Mark Phillips is a guitarist, arranger, author, and editor with more than 30 years in music publishing. There are a few essentials that I would recommend getting into your gear collection before you really start trying to learn and play the guitar, you should invest your money in: Resting the slide on the strings and playing over the fret (instead of behind it as you do when fretting) takes a little finesse, but eventually, your intonation (the ability to play pitches in tune) and tone (the right pressure that produces rattle-free sustain) will improve.

By this point, I’m sure you’re thinking — that’s great and all, but how am I going to actually get my guitar tuned? As you probably don’t have perfect pitch or note recall to be able to tune every string by ear (not many of us do!), you’ll probably need a little help getting there. And, good news, you have some options here. Chromatic Tuner If you’re struggling (or feel like you’re struggling) to learn the guitar, realize that we all learn at different paces and that the most important thing you can do is be patient with yourself! Getting frustrated will only lead you to develop a dislike for the guitar, whereas as a newbie on your journey, you should want to start developing a passion for playing.You don’t need to strum your strings hard, even if you’re looking to blast your audience away with the sound. Just put a little bit more force behind your wrist and you’ll notice a difference in the dynamic that you’re producing but at no point should you ever need to use your entire arm to strum your guitar. It’s also important that you come to understanding that while it’s a lot of fun playing loud and bold, that you should get the hang of understanding rhythm before you go and start playing your tunes at a thunderous volume. Learn how to strum in time with a beat, as this concept is going to be what makes you sound like a musician who knows what they’re doing, rather than just being someone who can’t play in time and just plays blaringly. An electronic tuner is an essential bit of gear for every guitarist (Image credit: Future) Tuning manually Playing major arpeggios prepares you for music with major chords — and, of course, for music that employs major arpeggios. With arpeggios you think in chords, but you play the notes separately. Bass players have to think in terms of chords and their individual notes. This exercise is good for guitarists, too, because you can play individual notes on the guitar (a melody thing) but use the chords of the song to tell you what notes to play (a chord and accompaniment thing). Keith Richards' use of open G tuning is the stuff of guitar legend – take a leaf out of his book with these 5 must-learn shapes

Chromatic tuners run on batteries, so it’s always a good idea to keep the tuner and a spare battery in your guitar bag as needed. Find the perfect guitar tuner for you today! Tuning Apps While a certain fingering may feel a little bit easier for you to accomplish using certain fingers, don’t take the lazy way when it comes to proper fingerings. Later on down the road, you may come to the realization that the chord that you’ve been lazy fingering is now nearly impossible to play with a seventh or ninth variation added onto it. Just do yourself the favor and practice the fingerings that you struggle with the most, so you don’t develop bad habits down the road when you need to use proper fingering the most! Further Reads: Now that you’ve chosen your preferred method for tuning assistance, let’s put everything you’ve learned into practice. Attach that chromatic tuner to your guitar or pull out your tuning app and let’s get started!You use two major scale patterns to play “The First Noël”: major scale patterns #1 and #4, discussed elsewhere. To begin, put your hand in 2nd position (with your left-hand 1st finger hovering above the 2nd fret). Then place your left-hand 3rd finger (your ring finger) on the starting note F# at the 4th string, 4th fret. Now, you’re ready to play. This also means that you shouldn’t get discouraged by other people! Sure, there are bound to be guitarists who are better at one skill than you are, but at the same point, you have the potential to be better than that same guitarist in another area. Don’t judge your playing capabilities against someone who has been playing for longer than you have- that’s just a killer of hope. A guitar that’s worth the financial investment is a guitar that holds its tuning. But, how do you know when your guitar is in tune? Guitar Tipscontains invaluable guidance on everything from scales and music theory to truss rod adjustments, proper recording studio set-ups and much more. If the wobbling gets faster, you are moving away from being in tune. Tuning is a skill that takes time to develop, so don’t be put off if you find it hard to do at first. (Image credit: Future) Lesson 2: Holding your guitar

If you’re just getting starting in the music world, you’ll want to invest in a tried-and-true chromatic tuner. They are not often expensive, and you can find them at any music store or online. This is a simple, small device that you clip onto the head of your guitar. It reads the string vibrations as you’re tuning and lets you know which note you’re playing.It’s always best to go with the chromatic tuner if you can choose between a tuning app and a chromatic tuner. Apps are often not as precise, and as they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. You’ll want each string to be tuned as close to perfection as you can get it to give you that harmonic sound, and a chromatic tuner is best suited to that. You’ll feel confident learning with our easy-to-follow lessons that build on your skills slowly, so