I’ve been teaching Albany, NY guitar lessons (and online) for many years, with over 8,000 individual lessons taught. Over the years, I’ve noticed that some students can’t wrap their head around music theory, the elements of music, and how they apply to guitar, so I’ve created this short list of the most essential elements of music to help you play guitar fluently and be able to improvise like a pro!

1) Pitch

The first element of music is pitch, which is the highness or lowness of a sound. When you play guitar, you create pitch by pressing down on the strings to create different notes. The way pitch works in a song or scale is related to intervals. Intervals are the distance between two notes, and they can be either harmonic or melodic. Harmonic intervals are when two notes are played at the same time, while melodic intervals are when two notes are played one after the other. If you'd like to sing and strum the guitar, you will need to understand the pitches and intervals in a simple guitar chord and how to select and sing notes that exist inside the chord.

2) Rhythm

One of the most important aspects of playing guitar is learning how to feel the rhythm. This means having a good sense of timing and tempo. Without these skills, it will be difficult to play in a musical and fluent manner. One way to develop these skills is by taking in-person guitar lessons from a qualified instructor. Another is to study music theory, which will help you understand the underlying concepts behind rhythm and tempo. There are many great rhythmic instructional videos on youtube. Here is one where I explain how to look at a guitar rhythm chart and understand the notation:

3) Dynamics

One of the most important aspects of playing guitar is dynamics. This means playing with feeling and emotion, and using loud, quiet, soft, and hard sounds to create interest, contrast and emotion. Imagine a painting of only bold primary colors. That may be difficult for someone to understand when they look at your painting. Just like in art when you learn about shading, shadows, and different kinds of brushes and media - we learn the same relative skills in music. Knowing dynamics and when to use them makes the difference between sounding like a beginner and sounding like a musician.

Summary

It's really the insight that a musician brings to a piece of music - and of course, to the listener - that separates a truly great performer from all others. It's not only about technical ability on the guitar. As a guitar student - your picking hand is the conductor of your mini-orchestra and your left hand fingers are like the different instruments, or vocalists. It's really your picking/strumming hand's interpretation of the music that will draw people in - including you! - and help us emotionally connect to the music. The elements of rhythm, pitch and dynamics are the main elements to build skills and awareness of. In person guitar lessons can help teach these key areas. They often teach beginner guitar lessons as well to give beginners an opportunity to start with understanding these essential musical concepts early on so they have more fluency in their playing later down the road when they know more chords and song structures. Moral of the story: Touch, Tone, and Technique.