Guitar Basics – beginner guitar lesson #1
Wikipedia page- finger exercise
- guitar anatomy
Hello, and welcome to our series of 10 beginner guitar lessons. This is the very first lesson, so this lesson is dedicated to the very basics. You learn more about the anatomy of your guitar, including the body, the fretboard and the strings. You'll learn the correct method of plucking the string, and you'll also learn 2 hand strengthening exercises. The things we'll cover in this lesson are:
- guitar anatomy basics
- how to pluck the strings
- how to hold the strings (fret)
- how to play a scale
- finger strengthening exercises
This series of guitar lessons for beginners will set you on the right path to becoming a great guitarist, but there is one thing it can't do. It can't practice for you.
Practice is the single most important factor in advancing your guitar skills and techniques. It's not hard, it just takes time. You'll see that you'll be advancing with each day, and the things you learn today and tomorrow, will seem soooo easy a couple of months from now.
Practice whenever you feel like it, and try to get at least 30 minutes of practice in there per day, or every other day.
After finishing this lesson and practicing what you've learned, you could:
- move on to the next beginner guitar lesson on chords,
- check out all of our free guitar lessons for beginners,
- learn some beginner guitar songs, for example
If you want to refine the skills you learned in Guitar Basics – beginner guitar lesson #1, check out these lessons on songs by clicking these links:
finger exercise / guitar anatomy
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It’s so funny, I’ve “Played AT” the guitar rather than playing or learning to read music.. I started out with a pick.. but then Life happened and I only just recently picked up my guitar again, inspired by one of my fave blues/slide blues guitarists.. Now I’ve been finger picking for about a month, and going back to using a pick is kind of a trip.. gives the sound a totally different dynamic.. I’ve never been “officially” taught, from anyone anywhere, this time around I thought I’d go back to basics and learn to read music, if not that than at least tabs.. I will say that I am glad I can replay these lessons over and over, my fingers seem to have a mind of their own both picking and fretting!.. Thank you Tom!
Hi Tom,
I’m a beginner but have been taught how to play a few chords. I was never taught a scale prior to my lesson tonight online with your site. Can you explain the what a scale is…I understand that a chord is playing several notes all together, but what is a scale?
Thanks again,
Pamela
Hi Pamela, please have a look at this page for the answer:
https://www.theguitarlesson.com/guitar-theory/guitar-scales/
Hi. I love your website. It has really helped. I have been playing guitar for a couple of months and I have a theory question. Why is the C Major scale starting on low E?
Hi, the scale can start anywhere, as long as the notes you play are within the C major scale. You should know where the root note is (the C notes in the case of the C major scale), but actually, the scale doesn’t have a beginning or end. You can continue going up or down the scale chromatically, without having to start or end on the C note. Does that make sense?
Yes! Thanks!
Thank you Tom for a great lesson, I’ve only been playing for about a week and it’s really nice to be shown a way to increase my speed and accuracy on the fretboard.
When do you suggest continuing to the next lesson?
Hi there, you can continue fairly quickly from this lesson, you don’t need to have everthing 100% down yet, but you’ll need to practice the things you learned here after moving on as well.
It’s a good idea to practice the material from lesson 1 each day before you start practicing to get your finger warmed up as well.
Thank you for the swift reply 🙂
Hi Kavi, you can deffinitely strum using just your fingers, but that is a separate technique in itself. I explain it in one of the strumming song videos, I’ll create a separate lesson on it since it’s really useful.
But if you’re just starting out, I would really recommend that you get a pick.
Hi Tom,
Do I need a pick to practice on an acoustic guitar or can I strum using my fingers?
Thank you
Kavi