![]() Otherwise, it may take you too much time to pick the next note. Try to limit your range of motion when picking so that the pick never moves too far away from the strings. Then, practice picking the high (thinnest) open E string in an upward motion – an upstroke – before moving back through the rest of the strings.Īs you pick a string, the movement should come from your wrist rather than your arm or your shoulder. Try to make the strings ring out clearly with a full sound. Initially, start picking the lower (thickest) open E string in a downward motion – a downstroke – before moving one-by-one on to the rest of the strings. Don’t bend your wrist awkwardly, your thumb and arm should be pretty much in a straight line. Grip your pick firmly, but not too tightly, between the finger and thumb of your picking hand, which will be the right hand for many of us. If you’ve never used a guitar pick, aka plectrum, before, then you’re probably wondering how best to hold it. Beginners should probably stick to standard tuning at first, in which the strings are tuned low to high (thick to thin) E A D G B E, but in time don’t be afraid to experiment with alternate tunings such as Drop D and Open C. Tuning is a bit of a chore, but guitar tuners are ubiquitous and cheap, in fact, many tuning apps are free. ![]() At best, practicing with an out-of-tune guitar makes this process painfully slow, at worst, impossible. This is because it’s vital to gain the skill that will let you match pitch to a position on the fretboard, or to distinguish the interval between two or more notes. Letting your guitar drift out of tune isn’t going to damage it, but it will hurt your ability to learn. Sadly, even the best guitars don’t stay in tune very long because the vast majority are made of wood, which is very susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity. Yep, it was in tune when you bought it, but now listen to it. That said, tall, broad guitarists may find they dwarf a Gibson Les Paul, or a Fender Telecaster, so are better off with a larger guitar such as a Gibson ES-335. Size is not such an issue for electric guitar players. So, don’t be afraid to go for a smaller guitar – the tone will probably be better. Buying a mid-sized guitar, like a Martin OM or a Taylor Grand Auditorium will not only fit most players better than a dreadnought, it will also sound sweeter and more balanced. The fact is, steel-strung guitars vary in size mostly for tonal reasons, rather than fit, and the bigger the guitar the more volume and bass response it will have. Many novices are wrongly drawn to dreadnoughts – a name penned by guitar manufacturer Martin, and one of the few that is now fairly standardized across many brands – solely because they’ve seen these big guitars in the hands of their favorite artists. ![]() Unfortunately, few of these names are standardized, which means that although two brands may make a GC or Grand Concert guitar, they’ll measure up significantly differently. Steel-strung guitars are also available in a range of sizes, so you’ll see labels such as OO, OM, Grand Pacific and Dreadnought. If you are a budding classical player blessed with a smaller build, then an appropriately sized classical guitar will be easier to play and will help you to avoid the back and shoulder pain that a model that’s too big will almost certainly introduce. These may be 1/2 size (Requinto), 3/4 size (Cadet), 7/8 size (Senorita) and 4/4 (Full size). In the classical guitar world, nylon-strung guitars made for children and smaller framed adults look and play just like scaled down versions of a full-size guitar. Going acoustic? Buy the right sizeĪcoustic guitars come in a variety of shapes and sizes, labelled with a bewildering number of names. ![]()
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