How To Play Acoustic Guitar
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Use This Acoustic Guitar Lesson To Master The Acoustic Guitar!
Let’s learn how to play the acoustic guitar. In this lesson we are going to learn the G, C, and D guitar chords and then put a basic strumming pattern with them. I am going to assume that you have never even held a guitar before so lets start with the basics by learning how to hold an acoustic guitar. Rest your guitar over your right leg, and hold it close to your body with your right arm. Remember to sit up straight and relax. When you place your finger on a fret of the guitar, remember to place that finger very close to the fret. We have supplied you with some diagrams of the chords that you will be learning. Learn how to read chord diagrams here!
Let’s move on to the chord shapes. Don’t worry about making the chords sound perfect right away. Just focus on getting the shapes down. The strength in your left hand will come with some practice. Try to make sure that you are curving your fingers enough to play on the the very tips of your fingers. This will help the fingers that your are playing with to not mute the surrounding strings.
Our first chord will be a G chord. Put your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the low E (6th) string, your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the A (5th) string, and your pinky on the 3rd fret of the high E (1st) string. Now take a pick, if you have one, between you thumb and index finger on your right hand and give all six strings a strum. That’s your G chord.
To play a C chord you need to put your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the A (5th) string, your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the D (4th) string, and your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the B (2nd) string. Now strum all of the strings except for the low E (6th) string.
One chord to go. To make your D chord, place your 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the G (3rd) string, your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the high E (1st) string, and your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the B (2nd) string. Now strum all of the strings except for the low E and A strings. Thats it, all three chords.
Practice these chords until you get the shapes memorized and then try changing from shape to shape. Don’t get frustrated if your fingers get sore or tired, thats normal. If you need some time to get the shapes down, take a few days to practice and then come back to this video and put the strumming pattern with the chords.
Now it is time to take the chords we have learned and put a simple strumming pattern with them. We will be using all down strokes for the strumming pattern. Make your G chord and get your pick ready in your right hand. Strum the G chord four times. Switch to your C chord ,and strum that chord four times. Finish off by making your D chord and strumming down four more times. Switching between chords smoothly is probably the hardest part of playing something like this. Try to make your strumming as even as possible, especially when your changing chords. Take it as slow as you need to at first. Don’t be in a rush to play fast, just focus on playing clean and evenly.
Knowing these chords, and a few basic strumming patterns, can enable you to play a lot more songs than you realize. Many many songs you hear on the radio are just a few chords with some basic strumming. Take the chords that you have learned in this lesson, experiment and mix them up. Try to come up with your own strumming patterns too.
hahaha your so fucking gay
why even bother to comment or be on this site if you’re gonna be rude? grow up.
Yeah Jessica’s right. Your a real jerk just to say that when the vids are only meant for help.
Due mellow out. the Nate guy is teaching people so how does that make him gay? Plus gay isn’t supposed to be a derogatory term stupid.
Dude mellow out. The Nate guy is teaching people, so how does that make him gay? And gay isn’t supposed to be used as a derogatory term stupid.
Am I nuts or did that guy post the same thing but different name? and yeah Nate is helping so lay off asf.
no he is not i met him befor he is my cosin
u r awesom!! its truely helpful..,n i like it.,
hello,
i just want to know while picking up the string with ur pick where should you place ur pinky whether it should touch the board or we should just move it up to make the picking fast
Awesom!!!! You’ve really helped me a lot. Thanks
Awesom!!!! Thank you so very much. You’ve helped me a lot. I’m looking forward to playing my guitar.
I just picked up an old guitar about a week ago and I have a couple of questions. fist, I’ve noticed that my high E string has some little nicks in it and needs to be replaced, but I don’t know how to unstring and re-string a guitar. could you tell me how. Secondly my fingers have been getting really sore when I play. How long does it usually take for your fingers to toughen up. my don’t seem to be getting any stronger.
Hi Amie,
Yes, playing a guitar with un-trained fingers is not fun. I took me a couple months of continous daily playing for them to finally stop throbbing. I use to put a drop of super glue on my finger tips before playing. That did help alot. Also go to youtube.com to learn to string your guitar.
Ive been playing for a little over a month and my fingers toughened up. You will develop calluses but those help pad your fingers so it doesnt hurt as much but I play like an hour every day sometimes even more
thnx man
Hi there,
Thanks for the lesson. In the previous lesson you mentioned that your thumb should be placed behind in the centre of the guitar neck, but in this video your thumb is looping over the neck. What is the best position for your thumb?
u suk mr.unhelpful u put the stings opposit u gay hor
then get off the site, dumbass. grow up.
and, learn to spell. you look pretty dumb right now.
ACTUALLY THAT’S THE WAY THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO BE. IT’S THE HIGH E STRING UP. YOU APPARENTLY NO NOTHING ABOUT GUITARS, IDIOT. WHY ARE YOU EVEN ON THIS SITE?
Hey dumbass u read the strings backward the high e string is 1 and so on retard
thank you. it helped kinda hahaha
this website helps alot but when i play my d chord, it doesnt sound like ures. the 1st 3 strings, the ones my fingers r on, sound muted. help?
Nate,I really want to thank you for all the well-made,detailed and fun lessons you make.Two weeks ago,I was a total beginner,and thanks to your awesome website, I’ve learned sooo many things!!I already play a few songs and I will keep on learning and practicing because of you and your amazing videos!!!Keep it up and again THANK YOU!
Shay.
You have helped me a lot.
These is my first time playing the guitar. Although my hands are sore,I have just learnt a lot from you.
Thanks so much.I will be coming to this site everyday maybe if I have time to.
Hey ….
Really nice Work
I Really want to know how to play a chord without that ” Pik “.. i want to do it by ma Hand …
hey…
i think ur doing a great job but i would like to learn how to play with my hand too.i will try to come to this site every day but i have a lot of work to do for school so no promises.
THANK YOU FOR THE EXTRA TIME YOU TAKE TO HELP SOMEONE THAT NEEDS IT DONT STOP HELPING CUZ YOU NEVER NO WHO IS YOUNG HE ARE SHE THAT YOU JUST GOT STARTED AND GIVING THEM THERE DREAM FOR MUSIC.AND YOU FEEL SO COMPLETE INSIDE THAT YOU HAD A HAND IN IT.SOME OUT THERE WOULD NOT GIVE YOU THE TIME OF DAY FOR HELP.THEM ARE THE ONES THAT SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM THE WORLD BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER THAT ANYONE WANTS.KEEP IT GOING IT WILL PAY OFF THAT IS FACT WE NEED MORE OF YOU,
u r helping me a lot Nate.
u r an AWSOME guy.
nate isnt there a way to get ridd of all those people who make bad comments about you? that is very rude cause there s some of us that really want to learn not use ur page to put stupid comments..thank you and good work nate..