Guitar Lessons For Beginners

There are so many people playing Guitar Hero and trying to live the fantasy of being a rock star. But as fun as that is, it is only a game. In my opinion it will never compare to actually playing a musical instrument. The Guitar Hero game does help you learn musical timing and to get good at it you have to practice. That is also what anyone who learns to play an instrument will have to do a lot of - practice. If you are looking for guitar lessons for beginners, you have to consider the options of getting a teacher in your town, finding online lessons, or buying a course to learn to play guitar.

When you start looking at the kinds of lessons that are available, be sure to select a teacher or a course that teaches the type of music you want to learn to play. For example, don't pick a musician who specialized in classical guitar if you plan to play pop or rock music.

Being good at playing guitar won't be as easy as playing a game. It will take some discipline and you have to give yourself time to get better at it. Many people start something like this and then quit - by doing that they fail to gain the true benefits of making music. So, if you are going to learn to play guitar, don't quit too soon!

Even people who've played an instrument for a long time need inspiration. If you start taking guitar lessons - either from a tutor, a teacher, an online course or a course on CDs or DVDs that you have bought - you still need to listen to other guitar players to get psyched up about continuing to practice and learn.

Many courses have "jam along" videos or audio. You can use these to play along with a band, which will be just as much fun as playing guitar hero. You'll get all those good feelings that all performers know about - the rush of being on stage and performing for an audience.

The first time you play a song you've learned for friends or family can be a bit scary. I remember sitting in a chair playing the guitar for people (when I was new at it) and my knee was trembling. I had to just try to ignore my shaking knee and continue with the song. I really was so relieved to finish the song, and later I felt like I had triumphed! It got easier and easier to play and sing for others. And eventually, I got the "stage bug" and now I'm hooked on the feeling of being able to entertain others with a talent that I worked on.

If you are new at performing for others, keep the music nearby or if you sing, keep the song lyrics handy. I guarantee that at first you will forget what you are doing (in the excitement of the moment) and may need to refer to your notes, music or the song words. If you are new at this, people won't mind it much. Later on though, you will want to memorize everything to make for a smoother performance.

The photo to the right shows the three main types of guitars. They are: acoustic, classical or electric guitars.

Acoustic Guitars

Modern acoustic guitars are hollow-bodied and have steel strings. The main type is a 6-string guitar, but there are also 12-string versions. They are called "acoustic" because they are designed to project the sound without any kind of extra amplification, such as an electric amplifier. There was no need to distinguish these as "acoustic" before the advent of electric guitars (since before the age of electricity, all instruments were "acoustic").

Larger body sizes allow for more sound from an steel-stringed acoustic guitar. These are also referred to as "western," "folk," or "country" guitars. They are usually played with a guitar pick - you can see that there is an area to the side of the soundhold. This is the pickguard, made of plastic or other laminated material which is positioned at the part of the guitar where the guitar pick would scratch the guitar's surface as the guitar is strummed.

Funny enough, today acoustic guitar are often amplified by the use of an electronic pickup and a plug to an amplifier.

Classical Guitar

Plucked, stringed instruments have been used for centuries. The first 6-string version of this kind of instrument was made in 1779 by Gaetano Vinaccia in Italy. Classical guitars are not named "classical" because of the type of music played on them. Though, in the early use of these guitars, they were used to play classical music. Folk, jazz, blues, alternative, and flamenco music are also suitable for this type of guitar. The modern form of the classical guitar has strings that are set farther apart from each other than the steel-stringed acoustic guitar. They are designed to be plucked by fingers - guitar picks are used less often with them, so they rarely need a pickguard.

People also call this type of guitar a "Spanish" guitar. The strings are made of nylon and the lower strings are nylon wrapped in a thin metal thread (often silver is used). They used to use gut for guitar strings. These strings are still available today (made of ram or ox gut).

Electric Guitars

Introduced in the 1930s, and were first used by jazz guitarists. They were a development that helped produce a louder sound - which was needed in the swing music era to be able to hear the guitar in big bands that had other instruments such as horns and drums. Back then, the electric guitars had a hollow body.

Les Paul developed the first solid body electric guitar. These became popularized in the 1950s and were a commercial success with electric guitars made by Fender, such as the Fender Esquire.