Where and how to start, you ask? Get your Google page displayed on standby mode and follow these steps:

1) Get a guitar. I suggest that beginners start with strumming. Acoustic guitars are great for beginners who want to master the strumming technique first. It produces great sound to entice you to continue playing once those fingers get painful. Don’t need to bother getting a very expensive one since you are just starting out.

2) Get to know your guitar. Conventional guitars have six strings, three base strings and three melody strings. Guitar strings are numbered from the bottom to the top. First string is the one at the bottom while the sixth string is the one at the top. From the 6th to the 1st, the strings are E A D G B E. Memorize them. The guitar body is the wooden case with a hole in it. Its neck has frets which you can press to produce different sounds. At the other end of the guitar there is the head with 6 tuner adjusters which you can turn when you want to tune your guitar.

3) Guitar is out of tune? No electronic tuner? No worries. Tune your guitar by ear! Google “guitar tuner” and click the first result or just go here. Play the sound of the string on the computer and then tune your guitar accordingly. There are also many other such guitar tuners so use Google to search for your favorite one. (Take note that the 1st string should sound the same as the 2nd string with the 5th fret pressed down. Likewise for all strings with the exception of the 2nd and 3rd string, where the 2nd string should sound the same as the 3rd string with the 4th fret pressed down instead.)

4) Introducing chords. Go to All-Guitar-Chords or visit 8notes to find out what exactly to press in order to sound the chords right. They have diagrams with dots depicting the frets you should press in order to get the intended chord sound.

5) Get a pick, which is a triangular piece of small plastic which you use to strum your guitar.

6) Search for a simple song with a few basic chords to start with. For Christian guitar players, Guitar4Christ has a great bank of Christian songs with chords for guitar players (you can search for many popular Christian praise and worship music there). If you are looking forward to play that piece of beautiful music you just heard on the radio, go to Google and type in “song title + tabs + chords” and you will be directed to sites with chords and tabs for you to play. (Tabs have six lines with numbers on the lines. For example, number 2 on the top line indicates that you should press the second fret of the 6th string. The numbers follow an order and sometimes they have to be played together.)

7) Puzzled? Look for instructional videos online such as those on YouTube. Some people like jedimindless on YouTube have been posting many instructional videos for all users to learn and play. His explanations are clear and simple. A great way to learn how to play the guitar.

All the best!!! Message me if you have further questions! Or simply take your own initiative and search the internet for answers. Fingers are bound to get painful after a while, but no pain no gain!!!