A quick lesson in playing strings

First I would like to thank http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Guitar for the information I will use for this post.

"Every Body Gets Dinner At Eight" or "Easter Bunnies Go Dancing At Easter (going from high E to low E).

Press string down keeping your finger near the edge of the fret. Lean on your finger tips and nothing else, this is to prevent any pain to soft skin on your hands. Having short fingernails is a definite advantage. Depending on which hand you are more dominant with, play using that hand to do strumming and finger picking. Moving from 1 fret to another will change the note to either a sharp or a flat. This makes the note higher or lower. This comes in handy for sight reading. If you put your thumb in the centre of the neck on the back of the fret board it is usually easier to move and change the notes. This also can increase the pressure you put on the strings to make the notes stronger.

(beginnerguitarlessonssite.com)

(guitarcenter.com)

(myguitaring.com)

There are many different ways to count a beat for strumming eg. 1-2-3-4- this can be a simple down strum for all for beats. Another count could be to alternate between up and down on the 1-2-3-4- beat. A more universal strum pattern is down on one, down on two, up on 2 and a half, skip 3 and up on 3 and a half to finish with down on 4 and up on 4 and a half. You can speed up the strum or slow it down, you can even count 8 instead of 4. You should play with your wrist not your arm. There are different types of picks, a thumb pick which wraps around your thumb to give a very stable strum or a finger pick for more precision or even finger strumming with your index or thumb.