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Esteban's Complete Guitar Course for Beginners

Zen Guitar

Guitar Tab White Pages: The Largest Collection of Authentic Guitar Transcriptions, Vol. 1

How to Write Songs on Guitar

Learn to play the music you love.

Few instruments can match the range of sounds the guitar can produce, or the ease with which you can learn. With just a few chords, you can play thousands of popular songs. So pick up an old acoustic or electric and learn how to:

Hold, tune, strum, and pick a guitar properly
Play more than 30 common chords, including open, barre, and power chords
Read guitar chord diagrams and tablature for any song

The Parts of the Guitar

There are two main types of guitars: acoustic guitars, which produce sound naturally without external amplification, and electric guitars, which require electricity and an external amplifier, or amp, to boost the volume of sound they produce. Though acoustic and electric guitars produce sound in very different ways, they share many of the same basic parts.

All of the following parts exist in both acoustic and electric guitars, unless otherwise indicated. Guitars come in left-handed and right-handed models. This list, and the instructions throughout this guide, apply to right-handed guitars and players. Left-handed players should follow the instructions as they’re written but reverse any mention of left or right.

Headstock: The top most part of the guitar, which holds the tuning pegs in place.
Tuning pegs: Also known as tuning machines, the pegs that anchor the guitar’s strings to the headstock. By twisting the turning pegs, you can tune the strings (see How to Tune Your Guitar). There may be three tuning pegs on each side of the headstock or six lined up all in a row.
Nut: The point at which the headstock meets the neck of the guitar. Grooves in the nut help keep the strings in place.
Neck: The guitar’s backbone—a long, narrow piece of wood that extends from the guitar’s body and holds the fretboard.
Fretboard: Also called the fingerboard, the flat front of the neck, which holds the frets and fret markers.
Frets: Refers to both the narrow vertical metal pieces inlaid at standard intervals along the fretboard and to the spaces between each fret.
Fret markers: Also called dot inlays, the dots marked on the front and sides of the fret board at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 17th frets. The fret markers help you to see which frets you’re playing.
Pickguard: A plastic guard that protects the body of a guitar from getting scratched while being played. Not all guitars have pickguards.
Sound hole (acoustic guitars only): The hole in the center of the body. The sound hole amplifies the sound of the vibrating strings, making the guitar more audible.
Pickup: A device that captures the sound of the vibrating strings so it can be amplified by an amp. All electric guitars have pickups, located at different places between the neck and the bridge. Acoustic guitars equipped to be played electrically have pickups embedded in the sound hole or under the bridge.
Bridge: A structure that anchors the strings to the body and keeps the strings separate at precise widths.
Body: The rounded portion of the guitar beyond the bottom end of the neck. The body is typically made of wood. On acoustic guitars, the body is hollow, which naturally amplifies the sound of the vibrating strings. On electrics, the body is solid and does not provide amplification.
Volume knob (electric guitars only): A dial that allows you to adjust the volume of the sound sent to the amp.
Pickup selector switch (electric guitars only): A dial that allows you to switch between multiple pickups to achieve different tones.
Tone knob (electric guitars only): A dial that allows you to adjust the amount of bass or treble in the sound sent to the amplifier.

Guitar Gear

To play any guitar, whether acoustic or electric, you’ll need a guitar pick and a guitar strap. For electric guitars, you’ll also need an amp.

Pick: A wedge-shaped piece of hard plastic that allows a guitar player to strike all the strings on a guitar at once, as opposed to plucking each string with the fingers. A pick is held between the thumb and index finger (the first finger next to the thumb).
Guitar strap: A length of fabric that loops over your shoulder and connects to both ends of the guitar. A strap makes it much easier to play guitar while standing.
Amp: A device that plugs into a guitar via a cable and electrically amplifies the sound captured by the guitar’s pickups.