18 Guitar Techniques Every Beginner Should Learn

When you are just starting playing guitar, it can both be exciting and disheartening at times. There is so much that you have to learn, and it can be hard to know where you should start.

Fear not, because while guitar playing is a long journey, there are specific techniques that will make your life much easier if you learn them early on. Keep reading to learn 18 guitar techniques that every beginner should learn.

Correctly Holding a Pick

When starting out playing, it can be challenging to know whether you are holding your pick right. It seems simple, but if you do not get this right in the beginning, you will have a hard time in front of you as you learn to play. When you are just a beginner player, if your music is off, there is a chance you could be holding the pick wrong.

While correctly holding a pick might take some practice to commit it to memory, you can keep these things in mind:

Keep the pick in a firm grasp as you play so that the strings are correctly plucked on the downstrokes and upstrokes.
Hold the pick in between your index finger and your thumb. The index finger should be bent. That way, the pick can lay on it with the thumb grasping it firmly on top.
There is no right amount of pick that should be visible, and that will depend both on your personal preference and the stiffness of your pick.
Do not pinch the pick. It is a bad habit to get into and will make your playing difficult.

Holding a pick incorrectly can not only make your music sound off, but it can slow you down as you play. Do not let bad habits start when you first begin playing. Otherwise, you will be hard-pressed to play faster music. You can consider this a vital technique to build a proper foundation. Even those who wish to play without a pick should learn it.

Fretting Your Notes in Style

When it comes to some of the most basic techniques that every guitar player should know, fretting is one of those techniques. You will always have to fret notes when you are playing guitar, so why not learn how to do it quickly?

Fretting notes is a straightforward thing to accomplish, but you are probably unsure how to do it correctly, as with most beginners. When practicing this technique, make sure that you are relaxed because otherwise tense muscles from stress will make it harder to play correctly.

You will need to make sure that when you are playing, you have a proper finger arch. By having a proper finger arch, you make sure that you only wind up touching the string you want to fret. If you have an improper finger arch, you may accidentally touch other strings, which will ruin your attempt at properly fretting.

Having a proper finger arch will also help you reach every string on the guitar, so getting the finger arch down is extremely important. When fretting, you will need to make sure that your thumb lies behind the guitar neck and not on top of it. This allows you to play closer to the fret and decrease the potential of buzzing.

Lastly, try to have a light touch when you are fretting. If you have a heavier touch when doing it, you will slow yourself down as you play. Keeping your touch light lets you move between frets faster and more comfortably, making your playing and music better.

Correctly Strumming to Play Well

Other than making sure that you can play with a pick correctly and properly fret, mastering the strum is the next technique that all beginner guitar players should learn. Once you have your pick and fret down right, it is time to begin practicing your strumming.

To strum correctly, you will need to take your pick and slide it down all the strings that are used in the chord. This is where you need to make sure that your fretting technique is well-practiced.

When first starting out with this technique, make sure to take it slow, and then once you have the hang of it, start to speed up. Your strum should be a firm and straight-down sweep, and make sure that you do not hit any unnecessary strings.

Each string should be hit cleanly when you strum them, and they should evenly ring out. If they are not ringing out evenly and clearly, or there is any type of buzzing after you do your strum, you may need to check your fretting technique.

Hammer-Ons and Executing Them Correctly

When playing guitar, it is essential to be able to execute hammer-ons correctly. Hammer-ons are a technique used to connect different notes to create one smooth sound between them. Hammer-ons accomplish this by creating a legato sound on the one string, effectively connecting them.

When you play the guitar, you do not separate notes by plucking a string twice. Instead, you use a hammer-on when working with a higher pitch and then pull-offs when working with lower-pitched notes. Both of them are denoted by a slur, with the only difference between them being their pitch.

