful melody, and is also an easy guitar song for beginners to play. Learn how to play Amazing Grace on guitar using the arrangement below taken from eMedia Guitar Method, the award-winning guitar lesson software that makes learning how to play guitar easier and more fun.
How to Play “Amazing Grace”
Listen to the song to make sure you remember the melody.
Learn the easy guitar chords seen below before you start learning how to play Amazing Grace on the guitar. This will make it easier for you to change between the chords. Don’t get frustrated, as it will get smoother. If you need help reading the chords below, go to this free guitar lesson on how to read guitar chords.
Watch the video below to see how to play the chords in Amazing Grace and how to change from chord to chord. Remember to play slowly at first, and try to change chords fast enough to anticipate the next down beat. If you have a hard time changing your fingerings between any particular sets of chords, then practice changing between whatever sets of two chords over and over.
Now try slowly playing through the music below. It is good to use a metronome (as found in the eMedia Guitar Toolkit) to help you keep a steady tempo.
Learning how to read guitar chords is one of the first things you need to know when learning how to play guitar. This free guitar lesson will teach you how to read guitar chords (also called guitar chord diagrams), so you can learn any guitar chord.
Guitar chord dictionaries, such as the one in the eMedia Guitar Toolkit (which features over 250 chords, a digital tuner and a metronome for just $4.95), help you learn everything from basic guitar chords for beginners to more advanced chords, including jazz and barre chords.
The Basics of How to Read Guitar Chord Charts
Guitar Finger Numbers
Guitar notation and chord diagrams rely on a system which assigns guitar finger numbers to each finger of a guitarist’s left hand.
Guitar String Numbers
Guitar strings are numbered from 1 to 6, going from the thinnest string (the high E) to the thickest. When you see an O above the string it indicates that the string is to be played open. An X above the string means that it should not be played (i.e. do not pluck it or mute the string so that it so that it can not be heard).
Guitar Fret Numbers
Frets are represented by thinner, horizontal lines. Frets are numbered by starting on the first fret after the nut. The nut (a thick piece of plastic at the end of the guitar fingerboard) is shown as a thick horizontal line at the top of the chart when the nut is in view.
How to Read Guitar Chord Names
Major Chords
When a chord is described by a letter name (for example, C) it is a major chord. In other words, C is the shorthand spelling of the C major chord.
Minor Chords
When the letter name of a chord has a lower-case “m” attached (for example, Cm), it is a minor chord. Thus, Cm is the shorthand spelling for the C minor chord.
Other Guitar Chords
If you see 7 attached to a chord name (for example, A7), it is a seventh or dominant seventh chord. A7 is the shorthand spelling of the A seven,A seventh, or A dominant seventh chord. These chords can also be major or minor. If there is an “M” in front of a number (for example, AM7) it is called a major seventh chord and a m signifies a minor seventh (as in Am7). Most other numbers you see next to chords (e.g., 6, 9, 11, 13) follow the same naming conventions for dominant, major, and minor variations. The abbreviations dim or aug attached to the letter names signify diminished and augmented chords, respectively.
Examples of Reading Guitar Chords
Now that we know guitar fingering, fret and string numbers we can use this information to decipher the guitar chord diagrams below.
How to Play an A Chord
In the open A example, we can see that we see that:
Our first finger holds down the fourth string (D) at the second fret
The second finger holds down the third string (G) at the second fret
The third finger holds down the second string (B) at the second fret
We do not play the low E string (X)
We play the high E and low A strings open (O)
Playing a D Major 7th (D Maj7 or DM7) Chord
In the D Maj 7 example, we can see how:
Our first finger holds down the first (high E), second (B) and third string (G) at the second fret
We do not play the low E string (X)
We play the A and D strings open (O)NOTE: This type of chord is sometimes referred to as a partial barre chord as one finger covers multiple strings
The C Dominant 7th (C7) Chord
In this example, you can read the chord chart as:
Our first finger holds down the second string (B) at the second fret
The second finger holds down the fourth string (D) at the second fret
The third finger holds down the fifth string (A) at the third fret
Our fourth finger (the pinky) holds down the third string (G) at the third fret
We do not play the low E string (X)
We play the high E open (O)
More About Guitar Chords
Use our website to learn a little more about guitar chord theory and how guitar chords are created. For a complete understanding of guitar chords plus how to play common chord progressions, check out eMedia Intermediate Guitar Method. This amazing, interactive guitar lesson software teaches you how to identify intervals and use guitar scales and chord theory to play great solos and master a wide range of styles. The guitar chord dictionary in eMedia Intermediate Guitar Method, as seen below, includes over 1,000 chords!
