First Guitar, Tuner, Lessons, And Anything Else You Need

The number one reason people don't learn to play guitar is they give up. Everyone sucks when they first start something. The hardest part of learning guitar is starting. It's going to be hard the first couple hours of playing and it may hurt, but you'll build calluses and with just a few hours of practice you'll get the basics down, guaranteed.

There are three types of guitars. Acoustic, electric, and classical guitars. Electric guitars require an amp to amplify their sound and add effects. Classical guitars are made more for picking. They have a wider fret board making it harder to play chords especially for beginners. Also they have nylon strings rather than steel strings meaning less pain, but you won't develop the calluses for when you start playing a steel string guitar. For these reasons I recommend starting with an acoustic unless you already have an amp for an electric.

There are many great guitars to start with. One of the best and the one I started with is the Jasmine by Takamine S34C. You can buy it online, there will be a link below. This guitar is great for the price. It has low action and the comfortable NEX body makes it easy to get high up the neck. If this guitar's a bit too pricy for you I recommend the Jasmine by Takamine S35. The S35 is also a great guitar for one of the lowest priced guitars out there.

Once you get your first guitar you're going to have to tune it. Tuning a guitar is very easy, I'll go over that in another article. I recommend getting the Korg CA-40 Chromatic Tuner. It picks up pitches very easily even with noise in the back. There are other tuners, but the Korg is cheap, effective and convenient.

The strings of the guitar are where the sound is actually produced. Good quality strings are important on your guitar. Once you receive your guitar high suggest putting on a fresh set of strings. There are several kinds of strings you can use. Nylon strings are for classical guitars and steel strings are for acoustic and electric. The most common type of steel strings are phosphor bronze. There are also copper and tin blends also called 80/20 bronze, silk and steel, and several others. There are also different sized strings ranging from extra super light to extra heavy. Lighter strings are easier to press down and good for picking strings. Heavier notes are harder to play, but have a more full sound that is good for strumming. Most beginners start with lighter strings. D'Addario is good set of strings for the price. Perfect for beginner to intermediate players.

Finger strumming is a good technique to learn, but get a pick, you'll need one. Thinner picks create brighter sounds and makes strumming a little easier. Thicker picks make it easier picking single notes, but makes it a little harder to strum. Below is a chart of pick sizes. Picks also have different materials such as metal, wood, glass, and plastics like celluloid, nylon, acetyl, and others. Celluloid and nylon are two of the most popular ones. They're more smooth, but nylon may lose flexibility after a few months of extensive use. It's ultimately up to you.

There a several accessories that you may not necessarily have to get right away, but you will need them eventually. Some accessories you may need is a guitar strap, a case, a capo, and others. If you plan on taking your guitar to places i suggest getting a case right away. Also I highly recommend getting a capo if you want to play a lot of popular music. Capos are used to transpose the key you play in, but you'll learn more of this as you learn. Capos are relatively cheap and can be bought for $3-$20, you can even make one!

The best way to learn is through a teacher. However lessons can be expensive, and there are certainly other ways to learn for no price. Below is a link to a website with 100% free lessons that will get you playing your favorite songs in no time!

If you're trying to decide on whether to pick up the guitar or not, do it! It's a great experience and you'll have a lot of fun playing songs people love. To the right is a great video by The Axis of Awesome that proves you will be able to play your favorite songs with just a few basic chords, check it out!