How to Strum Your Guitar

How to Strum your Guitar

Having a smooth, steady, consistent strum, is one of the keys to making beautiful music with your guitar.

Before learning any chords, or learning any notes, you should familiarize yourself with the mechanics of strumming, so you can focus on other things without worrying about strumming.

Proper Strumming Mechanics

The key to a good clean strum is a loose wrist . And the key to solid rhythym is an active controlled elbow. All motion should, ideally, originate from the elbow, not the wrist, when strumming. To practice this, put down your guitar, and strum the air gently, up and down, as though you were playing a guitar.  Concentrate on keeping your wrist extremely loose and fluid, and originating all motion from your elbow. When, you strum downward, use your elbow, when you start back up again, use your elbow. Allow your hand naturally with the motion of the forearm, as though you didn't have any muscles in your wrist at all.

Once you think you have the hang of that motion, the next step is to apply the technique to a guitar. Pick up your guitar, make sure it is in tune, and make sure you are holding the guitar properly as discussed in the lesson on holding the guitar. If you like, use a pick, making sure to hold the pick properly as discussed in the previous lesson. Now, without forming any chords or doing anything at all with your left hand (the note articulator hand), give your guitar a nice clean downward strum using the technique you just practiced in the air. Feel how the strings naturally give way, and allow your wrist to move naturally slow down and allow your hand to gently respond to the force of hitting the string. Add a little speed and power, using your elbow, and you'll notice that you will form a nice clean strum. The less 'deep' your strum penetrates the strings (toward the body of the guitar), the smoother, lighter, and cleaner it will sound. Do this a few times, experimenting with different speeds and power levels.

Finally, try strumming upward a couple times, and then alternating. Once you feel comfortable, tap your feet to a steady beat and try to strum rhythymically to that beat, first using all downward motions, then alternating strums, first upward then downward.

Pick up the guitar for at least 5-10 minutes a day practicing this technique, while you are watching tv, until it becomes almost second nature. Then you are ready to start learning chords.




Fret Daddy is the world's leading manufacturer of removable guitar stickers.  To learn more about Fret Daddy, or to learn guitar chords, guitar notes, and more, visit their official website.

How to Tune Your Guitar

Tuning the guitar is the first step in making beautiful sounds and beautiful music. It is the most essential aspect of creating chords and notes that sound good. Therefore it is extremely important. Nevertheless, it is often overlooked. You should tune your guitar EVERY time you play it. Get in the habit of tuning your guitar before you start, and if you are playing your guitar for long periods of time, every 15 minutes or so. 

Instructions For Tuning the Guitar 

Place the guitar on your lap. The string that is closest to your head is called the low E string. Starting with the low E string and tune each string, one at a time, progressing as you go toward the ground. Below are the names of each of the strings, which also indicates what notes each string should be tuned to: 

E – the low E string, also known as the 6th string 

A – 5th 

D – 4th 

G – 3rd 

B – 2nd 

E – 1st 

If you like you can tune your guitar by using the simple free online guitar tuner on located here. 

To use the tuner: 

Simply click on the appropriate letter and match the corresponding string of your guitar to the sound produced by the tuner. This tuner is always going to be on this page, so if you want you can bookmark this page now so you will always have a free tuner. 

Once you have the low E string tuned, you can use another method to tune your guitar, as follows: 

Standard Tuning Method 

Step 1: Make sure the low E string is in tune. 

Unfortunately, if you don't have a tuner, you are going to have to just 'wing it', meaning do your best to remember how the low E should sound when in tune. 

Step 2: Tune The A String 

Next, use the low E string to get a relative tone for the A string by playing the 5th fret of the low E string. Place your left index finger on the fifth ret of the low E string. Make sure to put adequate pressure to produce a nice clean tone, and pluck the string with your right finger. This will produce an 'A' note. The next string should sound exactly like this, since it should be tuned to an 'A'. 

Step 3: Tune The D String 

Next, use the A string to get a relative tone for the D string by playing the 5th fret of the A string. Place your left index finger on the fifth ret of the low E string. Make sure to put adequate pressure to produce a nice clean tone, and pluck the string with your right finger. This will produce an 'D' note. The next string should sound exactly like this, since it should be tuned to an 'D'. 

Step 4: Tuning The G String 

Now repeat the steps above on the D string. In other words, place your left index finger on the fifth fret of the D string and pluck. This will produce a 'G' note. The next string should sound exactly like this, since it is the G string. 

