Regardless of whether you play acoustic or electric guitar, And regardless of how new you are to the instrument,
The 4 things you’ll need right away are:
- Picks
- Straps
- Strings
- Tuners
And up next, we’ll look at each these more detail, starting with…
1.Guitar picks
While not all guitar players use picks…almost all of them do…
So until you discover otherwise, you should assume that you will as well.
And when you’re first starting out, literally any pick will do just fine. There’s no wrong choice.
2. Straps
Just like with picks, guitar straps are one of those accessories that everyone needs…
With the possible exception of an acoustic guitar player who plays sitting…always.
But since it’s highly likely that you already got one included with your guitar.
There’s really no need to worry about an upgrade for quite a while.
For the most part, a strap is a strap, as long as it can hold your guitar up while you play.
But if you’re unlucky enough to have a strap that doesn’t suit you for whatever reason, it’s endlessly annoying. And it will be all you think about until you find a replacement.
3. Strings
Now even though your guitar certainly came pre-strung, and probably tuned as well…
One of the biggest mistakes that new players make is to think that this “problem” has been handled for the foreseeable future.
But the truth is the exact opposite.
Because ideally…learning to change your own strings (in my opinion at least) should be the very first thing new players learn to do, before even learning their first chord.
If they don’t…they will continue to use the same old strings for as long as they possibly can…
Avoiding what they suspect they probably should do, because they simply don’t know how.
Then when the strings finally break and they have no other choice…
They just get a friend or guitar tech to do it for them…and the cycle begins all over again.
Until years later they wake and realize how sad it is that they STILL don’t know how to string their own guitar.
4. Tuners
Just like with stringing a guitar…
Tuning a guitar is another essential skillset that many beginners actively avoid learning…
Simply because it doesn’t seem nearly as fun as just playing a guitar.
But what they don’t realize is…
If your guitar isn’t in-tune when you play…it DEFINITELY won’t be any fun at all.
So again (in my humble opinion)…it’s something that newbies should learn before ever strumming their first chord.
Of course, to do that you’ll obviously need a guitar tuner…
