So maybe you have been thinking of starting up guitar. Maybe you already play guitar and want a couple of pointers. In this egg you will find everything you need to get started and some things that might help you fine-tune your skills.

For starters you need to know the parts of a guitar. The main part is the body. On the body there is the bridge. This is where you string your guitar. Some bridges are tremelo bridges. This means that they can hold a whammy/tremelo bar. Whammy/tremelo bars are most seen in the 1960's by Jimi Hendrix. Also on the body there are pick-ups. These make the noise through your amp. There are magnets inside that vibrate when a string is plucked. There are two types of pick-ups. Standard Single Coil pick-ups. And Humbuckers which basically are two standard single coils together (hard to describe). Moving to the bottom of the body there is the input jack. This is where you would plug your cable if you were playing through an amp. Then there are the control knobs. There are the volume and tone knobs. Obviously these control the volume and the tone.

For equipment you need an electric guitar, amp, and cable. For the guitar there are many possibilities. Odds are you are looking on the cheap side. If you like the Strat shape but don't have money to spend on a Fender get a Squire. You could get a pretty good one for around $150. If you are looking for a little more out of a guitar I recommend a Epiphone Les Paul. You can get one for anywhere from $90-$300 for the beginner ones. Now to an amp. You probably won't need more than 15 watts seeing as you won't be playing any gigs any time soon. The two brands I recommend are Crate and Marshall. Remember those names. They make AWESOME amps. For a cable you could really get anything. A cable is a cable. However I recommend Monster Cable. Yes they are more expensive up front but it pays off. They have lifetime warranty. Yes lifetime. Meaning if you are playing it when you are 50 years from now and it dies, just take it back to the place of purchase and get a new one for free.

Ok, this is a tutorial that will teach you how to read tab, if you already don\’t.
I\’m pretty sure that all of you have 6 stringed guitars. In which case, each string has a seperate pitch, or a seperate sound. The guitar, when tuned, will give you six musical notes. They are, e (High), B, G, D, A, E (Low). The top and bottom strings, or the ones clsoest to the edge of the guitar are both E strings. However, the one closest to your face is the low E string. When looking down at the guitar, the strings will go...
E (Low)
A
D
G
B
e (High)

Now, more about the musical notes. The guitar has frets as I have explained to seperate each pitch or note. Thus, when looking at the high e string. Playing that string open will result in a e being played. However, if you were to play the first fret, then you would get and F.

Moving on to how to read tab. I will include two tabs, Smoke on the Water and Black Dog. Smoke on the Water is a really easy song, while Black Dog is more of an intermediate level song. Choose one or both.

Smoke on the Water.

e|--------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------|
D|-5-8-10---5-8-11-10---5-8-10-8-5|
A|-5-8-10---5-8-11-10---5-8-10-8-5|
E|-3-6-8----3-6-9--8----3-6-8--6-3|

1. Place your pointer finger (The one clsoest to your thumb) on the 3rd fret of the low E string. Place the middle and ring fingers on the 5th frets of D and A strings. Strum.
2. Place your pointer finger (The one clsoest to your thumb) on the 6th fret of the low E string. Place the middle and ring fingers on the 8th frets of D and A strings. Strum.
3. Place your pointer finger (The one clsoest to your thumb) on the 8th fret of the low E string. Place the middle and ring fingers on the 10th frets of D and A strings. Strum.
4. Repaet Step 1.
5. Repeat Step 2.
6. Place your pointer finger (The one clsoest to your thumb) on the 9th fret of the low E string. Place the middle and ring fingers on the 11th frets of D and A strings. Strum.
7. Place your pointer finger (The one clsoest to your thumb) on the 8th fret of the low E string. Place the middle and ring fingers on the 10th frets of D and A strings. Strum.
8. Repeat Step 1.
9. Repeat Step 2.
10. Repeat Step 3.
11. Repeat Step 2.
12. Repeat Step 1.



NOTE- I realieze this is a pretty fast song. However, take it real slow at first, but then slowly speed it up as you get better at it. I don\’t expect anybody to get it perfect at first, but praticing helps a lot. I chose Black Dog, because it is a pretty hard song (So, it will make it very easy to play a lot of easier songs, and easier to play more difficult songs), it\’s a fun song to play, and it is mostly single strings, which is easier to learn with.

Black Dog rift play 3 times.

e|--------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------5--------------------------------|
G|-----------5---7---5h7p5-----5--------------------|
D|---5-6-7-----7-----------7-7---7-5-7p5-----------2|
A|-7-------7-----------------------------5-7-3-5-0-0|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

Into...

e|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------5--------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------5---7---5h7p5-----5--------------------|
D|-----------5-------------5-------------5---------------5-6-7-----7-----------7-7---7-5-7p5-----------2|
A|---5-6-7-----7---5-6-7-----7---5-6-7-----7---5-6-7-6-7-------7-----------------------------5-7-3-5-0-0|
E|-7-------7-----7-------7-----7-------7-----7----------------------------------------------------------|



Ok, now let\’s start reading.

As we know playing each string open will be playing a zero in tab. so if the tab read...
-
-
-
-
-
0
You would simply play the low string open. Now, for Black Dog.

This first note is a seven on the A string. Now, on your guittar go over to the A string, then find each fret. The first one will be 1.

1. Once you have found the 7th fret, play it.
2. Then move to the D string below (If you are looking down at the guitar) the A.
3. Play frets 5, 6, and 7 in a row.
4. Move back to the 7th fret of A and play it again.
5. Move tothe G string and then play the 5th fret.
6. Play the 7th fret of D.
7. 7th fret of G.
8. 5th fret of B.
9. Here is a little poblem, we have an \"h\" and \"p.\" What those are is simply a hammer-on and pull-off sign. So, insted of playing 5 7 5 in a row. You, will play the 5th fret, and then while the note is still ringing, you will tap on the 7th fret with another finger, and then quickly pull it off. The result will give you all three notes, but in a different sounding way. Clapton uses a lot of these.
10. Play 7th fret of D twice in a row.
11. 5th fret of G.
12. 7th fret of D.
13. 5th fret of D. (Keep finger here while playing the next note)
14. 7th fret of D twice, then after the second, quickly pull off the finger holding this note, and if you held your finger on the 5th fret, then you will have created another pull off.
15. 5th fret A.
16. 7th fret A.
17. 3rd fret A.
18. 5th fret A.
19. Open A.
20. Place a finger on the 2nd fret of D, and play both the open A and 2nd fret D for a chord to end the rift.

For the other part, simply play as I have taught you.
Good Luck, and I hope this was helpful.
This tutorial was created by Led-Zeppelin, tabbed 100% by the same.


Now you are ready to start jamming. Some good songs to learn are listed below.

Good Riddance(chords) - Green Day
Smoke On The Water - Deep Purple
Brainstew - Green Day
Wonderwall (intro) - Oasis
Welcome to Paradise - Green Day
The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
Nothing Else Matters - Metallica
Highway To Hell - AC/DC
California - Phantom Planet
45-Shinedown
I Stand Alone-Godsmack
James Bond Theme Song
Come As You Are – Nirvana
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana


If you are looking for where to get tabs to these songs and others I recommend www.mxtabs.net
They seem to have almost every song.