Learning Guitar: What You Need to Know About Sheet Music

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If you’re like me, between work and family, there are never enough hours in the day. Perhaps that is why I value alone time with my guitar the most. Learning an instrument can be a relaxing and beautiful experience.
Regardless of age, education, or amount of time throughout the day, the guitar is a wonderful instrument to start on, and I might be as bold to say that the guitar is the best instrument to begin with. Why? The guitar is simple to learn, but difficult to master. It is challenging for all ages, but not so challenging that students give up easily. Similarly, the guitar can functionally travel wherever you want to take it. Whether it be to Grandma’s house or on a business trip. And perhaps the most wonderful thing about learning the guitar? You can learn on your own time; Especially with easy to learn guitar tabs and sheet music. The opportunities with a guitar are endless.

Let’s Start With The Basics!

Learning the basics of the guitar is perhaps the most challenging feat to master. Yet, after learning the basics, a musician can expand to learn practically anything. So, what exactly are the basics?

Strumming

The first step is to feel the beat of the guitar and the string under your fingertips, and then combine them together until you have a simultaneously beautiful sound. Strumming should make the guitar sound whole, and deep. With one finger tip, the guitar should sing to whomever you are serenading.

Basic Chords

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After strumming has been mastered, a guitarist needs to learn basic chords. My personal favorite basic chords are A and E. They’re simple to learn and they gave me the opportunity to learn how to switch between chords quickly–a trick that is very valuable in the trade. After you’ve mastered C and G, and can experiment with some diminished chords (7ths in particular), you’ll be on to the next step, sheet music.

What is Sheet Music? How Do I Read It?

Sheet Music is perhaps one of the most valuable tools we have as musicians. Centuries of creating and performing music have led us to write it down so that others may enjoy our masterpieces as much as we have. For that reason, we have practically every song at our finger tips, if you know how to read it.
There are many books of guitar tabs for beginners that spell out how to read guitar tabs and what they are. Breaking that down, guitar tabs are basically little graphs with dots. The graph resembles the fret and the dots resemble where the fingers go. Ultimate guitar tabs included in books will have dozens of pictures like this, and the tabs combined together create a song or music.

Where Do I Find Sheet Music? What Should I Look For?

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Sheet music is incredibly easy to find. It is all over the internet and stores (ranging anywhere from Youtube to Barnes and Noble). Yet, you want to find music that suits your level and your taste. For example, If you are looking for a compilation of classical music, you would want to look for classical guitar tabs. You would most likely find a book with a dozen different songs included. Similarly, if you only want to play one song, like Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, you could find sheet music that is only that piece. You might look for a title like “Moonlight Sonata Guitar Tab,” which would give you all of the tabs that you need to master the song.
Ideally, you want to look for guitar music that suits your abilities and wants. Because of my interest in Franz Schubert and my current lack of mastery of the guitar, I would most likely look for classical guitar tabs or guitar tabs for beginners. I might also look for an ultimate guitar tabs book for reference in the best fingers to use for each tab and how the tabs should be played. The good news is, there are many options for beginners to learn in a timely manner.

I Have the Tools. Now What?

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After acquiring all of the necessary basics and sheet music, the next step is finding the time to teach yourself. Although there are many guitar teachers available to help beginning guitarists, sometimes the best teachers are ourselves. I have found that through trial and error, I have learned the basics of the guitar myself, without any additional help.
While it is entirely possible to self-teach the guitar (given it’s versatility as an instrument), teachers can be helpful once reaching higher levels. It may even be helpful to you if you are struggling with a specific chord or song. For example, maybe you bought Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata guitar tab, but you are hopelessly struggling with the third measure. This would be a great place to take a lesson and have a teacher help you out. Although many times guitar tabs are simple and easy to learn, the more you experiment, the more difficult they can become. It’s always nice to have a helpful friend or teacher to get through those times.

The guitar is a wonderful instrument for beginner musicians. It is simple and easy to learn but challenging enough to stick with. On the same note (no music pun intended), the availability of sheet music is a wonderful and helpful guide to beginning students in need of a starting point. When it comes to learning guitar, sheet music and guitar tabs are always a great place to start.