Teach Yourself to Play Guitar By Starting with the Basics

This Christmas I got my 5 year old nephew a kid’s acoustic guitar so he could start learning how to play. I’m not one to brag but I have to say it was his favorite Christmas gift this year. While he was asking for lessons on how to play his new favorite toy it got me thinking about how I learned to play guitar. I started teaching myself to play guitar much later than 5 years old, I didn’t get my first guitar until I was 17. I was a singer in a band and the only one who did not know how to play an instrument this really hindered my ability to write songs for the band so I needed to start learning fast.

Ready to get serious about learning the guitar?

 Right when I got that first acoustic guitar I put myself on a path to becoming a self taught musician. I’m not going to say learning to play guitar is easy, in fact in the beginning in can get frustrating but for me it seemed easy because I was so in love with this instrument. Before I even get into the tips I think the a passion for the music and for the guitar will put you on the same path that I followed when teaching myself to play guitar.

 Here are some simple and basic steps I took while teaching myself guitar that will help you get on the path to becoming a self taught musician like me.

Play Everyday

This may seem obvious but I wanted to make this my first point as I feel it is the greatest reason I was able to learn guitar myself. Every single day I owned my guitar I played it, even to this day I play my guitar every day even if just for a few minutes. Of course you know they say practice makes perfect but I wouldn’t call what I was doing practice, as that sounds tedious and boring. I never practiced I just played my guitar and did whatever felt natural at the time. During my first few open mics people would comment on the strange chords I was playing and I responded by telling them I had no idea what chords they were I just played what sounded good. The only way I was able to do this was to play everyday and find ‘what sounded good’ it is all about experimenting.

Playing every day is critical in the first few months as you need to develop your finger strength in order to play open chords more effectively. Not only will this build up your finger strength put also help build up calluses on your fingers so they become tough and won’t hurt when sliding up and down the strings.

Play with your fingers instead of a pick

This is a matter of personal choice but I tend to always “practice” without a pick and then when I play a show or record I use a guitar pick. This way of practicing started when I kept losing picks and go tiered of going to buy more or using bread clips. After a while I got used to playing without a pick and it became natural for me. By doing this I was able to learn how to get the most tone out of my strings to make big full sounding chords with my fingers. When I went and played with a pick I transferred those techniques over and it made playing even easier. I compare this to when my dad was teaching me how to drive and would not let me drive an automatic until I mastered the stick shift, he said If I could drive a stick then I could drive an automatic, and it makes sense.

I learned on an acoustic guitar and playing with your fingers acoustic always seemed easier to me than playing an electric without a pick. For now if you are learning on an electric guitar I would stick with the pick.

Master your strumming hand first

If you have never played guitar before and are just picking up the instrument for the first time it may feel awkward. You know you are supposed to be using both your right and left hands to play guitar but your coordination just isn’t there and it feels strange. Before you get frustrated trying to play a song and switching chords with your left hand it is better to make sure you have your strumming patterns down with your right hand.

There are many videos on the web that will go over the different types of strumming patterns and will give you exercises to practice these. For now just concentrate on getting a nice even, full tone out of all 6 strings by strumming down slowly and back up slowly. Don’t worry about your left hand, leave the chords open and strum away trying different patterns until you are able to consistently produce a nice full sound from all strings.

Start with power chords

Ultimately for learning how to play other peoples songs open chords are the way to go, but when you are just starting to learn proper guitar technique I think learning to play basic power chords are best. The great thing about power chords is they sound great, are easy to play, and you can use them just about anywhere on the guitar. Also a lot of popular rock songs are written and played with power chords so once you get them down learning some basic fun rock songs will be a breeze.

To play a basic F power chord put your index finger on the top E string, your ring finger on the A string and your pinky finger on the D string. This will give you a nice 3 note chord that can be used up and down the fretboard

Once you have your fingers set start strumming away, when you want to change notes it is very simple just slide your fingers down 2 frets so your index finger goes from the first fret to the 3^rd fret and your ring/pinky fingers go from the 3^rd fret to the 5 fret. This will give you a nice F to G progression. These types of power chords are what I started using to write my first songs on the acoustic guitar. Power chords are a great way to start playing songs fast and build up your finger strength.

Enjoy the instrument and start making music

Lastly you have to make sure that teaching yourself guitar doesn't become frustrating and tedious, remember I said I never practice i just play. I would never have gotten this far if i didn't love my instrument and have a passion for the music I created with my fingers, if you too embrace that passion for music you will get better every day.

These are just a couple of the practice tips if you are trying to teach yourself guitar but these basic steps will help get you on your way. There are countless guides and videos on the internet to help guide you as you advance but I recommend starting as simple as possible if you are in fact an absolute beginner to the guitar.

If you're interested in a complete beginners guide to to jump start your guitar playing skills I highly recommend the Jamorama program, it is a great way to teach yourself guitar at home and offers beginners a great in depth guide. There is also a free ecourse you can get on there website to try it out.