Jimi Hendrix is one of those people that comes to mind when you think about the electric guitar. He popularized it when he showed the world the electric guitar was capable of a lot of amazing things that acoustic guitar couldn’t do. Some people say the electric guitar was discovered accidentally when a few guitar players way back in the day hooked up magnetic pickups so their guitars can be heard over the other instruments while their band was playing.
Before you get started with any beginner electric guitar lesson you need to first tune your guitar. This sounds so obvious but many beginners skip this important step. If you don’t want to sound terrible while you’re playing you must learn how to tune your guitar and tune it as often as needed.
When you’re ready to start playing your electric guitar you need to learn how to use a plectrum. A plectrum is a flat tool electric guitarists use to strum the guitar. One important strumming technique you need to learn is palm muting. Despite it’s name the muting sound is executed by the side of the hand instead of the palm.
Whenever you strum the guitar you need to make sure you’re fingers are a little more relaxed than if you were playing power chords. When you’re playing power chords try to pull the plectrum inside so the tip of your index finger comes in contact with the string first, and then followed by the plectrum.
You can tell how much harmonic content you want to get out the chord by just changing up the angle of your picking hand a little. Once you practice and get more comfortable using a plectrum it’s time to learn some easy chords to begin with. Some of the easiest chords are as follows: A major, C major, D major, E major, G major, A minor, D minor, E minor, A 7th, B 7th, C 7th, D 7th, E 7th and G 7th. Take your fingers and place them behind the fret you’re supposed to play.
Every time you play a note you want to make sure it sounds good. Some guitarists find it helpful to keep their fingers perpendicular to the fretboard when playing chords. Many beginner guitarists are taught that their thumb should always be placed in the back of the neck in the middle.
However, if you notice that your thumb ends up in an awkward position when you’re playing a certain chord you can change up the position of your thumb until it best fits you. That’s it for this beginner electric guitar lesson. If you want to get better at the electric guitar you have to keep practicing your open chords and then move on to barre chords, power chords, and guitar scales.
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