Where to start?

Starting to learn a new instrument can be daunting to say the least, especially if you are teaching yourself. It can be easy to get discouraged, but is also a lot of fun once you can play. So where exactly should you start to learn guitar? My suggestion would be to start with chords. The backbone of songs is chords. If you can strum chords, you can have something to sing along to.

The first chords you should learn are G, D, E minor, and C. Once you know these chords, you can sing along with so many different songs. Learning chords will start to help you form muscle memory so that you will be able to hold the correct strings with the correct pressure and not have to think about it.

The following diagrams show the chords. The black dots indicate which strings to hold. The left string is the 6th string or the thickest string. The numbers indicate which fingers to use. 1=Index, 2=middle, 3=ring, 4=pinky. the blank circles indicate that you strum the open string, and X means you don't strum that string.

Take some time to learn these chords. Try to make sure that you are getting a nice clean sound out of each string. It won't be easy at first, but if you play a little bit each day, you will soon find yourself being able to play these chords. If you are having trouble getting good sound from the string, try moving your fingers closer to the fret bar in front. If that doesn't help, try pushing a little harder on the strings. Hopefully this helps get you started! If you have any question, just send me a message or comment below!