Paul | Guitar Lessons and Performance - Paul Elwood

parts of the guitar

Regular Folks Playing Guitar: Parts of the guitar

There are a lot of variations on this!
Basically though: from the top to the bottom:

the headstock is where one end of the strings terminate, wrapped around
tuning pegs which are rotated by
“tuners”. The headstock is attached to the
neck and right where the strings pass over that spot is the
nut– usually a white piece of material with notches that the strings fit in. The neck is attached to the
body and that lovely curve where it flares out at the bottom is called the
heel. On the front of the neck is a
fingerboard and that is divided into
frets which are separated by
fret wires. On the face of the fingerboard and the side of the neck are
fret markers– visual cues to orient the guitarist’s hand position. On the front of the body of the guitar is the
soundboard (or topboard). That has a big opening called a
sound hole that the strings pass over. Past the soundhole, the strings […]

Paul2026-03-10T11:47:38-04:00

There are plenty of ways to tune your guitar but most guitar players start with what is called “standard” tuning. That means the strings are tuned from the 6th or fattest string to the 1st or skinniest string with the notes like this:

E (6). A(5). D(4). G(3). B(2). E(1)

One magical thing about guitar standard tuning is the way the strings relate to one another, being a 4th apart (except for the B2 string). That means once we know the string names it is super easy to know all the notes at the 5th fret on each string.

Back in the day, guitarists would use that string relationship to tune their guitar… with an actual tuning fork, if you can believe that, tuned to an A. Once that string was tuned, the other strings would be tuned from it. Happily for us, we have technology now and can use a digital tuner for that. Here’s a video on using a clip on snark tuner (my preferred tuner and method)

Sting: “If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds and make your life worth living. Music is its own reward.”

[…]

Paul2026-03-18T09:35:44-04:00

Practice

Practice Regimen

A “regimen” is a behavior that’s organized according to a system. A practice regimen is exactly that, but for us, it’s a way to formalize our guitar practice; it can help get the maximum benefit from the time spent practicing. Your own practice regimen can be whatever you decide it should be but at minimum I would suggest practicing 3 times a week, 20 minutes at a time. If you can do that you’ll see your guitar playing improve measurably.

I’m also a big fan of the 80/20 rule which says that 20% of the effort produces 80% of the results. With regard to practice, I think 80% of the time should be spent having fun- playing the things that make you happy. 20% of the time however you might focus like a laser beam on things that are hard to do or more challenging. Remember this is supposed to be fun! We can work hard just a little bit and see ourselves moving forward as guitarists… and this is very satisfying!!

Of course the more you practice the faster you will get better! Just remember to have fun while you are doing it, and […]

Paul2026-03-10T07:12:18-04:00

Common musical terms for guitarists

Some common Musical terms for guitar players

One of the things David Newsam at the Berklee school taught me was the advantage of having some common way to describe your musical ideas. When you’re talking to another musician, it saves a lot of time and frustration if you’re speaking the same language! Some of the ideas we’ll be starting out with and some simple definitions:

Arpeggio:
- the notes of a chord played ascending or descending.
Interval:
- The distance in pitch between two tones. Intervals are labeled by numerical value (degree) which indicates the number of pitches they include, their order in the octave and the name of their note. So, first degree C, a whole step from second degree D and so on.
Muting:
- A common technique in guitar playing. “Muting” a guitar means stopping the strings from vibrating. We can mute with either the left or right hand. With the fretting hand, lift the fingers slightly so that the string stops contacting the fret wire. With the strumming hand. Lay the hand across the strings.
Motifs:
- A motif is a short musical idea that occurs often in a piece of music. A short melodic idea may also be called […]

Paul2026-03-10T07:12:24-04:00

History of the Guitar

History of the guitar: where the heck did this thing come from?

There’s a pretty comprehensive article on the history of the guitar: https://www.mi.edu/education/guitar-history-how-the-guitar-has-evolved/

The history of the guitar can be traced back over 4000 years. The first signs of a guitar-like instrument appeared in Asia Minor and the Middle East around 3400 years ago. The oldest known representation of an instrument with the essential features of a guitar is a 3300 year old stone carving of a Hittite guitar found in Turkey.

The first instruments that we might recognize as guitars are thought to have originated in Spain during the 15th Century. These early guitars had four “courses” of strings, or sets of two strings tuned to the same note to give the guitar resonance. The instrument was actually called a “vihuela”, and consisted of four double-strings (paired courses). The world’s oldest guitar is a vihuela, which was created by Belchior Diaz around 1590. It has ten strings and is widely regarded as the predecessor to modern guitars.