If you want to know how to execute a hammer-on properly, you should follow these steps:

The first thing you do when executing a hammer-on is fretting your first note.
After you have fretted your note successfully, you will pluck the string.
Without releasing your fretted note, you will need to push down on the string quickly or hammer down on your second note.
Make sure that when you are going to go down on your second note, you are not accidentally plucking the string a second time.

Executing Pull-Offs Correctly

Another beneficial and essential technique to learn when you are first starting off playing guitar. Pull-offs are the exact opposite of hammer-ons, and thus you will probably learn them alongside hammer-ons when beginning. Pull-offs like hammer-ons help make sure that your notes are played smoothly.

If you are looking to execute a pull-off correctly, you can follow these steps:

When performing a pull-off, the first thing you shall do is fretting the first note you are playing.
After fretting the note, you will pluck your string in preparation for the second note.
You will fret the second note with another one of your fingers, and you must do this without letting go of the first note that you fretted.
After you have fretted the second note, you will release the first note without plucking your string a second time.

String Bends and Executing Them Well

A slightly more complicated technique when it comes to guitar playing is string bending. Bends are used when you are trying to raise the pitch of your playing. The pitch change will decide the distance you travel on the string, but you will need to build up your finger calluses to correctly perform string bends.

To properly execute a string bend, you should follow these steps:

When executing a string bend, the first thing you must do is fret your first note.
After you have fretted your note, you will need to pluck the string as you do with most guitar techniques.
The tricky part is now sliding your finger along the fretboard without lifting it off as you go until you reach your second note. The second note is the pitch you are trying to reach.

Pre-Bends and Releases

Sometimes when doing a string bend, you may do something that is known as a pre-bend. Pre-bending is when you bend the note before plucking your string. After you have completed the pre-bend, you will typically perform what is known as release.

Performing a pre-bend can be done by following these steps:

As usual, fret your first note when performing the pre-bend.
After you have fretted the first note, you will go ahead and either pull or push the string vertically.
After you have accomplished the pulling or pushing of your string, you will go ahead and finally pluck the string.

The last part that comes with the string bend technique is what is known as the release. This is typically performed after you complete a pre-bend and is how you return to your previous note after a string-bend.

You can accomplish the release by keeping these things in mind:

When going about doing a release, you must first have bent or pre-bent a note beforehand.
After the note has been bent or pre-bent, you will pluck the string next.
You will then continue fretting your note and then return your string to an unbent position to complete your release.

Non-Pick Sliding and How to Go About Accomplishing It

Sliding is a technique that takes place on a single guitar string and is another technique that may be useful to have built-up calluses to accomplish well. Sliding can be used in two ways, up and down. When you slide up, it causes the note’s pitch to go up, whereas sliding down causes the pitch to go down.

You can use the slide in several different ways, each one which works slightly differently from the other one. The main two non-pick slides that you will do are called the shift slide and the legato slide. These two slides are identical to the other, except when you are completing a shift slide, you will pluck the string a second time after the note.

You will not have to learn the shift slide early on, though, however. When playing guitar, you will typically only see the legato slide, with shift slides being the rarer of the two.

Accomplishing the slide is as easy as doing these things:

To begin your slide, go ahead and fret your first note.
After fretting your first note, you pluck the string to set up for your next step.
Now comes the tricky part of the slide. You must move your finger either up or down along the string without lifting your finger off the string.
If you are performing the shifting slide, you will pluck the string a second time after completing your slide. More complicated.

Performing the Pivot Vibrato

Vibratos are one of the more fancy and possibly more difficult techniques you will undertake as a beginner guitar player. The first type of vibrato you will probably look at is the pivot vibrato. It is both the most common type of vibrato as well as being the easiest to accomplish.

The pivot vibrato is achieved by pulling your string downward, and then you must pivot your hand around the ball of your hand. It takes a fair amount of practice to get right, but once you get the pivot vibrato down, you will be ready to take on the more complicated vibratos.

