You are now about to learn about how to position a guitar and tune it in this simple guitar lesson.
Let us first start with guitar positioning. Begin by finding an armless chair that has good support for your back. You should sit comfortably with your back against the chair. Bending in a slouch while playing, will develop strain in your back, so remember good posture all the time. When sitting in an armless chair, be sure that there is a lot of room on both sides of you so you can hold your guitar properly and move your arms.
Once seated, place the guitar on your lap with the strings facing outward. Check that the guitar body is on top of the leg that is farthest from the headstock. If you are right handed, the guitar should lay on your right leg. The majority of acoustic guitars will have curved indentations that are great for playing the guitar on your leg. If you are holding the guitar properly then the sixth string should be close to your chest and the first string should be close to your feet.
Your fret hand will be your left hand if you are right handed, and if you are left handed, then it will be your right hand. Get a firm grip of the neck of the guitar with your fretting hand. You thumb should be placed behind the guitar’s neck. The other four fingers in front, are placed slightly bent, over the strings. Bend your fingers naturally when pressing the strings unless the instructor tells you otherwise.
Next we are going to discuss guitar picking techniques. When beginning to play the guitar, you should purchase a set of guitar picks. A guitar pick is a small flat tool that you use to strum the guitar. Picks are relatively cheap so you can buy a few at a time to keep handy. There are different types of guitar picks but it is best to start with one that is not too hard or too flimsy. Picks are made of rubber, wood, stone, plastic, tortoiseshell, and metal. The common pick is in the shape of a triangle but some also come in other shapes.
Now that you are seated properly and are holding the right pick, we proceed with the lesson on strumming the guitar.
Your picking hand will be nearest the bridge of your guitar. Now open your strumming or picking hand. The palm should be facing you. Next, place the thumb on top of the bent index finger. Twist your wrist a little to point the knuckle of the thumb towards you. Carefully slide the guitar pick between your index finger and thumb, using your other hand. This should make the pick more stable. It should end just right behind your thumb’s knuckle.
The pick should be held firmly, with about ½ inch sticking out of your fingers and the pointed part, pointing away from your fist. The hand you are strumming with should be over the sound hole if you are using an acoustic guitar or over the guitar body if you are using an electric guitar. Your strumming hand should be placed above the strings.
As much as possible, the picking hand should not touch the body or strings of the guitar. Using your wrist, not your arm, strum the lowest string downward. If the string rattles too much, do not use a lot of the pick surface or strum softer. Then strum it again, this time, upwards.
Repeat this a few times. With the minimum of movements, do short pick upwards and downwards. Now try repeating this process with the rest of the strings.
Remember that holding the pick will feel strange at first. At the beginning, you also will have to spend more time practicing your picking or strumming. Make your downstrokes and upstrokes sound alike. Also remember you will sound bad at first but this will change with practice. Just be patient and you might turn out to be the next guitar superstar!
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