Learn To 

Play Guitar Course

Click For More On Learn To Play Guitar Course!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Learning Acoustic Guitar: The Parts of the Guitar and Proper Posture

By Scott Forrester

Some people may think otherwise, but in truth learning to play the guitar is pretty easy. The only thing that you need to do is learn where to start, and the proper place to start is by learning the different parts of a guitar. By doing this you will learn the way it works, and then you'll understand the importance of aspects such as string and pick selection. There aren't that many parts in an acoustic guitar, so we'll go over them fast:

1. The body of the guitar is the big part that you need to worry about. This is where the strings are, and it is the largest part. It has a hole in the center which creates the so und that you hear when you actually play the instrument.

2. Behind the pick hand at the end of the body you will find the bridge. This is the area in which the strings are attached to the guitar before making contact with the hole, and making their way up the neck. On the majority of acoustic guitars, you will find that this bridge is composed of wood.

3. Then there is the neck, which is on the other end of the guitar's body. The neck is on the left, and is long and skinny. The guitar strings go from the bridge all the way to the top of the neck to the tuning keys.

4. In order to make different notes and sounds with your guitar, you need to place your fingers behind the frets. The frets are the golden bars running across the neck, and there are normally twenty four of them.

5. The next part is the nut; this is a divider that goes between the neck and the head stock. Normally this is grooved and keeps the headstock from sliding about while you play your guitar.

6. The headstock is located at the top of the neck. You may not know it by name but if you have seen a guitar you know exactly what it is. This is where the tuning keys are, and they are used to keep the guitar sounding right.

7. What exactly are tuning keys? Those are the metal table located either on the side or the bottom of the head stock, and they are used for tuning the guitar. If the guitar is in tune then it will actually sound right, as opposed to when it is not in tune.

You have now been filled in on the various parts of an acoustic guitar. The next part of course is to learn the right way to hold this instrument, and if you keep reading you're certain to find out!

For right handed players: The first thing that you need to do is sit down, and make sure that one of your knees is slightly raised to support the guitar. Hold the neck with your left hand, and strum the guitar with your right hand. This is a standard posture that nearly all guitar players use, and if you're still not entirely comfortable, you can use a strap to secure the guitar.

If you need to play with your left handed, then just reverse the posture and make sure that you're comfortable. You can sit in any way that you want, so long as you are comfortable and that the guitar sounds right. - 18423

About the Author:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home