The exact origin of the word “guitar” is a mystery, but t

Paul2026-03-10T07:12:31-04:00

why play guitar?

Why play guitar?

There’s a pretty good article by Mike Duffy on the Fender website that talks about some of the real benefits of playing music. Fender consulted Daniel Levitin, author of “This is your brain on music” who stated that, “Playing an instrument can… improve a person’s overall well-being. Playing even five minutes a day can lead to a range of physical, mental and emotional benefits.” According to Levitin, after 60, playing an instrument can help you retrain and remap neural circuits that are inclined to atrophy, which sounds to me like it almost certainly helps you to stay sharp! Plus, playing guitar is just plain good fun.

What about guitar lessons for kids?

Well, learning to play an instrument teaches patience, focus,

Paul2026-03-10T11:47:49-04:00

Goals for guitarists

Goals: short, medium and long-term

We might consider both “entertaining millions” and “knowing how to play any song I want to learn” to be “long-term” goals. You’ll met those some time in the future. Long-term goals are great because they define a possible endpoint of your path, and they’re far enough away that we can move toward them if they change, which they probably will. “Playing any song I want to” could easily morph into “playing finger-style guitar in the style of Django Reinhardt ” as you progress in your ability, understanding and appreciation of your instrument. Of course, it’s also a good idea to have medium and short-term goals too, so you can make sure you are on track to that farther-off goal (of entertaining millions, perhaps?).

One way to look at guitar-playing medium-term goals is to think ahead 6 months or so. Let’s say you found a pretty good guitar teacher and you’ve been studying together for the last 6 months. How does that look, guitar-wise? Do you know how to play maybe a half-dozen songs you couldn’t play before? Do you have a fairly […]

Paul2026-03-18T20:36:51-04:00

Introduction

First I’d like to say that you probably already know quite a bit more about playing guitar than you think you do! Regular Folks Playing Guitar is aimed at a wide range of players from pure beginners to the fairly accomplished guitarist who may be in a rut with their playing and want to break out of it. Whatever level you play at now, if you can hum a tune recognizably – or even a lick from a tune, you already have a sense of timing and melody. We just need to trick your brain into sending musical notes to your hands instead of your mug! I’ll show you how to do that and have some fun at the same time. A lot of what we’ll be doing has to do with ear training which we’ll discuss in some detail.

I once had a student who, when asked the question “why do you want to play guitar?” answered “to entertain millions of people around the world”. Well, that’s not for everybody- or for most of us, in fact. And if that’s your aim, sorry- I don’t really know how to help you with that. Sad face emoji.

It is pretty important to be clear in your mind about what you want from lessons and what you expect “success” might look like […]

Paul2026-03-10T11:53:10-04:00

What a wonderful world

Chords and lyrics:

what a wonderful world

What a Wonderful World” is a song written by Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. It topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poorly in the United States because Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records, disliked the song and refused to promote it.

After it was heard in the film Good Morning, Vietnam, it was reissued as a single in 1988, and rose to number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Armstrong’s recording was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

“The magic of the creative process is that there is no magic. Trust yourself to show up and do the work.” Seth Godin

Paul2026-03-16T19:13:47-04:00

How to play “When I Paint My Masterpiece”

Tabs, chords notation and lyrics:

When_I_Paint_My_Masterpiece

Dylan himself first recorded the song at New York’s Blue Rock Studio when he was backed by Leon Russell and session musicians, including Jesse Ed Davis on lead guitar. The recording sessions lasted from March 16 to 19, 1971, and also saw the recording of the 45 RPM single “Watching the River Flow”, released by CBS Records on June 3, 1971. Both songs appeared on Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II, released November 17, 1971, with Russell credited as the producer of the two songs.

During the March 1971 sessions at Blue Rock Studio, Dylan also recorded a solo version with slightly different lyrics, accompanying himself on piano. This version was released in 2013 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971).

Dylan and The Band performed the song together live, in the early hours of January 1, 1972, at a New Year’s Eve concert by The Band; a recording was released as a bonus track on the 2001 CD reissue of The Band’s live album Rock of Ages.

Douglas Brinkley, while interviewing Dylan for the New York Times in 2020, noted that “When I Paint My Masterpiece” was a song that had grown on him over the years and asked Dylan why he had brought it “back to the forefront of recent concerts”. Dylan replied, “It’s grown on […]

Paul2026-03-10T07:13:29-04:00

About Paul

Regular Folks Playing Guitar: Parts of the guitar

Tuning Your Guitar: first things first

Practice

Some common Musical terms for guitar players

History of the guitar: where the heck did this thing come from?

Why play guitar?

Goals: short, medium and long-term