Activity

Hey there campers. I’m your guitar counselor, Michael, from Happy Camper Live. Today I’m going to teach you the different components of the guitar.This will help you understand what we’re talking about during guitar lessons. The top of the guitar is called the head. The long board that runs down is called the neck. The neck connects down to the body of the guitar. It’s just like a person: Head, neck, body. On the head of the guitar are the tuning pegs. Each of these can be used to change the pitch of the string to tune the guitar. When you turn the peg, you can tune the string lower or higher. The tuning pegs connect the strings across the nut all the way down to the bridge. The nut holds each of the six strings in place at the top of the guitar, and the bridge keeps the strings in place on the body. When you hold the guitar, you want to rest the curve of the body on your knee. From the nut down, the little metal bars spaced all the way down the neck are called frets. You want to place your fingers in between the frets as close to the fret as possible. This gives you the best sound. The dots on the neck of the guitar help show you where you are on the neck and help guide you while you are playing. When you play the guitar, you play up strings and down strings, and up and down frets too. The hole in the body of the guitar amplifies the sound. The sound reverberates inside the body and comes out as a beautiful chord. When you play your guitar, it’s best to strum over the hole of the guitar where it amplifies best. If you play too low or high, the sounds are a little thin. Next to the hole, there is a plastic piece on top of the wood. This is a pick guard. It protects your guitar from scratches when playing with a pick. That’s all the parts of the guitar: Head, neck, body, tuning pegs, nut, 6 strings, frets, dots on the neck, a hole in the body, a pick guard, and a bridge.