Before we get going into this lesson series, I want to make sure that we're tuned properly. And also, I want to make sure that you understand some basic guitar terminology and some ideas that we're going to be using throughout the series. So, the tuning of the guitar, we're going to focus on what's called standard tuning. And standard tuning goes as follows and you can tune your guitar long to me. Or if you have your own guitar tuner, you could just use that I have one on my cell phone. It's called a guitar tuner, which I use all the time.

I also have a couple digital tuners electronic tuners that I use as well. So anyway, standard tuning. This string right here is what's called the sixth string. And this is a low E So you want to tune the sixth string, the one that's closest to you as you hold the guitar, this is going to be an E. That's called the low E or the sixth string. moving downward, the fifth string is an A. So the fifth string is tuned to an A and standard tuning.

The next string is called the fourth string. This is tune into D as in dog, D, or the fourth string. Then we've got the third string or a G string third string is tuned to G. Then we've got the second string, which is tuned to a B as in baby, ah ah B. And our first stray is also tuned to an age just like our sixth string. So in standard tuning, the sixth string, first string and the sixth string are both tuned to E. So in standard tuning, we've got E, A, D, G, D and As we go through this lesson series, one of the things I'm asking you to do is listen to the original recordings or recordings by the original artist of some of the songs that we're going to learn all the songs that we're going to learn. When you do that, you might notice that your guitar the tuning that I taught you in the lesson series doesn't match up with that, that you hear on the recording.

And there's a couple explanations for this one is that the guitar player tunes his guitar up or down to match his singing voice. And this is something that you can do as well and you can look this up on YouTube or something that you know, if you want to tune up or down, it's really only necessary if you want to sing, you know, along with your accompaniment and the, you know, the the key that the song is in is too high or too low for your voice. The other possibility is they're using a cape Oh, If you don't know what a Keiko is a Keiko is one of these things looks like a vise clip. Something you use in your, in your workshop. And what you can do with the Keiko is put it on the guitar neck. And if I put it here I can change the tuning I can play in what's called an E position, but actually it'll sound like an F. And this is something you can do.

You know to get your tuning in to match what you hear on the recording. That's something you can just play around with and figure out in this lesson series I am going to show you something called drop D tuning. But I'll explain that when we get to those songs. There's four songs in the lesson series that are going to use a slightly different tuning. Once you get your guitar tuned and you're ready to start learning some country blues is a couple other things you gotta you got to think about and first and foremost is deciding How you're gonna pick the strings with your right hand. If you look at my right hand, I use plastic picks.

I've got a plastic pick on my first finger and I use electrical tape. pretty classy, I know. But my fingers are really long and skinny and this keeps the finger the pick on my finger so I don't have to worry about it slipping off. Also, you'll find if you don't have control of the Picks on your fingers, if he is picks and it's really hard to play this kind of music, got a plastic thumb pick, national thumb pick on my thumb and a plastic finger pick. Most of the guys that played this music originally played their finger with their, you know their fingers and their fingernails and whatever else they could throw in there. I've tried that and I just can't get the volume.

I can't get the guitar to sound the way I want to take a long time to do it. And I've just found it a lot easier and I get the sound. I want usually The plastic picks, you could also try the steel finger picks which are out there. I've never been able to use those they always fall off my fingers I can never get them to stay on there tight enough to make them work. Another tip with your fingers is to grow your finger down a little bit longer than usual at least the fingers are going to put the pixel on most of the songs I'm going to show you, you only need your thumb and your first finger. We're going to talk about the style here in just a minute.

But I grow the fingernail on my first finger on my right hand a little bit longer. And I try to keep it long when I know I'm going to be playing or teaching or doing things. It just makes the pic fit on there a lot better. These pics I'm using are called Alaska picks and you can buy them off amazon.com from a number of different music stores. I like them because they fit my finger. Better than anything else that I've tried.

My suggestion is try it all try playing with your bare fingers. Try plastic packs. Try this Steel pegs try everything until you find what works for you. So, the only thing is strings. When you put strings on your guitar, I tend to go towards the heavier strings. My strings that I use, I just get there the Vario strings with a 13 on the high E. I think it's their medium acoustic set.

And I just use those I like them and they last a long time and they stay in tune pretty good. So, again, a lot of this stuff like what kind of guitar you're going to use and all that you got to figure that stuff out. Get out there and play some different guitars, try different strings, see what works I really can't give you any advice. The pics I can help you with though you got it. You got to make a choice there. And again, take your time, try different stuff, find what works for you.

And you're all set.