If you are new to the Guitar then bookmark this page now. We update this page regularly with more information about everything from learning how to play a guitar, to the very basics of tuning, chords, tabs, and much more.
Congratulations on choosing to learn how to play a guitar – it is a wonderful instrument and one of the few that you can play whole songs and sing along with at the same time – or your friends can sing along with you. As well as that it’s pretty much the best instrument you can carry around with you, take it to your friends place or the campfire. This makes the guitar a much more social instrument than something like piano or trumpet (and way cooler too!)
The information here is broken down into several categories – just scroll down to the part you are looking for.
Beginner Guitar Series
This is a special series of articles written totally for beginners – our experts are adding to this collection of guitar wisdom every week:
- Guitar Stings – Their Names and Notes – introduces you to each of the strings on your guitar, and all the notes on the fretboard.
- How to String an Acoustic Guitar – shows you step by step what you need to do to change your guitar strings – also useful for electric guitars.
- How to Clean your Fretboard – simple instructions on why you need to clean the frets and how to do it.
- How to Sing and Play Guitar at the Same Time – It can be a bit tricky at first, but these tips and this video will help you improve.
- Expert Advice on Choosing Your First Guitar
Choosing a Beginner Acoustic Guitar
- Our recommended best acoustic guitar for beginners is the Epiphone DR-100 – the combination of low price, play-ability, and durability can’t be beaten in our opinion.
- Click here for all our steel string acoustic guitar recommendations.
- Although it’s not seen as being cool – I recommend beginners start with a nylon string acoustic. There are several reasons for this including the fact that the strings are easier on your fingers when you first start (although they will get sore at first), and you will better learn to understand vibrato which is much easier to do on nylon strings. I suggest you begin with one of (these are affiliate links – but you can find them at most local guitar shops):
- Fender ESC80 3/4 Size
- Yamaha CGS103A 3/4 Size
- Hohner HC06 Full Size
- Fender ESC-105 Full Size
- Yamaha C40 Full Size
- Guitar Fella also has some good beginner acoustic guitar recommendations.
Washburn, Yamaha, and Fender all have some low-cost Acoustic Guitar options here.
Choosing a Beginner Electric Guitar
These are what in our experience are the best electric guitars to start out with – again these are affiliate links – most local guitar shops in your area will have one of these:
The Best Electric Guitars Under $500 is our recommended list of guitars starting from just $120 which you can buy online.
Choosing Effects Pedals
Here is a guide on Top Guitar to the best beginner guitar pedals.
Choosing a Capo
We have provided our recommendations to help you get the best guitar capo for your situation.
Choosing a Tuner for Acoustic Guitar
Our recommendations to help you get the best acoustic guitar tuner to suit your needs.
Guitar Lessons
Here are some great places to find guitar lessons
- GuitarSite.com Lessons
- News on Guitar Lessons, Tips, and Advice – includes announcements about the latest professional Videos and DVDs
- YouTube lessons.
Guitar Tablature (TAB)
Resources for everything you need to know about the special type of sheet music (notation) used for guitar – it’s much easier to understand than regular sheet music and it contains more information about what notes and chords to play:
- A Guide to TAB notation
- Tablature – a huge directory of websites about TABs
- Tablature software – download programs and apps to read, write, and find TABs
Tuning a Guitar
Resources for everything you need to know about the tuning your guitar including standard tuning, alternate tuning, and software to tune your guitar:
- Tuning your Guitar – includes information about standard tuning and alternate tuning methods such as ‘Drop D’
- Guitar Tuning Software – go directly to tuners for Windows – Mac – iPad & iPhone – Android – Linux – or check out our feature on Android Guitar Apps
I think there is no comparison to Yahama in the guitar sector. I owned many guitar brands but what feels Yahama guitars give no other brand can match.
An amazing place to discuss this topic. I have purchased an acoustic guitars of Yamaha. But there are some technical issues with that guitar so I registered and complaint and get the guitar replaced with a brand ew guitar. This is really surprising for me. Thanks to Yamana.
The FG800 is low end guitar from Yamaha and it comes at an exceptionally moderate cost. The value makes the guitar to a great degree mainstream among tenderfoots and even experts. The equipment of the guitar is moderately basic separated from the strong sitka spruce best and covered back and sides. The rosewood complete of the scaffold and also the fretboard is a component that emerges among guitars in that specific value go. The standard tuners that the guitar are great at keeping the strings in order. The machine leaders of the guitar are impervious to the wear and tear caused by the strings.
Bought this for my eight-year-old son…so that I can reclaim my own guitar back! As expected, the quality is excellent thomann given the price. The price is just above the price of a toy guitar but what you get is an excellent instrument for children to learn. The satin finish is beautiful, the sound is very good but I think some different strings might be in order. All said thomann and done, my son (and I) love it. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a 3/4 size classical guitar. At this price, I doubt if you could do any better, it’s what you would expect from Fender. So glad we chose this…oh, and it comes thomann with a free gig bag too. Extraordinarily well packaged and arrived very quickly. First time to use Thomann and will always use them in the future…they are superb, thank you.
When buying your first guitar, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT BUY A FLOYD ROSE TREMOLO. Although they may look cool and feel and sound great, it’s just not worth the trouble for a beginner.
Sure, it’ll always stay in tune, but that’s the problem. It always stays in tune. If you wanna tune to a drop tuning, that’s really hard to do(unless you have a defined on it). Same with a half step down and anything lower. It takes at least 15 minutes to tune a Floyd Rose and about 30 to restring it. If you want a chunkier distorted sound, one you’d hear from Metallica or Testament, get a guitar with humbuckers. You’d find these pickups in most Dean, Schecter, and Ibanez(along with a ton of others) guitars. Single coil pickups are what you’d find on a Fender Stratocaster, they’ll give you a brighter, more bluesy sound. They will also give you a ton of feedback when using a lot of distortion, unlike the humbuckers.
I think Jasmine S35 is great choice for beginners. The Jasmine S-35 guitar features a slim neck together with a full twenty five and a half scale length that provides excellent playability and comfortable feel. The satin finish on the other side is credited for maximizing resonance for a select of sound qualities.