You might think that once you’ve strung one guitar, you’ve strung them all.  However, that is not the case, particularly when it comes to electric guitars.  Usually, the strings on an electric guitar will need to be changed more often than on a classical or on a regular acoustic guitar.  The process for doing so is very straightforward.

Before You Start

When we discussed how to string an acoustic guitar earlier, we said that it was okay to remove all of the strings or do it one at a time.  With an electric guitar, you should do one string at a time, to maintain a consistent level of pressure on the neck of your instrument.  This prevents it from getting damaged due to you taking it from high pressure, to low pressure, and back to high pressure within a short space of time.

Obviously, you don’t need to worry about things like tuning one string at a time, so when you get to the end of stringing your electric guitar you can carry out the tuning process as one bigger job.

Therefore, we’re going to talk you through changing the sixth string of your guitar.  Once you’re done, simply go back, and repeat for the other five.

Loosening the String

Either manually or using your string winder, start loosening the sixth string on your guitar.  Check that it actually is becoming loose; if you wound the string on in a strange way when you last changed strings, you might need to turn it the opposite way to usual.

Checking whether it is loosening is easy enough, even before it slackens.  Simply play the string and listen for a lower pitch; you shouldn’t need your tuner for that!

String Removal

As your string becomes completely loose, you can remove it from the tuning peg and pull it through the back of the guitar or the tailpiece, depending on your guitar.  You can save time here by cutting the string so there’s less slack to pull through at the end.  Have a bag handy so that you can throw the old string away immediately; you don’t want to be taking a trip to A&E because you forgot about it and sliced yourself open!

Give the areas of your guitar where the string was a quick clean up before fitting the new string.

Fitting New Strings

Find the sixth guitar string in your new packet, and carefully unwrap it.

How you fit the new string will, like removing it, depend on your instrument.  If you’re feeding your string through the tailpiece, it should be relatively straightforward, while you will need to take a little more care if you need to feed the string through a hole in the back and into the body of your guitar.

If your guitar means you’re doing the latter, the hardest part is getting the guitar string to come through the correct hole on the front of the instrument.  If you’re used to stringing electric guitars, however, this will be easy.

Pull the entire string through the bridge, until it is tightly fitted and can be pulled no further.

String Tightening

Prior to fitting the new string, use the tuner so the whole in the tuning peg sits at 90-degrees to the neck of the instrument.

Pull the string along the neck, keeping it tight without pulling it as hard as you can.  Take the string a little past the tuning peg, and gently turn the end of the string to a 90-degree angle.  Now, slide the string through the tuning peg to the point where you gently turned it; it might be worth doing the same after feeding it through the peg – it should look like a chicane – in order to keep it in place.  Turn the tuner to begin tightening your string, making sure you watch the string on the neck to ensure it doesn’t move and is lying how it should.

String Tension

To ensure your string tightens as well as possible, you’ll need to create tension close to the tuning peg yourself.  It is wise to pull the string back towards the bridge gently as you tighten, so that the string wraps as tightly around the tuning peg as possible.

If you don’t do this, you’ll have to either start again, or risk damaging your fingers through having to pull the string through the peg to tighten it yourself.  Don’t allow any slack to form as you’re turning the peg, and the strings will tighten nicely.

Wrapping Strings

Different guitarists have different preferences when it comes to how they wrap strings; as long as it’s neat and stable, you can wrap them however you want.

Finishing Off

Once you’re done, cut off any excess string and, like when you removed the old one, throw it away immediately.

Tuning Top Tip

When you’ve repeated the process for all strings, you’ll then tune them.  When strings are new, they might fall out of tune reasonably quickly.  Get around this by stretching the string by lifting it up from the neck of the guitar, and then retuning; the sound should then stay consistent, although it is still recommended you tune your guitar before each use.

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Buying a guitar can be an exciting thing to do, whether you are buying your first instrument and are aiming to become a maestro or have been playing for years.  The thing with buying a guitar is that no two are the same.  You probably already know that you will only create the best sounding music when you are confident in your instrument.  It is a bit of a music cliché, but you play your best stuff when you feel ‘at one’ with your guitar.

