Like any instrument, learning electric guitar requires you to become familiar with the basics, including becoming familiar with your instrument itself.

The electric guitar splits into two major sections – the body and the neck. At the end of the neck you have the headstock which has the tuning machine heads which are used to tighten the strings to tune them for the correct notes. The strings pass over frets on the neck which are where you place your fingers when playing notes. On the body, the strings pass over the pick-ups which are the electrical gizmos which translate the vibration of the strings into an electrical signal. Other items on the body include the pick-up toggle which allows you to choose which pickup or combination of pickups you’ll be using, you’ll also find volume and tone control knobs, phone jack (for connecting to your amp) and whammy bar (technically called the tremolo arm).

Next let’s talk reading music. Unless you’re gifted in playing from ear, learning electric guitar will require you to learn how to read music. This comes in one of two forms – the standard version and guitar tablature (or tab for short). Tab is by far the easier of the two to learn, but does have a few drawbacks. It’s easier to learn because the lines actually represent the strings of the guitar and it indicates where your fingers should be positioned. Whereas the standard version uses a series of lines with staffs indicating the notes to be played and also the tempo, or beat, of the song. This is more ‘traditional’ and what more serious players use.

In my next post I’ll get into learning guitar chords which is where the music starts to happen, so stay tuned!

Tags: beginner guitar, learn guitar fast, Learning Electric Guitar