Frets

Every guitar has about 22 to 28 frets. Each fret has its own sound. It is best to memorize the fret markers on a guitar to be able to move about more quickly while playing. The fret markers are the dots or markers on certain frets. You will see them on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 19th and 22nd frets. The 12th fret has two dots marking the middle. the first fret is on the far left when holding a guitar properly.

Strings

There are six strings on a guitar and like frets, each has its own sound. The standard tuning on a guitar is EADgbe. A good way to remmber whats what is by the thickness. the thickest strings are EAD with E being the thickest. Next gbe are the thinner strings with e being the thinnest.

How to read tabs

Reading tabs is very simple and very important. You can learn a lot of songs by being able to read tabs properly. Tabs will always be written with the thickest string being on the bottom( E ) and the thinnest string being on the top (e). Tabs are always read from left to right like a book.

The one thing a tab does not do is show the exact rythmn a song should be played at. Some tabs will make the numbers far apart to show that the note should be played longer. But the only good way to know how it will sound is to listen to the song.

When strumming or picking, its always best to play with your wrist not your arm. The motion should always be relaxed and calm. Not hitting the strings as hard as you can. The basic difference between a strum and pick is that a strum is playing more than one string and a pick is playing a single string.