A strum is when one hand holds down the notes of a guitar chord, while the other hand plays across the strings to make the strings sound using a guitar pick, fingers or thumb. When you strum a guitar, the right arm rests on top of the guitar and the usual place to strum is over the sound hole or between the sound hole and bridge. For an electric guitar, which doesn’t have a sound hole, the strumming is between the pickups, or over them if the guitar has three pickups.
If using a pick for strumming, hold it between the thumb and index finger as illustrated here.
For strumming without a pick, strum with either the thumb, index finger or all the fingers. See the video below for a demonstration of how to strum a guitar with a pick, fingers or thumb.
How to Strum a Guitar with a Simple G Chord
The most basic guitar strums are on the downbeat where a chord changes. A popular beginning strum is to play using all downstrokes. A downstroke is when you strum with the pick downward and away from you. If you are familiar with musical notes, the rhythm will use all quarter notes (1/4 notes). Let’s try a basic strum using the Simple G chord to the right. If you need help reading the guitar chord chart, here is a free guitar lesson on to learn how to read guitar chords.
Strum the Simple G by playing three strings with either pick, fingers or thumb while holding the indicated string down behind the 3rd fret with your pinky (see video). Don’t press down too hard. Strum downward. Single strum is indicated by a single slash “/ .”
When chords change or a chord appears for the first time, its letter takes the place of the first slash, as in “G / / / .”
The vertical bar lines (“|”) are not strums — they are used to indicate measures, which are sections with an equal number of strums. Note that here we have four strums in each measure.Chord Exercise for G.
Because strums are rhythmic, it is good to practice them with a metronome. Metronomes (as the one here in the eMedia Guitar Toolkit) can provide an audio click and visual indicator so you can stay on the beat.
How to Strum a Guitar Using the Double Strum
A very common way of playing the guitar is to use the double strum. After strumming down, as you did in the single strum, this time lightly brush the strings as you swing the hand back up. This is called an upstroke. The rhythm is now using eighth notes (1/8 notes). Usually you strum just the highest two or three strings on the up strum, although there is no hard and fast rule on this. This strum is notated as you see below.
To learn more guitar strumming patterns and styles check out eMedia Guitar Method. This award-winning guitar lesson software uses videos, interactivity, and great songs to make learning easy and fun.
There are a number of tools available for tuning your guitar. This article outlines the most common guitar tuner types.
Digital Guitar Tuner
Tuning a guitar is easiest with an automatic digital guitar tuner. An automatic guitar tuner is a device that detects the pitch of a guitar string and tells you whether the string is in tune, too low or too high via digital display. Automatic tuners receive sound input via a built-in microphone, vibration sensor, or a 1/4″ audio input jack. Guitar tuners with a digital display or LEDs are commonly called digital guitar tuners.
Digital guitar tuners can be very compact. The PitchBoy pocket-size, mini tuner ($9.95) can even fit on a keychain.
Automatic guitar tuners also come as software for Macs, PCs, and mobile devices. eMedia guitar lesson software (such as eMedia Guitar Method, Interactive Rock Guitar, etc.) features an automatic digital guitar tuner, as well as a metronome, guitar chord dictionary, and recorder. These four powerful guitar tools are also available together as the eMedia Guitar Toolkit, which at $4.95 offers an exceptional value.
Guitar Pitch Pipe
A guitar pitch pipe (seen below) has six pipes that are blown into to provide reference notes for each of the strings on the guitar.
How to Tune a Guitar Using a Piano
Refer to the graphic below to find guitar tuning reference notes on a piano keyboard.