Truth be told, experienced guitarists know all there is to know about buying an instrument, so this is aimed at those of you who are looking to ‘take the plunge’ and learn to become a competent player yourself.

Before You Hit the Shops

The nature of a guitar means that you simply have to buy it in the shops.  At the very least, you need to try it in a music store before ordering it online, but why do that for a small discount when you can take the actual guitar you just tried out?

Before hitting your local music store, however, you need to keep these thoughts in your head.

Patience Will Pay Dividends

As we already said, buying a guitar is an exciting thing to do.  For too many new or novice players, that manifests itself in heading to the store and buying the first guitar they see.

This is perhaps the worst thing you could do.  Even when you feel you have found the one for you, go away, think about it, have a coffee or a cigarette, and then look at it again.  If you have to go back to the store tomorrow, or next week, then so be it.

Tool Up on Knowledge

Know what you are looking for before you go to the shops.  If possible, take a friend who is already a competent guitarist with you.  Sales people have a habit of preying on weaknesses and knowledge gaps, and those in a music store will be no different.

Researching and having a knowledgeable companion will mean you avoid the store salesperson seducing you with one-way information.

When you decided to buy a guitar, you might not have reckoned with the need to be a savvy shopper while doing it, but it could well be the most important thing to remember.

Hitting the Shops

Anytime when you are a novice and go somewhere targeted primarily at those who are familiar with something, it is an intimidating experience.  Whether it is going to the snooker club for the first time or joining the gym, seeing yourself surrounded by experts, or at least those that are pretending to be experts, can be an unpleasant experience.

However, much like the other two examples, you can easily forget about what everyone else is doing and focus on your aim.

Getting Set

If you have already started playing and have your own guitar pick, then take it with you to the store.  This will probably make little difference in terms of the sound, but you will be more comfortable and confident when it comes to trying out an instrument.

If you are buying an acoustic, then you can play away (it is safe to assume that in a music store the guitars will already be tuned correctly).  Should you be looking for an electric guitar, then the only way to get an idea of the sound is to use the amp you plan to use at home while in the store.  Do not worry if the store does not have the exact same one, just get as close as you can to it, you do not need to take yours along with you!

Act as You Normally Would

Look, this is all about you and buying the perfect guitar.  If the music store attendant says you are not allowed to turn the amp up to the volume you would at home, then give serious thought to whether you actually want to shop in there.

The best music shops will have small rooms out back where you can go and have as much time, and volume, as you need in order to get a feel for the instrument and decide whether it is the one for you.

Play Something Simple

Remember our earlier point about ignoring everything that goes on around you.  Do not start trying to show that you are the next Jimi Hendrix – even new guitarists get emboldened with new instrument in hand – as you will probably just make a fool of yourself.

Play some chords or something of similar simplicity, so that you can get a feel for the sound the guitar creates, and you feel about playing it.  You can worry about everything else later, if you need to at all.

Take as Long as You Need

This might sound harsh, but whether the salesperson is on commission and their daily target is not your concern.

Whether you spend an hour or most of the day trying different guitars, it does not matter.  If you are having trouble with one salesperson, make your excuses, go and grab lunch, and come back and get help from someone else in the store.

If you want to think about your purchase, then be honest enough to say so.  This actually works well as a test of the salesperson, too.  If they start with the whole “gone after today” pitch, respond with a firm, “that is fine, it is more important to me to consider my purchase.”

Negotiate

Almost every store that sells good quality instruments is independent, which means that you can negotiate over the price.  We are not suggesting you start trying to get 50% off, for example, but if your research has told you the price is 15% too high, then there is probably room to manoeuvre.

Get the Guitar You Want

If you stick to these tips, your process will end with you happy in your new guitar.  Do not be tempted to rush or skip any of these steps, or else you could very easily find yourself with an expensive case of buyer’s regret.

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Many popular stories relate to famous musicians who couldn’t read music.  Sir Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, and most of the band Metallica are among those who supposedly are unable to read music.  While it can be argued that being able to read music will enable a person to become proficient quicker, it is also the case that the informal nature of music means anyone can sit at a piano or pick up a guitar and just play.

