Teach yourself to play guitar with guitar tabs!
by Rosie Collins
Teach yourself to play guitar without lessons. We show you how to read guitar tabs, how to find guitar tabs online to teach yourself new songs, and give examples easy songs on the guitar. Avanti!
How many of you have guitars lying around the house gathering dust while you "find time" to learn how to play them? Come on, be honest! Here are some top tips to teach yourself guitar...
We have all stared in total awe as the guitarist from our favourite band works their magic and creates beautiful tunes, and thought "I wish I could do that." Well, you can. You don't need to wait for guitar lessons. Just get yourself a cheap acoustic guitar and begin.
Teach yourself to play guitar - Starting Out
First, you obviously need a guitar. If you don't have one, check out these sites...
Guitar chordbooks are always great, too. But guessing you don't have a knock-off guitar bookshop nearby, guitar chordbooks are extortionately priced and sites like this, which show you guitar chords and guitar tabs, are the easy way:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/
How to read guitar tabs
Once you can understand them annoying guitar tab diagrams, you can conquer the world with your 6-stringed friend!
C CHORD DIAGRAM
C
e ---|---|---|---|---|
B -x-|---|---|---|---|
G ---|---|---|---|---|
D ---|-x-|---|---|---|
A ---|---|-x-|---|---|
E ---|---|-o-|---|---|
Imagine that the weird "--------"'s are strings, the "|"s are frets (the metal lines crossing the neck of your guitar unerneath the strings) and basically the top string, the string closest to the left on the guitar tab diagram above, is the string closest the tuners on your guitar. So you put one of your fingers on the second from bottom string on the first fret (the bit before the metal bar); put another finger on the second fret, three strings down from the top; and another one on the third fret, two strings from the top... see the relationship to the diagram?
D CHORD DIAGRAM
D
e ---|-x-|---|---|---|
B ---|---|-x-|---|---|
g ---|-x-|---|---|---|
d ---|---|---|---|---|
a ---|---|---|---|---|
E ---|---|---|---|---|
Use these fingers:
index finger: 3rd to bottom string, second fret
middle finger: bottom string, second fret
umm... the other finger: 2nd to bottom string, 3rd fret.
A CHORD DIAGRAM
Give this one a go from diagram only:
A
e ---|-x-|---|---|---|
B ---|-x-|---|---|---|
g ---|-x-|---|---|---|
d ---|---|---|---|---|
a ---|---|---|---|---|
E ---|---|---|---|---|
Got it? If you have you can try and do loads of chords off Ultimate Guitar now!
Easy songs on the guitar for beginners
Some of the easiest songs to learn on the guitar are:
Eleanor Rigby (The Beatles)
Going Down (The Stone Roses)
Jammin' (Bob Marley)
Songs to improve your skills in moving from chord to chord:
Rescue Me (Fontella Bass)
Demons (Super Furry Animals)
Songs to improve your knowledge of chords:
Reptilia (The Strokes, Duh)
Mr. Brightside (The Killers)
Once you know how to read and play guitar tabs, you are no longer limited by the music tastes of your friends or a guitar teacher. You can teach yourself. We hope you've found this guitar tabs guide useful and good luck learning how to play guitar!
More How to guides, Interesting Hobbies and Arts & Crafts
C Chord - Guitar tabs diagram. Now compare it with the C chord on your guitar tabs. Do you see how they fit together?
Rosie Collins is one of those people that tries on glasses when she doesn't even need them. She has bright red hair and loves anything random, cute or kitsch. She is still dragging through high-school, looking forward to when she: a) doesn't have to wear uniform, b) does not have to sit through double maths and english and c) can have her own house. She also likes smiley faces: =] =[ =/ =| =D.