Tuning Fork
When a tuning fork is tapped lightly it produces a sound that can be matched to an open guitar string. For example, a tuning fork in A would be matched to the open A, or 5th string. Some tuning forks are tuned to E or G, in which case you would match them to the open E or G strings respectively.
When matching tones, keep in mind that tuning forks may produce a pitch an octave higher than the string they’re to be matched with. Once one string is in tune, the relative tuning method can be used to tune the rest of the strings.
Learn How to Play Skip To My Lou on Guitar with Simple Guitar Chords
Skip To My Lou is a classic American folk song that is an easy guitar song for beginners to play. Note that learning this song is part of the award-winning eMedia Guitar Method, where you can learn to play this and over 70 great songs as you learn how to play guitar in a fun and interactive way.
How to Play the Guitar Chords for “Skip to My Lou”
This song uses the simple C and G7 chords seen below. These are incredibly easy guitar chords. So anyone young or old will be able to learn how to play Skip To My Lou on guitar.
Here is a video of how to play and strum the Simple C and Simple G7 guitar chords.
Remember to start slowly at first. It’s not easy learning how to change guitar chords but it will get a lot easier over time. it is better to play slowly than to miss a beat. Try to tap your foot so that you play in time at a slow tempo. Use a metronome if you have one to provide a steady click to play along with. If you don’t have a metronome yet, do remember that the eMedia guitar lesson software includes a complete set of great guitar practice tools that include an automatic guitar tuner, a metronome, an interactive chord dictionary and an audio recorder so you can hear your progress as you get better. These practice tools are also available on their own for only $4.95 as the Guitar Toolkit for Mac and PC. This can be easily purchased as a download from the eMedia website.
Welcome this set of free guitar lesson to help you learn how to play guitar. Most of the content is taken from the award-winning eMedia Guitar Methodguitar lessonsoftware, minus the interactive elements which are not possible using current website technology.
As you go through the lessons, be sure to use proper hand and finger technique and don’t try to rush things. Play guitar chords and notes cleanly. You will want to be sure that you don’t develop bad habits that can hinder your progress later on.
Types of Guitars and Parts of the Guitar
Here is an overview of the different types of guitars and their parts. Note that some music styles require certain guitar techniques, and some guitars support those technique better than others. For example, the string bends done in blues and rock would be almost impossible on a classical guitar. This instrument is not designed for it, as string bends are not found in classical guitar repertoire. However, string bending is easy on an electric guitar, as they are built to support this technique.
Acoustic Guitars
Acoustic guitars are designed to make sound without amplification. Some might include a pickup, but they are still designed as acoustic instruments. Acoustic guitars are like hollow boxes made of thin wood, with a sound holein the front underneath the strings. This allows vibration of the guitar strings to radiate sound waves into the guitar body, which then resonates. The front of an acoustic guitar (called a top) is usually made of softer woods like spruce that let the wood vibrate. The back and sides are usually hardwoods (mahogany, rosewood, etc.) to reflect sound back towards the sound hole.
Classical and Nylon-String Guitar
The classical acoustic guitar is commonly used for playing classical music — usually with the fingers, though a pick is also sometimes used. Unlike the electric and steel-string guitars, which have metal strings, the classical guitar has nylon strings, which can be easier on the fingers. The neck of the classical guitar is slightly wider and, likewise, so is the spacing between the strings. You also find nylon-stringed guitars used in flamenco and folk music. You should never try to put steel strings on these instruments, as they have no reinforcement in their necks to deal with the extra tension. Listen to how the nylon string acoustic sounds below.
Steel String Acoustic Guitar
The steel-string acoustic is the most common acoustic guitar, and is perhaps the most versatile. As the name implies, it uses steel strings and is common in folk, country, blues, jazz, pop, and rock music. It can also sound great when playing classical pieces, but will be much brighter than a classical guitar. Steel-string acoustics are commonly strummed and played with a pick, but can also be played with the fingers using various fingerpicking techniques. Play below to hear how a steel-string acoustic guitar sounds.