For guitarists, guitar tabs are the most common and perhaps the easiest way to start playing.  Rather than trying to decipher sheet music, people can look at a sequence of numbers instead.  Guitar tabs opens up playing the instrument to a wide range of people who might have previously thought that being able to read music was a prerequisite for success.

Understanding the Basics

Guitar tablature is presented as six lines, each one representing a string on your guitar.  There’s no strange arrangement that influences how you look at them, you simply see the strings in the order they are on your instrument.

You’ll then see numbers on each ‘string.’  This is simply telling you which fret to close before playing the string, while the number ‘0’ indicates a string should be played open.

Reading individual strings and notes to play is straightforward enough when it comes to guitar tabs, and even new guitarists should be able to pick it up relatively quickly.

Guitar Tab Chords

Chords are a huge part of music, and being able to play them is an equally important aspect of becoming a competent guitarist.

Understanding chords in guitar tabs is similar than doing so with individual notes.  Rather than seeing one number on one string, the closed frets will appear in a vertical line; all that is left for you to do is assume the position and play the note.  If you are looking for guitar tabs either online or in a book at a music store, look out for tabs that actually write the chord name above the sequence.

While guitar tabs might be great for getting started, as you develop as a musician knowing what E major, for example, sounds like and how to play it will be important for your on-going learning.

Additional Guitar Techniques

Hammer-Ons

A hammer-on is when you play a note and move from one fret to another, closer to the bridge, on the same string without re-picking it.

A hammer-on will appear as a ‘slur’ – a curved line – between and above the fret numbers, or more conventionally with the letter H between the fret numbers.

For example, if a song called for a hammer on from frets four to six, it would appear as 4h6.  In some magazines or websites you might also see the ^ symbol used to indicate a hammer-on.

Pull-Offs

These are very similar to hammer-ons, moving up the fret board and away from yourself rather than towards you, as you do when playing a hammer-on.

Therefore, a slur may also be used, and you simply move from one fret to another as you did earlier.  Alternatively, you might see a pull-off written with the letter P, as in 6p4, or the ^ symbol used again.

The truth is that knowing the difference between a hammer-on and a pull-off is not that important, as it is the same thing but in a different direction.  As you develop as a guitarist, you will soon find yourself playing both hammer-ons and pull-offs without much thought.

Sliding

Again, this is not too different to the previous technique, but depending on how the tabs are written, there may be more to take in and understand.

Slash symbols – / or – are most often used to indicate a slide.  / indicates an ascending slide, while the opposite.

For example, if you were sliding from the fifth fret, to the second, and back to the fifth, the tab would read 52/5.  Sometimes you will encounter the / or before the fret number.  This means you can slide onto it from wherever you wish, although it is usually best to keep it simple and transition naturally from the previous string or chord, if possible.

Slides may also be indicated with an S, as in 5s2s5, however if there is a slide before the fret number you will not know whether to slide up or down to it.

String Bends

String bends are easy to understand when reading tabs, but difficult to master until you have really started to become confident playing guitar.

The most common ways a string bend will be indicated are 9(8), 9b(8), or 9b8.  All of these mean that you should close the ninth fret, pick and then bend until it sounds like the eighth fret.  That’s easy, the challenge will be knowing when a note sounds like it should.

You might also encounter 9b8r9, the letter R indicating that you should bend the string and bring it back while the note is still playing, which can be a challenge.

Problems with Guitar Tabs

Although guitar tabs remain a popular way to get started with the instrument, they are not without their flaws.

Criticisms of guitar tablature include:

• Most examples give no guidance in relation to rhythm, therefore making it difficult to learn songs if one doesn’t know it first
• Tabs that do include rhythm can look quite complicated, so it might be quicker and easier just to learn how to read standard notation sheet music instead
• Tabs are native to the guitar, unlike standard notation that could be applied and used whatever the instrument

Guitar tabs are never going to become something we see widely used by musicians, but they are a great way to familiarise yourself with your instrument and become confident at playing.  Even if you do not become a technical musical genius or are able to read standard notation, tabs will give you a decent enough grounding for developing your talents.

Image Source: Kerem Tapani Gültekin