Guitar Positioning and Tuning


Now that you have learned a little bit about the guitar, you are now about to learn about how to position a guitar and tune it.

First you will learn about positioning a guitar. Begin by finding an armless chair that has good support for your back. You should sit comfortably with your back against the chair. Slouching is not good because you will develop bad guitar habits and a sore back. When sitting in an armless chair, be sure that there is a lot of room on both sides of you so you can hold your guitar properly and move your arms.

Once you are seated in the chair, you should place the guitar on your lap and have the rear of the guitar facing your chest. The guitar body should be on the leg that is farthest from the headstock. If you are right handed, the guitar should lay on your right leg. The majority of acoustic guitars will have curved indentations that are great for playing the guitar on your leg. If you are holding the guitar properly than the sixth string should be close to your chest and the first string should be close to your feet.

Your fret hand will have to be placed on the left if you are right handed and on the right if you are left handed. You should grip the neck of the guitar gently with your fretting hand. You thumb should be placed behind the guitar’s neck. The other fingers should be floating on top of the strings, slightly curled. It is very important to curl the fingers at the knuckles unless an instructor tells you not too.

Next we are going to discuss picking. When beginning to play the guitar, you should purchase a set of guitar picks. A guitar pick is a small flat tool that you used to strum the guitar. You should purchase a minimum of ten guitar picks and they are relatively cheap. There are different types of guitar picks but it is best to start with one that is not too hard or too flimsy. Picks are made of rubber, wood, stone, plastic, tortoiseshell, and metal. They are usually in the shape of a triangle but other shapes are available from manufacturers.

Once you have a guitar pick and are seated in the proper position, you can begin strumming the guitar. Your picking hand will be nearest the bridge of your guitar. You should open up the hand you will be picking or “strumming” the guitar with. The palm should face you. Then make sure the thumb is next to the index finger. Make sure that you rotate the hand so the knuckle of the thumb is facing toward you. With your free hand you should slide in the guitar pick between your index finger and thumb. That way, the pick is secure. The pick should end up behind the thumb’s knuckle.

You should hold the pick firmly and the pointed portion of the pick should be pointing away from your fist and should be sticking out about ˝ inch. The hand you are strumming with should be over the sound hole if you are using an acoustic guitar or over the guitar body if you are using an electric guitar. Your strumming hand should be placed above the strings.

Your picking hand should not sit on the body or stings of the guitar. Using your wrist, not your arm, strum the lowest string downward. If the string rattles too much, do not use a lot of the pick surface or strum softer. Then pick the lowest string upwards. Try this a few times. Try to lower the motion of your picking hand by doing a short pick downwards and a short pick upwards. Now repeat the process with the rest of the strings.

Remember that holding the pick will feel strange at first. You will have to concentrate on your picking hand when you begin practicing the guitar. Your downstrokes and your upstrokes should sound the same. Also remember you will sound bad at first but this will change with practice.



Table Of Contents

Before You Buy Your First Guitar
Read this before getting your first guitar...

Purchasing Your First Guitar
What to look for when buying your first guitar

Buying a Guitar Online
There are a lot of hazards when buying a guitar online but this guide is here to prevent you from getting scammed

Learn And Master Guitar
Essential elements on how to play the guitar

Learn To Play An Acoustic Guitar
Various Ways to Learn How to Play an Acoustic Guitar...

Free Lessons On How To Play Guitar
Basic Guitar Lessons for Free....

 

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The goal of this website is to help anyone who is interested in learning how to play and master the guitars. We provide informations and tips to help you learn the guitar fast and easily. Do check out the Recently Added section for the latest tips and informations on learning the guitars.

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