Learning to play the guitar may seem like a daunting task, especially at the beginning. Getting started can be incredibly difficult, as the guitar is a very technical instrument, but with a little guidance, it can be easy!

Starting the guitar can be difficult, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Acquiring the proper gear, such as a guitar, amp and necessary cables can be difficult and expensive. Possibly the cheapest route for a new guitarist is getting an acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitars do not require amplification to be played, and a decent one can only be around $150-$200. Learning on an acoustic guitar can also be beneficial, as acoustic guitars have thicker strings and will build strength in your fingers faster. If you’d rather start out on electric guitar, there are plenty of options. There are manufacturers, like Squier or Epiphone, that sell very budget friendly versions of higher end models. They can range from $150-$600 for the higher end ones. There is also a very large market for budget amps that will sound good and have enough power to learn and practice on.

Once you have all your gear, what’s next? What should you learn first? Everybody seems to have a different opinion on how to start. A good place to start is learning to figure out all the basic open chords. Open chords are chords that use a lot of open strings (unfretted notes). Open chords include the basic A,B,C,D,E,F,G and minor versions. (Am, Bm, Cm, Dm, Em, Fm, Gm). There are plenty of resources online such as chord charts and tutorials that teach you to properly fret and strum open chords.

Once you have a lot of the basics down, learning songs may not be too far out of your reach. Learning your favorite songs may sound difficult, but there is a system you can use to learn incredibly easy. Tablature, (or Tab for short) can be used to easily learn without having to have a past knowledge of sheet music. Tab uses 6 lines, each one corresponding to a string, and on the line are numbers. These numbers correspond to the fret you play on the neck. So if you saw a number 3 on the lowest line, that would be the third fret on the low E string, or a G. There are plenty of ways to acquire tabs nowadays. There are plenty of online sites like Ultimate Guitar and Songsterr hosting free tabs that are very well written. You can also buy tab books, which is a book full of your favorite artists' music.

Learning the basics of guitar doesn’t have to be too hard! There are plenty of ways to learn the basics and get started. After you get these things down, you can really begin to move forward in your guitar journey.