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Guitar for beginners
Before learning to play the guitar, you should understand the fingerboard and recognize the positions of musical notes. Standard guitars have six strings running along a fingerboard: they provide the means by which you play notes. Metal frets are placed horizontally at intervals along the length of the fingerboard: they provide the smallest degree of pitch between each note. When a string is pressed against a fret and struck with the right hand, the string vibrates between the fret and the bridge. The length, thickness, and tension of the string determine the frequency of the sound waves moving through the air, which is heard as a musical sound of a specific pitch. Look at the finger board and memorize the numbered positions and letter symbols used for note names.
1st string E ---F-------F/E-----G------G/A-----A------A/B-----B------C-------C/D-----D---
2nd string B ---C------C/D-----D------D/B-----E------F--------F/G---G-------G/A-----A---
3rd string G ---G/A---A--------A/B----B--------C------C/D-----D-----D/E----E---------F---
4th string D ---D/E---E--------F-------F/G-----G------G/A-----A-----A/B-----B--------C---
5th string A ---A/B----B-------C-------C/D-----D------D/E-----E-----F--------F/G-----G---
6th string E ---F-------F/E-----G------G/A-----A-------A/B-----B-----C-------C/D-----D---
*this is the first 10 frets of the fingerboard, these are the positions you need to know to start playing. On most guitars there are 22 or 24 frets...my personal guitar has 23
Before any piece of music can be played, the guitar must be tuned correctly. Each of the open strings should be adjusted so that it is in tune with all the others. If the strings are tuned to concert pitch, the guitar can be played with other instruments. The various types of tuning equipment range from familiar tools, such as a piano or tuning forks, to electronic systems that monitor calibrated frequencies accurately for electric and acoustic guitars.
* I would suggest pitch pipes for tuning guitars. If your lazy, or dont have a good musical ear, then you might want to try an electronic tuner. You can also buy electronic effect peddles that have built in electric tuners. Personally I have an effects peddle/wa wa peddle with a built in tuner...and I dont like it...like I said before your best bet would be pitch pipes which I also own...they work very well.