How To Play Easy Guitar Essay, Research Paper

How to Play Easy Guitar

Have you ever wanted to learn how to play guitar, but did not want to bother with difficult finger positions? If so, I am going to explain to you how to do it. It will take some practice, but eventually you will be playing some of your favorite songs. The method to playing easy guitar is based on a tuning called Drop-D. It allows you to play chords by simply using one or two fingers and covering the top three strings on a fret, the spaces divided by thin metal strips. All you ll need is a guitar, a chromatic, electric tuner and a basic knowledge of the guitar.

Before you start playing, you need to become familiar with the parts of the guitar and how to hold the guitar properly. First, the guitar has six strings which in standard tuning are Low E, A, D , G, B and High E. These are also known as the 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings respectively. The Low E string is the thickest string and produces the lowest pitch. Conversely, the High E is the thinnest string and produces the highest pitch.

The major components (working from the top of the guitar down) are the tuners, used to loosen and tighten the string to lower and raise the pitch respectively, the head-stock, the portion of the neck that holds the tuners, and the nut, a small slotted piece that defines the end of the strings vibration. The fingerboard is the playing surface of the neck; this is where the frets are. Frets are thin wire bars that divide the fingerboard into varying pitches

To hold the guitar, place the curve of the guitar on your right leg and make sure the guitar is upright and straight. You do not want it lying on your lap or tilting forward.

Snader 2

Your right forearm will rest on the topmost portion of the guitar; it is actually the left side of the guitar and your right hand should hang down poised to pick the strings. To set your left hand in the proper position, put it out flat as if you are accepting money from someone, then, holding that position, place it so that your palm is approximately half an inch under the neck. Then place your left thumb three fourths of the way up the back of the neck of the guitar. The last step is to simply curl your fingers up until they contact the

strings. You want to be sure to make contact to the strings with the very tips of your fingers. The goal is to press your fingertips into the string at the same time you squeeze with your thumb. The thumb and fingertips should always work together.

Tuning your guitar to Drop-D from the standard tuning of EADGBe is done by tuning your low E string down a whole step to D. You may want to use an electric tuner if you can t distinguish pitch by ear. Your new tuning is now, from low to high, DADGBe.

To start playing chords all you have to do is cover the top three strings in any fret. For example, if you cover the top three strings in the second fret you will be playing an E chord. The order for what chords can play in what frets starting open (playing the top three strings without pressing them down) is: D, D# (first fret), E, F, F#, G,G#, A, Bb, B, C, C# and back to D (twelfth fret).

This simple, yet effective, tuning is currently very popular in some of the hard rock music on the radio. It makes switching from chords as easy as sliding up the fret board in one position. I hope you can now go pick-up a guitar and have some fun.