How to play Electric Guitar for Beginners // Another Guitar Show Episode 7
In this video
In this episode of Another Guitar Show, we look at how to play Electric Guitar for absolute beginners! This is the follow on from our acoustic guitar absolute beginners episode.
I highly advise all electric guitarists still begin with the same basics that we started with on the acoustic guitar episode. This includes;
Basic open chords (chords that use open strings such as E major and A major)
Basic strumming of simple songs
As a quick start, all of this can be found in this lesson from my Electric Guitar Starter Course
However, once these basics are covered, there are a lot ore options open to electric guitarists that are quite physically easy to play. We'll cover each of these things plus plenty of easy riffs in this episode, so let's take a look!
PART 1: EASY POWER CHORDS
Power chords play just the thickest two or three strings from any normal major chord. They are therefore neither major or minor, and sound low and heavy.
These sound fantastic when you use overdrive on your amp or use an overdrive pedal.
Once these shapes are mastered, we can move on to using power chords elsewhere on the neck. This is a tougher skill, but is a fundamental building block of electric guitar and rock music in general.
PART 2: A MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE
This scale is the framework for most of your favorite rock and blues riffs! It is basically the electric guitar alphabet.
>> See a full free lesson on the A minor pentatonic PLUS the easy scale extensions I teach here
This scale shape should begin at fret 5 on string 5, which is an A note. However, we can move this shape up or down the neck to play this in any key, which is a very easy thing to do once this scale shape is memorised.
PART 3: ROCK RIFFS, SONGS AND SOLOS!
Once open chords, power chords and the minor pentatonic scale have been learned - 100s of rock guitar songs and solos are now within your grasp!
Some songs are easier than others, so here's a list of all my top suggestions in order easy to hard.
Watch full video tutorials by clicking on each song title!
Top 5 Beginner Riffs!
You Really Got Me - The Kinks (harder - attempt only if you can do the moveable power chords!)
Top 5 Beginner SOLOS!
As there are so many simple AC/DC riffs for beginners - I've put together a top 5 list all suitable for Beginners just for AC/DC songs!
Top 5 AC/DC Song for Beginners
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE
Enjoyed this lesson but want each item broken down in easy to follow steps?
Try my Electric Guitar Starter Course - Get started for FREE here
Want more Rock lessons at a higher level?
>> Check out Andy's complete Rock Guitar Syllabus here
Enjoying this lesson?
Have you tried a course yet? There are many courses on this website covering all levels and styles of guitar, ukulele basics and even great guest teacher courses. Browse the courses now and let them take your playing to the next level.