Electric Guitars
The electric guitar is hooked-up to an electronic amplifier and can be adjusted to create different types of electric guitar tones. Electric guitars are used primarily in pop, rock, country, blues, R&B and jazz. While usually played with a pick, it can also be played with fingers. The strings are usually thinner than the steel-string acoustic and the necks a bit easier to play. As a result, electric guitars can be a great fit for beginner guitarists who prefer the previously mentioned music styles. Hear the electric guitar licks below for a taste of how the electric guitar sounds.
Digital guitar tuners, such as the PitchBoymini tuner (pictured to the left), or the eMedia Guitar Toolkitmake tuning a guitar easier, as you can tune visually with less dependance on your own ear’s ability to hear pitch differences.
Holding the Guitar
It is important to hold the guitar properly while playing it. This can affect your arm and hand position which is crucial to get right when learning how to play the guitar. Hold the neck with your left hand and pluck or strum the strings with your right hand. Keep the guitar face nearly vertical with the top inclined slightly toward the body. If sitting, try to sit straight — avoid bending over the guitar. Settle into a comfortable position and stay relaxed. The type of guitar you have affects how you sit or stand with the guitar. Here are some examples of good ways to hold different types of guitars.
Sitting Position
(right leg crossed over left)
Classical Position
(Left foot on raised platform)
Standing Position
(With guitar strap)
Right Hand Guitar Technique
The right hand is used to make the guitar string vibrate by touching the string with your fingers, thumb and/or guitar pick. The right hand should rest comfortably on the guitar, with the hand basically parallel to the front of the instrument. The main right-hand guitar techniques are:
How to Strum a Guitar
Strumming is used for playing chords on the guitar. You strum with either the thumb, index finger or all the fingers across the strings in an up and down motion. See video for a demonstration. With any of the strumming styles, the right arm rests on top of the guitar and the usual place to strum is just behind (toward the bridge) or over the sound hole. For an electric guitar, which doesn’t have a sound hole, the strumming is done over the pickups. This video shows you how to strum a guitar.
How to Hold a Guitar Pick
To learn how to hold a guitar pick, try making a loose fist and put the pick between your index finger and thumb. Don’t let too much of the pick be exposed as you need to control firmly as you strum and play individual notes. Keeping a minimal amount of pick exposed also keeps it from being caught in the guitar strings and coming out of your hand. When using a pick, alternate between down and up strokes, giving each note a separate stroke. Thus the first note would get a down stroke, the second an up stroke, the third down, the fourth up and so on. Here is a video to show you how to hold a pick.
Fingerpicking
This is the technique widely used by classical and folks guitarists. Here your hand rests above the guitar strings with the thumb roughly parallel to the strings and the rest of your fingers curved and plucking the strings perpendicularly. Note that some rock guitarists will use fingerpicking too. When using fingers (playing fingerstyle), pluck alternately with the index (i) and the middle (m) fingers. Thus use i for the first note, m for the second, i for the third, m for the fourth and so on.
Left Hand Guitar Technique
Here are some things to observe when developing proper left hand technique for guitar. Those are:
Play With Thumb Parallel to the Neck and Arched Fingers
Your thumb should rest in the middle of the back of the neck, opposite your 2nd finger and vertical (perpendicular to the neck, not angled or parallel). Try holding your guitar neck with your left hand and then pull your hand down keeping your fingers slightly curved.
Keep space between the curve of your hand that is making the chord and the guitar neck. If you were to look at your hand from the end of your guitar (near the tuning machines), it should be in a “C” shape, with arched fingers.
Play On Your Finger Tips
Make sure you play with the tips of your fingers, so that notes can ring out and not be accidentally muted. Do not let your finger flatten out when playing single strings.
There is generally a one finger per fret, rule, that says all notes played on a particular fret should be played by the same finger across all strings on that fret. For example, if the 1st finger is on the 3rd fret, it plays all notes on the 3rd fret across all strings, the 2nd finger plays notes across the 4th fret, the 3rd plays the notes across the 5th fret and so on. Then as you move your hand up and down the neck you always have maximum reach with minimal movement. Very important when playing melodies and riffs at higher tempos.
