There are a few bases that need to be covered before delving into the first series of songs we are going to learn. The first being the physical layout of the guitar, hand positions/ picking techniques, the proper tuning, followed by some frequently used terms. I will also briefly touch on how to read tablature. Tablature is a form of sheet music specifically for guitar.

Physical layout of the guitar



As you can see in the picture above their are three main sections of a guitar. The body which contains the bridge, pickups and volume/tone knobs. The neck which the fretboard is laminated to. And the headstock which the tuning pegs are mounted on. Pretty straightforward. Now lets take a closer look at the fretboard.



The strings are numbered 1-6 from bottom to top. The notes shown are the strings played open (or the 12th/24th fret) when using standard tuning.

Hand Positions

Now that we are familiar with the physical layout of the guitar its time to look at how to hold a pick and general hand placement. Grasp the pick as shown below.

Looking down at your picking hand, there should be 1/8th to 1/4 inch of the pick below your thumb. It doesn't seem like much but there is more than enough pick to get the job done!



With the pick held as shown above, we now place our hand on the guitar. You want the meat of your hand to rest on the bridge to assist in muting* (discussed in terms).





Our fretting fingers are numbered as shown below.





The thumb position shown below should be what we are shooting for. It may feel un-natural at first but this position forces our fretting fingers onto a better, more controlled position on the fretboard.