Performing a pivot vibrato can be achieved by doing the following:

As you have probably guessed at this point, the first step in a pivot vibrato is to fret your note.
After fretting your note, you will need to pluck the string.
Now comes the tricky part of the pivot vibrato. While fretting your note, you need to pivot your hand on the ball.

Performing the Upward Vibratos

There will be times as you are playing guitar that the pivot vibrato just will not really work for you at the moment. Maybe you are playing on the first string, and if you tried a pivot vibrato, this would cause the string to fall off the fretboard. Pivot vibrato is a bad choice when you want to do an upward vibrato rather than a downward.

Upward vibrato solves all the pivot vibrato issues, but it tends to be a much more difficult vibrato to accomplish, making it harder for beginners. Even though it can be difficult, upward vibratos are still essential to master to allow you a fuller range of musical freedoms as you play.

Two variations exist when it comes to the upward vibrato: the weight-based vibrato and the squeezing vibrato. The weight-based vibrato is accomplished by leveraging the guitar weight alongside your arm. Squeezing vibratos, however, rely on the strength of your hands. Thus, this technique is bad for beginners at first.

Accomplishing The Weight Based Vibrato

Weight-based vibratos will probably be more common for you when you start with upward vibratos. Over time as you gain the skill and hand strength necessary, you will find it much easier to perform not only weight-based vibratos but squeeze upward vibratos as well.

A weight-based upward vibrato can be executed in this manner:

When beginning the weight-based upward vibrato, you must place your thumb near the bottom of the back of the guitar’s neck. This helps more weight be placed on the fretting finger.
After you have set your hand up, now it is time to fret the first note.
Once the note has been fretted, you pluck the string.
Like a bend, with the weight-based upward vibrato, you will need to use your arm while holding your fretting not to accomplish an upward vibrato. At times, depending on the guitar, you may be able to have the weight of the guitar itself help you out here.

Executing Squeezing Upward Vibratos

Squeezing upward vibratos can be more challenging to accomplish due to them relying on your hand strength to accomplish. Not only that, but it is a lot harder to get a fast vibrato when using a squeezing upward vibrato, but it is possible and sometimes used.

A squeezing upward vibrato can be executed through this method:

Place your thumb near the top of the back of the guitar’s neck. This allows you to squeeze the guitar’s neck easily.
Fret your first note as usual.
Once your note has been fretted, you will need to pluck your string for this vibrato.
To accomplish this vibrato, you must use your hand muscles and hold the guitar note while at the same time squeezing, which allows you to continue fretting your note. The hand squeezing movement is similar to moving your arm when doing the weight-based upward vibrato.

Learning How to Palm Mute

Palm-muting is a useful technique to learn, especially as you begin to become more confident in your abilities as a player. Palm-muting helps make your music sound cleaner, as it takes away a lot of the harshness to louder notes. It not only makes your music sound cleaner but also muffles the sound a bit, which is useful at times.

Palm-muting can be used regardless of the type of music you are playing and allows your music to take on a more percussive sound. It can also be useful when you are trying to sing a ballad or a serenade, as it will soften the notes of your music.

Accomplishing the palm mute can be as easy as following these steps:

Place the base of your hand that you use the pick in onto the bridge of the guitar.
After you have placed the base of your hand on the guitar strings, apply gentle pressure.
The more pressure you apply, the more muted your notes will become, so you have full control over the level of mute your playing gets.

Accomplishing the String Choke

String choking is a useful technique, especially when you are a beginner and may not have full control over your playing yet. This technique helps your playing’s overall sound, and it enables you to achieve greater control over parts of your playing as you get better.

String choking essentially stops the strings that you are playing from vibrating and ringing out. This technique helps keep unwanted notes from ringing out when they should not, which can ruin your music’s overall sound when playing.

You can accomplish a string choke with either the fretting hand, picking hand, or both simultaneously if you can achieve it. The way you go about actually doing the string choking is after you pluck a string, place the hand you have chosen on the string exactly when you want to stop the note.

