A Beginners Guide To Playing Electric Guitar
Playing any musical instrument is a big investment, in both money and time. For beginners, it"s more important to invest time than money. While there is a difference in sound quality between a $100 electric guitar and a hand-made $1500 model, it makes more sense to be a little frugal "" especially until you"re sure you want to continue playing.
If you don"t buy a starter package you also need to pick up some picks, an amplifier, cords, a shoulder strap, a guitar tuner and a foot switch.
Before playing your first note it"s important to become familiar with your guitar. In the same way you check out where the controls are in a new car or figure out the settings on a new cell phone, you need to know how your guitar is made and the terminology.
The headstock is the top piece where the tuning pegs are located. The headstock is attached to the neck which in turn is attached to the body of the guitar. At the headstock/neck joint is the nut. It has six grooves to space and hold the guitar strings in place.
Along the neck are metallic strips called the frets. Don"t get confused: the space between the metal strips is also referred to at frets. To make notes, you"ll hold the guitar strings against the strip frets with your fingertips.
The bridge is the piece attached to the guitar body that holds the strings. The guitar strings are attached to the tuning pegs on top and beneath the bridge on the bottom.
Attached to the bridge on the body of the guitar is the Whammy Bar. The technical name for it is the tremolo. Since the bridge holds the strings, you can change the pitch by moving the bar up or down.
Also on the guitar body are knobs to control the volume and tone and pickups. Pickups capture the sound vibrations made by the strings and convert them to electrical impulses that can be amplified or recorded. You can choose different tones by using the pickup switch.
After you tune your guitar, either sit in a chair and rest it on your leg or if you want to stand, use the strap. As a rule of thumb, the bridge should be above your belt buckle, but it will vary depending on arm and torso length. Brace the thumb of your non-playing hand behind the neck, curl your fingers around the neck so that your fingers reach the string and you are ready to start making music.
If you don"t buy a starter package you also need to pick up some picks, an amplifier, cords, a shoulder strap, a guitar tuner and a foot switch.
Before playing your first note it"s important to become familiar with your guitar. In the same way you check out where the controls are in a new car or figure out the settings on a new cell phone, you need to know how your guitar is made and the terminology.
The headstock is the top piece where the tuning pegs are located. The headstock is attached to the neck which in turn is attached to the body of the guitar. At the headstock/neck joint is the nut. It has six grooves to space and hold the guitar strings in place.
Along the neck are metallic strips called the frets. Don"t get confused: the space between the metal strips is also referred to at frets. To make notes, you"ll hold the guitar strings against the strip frets with your fingertips.
The bridge is the piece attached to the guitar body that holds the strings. The guitar strings are attached to the tuning pegs on top and beneath the bridge on the bottom.
Attached to the bridge on the body of the guitar is the Whammy Bar. The technical name for it is the tremolo. Since the bridge holds the strings, you can change the pitch by moving the bar up or down.
Also on the guitar body are knobs to control the volume and tone and pickups. Pickups capture the sound vibrations made by the strings and convert them to electrical impulses that can be amplified or recorded. You can choose different tones by using the pickup switch.
After you tune your guitar, either sit in a chair and rest it on your leg or if you want to stand, use the strap. As a rule of thumb, the bridge should be above your belt buckle, but it will vary depending on arm and torso length. Brace the thumb of your non-playing hand behind the neck, curl your fingers around the neck so that your fingers reach the string and you are ready to start making music.
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