Step 5: The B String 

Now comes the curve ball. This time you're going to place the first finger of your left hand just behind the forth fret instead of the fifth fret. This will produce a 'B' note, which you can use to tune the next string. 

Step 6: Tuning The E String 

Finally, Place the first finger of your left hand just behind the fifth fret on the B string. That’s should create an 'E' note, which you can use to tune the final string. 

Remember to bookmark this page for your free tuner. 



Fret Daddy is the world's leading manufacturer of removable guitar stickers.  To learn more about Fret Daddy, or to learn guitar chords, guitar notes, and more, visit their official website.

How to Care For Your Guitar

How to Care For your Guitar

Caring for your guitar is an important part of maintaining the proper functioning, aesthetic appeal, and value of your instrument. This article provides some information about proper guitar care.

One very important aspect of maintaining your instrument is to keep it well protected when you are not using it. This typically means buying a guitar case, at minimum, if you don't already have one, and making sure to habitually put your guitar away when you are not using it. Another aspect of this point is to protect your instrument from the elements and, particularly, from changing temperatures and dry air. 

Dry air and changes in temperature are one of the quickest way to warp the wood that your guitar is made of. This warping will of course be subtle, but can effect the intonation of the fretboard - sometimes in ways that cannot be undone. Whatever you do, Do NOT leave your guitar in hot cars during the summer or out in the cold. And make sure that you have a humidifier in the room where your instrument is stored. Another measure you can take to keep the proper moisture in the air where your guitar is stored is to put a damp sponge anywhere in the guitar case. If you like, you can put the sponge in a container with small holes poked into the lid. This will help ensure your guitar always has proper moisture.

Another important aspect of maintaining and taking care of your instrument is to change your strings regularly. This will have the most noticeable affect on the actual sound of the guitar. If you play often, you should change your strings every two months. You don't need to change your strings quite as frequently if you don't play very often.

Finally, keep the neck of your instrument free of dirt buildup and grime by regularly cleaning your guitar neck.

Why Learn Guitar Using Stickers?

Being the world's leading manufacturer of guitar stickers, we often hear the question why learn guitar using stickers?


There are a number of goals, important to the guitar learning process, which may be greatly enhanced and or aided with the help of guitar stickers (fret stickers).  Below is a list of some of these benefits:

1. Visualize musical patterns with greater ease - One of the most important aspects of applied musical theory is being able to understand musical patterns and, in the case of guitar, being able to recognize such patterns with relation to the guitar fretboard. Guitar fret stickers allow the student to readily observe such patterns with greatly reduced mental effort. While it is of course important to eventually memorize such patterns without the help of stickers, stickers are extremely helpful in initially helping students to become acquainted with the fretboard patterns to be learned.

2. Focus on technique rather than locating guitar note positions - One common difficulty encountered by the beginning guitar student is the problem of trying to focus on a number of things at once. Students must hold the plectrum (pick) correctly, strum notes or chords, think about the musical patterns being played, and articulate notes with (in most cases) the left hand, and all of these things must be done at the same time. By using stickers the student can free up one's mental efforts to focus on other aspects of learning until those aspects can be mastered. While it is of course important to eventually memorize the fretboard patterns being learned without the help of stickers, the temporary use of stickers with note indicia, can be extremely beneficial during the most critical learning stages.

3. Form new guitar chords with great ease - While the beginning student typically focuses on learning chords within the first three to five frets of the fingerboard, the intermediate and advanced player must learn to form chords across the entire span of the fingerboard. Guitar stickers with note indicia, allow students to recognize obscure patterns, enabling the student to form a more robust understanding of the fingerboard and chord vocabulary.

4. Translate knowledge from one instrument to another - Very often musicians who are fully competent with one instrument - say, for example, the piano - attempt to learn the guitar, but find the ever elusive guitar fingerboard less than obvious to navigate. Guitar stickers allow musicians who already understand musical patterns in the abstract to visually observe and understand how those patterns relate to the guitar specifically.

5. Putting all of the pieces together - With guitar fretboard / fingerboard stickers as a tool, the task of putting all of the pieces together, from musical theory, to strumming, to articulation, to phrasing and pattern recognition, happens at a much quicker rate. While putting guitar stickers on your guitar will not, in and of itself, turn you into a rock God, it certainly will help you move in the right direction.

