Should I learn to read music?

Yes.

Should I learn electric or acoustic?

If you’re not sure, buy an acoustic. This is a common choice because it’s less complicated to learn.

What’s the difference between open chords, barre chords, and power chords?

Open chords are played with open strings, or guitar strings that are not fretted by the hand. (If you reach for a guitar right now and hit one of its strings, that string will ring “open”).

Power chords are a two-note chord popularized by rock music.

And barre chords are a more advanced chord type that gives you more versatility to play a lot of different chords.

How should I begin learning the guitar? Where do I start?

Learn the first few chords and scales. Apply them to creating a song. Create your own goals. Find guitar resources and commit yourself to working through all of the materials you can find.

What are the notes on the guitar?

You’ll have these figured out once you’ve mastered two key concepts:

First: The strings on the guitar: EADGbe.

Second: The 12 chromatic notes in music: C, C♯, D, D♯, E, F, F♯, G, G♯, A, A♯, B.

Put it into practice: Now, to find the name of any note on the guitar, simply start at the name of its open string and count up the chromatic notes. For instance, the fifth fret of the “A” string is D. Starting from the open string A, count 5 notes up the chromatic scale: A♯, B, C, C♯, D.

How long will it take to learn my first song?

If you choose correctly, you should be playing a song within 2-6 weeks. Everybody learns at a different rate.

What should I do if I’m left handed?

You are strongly advised to get a left-handed guitar.

I am only interested in playing X, so why do you insist I should learn Y?

Learning guitar is a multi-disciplinary effort. It can be hard to “see the forest for the trees”. You should study all topics available, if possible, because you can’t really understand how useful something is until after you’ve learned how to do it.

What is tab, and should I learn it?

Tab is a way of writing down the notes to a song that focuses on how to play it on the guitar. Tab shows you specifically where to press with your fingers to play songs. Since you can find tabs to just about every well-known song that exists, it’s worth learning how to read.

How can I learn to sing and play at the same time?

Be sure you can play the part without singing, completely from memory. And that you can sing the part—completely from memory—without looking at the lyrics. Then, play each chord just once with no strumming pattern as you sing along without time. Slowly start to put it together with more emphasis on time.

Do I need to learn scales?

Yes. A guitar player without scales is like a bicycle without a chain.

Should I learn all of the notes on the neck?

Yes, and it doesn’t take as long as you might think. Start by learning some of the natural notes (C–D–E–F–G–A–B), and learn them in just one or two positions. Expand on this.

Do I need to learn music theory? Why?

You should know at least the basics of music theory if you want to get out of the intermediate level, if you want to write music, or if you want to teach music. Not understanding the basics of music theory dooms you to repeat yourself. Think of math, for example. If you solve problems the hard way, you will never be truly effective. If you learn the formulas for solving problems, you will recognize when you see a problem fitting that formula—and be able to solve it more quickly.

How do I learn to strum the guitar and switch chords?

First, practice the chords: make sure you can switch between them cleanly and quickly. Then, strum through them starting with simple patterns. Progressively advance to more difficult strumming patterns.

Do I need to do ear training?

Yes, it will help if you want to learn songs by ear, create your own songs, or just sound better.

Do I need to transcribe?

If you know any, ask two or three advanced players. They will likely all tell you that transcribing is a very good idea.