Parts of a Guitar & Essential Guitar Accessories: Basic Guitar Lessons

Hello Rockers!

Now that you have decided which guitar to buy to start your journey as a rock star, it’s time to study your guitar. It’s time to look into the anatomy of the guitar and see what are the parts of a guitar called and what other accessories are essential to carry with a guitar.

Parts of a Guitar

Take a keen look at this image and study the anatomy of a guitar:

Here you see, both the electric and the acoustic guitars, they almost have the same bodily structure. Their looks mainly differ on the kind of material that is used to build these guitars. Electric guitar is made up of metal while an acoustic guitar is wooden, and as a consequence, their sound varies a lot.

As you can see, the electric guitar does not have any soundhole, which means it needs an external amplifier, which is connected with the pickups. You may use an amplifier with an acoustic guitar too after you place a removable pickup in the soundhole.

Important Parts of a Guitar

1. Tuning Keys/Knobs: Tuning Keys or Tuning Knobs are used to tune the guitar to its standard tuning. You must not touch the tuning keys, unless you are tuning the guitar. Once the guitar is tuned, tuning keys should be left alone or else your guitar goes out of tune.

2. Frets: Almost all guitars have frets, which are metal strips (usually nickel alloy or stainless steel) placed over the fretboard/fingerboard and located at exact points dividing the fingerboard into multiple areas (also called frets), allowing a different sound in each fret.

3. Fingerboard/Fretboard: The fingerboard, also called the fretboard, is a piece of wood embedded with metal frets that makes the neck of the guitar. On the fretboard, you see the position markers (the white dots), which are used to remember the notes you play on the guitar.

4. The Strings: There are six strings in a regular guitar. Mostly, the strings maybe nylon strings or steel strings. Nylon strings are a bit soft on your fingers but they go out of tune frequently so you’ll have to keep on tuning them regularly. Nylon strings are used on acoustic guitar only. Steel strings are a bit hard on the fingers but they give you a brighter sound than nylon strings. Get your first pack of brand new strings here.

Guitar Accessories

Now. Although your guitar is sufficient to keep you happy and you can avoid using the following items, it is mostly a subjective matter. You may collect the following accessories along with your guitar based on your specific needs. Let’s DIY your Guitar Kit. Buy your guitar accessory combo here.

• Guitar Pick/Plectrum: A Guitar pick or plectrum is used to strum or pluck the guitar strings to produce sound. For most guitarists, a guitar pick is a necessity, but there are guitarists who love to play the guitar using their fingers only. So it depends on you whether you wish to use the pick or not. Initially, when you are a beginner guitarist, I would advise you to use a plectrum, as it is easier. You may order any of these picks: 6-piece pick-set or 40 multicolored picks. You may also need a pick holder, though the picks can easily be hooked to the strings when not playing the guitar.

  

• Guitar Tuner: A Guitar Tuner is used to tune the guitar to its standard tuning. This is a necessity in the beginning but as you get better with the sound of the guitar, you can tune your guitar yourself through your ears by keenly listening to the sound of the guitar without needing a guitar tuner. There are a lot of free mobile apps available that can help you with tuning your guitar. I use G-strings free app which is easy to use. You may also go for an external tuner that clips on your guitar and can be easily used for tuning, like Vault Clip-On Digital Tuner.

  

• Guitar Cover Bag: Usually you get a guitar cover when you buy a new guitar, but that’s not the case every time. Some times you will have to buy a guitar cover bag separately. It is necessary to have a guitar cover as it keeps your guitar safe when not in use and is also handy in carrying it to places. Get the best Yamaha Acoustic Guitar Cover Bag here.

  

• Metronome: Metronome is useful for practicing the guitar as it keeps tracks of your rhythm. It gives you beats through a sound which guides you to keep the pace of the track and doesn’t allow you to go out of beat. For developing a perfect timing, you must always practice on a metronome. Use the online metronome, or download any metronome app. You may also purchase a portable metronome. Usually they make Multipurpose Clip-On Tuner & Metronome which can be a handy accessory as it both tunes the guitar and works as a metronome while playing.

• Music Notes Stand: This is needed to place your guitar notes right in front of your eyes. It makes it easier for you otherwise you will have to either use a table in front of you or keep the notes on the floor, which is not advisable as it disrespects the muse gods. [:D] Get your best music stand here.

  

• Guitar Stand: Now when you are not playing the guitar and it is sitting idle, you may want to place it on a guitar stand, which gives an elegant look to the guitar. Usually we place the glace against the wall, but that can bend the neck if done for a long time. it’s better to use a guitar stand. You may buy this bestselling guitar stand. You may also hand your guitar on the wall mounting it onto a Guitar Hanger/Holder/Fitting that is fixed in the wall.

  

• Guitar Capo: As a beginner guitarist, you do not need a capo, as you will mostly be learning the basic chords. When you have learned the chords and have started singing songs with the guitar, you might need a capo which is used to transpose the guitar scales (which you will learn in the music theory section). Capo is a very useful tool once you are good at singing songs with the guitar. So might as well buy one right now, so as to trigger your zeal for learning guitar faster and using the capo as soon as possible. Order the bestselling Capo here.

  

• Guitar Strap: Again, this is something you don’t need in the beginning and till you become a rock star and start performing on stage. A guitar strap is used when you are performing on stage in a standing position. So you can wear the guitar strap and can easily play standing tall like a rock star. If you need to buy one, get this one is the best.

• Guitar Foot Rest: When you play the guitar in the sitting position, you need certain elevation from the floor so that your left arm can easily reach out to the fretboard (as shown in the pic). You may use any little stool for this purpose or you can buy a foot rest especially made for this purpose.

  

• Camera or Audio Recorder: You might want to listen to your guitar for an analysis or to share your instrumentals with friends for peer reviews. Therefore, it’s important for you to always be recording what you practice and saving your journey to look back onto when you are a rock star. You may start your own YouTube Channel to share your learning with the world, where you post your videos about learning guitar to get feedback from a vast pool of global guitarists. Use your phone to start recording either the audio or the video of your practices. You may then get a professional camera later on. The point is: document your journey. It makes the entire process of learning more interesting and entertaining. You may wish to buy a tripod too for your convenience in shooting videos.

  

Fellow rock star, now that you have learnt what basic stuff you need to get started with your guitar learning, it’s time to dive into the process of learning the guitar. I wish you all the success into the kingdom of rock. \\nn//