It takes a lot of practice to learn when exactly to choke the string, but once you get the hang of it, it is extremely worth it. Patience is your greatest ally when learning how to do string chokes, and do not let your mistakes with it dishearten you.

Learn the A Minor Pentatonic Scale

When it comes to beginning techniques, every guitar player should learn; learning a set of scales is one of the most important techniques. You are not going to be able to get good at guitar playing if you do not take the time to learn your scales first.

The A minor pentatonic scale is an excellent scale to learn when starting, as it is one of the core scales you will find in nearly every blues and rock song on the radio. Once you master the scales, you will be well on your way to mastering the guitar.

The A minor pentatonic scale consists of five notes, which are repeated across different octaves and positions on your guitar neck. You can move this scale between any key you want, and it will not change how the notes are laid out.

Learning the Double Stop

The double-stop is another excellent technique to learn as you begin with the guitar. You should have first mastered the basics of guitar playing before attempting double stops, as they can be more complicated than other techniques.

Double stops are used for when you want to:

Play two notes together as one in your music
Produce a short, stabbing sound with your notes

This is an ideal technique for you to learn if you plan to play many blues or older-style rock n roll throughout your guitar career. The double stop will help you get that twangy sound that you hear amongst many older rock and blues music, and it can also be used even with modern-day pop and rock songs.

Performing Arpeggios Correctly and Easily

Arpeggios are both comfortable and challenging, depending on the level of arpeggios you want to play. You play an arpeggio by separating the notes of a chord out rather than playing them all in on strum as you usually would.

Arpeggios give your music a jangly sound, which is ideal for many different music styles, so by learning arpeggios, you will have much more options when it comes to your music.

You will need to choose a chord as you are playing and then try to separate the notes to play an arpeggio. It takes a lot of practice to get this technique down entirely, but once you have it down, it becomes easier to play the notes out of order.

Pick Sliding

If you prefer to play the guitar with a pick, then pick sliding is a technique that you will want to learn early on in your beginning days. It is not a very complicated technique, but it can take some practice to be able to create the whooshing, scraping sound this technique is known for.

There are different types of pick sliding, including:

Sweep picking: Uses a sweeping motion across all the strings instead then plucking only one at a time.
Economy picking: Same as sweep picking but incorporates alternate picking into it.
Hybrid picking: Uses both standard picking and fingerpicking to perform a much more complex form of picking.

Performing a pick slide can be done by following these steps:

Use the edge of your pick when you do a pick slide, as this will give you your best-sounding slide.
Slide the pick down one or more of the strings on your guitar to accomplish your pick slide.
When doing a pick slide, make sure that you do it on the wound guitar strings. The non-wound strings will be too smooth for you to complete a successful pick slide.

Fast Alternate Picking

Fast alternating picking is a technique that is entirely focused on allowing you to play faster. Most techniques help you play more quickly when you learn them, but not as many techniques are entirely dedicated to just making your playing faster.

Alternate picking combines upward and downward pick strokes when playing. Typically when you play with a pick, you are either going to do all downward or all upward strokes. However, combining the downward and upward strokes is what helps this technique make your playing that much faster.

This is one of the most straightforward techniques to learn as a beginner, and it can make a big difference in your playing as you start. Given a little practice, you will be able to alternate pick with ease.

Brush Stroking and Accomplishing It Correctly

Brush stroking is very similar to fingerpicking, but instead of using a pick or another one of your fingers, you are using your thumb to strum. Using brush stroking will give your chords a much more soft and subdued sound.

This technique can be taken to a much more advanced level, such as playing entire octaves, but it is important to get started with basic chords when first starting. It may take you some time to get it down, but it will be a great technique to have in your skillset once you do.

This is how you accomplish brush stroking correctly:

To do brush stroking, you need to use the side of your thumb’s bottom.
Use your fingernail as well once you feel comfortable with your brush stroking technique to add in more various sounds.
You should use up and down strokes when doing brush stroking, rather than only using one or the other.