You may have been thinking about learning guitar since watching Linkin Park playing their song Somewhere I Belong. But before becoming a great guitarist, you need to have some basic knowledge about guitar.
Guitars originated in Spain in the 14th century. It usually has six strings but you may also find guitars with four, seven, eight, ten or twelve strings. From the time being, different types of guitar have been developed, such as acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass guitars, and lefty guitars. Each of them is suitable for some particular styles.
Acoustic guitars give bright and loud sound to a small group of audience. You may play an acoustic guitar with a pick or your own fingers. It does not require an amp. They are usually used to play with classical or country music.
Rock, jazz, blues and popular music are normally played with electric guitars. You need an amp when you are playing an electric guitar otherwise it will only produce low volume of sound. You may also use some electronic devices to produce special or distorted effect.
Bass guitars also require an amp. They are similar to electric guitars. They normally have four strings but five-string and six-string bass guitars are common as well. Some people are used to pluck the strings by fingers while the others may prefer to use a pick. You may easily find the sound of bass guitars in rock and heavy metal music.
The most common guitars you always see are for right-handed guitarists. You use left hand to play the chords and right hand to pluck the strings. There is a kind of guitar called lefty guitars which are especially designed for the left-handed. They are only the reverse version of the right-handed guitars. If you want a lefty guitar, you may need to place an order in advance as there are not many choices in most guitar shops.
This is just a brief overview. There are more and more types and styles in deed.
Basically if you have a guitar with strings and your hands, you can start learning guitar and playing many songs. But as mentioned above, you may need an amp to increase the volume. Always remember not to use a bass amp to play an acoustic guitar. Each kind of amp is designed for a particular type of guitar. If you do so, your guitar can also produce sound but the quality may not be good enough and it hurts the amp.
A guitar capo is useful for great guitarists too. You can attach a capo to the neck of your guitar. Then it is the same as using your index finger to play a barre chord. It helps you play chords, like Ab and Bb, easily.
If you wish, you may also buy a stand or tuner for your guitar.
Unlike other musical instruments, guitars use not only five-line staff but also four-line and six-line staff. They are called guitar tabs. Each line represents the strings on the guitars. The numbers on the line tell you where to place your fingers.
There have been more and more people looking for online guitar courses recently. They provide many benefits to the buyers. The main reason is the lower cost. They only cost you one to two traditional guitar lessons. The buyers can learn wherever and whenever they like with their computers. The learning process is all controlled by themselves.
Traditional guitar courses still have their value. People may find that the face-to-face teaching is more effective. They could ask questions immediately. They enjoy having someone sitting in front of them to point out their mistakes.
But I would say online learning has become a trend.
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