← Guitar · Start here · about 15 min

Meet your guitar

The parts, how to hold it, and how to tune it.

How a guitar makes sound

When you pluck or strum a string, it vibrates. The body of the guitar makes that vibration louder.

Pressing a string against a fret makes the string shorter, and a shorter string makes a higher note.

An acoustic guitar is loud by itself. An electric guitar needs an amplifier. The playing is almost the same.

Headstock: The top end of the guitar, where the tuning pegs live.
Tuning pegs: Turn these to tighten or loosen a string. Tighter means a higher note.
Nut: The small strip at the top of the neck that the strings rest on.
Neck & fretboard: The long part you hold. Your left hand (or right, if you play left-handed) presses strings against it.
Frets: The metal strips on the fretboard. Pressing just behind a fret changes the note.
Body: The big hollow part (acoustic) or solid part (electric) that carries the sound.
Soundhole or pickups: The hole on an acoustic, or the magnets on an electric, that make the sound louder.
Bridge: Holds the strings at the bottom of the body.
Strings: Six of them. From thickest to thinnest: E, A, D, G, B, e.

Sit tall
Sit on the front half of a chair, feet flat, back straight. The guitar rests on your leg.
Body against you
The curve of the body rests on your thigh. The neck points slightly up and to the side.
Strumming arm
Your strumming forearm rests lightly on the top of the guitar. Your wrist stays loose.
Fretting hand
Your thumb sits behind the neck, about in the middle. Your fingers curve like a claw.

From the thickest string to the thinnest, the strings are E, A, D, G, B, e. A saying to remember them: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.

Turn the tuning peg slowly. Tighter makes the note higher. Loosen the string first and then tune up to the note, because it holds better.

Tap a string to hear its note, then match it.