6. Explore new phrases and patterns during songwriting - Intermediate and advanced guitar players may wish to use guitar stickers for song writing, since they help one to immediately recognize chords and patterns within a designated key. 

7. Learn the fingerboard more quickly - Using fingerboard stickers is the fastest and easiest way to quickly identify the notes and patterns of the guitar fingerboard. Simply apply the appropriate stickers to the fingerboard of your guitar, and you will instantly have the information you need to learn in front of you. 


To learn more, please visit our website.

How to pick the right guitar for you

How to pick a guitar that's right for you

Alright, so you’ve decided you are in fact going to learn how to play guitar. And you've set clear goals for yourself in the process. If you don't already have a guitar, the next step in the learning process will be to purchase a guitar, which of course leads us to the next question: how do you pick a guitar that's right for you?

There are three important factors to consider in picking a guitar:

1. Budget
2. Personal Taste
3. Feature Includes

Let's take a look at all of the factors in detail:

Budget

If money were no object, then we would all have the best guitars money could buy. And that would be an amazing world. But that, of course, is not the world we live in. The reality is, money is DEFINITELY a limiting factor. And, indeed, it is often THE limiting factor in the guitar picking process.

So what is the least amount of money you should spend? It depends on what your goals are, which is one reason why you must clearly define your goals before you even begin the process of learning guitar. If, for example, you plan on doing some recording with your guitar, then you will want to buy a guitar that will not limit the quality of sound that is produced during your recordings. Recordings have an uncanny way of immortalizing every decision you make - especially gear purchase decisions. As a golden rule, if you want to use the guitar you are going to buy for recording, you should probably plan on spending at least $250.00. This general rule of thumb applies for both acoustic and electric guitars. A $500-$1000 budget should be able to get you a guitar that will never dissappoint you, and anything above and beyond that is personal taste. Importantly, this is general advice, and there are always exceptions to every rule. You may be able to find a real 'steal' from a friend or at a local pawn shop. But if you are walking into a Guitar Center, the chances are the rules of thumb above definitely apply.

Now if you are a beginner and are NOT planning on doing any recording any time soon, it is ok to spend less than $250.00, but make sure you don't fall into the trap of buying the cheapest guitar you can find. The quality of your guitar will have a direct effect on how you feel about playing it. And if you spend $39.00 on a real cheapo guitar, the chances are you will never want to pick it up. Obviously, that is not going to have a positive impact on your learning process.

As a beginner, plan on spending at least $100. And don't spend more than $1000.00, because you don't know enough yet to pick the right sound, and everything over $500.00 is about personal taste, in most cases - not quality - which leads us to the next important factor.

Personal Taste

The next important factor in determining how to pick a guitar is fairly straight-forward: personal taste. Make sure you actually like any instrument you purchase. Ordering instruments from a catalog or online is not ideal because the most important aspect of any instrument is how it actually sounds - something you can't determine from seeing a picture of it.

Don't just listen to what other people are saying about a specific type of instrument, although this is good important feedback. Listen to the sound for yourself. The ideal guitar should somehow match your expectations of what a good guitar should sould like. Also, it should sound similar to guitars that you've heard played in the particular genre you are going to be focusing on (folk, country, rock, etc.)

Consider what type of music you like and aspire to be able to play. If you like country music, for exmaple, you should think about purchasing an acoustic guitar, as opposed to a classical or electric guitar. If, on the other hand, you wish to learn how to play classical guitar or flamenco guitar, you should purchase a classical guitar as your first guitar. If you love heavy metal and plan on learning how to 'rip', then electric guitar is for you, etc.

Make sure you buy a guitar that has a look that you are comfortable with. Don't buy a black guitar if you've always wanted a standard wood finish. But don't sacrifice the sound quality for getting a guitar that looks good. Remember, you are trying to make beautiful music, which requires an instrument that produces beautiful sounds! Looks can be deceiving.

Finally, if you plan on using your guitar for recording purposes, make sure you purchase a guitar with a fairly balanced tone. If you purchase a guitar that has too much low end or too much high end, it will be difficult to get a clean mix.

