How to Play the Electric Guitar

Summary: Western popular music of the last 50 years has been largely dominated by one of the most versatile stringed instruments yet produced—the guitar. Specifically, the electric guitar has been the seminal instrument of pop music since the 1960s. Adolph Rickenbacher introduced it to the world in the 1930s…and started a musical revolution.

Electric guitars are usually made with a solid or semi-hollow wood construction. Electromagnetic sensors called “pickups” are mounted on the face of the instrument to collect and transmit vibrations from the strings. From there, the real excitement takes place. The sound waves are interpreted as electrical signals and sent along a path from the guitar to any number of effects that distort, compress, and mutate what is played in real time; the result usually comes out of a very loud amplifier.

With the large array of sounds at its disposal, the electric guitar is almost the perfect vehicle for creative expression. It is no surprise, then, that electric guitars have driven rock and pop music in some very diverse and impactful directions, helping great artists like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, and Eric Clapton develop into icons that are still speaking to entire generations of people.

In this free guitar instruction video series for beginners, learn just about everything you need to know to get started playing electric guitar. Our expert will walk you through some of the first steps to playing, with tips on learning the parts of the guitar, putting the strings on, and tuning. Then learn about fundamentals like scales and power chords, and get exercises for regular practice. Finally, attack some of the more advanced electric guitar techniques like bending strings or doing hammer ons and pull offs, and learn about adding effects to your guitar sound.