The most basic maintenance that you will need to be able to do on your guitar is to change guitar strings. You might as well learn this now while you learn how to play guitar so that you can change your own guitar strings in the future. Strings do not last forever. They will break, or they will simply get old and dead sounding after a while. You can take your guitar to a local music store and for an expensive fee they would gladly change a string for you. But it is really not that difficult of a task once you get the hang of it, though it does take a bit of time to change guitar strings. The first time you change your strings may be a little frustrating but once you get the hang of it, you will wonder what all the fuss was about.

How Often Should I Change Guitar Strings?

The problem with that question is that there is not one good answer. It really depends on a few factors such as how much you play, whether you use cleaner to help the strings last longer, and even on the chemistry of your sweat. At the very minimum you should make sure and change your strings every 2 or 3 months but this can vary from player to player. A lot of professional musicians will change strings for every gig. Don't just change strings when they break. Instead, you should change the strings on your guitar on a regular basis.

Tuning Your Guitar to Itself

Tuning your guitar to itself with this method is one of the most important pieces of knowledge that you can gain when you learn how to play guitar. When tuning your guitar to itself you tune each string to another string on the guitar that is assumed to already be in the tune that you want it in. This means that you can tune a guitar without having to use a tuner. The only problem with this can be that your guitar might not end up in exact concert pitch. Since you start with the top string they may end up tuned relative to whatever the top string happens to beat the time of tuning. If the top string is out of tune then the rest of the guitar may sound alright when you are playing by yourself because it is all tuned relatively to the top string. However, if playing with a band or a recording it may not sound right because the top string was never exactly tuned to an E.

There are two sitting guitar playing positions for the guitar; classical and casual. Both positions are basically the same principle.

• Pick up the guitar and make sure that the guitar body is supported by your leg
• Position yourself at the edge of your chair so that you are not leaning against the back of it. A stool is preferred to a regular chair.
• Make sure that your back is slightly relaxed but still straight.
• Lean the guitar backwards toward you slightly in order to create a more comfortable guitar playing position
• If playing in the classical playing position then the guitar should be positioned with the neck tilted upward almost parallel to your shoulder