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.

Gauge and brands of strings

Electric Guitar

The brands and types of strings you use are really just a matter of personal taste. I would however, try the brands GHS, Ernie Ball or D'Addario as a starting point. I would also start with lights which usually means starting with a .009 gauge for the first string on an electric guitar which would probably make the sixth string .042. You can always change to a heavier set of strings later but don't forget that any time you do this you will probably need to have the neck of the guitar adjusted to support the new strings and possibly have the intonation adjusted. This usually requires a trip to the music shop.

Steel String Acoustic Guitar

For this type of guitar I would use Martin or D'Addario as a starting point. When you are trying to learn how to play the guitar you should use an extra light guage string. These strings don't have as good of a tone as the heavier strings but they will be a bit easier to play. This is a good thing when you are just starting. Once you have been playing for a while you might try moving to a light gauge string. Be careful if you decide to go with medium gauge strings because they do put a great deal of stress on the neck of the guitar. However they also get a better sound so it is a trade off you will have to decide on.