 |
Step One: Finger Numbers |
Most people out there have seen a guitar and maybe even held one but many beginners do not know the proper names for the parts of the guitar. In this beginner guitar lesson we will look at some of the basic parts of the guitar. It is important for you to be familiar with the parts of the guitar so that you can communicate with other musicians about the guitar properly.
The body of the guitar is the main part of the guitar that you lay on your leg when you are sitting down to play. Acoustic guitars generally have larger bodies than most electric guitar because they are hollow. The tops of acoustic guitars usually have a sound hole in them. The bridge is the part of the guitar that is fixed to the top and secures the strings to the guitar.
If you have an electric guitar you will probably have some pickups, knobs, an input jack and a pickup selector switch that make up the electronics of your electric guitar. The pickups are like microphones for your strings. They take the vibrations from your strings and turn them into electronic signals that can be amplified. The knobs adjust either the volume or tone of the pickups. The pickup selector switch just lets you choose which pickup or pickups you will be using.
Acoustic and electric guitars both have necks that are attached to the bodies of the guitar. The neck of the guitar has a fretboard to which the frets of the guitar are attached. The frets are the strips of metal that are on the fretboard.
The nut of the guitar is the part at the end of the fretboard that holds the strings in place and guides them toward the tuning keys. Guitar nuts are usually made of plastic, bone or metal.
The headstock of the guitar is the part of the guitar to the far left end of the neck, that is if you are right handed and holding the guitar in a playing position. The headstock holds the tuning keys of the guitar. The tuning keys hold the strings on to the guitar and serve to change the pitch of the string up or down depending on what you need. Check out this video for a step-by-step guide through the parts of the guitar.
Now that you know the basic parts of the guitar it is time to move on to learning how to number your fingers on your guitar playing hand.