Feature Includes

The last step in picking a guitar that is right for you is to pick a guitar with the right features. Many guitars have some nice built in features, that are definitely important to think about when making a purchase, depending on your goals. If you are planning on playing live performances or open mics, you will want to buy an acoustic guitar that has a built in microphone (an electric acoustic). And for convenience, you may wish to consider buying a guitar with a built in tuner as well. These can really come in handy when you are getting ready to go on stage. However, if you are on a tight budget, you may want to sacrifice the tuner for additional sound quality.

In general, you should spend time taking a good look at the different guitars available on the market within your price range, then decide what features are important to you, given your goals. Sound quality should be your first priority, and your second quality should be playability. Guitars with 'low action' are easier to play because the strings naturally sit closer to the fingerboard. This can sometimes be adjusted, however, you'll want to MAKE SURE that the guitar is playable before you buy it.

If you can afford it, make sure you buy a guitar that has decent tuners. These will save you a lot of frustration by helping your guitar to stay in tune. And consider other features that may be important to you as well.

In the end, pick a guitar that fits your budget, personal taste and musical style, with the best sound quality and most features you can find. And buy something that you will be excited to play, even if it means forking over a little extra dough.

Fret Daddy is the world's leading manufacturer of removable guitar stickers.  To learn more about Fret Daddy, or to learn guitar chords, guitar notes, and more, visit their official website.

Learn to Play Guitar - Getting Started

If you are reading this, then you are thinking about joining the millions of people worldwide who have decided to learn how to play guitar. There’s a reason you’re not alone. Playing an instrument – the guitar, in particular – is one of the most enjoyable things human beings are capable of. Music is in our DNA. Every one of us has enjoyed listening to music at one point or another, and the act of playing music – engaging in the act of expression and creation – is even more enjoyable. So rest assured, knowing you are making an excellent choice. No matter how many hours days or weeks or years a human being has spent learning how to play the guitar – and there are many who have spend thousands of hours doing just that – no one has ever regretted it. Nor will you.

The point is this: if you are still wondering whether or not you should bother learning how to play the guitar, stop wondering. The answer is you should. Why? Because your life will improve instantly and dramatically as a result.

Begin with the End in Mind

Alright, so you’ve made up your mind and you’ve decided you are in fact going to learn to play guitar. You may even have purchased a guitar recently, or perhaps purchased one a long time ago and have been watching it sit in your corner, collecting dust. What now? How does one begin the process of learning how to play the guitar?

Playing the guitar is much like playing any other instrument, game, sport, or engaging in any other activity: the more you do it, the better you will become at it. So the first thing to note is that you shouldn’t be surprised or get down on yourself if you’re not an expert right away. No one ever is. The truth is it will take some time to build the hand-eye coordination, reflexes, knowledge base, and other skill sets required to master the guitar. But with enough practice, you too can play like a pro. Which brings us to the first and most important ingredient in learning to play guitar: you in a chair, dedicating yourself to the learning process.

How dedicated should you be? The answer to that question depends on what your goals are. If you are trying to become a professional musician (someone who gets paid to play or write music) then you should set aside more time to practice than someone whose goal is simply to be able to play a song or two around a campfire. Which brings us to the second point and lesson for the day: define your goals so that you may “begin with the end in mind.” Write down on a piece of paper why you would like to learn the guitar. In other words, think about and record your goals. This will help you to understand what you need to do to make your goals and dreams become a reality.

The next step is to talk to people who have already gone down a similar road before you. If you know someone who already knows how to play guitar, use that person as a resource. Ask him or her questions. Don’t be shy. Find out what he or she did when first starting out. How much did he or she practice? What did her or she do wrong? What did he or she do right? What would he or she do differently if he or she had the chance to be in your shoes and start the process over? Is there something about this person’s playing style that you like or are impressed by? If so, ask him or her specific questions about what intrigues you.

Next, think about what style of music you'd like to focus on. Do you like rock music? Folk? Heavy metal? Or something different? Think about what types of bands you would like to emulate, and think about what types of sounds, riffs, and styles you one day would like to master. Write everything down somewhere - on a piece of paper, or in a word document, or even in an email to yourself. By recording your thoughts, it will reinforce them in you mind and greatly improve your chances of getting what you want - in this case: learning how to play guitar.

Once you have taken the time to define your goals, ask the questions you need to ask, and, ideally, record your thought process in one form or another, you are ready to get started.

About Fret Daddy

Fret Daddy The World's Leading Manufacturer of Removable Fret Stickers.  Learn Guitar with Stickers.