7 Beginner Guitar Playing Techniques

The most important and basic beginner techniques every guitarist should know.

7 Beginner Playing Techniques

These 7 techniques will be taught in this lesson

1. Choose your holding
2. Fretting
3. Hammer-ons
4. Pull-offs
5. Bends
6. Slides
7. Vibrato

Holding a Pick

You will be able to play at your best if you hold the pick correctly. You want to ensure that the pick is held securely so that it plucks the string with both downward strokes towards the floor and upward strokes toward the ceiling. Properly holding the pick between your thumb and index finger is best. It is up to you how much the pick sticks out. This can also impact the stiffness of your pick.

Don’t pinch the pick. It isn’t easy to play quickly because you can’t use your elbow and wrist to assist you. Pinching can also cause an uneven picking angle. You can avoid bad habits that will slow down your playing by holding a pick correctly.

Fretting Notes

The most important skill for playing the guitar is to be able to pick a note. Bad habits can slow down the playing of many guitarists. It is important to have a good finger arch to ensure you only touch the strings you are interested in fretting. This allows you to reach all strings. Your thumb should be behind the neck, not above it. The potential buzzing can be reduced by playing closer to the fret.

Try to be gentle when you worry. You will be slowed down if you push too hard.

Hammer-ons

A single string can produce a legato sound with Hammer-ons or Pull-offs. Legato refers to the process of connecting notes smoothly. This means that you don’t separate notes by picking the string twice on the second note. Both pull-offs and hammer-ons can be notated with a slur. The only difference is that pull-offs are slurred to a lower pitch, while hammer-ons have a higher pitch.

Executing a Hammer-On

1. Take a note.
2. Pick the string.
3. You can quickly hammer the second fretted note down without releasing the first fretted one.

Pull-offs

The opposite of hammering-on, pull-offs can be used to do the same thing. You play a note, then fret another note, and finally, pull off the first note. The notes will seamlessly transition, much like hammer-ons.

Pull-off

1. Do not ignore the first note.
2. Pick the string.
3. Do not release the first note. Instead, use another finger to fret the second note.
4. Keep the second note fretted. Then, release the first note quickly. Do not pluck the string twice.

String Bending

Bends can be a great way of adding interest to your playing. Bends can raise the pitch of the note. The distance between bends will affect the pitch change. You can usually change the pitch by half or whole steps. Sometimes, you may want to make it more dramatic. For that, you will need good calluses!

Executing a Bend

1. Do not ignore the first note.
2. Pick the string.
3. Slide your finger vertically from the fretboard (parallel with the fret) without lifting your finger. Bend until you reach the target pitch, which corresponds to the second note.

It is common to indicate how many steps it takes to bend a note in tablature. Each 1/2 step equals one fret so you can check that you are bending the correct amount. Half-step bends are when you bend the note to the same pitch of the next fret. Ex: A 1/2 step for bent 10th fret is equal to the pitch of the 11th fret. To bend whole steps (labelled in tablature), bend your note until it is the same pitch that the note two frets above.

Pre-bending

Pre-bending involves bending the note first, then plucking the string until the pitch of the bent note is heard. This is often followed by a release (described below).

1. Do not ignore the note.
2. Pull or push the string vertically.
3. Pick the string.

Release

Most releases follow a prebent note. They may also follow regular bent notes. Releasing refers to returning to an unbent note while not letting go. This is done by inverting the bending process to begin with a bent note but end up with a normal fretted one.

1. Pre-bend or bend a note.
2. Pick the string.
3. Continue fretting the note while returning the string to its original unbent position.

Sliders

Slides can be performed on one string. Play a note, then slide your fingers up and down the fretboard to play another note.

Slide up is in the direction toward the bridge, which raises the pitch of the note. Sliding down is in the direction towards the neck, which lowers the pitch.

There are two types: shift slide and legato slide. They are identical except that shift slides pluck the string on the second note. My experience is that most slides are legato slides.

In notation, both use a diagonal line to denote a slide. Legato slides include a slur. This is a curve that connects two notes. This is a way to play the notes as smooth as possible. This is the opposite of what you would do on guitar.

Slide execution

1. Do not ignore the first note.
2. Pick the string.
3. You can slide your finger to the next note without releasing the string from the fretting hand.
4. Perform a shift slide by plucking the string again.

Notice: In the exam

Take note: Use your ring finger to play the slide in this example.

Vibrato

You may have seen B.B. King play. You have probably seen B.B. King perform vibrato. He uses his ball of the hand (the place where your fingers are attached to your hands) as a pivot point. This allows him to use his wrist muscles and pivot his hand while fretting. This action pulsates the note’s pitch. This sound can be replicated by singing a note, pushing your chest forward and pushing down.

Executing Vibrato (Method 1 – Pivot Vibrato)

This vibrato pulls the string down as you turn your hand around the ball. This vibrato is the most popular and easiest to perform.

1. Do not ignore the note.
2. Pick the string.
3. Continue to fret about the note while pivoting your hand around the ball of the hand.

Executing Vibrato (Method 2 – Upward Vibrato)

Sometimes, it isn’t easy to use the first method for vibrato. This happens because you are playing on one string, and pivoting pulls that string off the fretboard. Pivot vibrato fails when you want vibrato to be on an upward bent note. This is one whose string was pushed upward and not downward. To create upward vibrato, your entire arm is required.

There are two types of upward vibrato. The first uses the weight of your guitar and your arm movement upwards from the elbow. To produce vibrato, the second variation relies on your hand muscles.

Weight-based Upward Vibrato (or Arm Vibrato)

1. Place your thumb on the back of the neck to place more weight on the fretting fingers.
2. Do not ignore the note.
3. Pick the string.
4. As a bend, hold the fretted note and modulate your arm with the elbow down. The weight of your guitar can help this vibrato.

Squeezing Vibrato Upward

Although it’s more difficult to achieve a quick vibrato with this method, it can be used occasionally.

1. Place your thumb on the back of the guitar neck so that you can squeeze the neck.
2. Do not ignore the note.
3. Pick the string.
4. Use your hand to press the note back and forth by squeezing your hand against the neck of your guitar. This is similar in speed to bending up or down.

Conclusion

Although different techniques can give you different feelings, they all add some excitement to your playing. These seven techniques can be used to create a solid foundation for any style of guitar playing.