Play Slightly Behind the Fret and Don’t Press Too Hard
Your fingertips should press down just behind the frets (slightly towards the tuning machine end of the neck), and as close to the frets as possible without having your finger on the top of the actual fret. This will make it much easier to hold down the string to get a good tone. You should not need to press down very hard to make a note sound. If the note sounds muffled, your finger is probably on the fret and you need to move it back a bit.
If your left-hand fingernails are too long, they may need to be trimmed.
Paying extra attention to technique as you learn how to play guitar pays off greatly as you start to improve. Getting the basics right during your initial beginner guitar lessons pays off a lot in the long run.
String and Finger Numbering
As seen in the graphic below, there is a guitar finger numbering system in place that indicates which finger to play relative to the frets. See the guitar fingering chart below for more information on guitar fingering notation.
Note: The dots on the side and face of the guitar neck are placed before the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th and 19th frets. The 12th fret has two dots. These dots help you find your way on the neck.
First Guitar Chords
The guitar chords below are called simple chords. They are perfect for beginner guitar lessons, as most of them only require a single finger and three strings to play. They are the most basic, easy guitar chords for beginners and work well for children with small hands, or others who might have problems playing full chords. Try playing them and remember to play all the notes in the chords.
Easy Guitar Chords Charts
Here are some videos to help you learn some of these beginning guitar chords and beginner guitar songs that use them.
How to Play a Simple G Chord
Beginner Guitar Song #1: Play Brother John/Frere Jacques
Now use your simple G chord to play this classic folk song. Each slash (/) indicates a downward strum on the beat. If possible, play to a metronome click so that you can to stay on the beat.
Have a clear idea of what you need to practice. Simply playing the same two songs over and over will not make you progress. In general, consider putting time aside for these three areas:
Improve guitar technique and strengthen your fingers. Remember that everyone needs to warm-up before playing and performing. Ways to do that effectively are to practice playing scales in different positions on the neck, changing between chords in common chord progressions, picking and fingerpicking, and playing in-tempo with a metronome. Start SLOWLY. Try to play CLEANLY without extra noise from accidentally hitting open strings, or accidentally muting notes by not holding down a note on the fret properly. Getting good tone will help make you a great player.
Practice songs and repertoire. Once you are all warmed-up, now is the time to practice the songs you know. Don’t rush them, but make sure that you are cleanly changing chords, hearing all the notes, and playing it at tempo without pausing.
Learn something new. Stretch yourself with a new technique, song, or musical style. Learn music theory and train your ear.
Learn Faster with eMedia’s Interactive Beginner Guitar Lessons!
Guitar lesson software such as eMedia Guitar Methodor eMedia Interactive Rock Guitar helps you learn how to play guitar faster. It provides a mix of great beginner guitar lessons by qualified teachers from leading music schools, and interactive music technology that gets you playing quickly. The Animated Fretboard and interactive guitar notation lets you see which notes to play, while the software listens to you and displays whether you’re actually playing the right note. Plus you learn hit songs like Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and Rock’n Me.
Beware of Common Practicing Mistakes
Here are some really common mistakes made by new guitarists. As you practice and learn how to play guitar please keep them in mind. Be patient, as mastering any instrument takes a lot of practice.
Remember to tune your guitar first and warm-up your hands.
Be patient.
Practice slowly and watch your hands to have good guitar technique.
Practice with a metronome to have a steady feel for tempo and keeping the beat.
Change your chords on the the beat. Better to play slowly in rhythm than fast and miss a chord.
eMedia Interactive Rock Guitar also helps you master common guitar techniques like palm muting and barre chords, which are used in the middle section of Free Fallin’ and in many other rock, pop and country songs. It also includes Jam tracks to help you learn lead guitar and other great guitar songs like 
Digital tuners also come as software for Macs, PCs, and mobile devices. For example, 
In relative tuning, open strings are matched to fretted notes of the same pitch on other strings, as seen in the chart here and description below.
A strum is when one hand holds down the notes of a 
Guitar lesson software such as