Firstly, you'll need to find yourself a comfortable chair with no armrests, in which you can sit as upright as possible. (Beanbags or edge of beds are not recommended). For most styles (excluding classical), sit so the waist of the guitar rests comfortably in your lap on top of your right leg. For left hand guitars just do the mirror image. (your left leg.)

Your right hand should be positioned over the sound hole so that the crook in your arm rests on the front edge of the guitar. For the moment, just use your left hand to support the neck of the instrument.

Holding the Electric Guitar

The sitting position for electric is almost the same as acoustic except instead of positioning your right hand over the sound hole (there is none on an electric guitar), put it over the pickups.

The crook in your right arm might not sit comfortably on the front edge like it will on an acoustic guitar, so just rest your forearm against the body of the guitar without slouching. (Try to sit upright).

If you want to stand up with your guitar I'd suggest setting the strap so the guitar hangs at the same height as it would when you are sitting down.

This might not look as cool as your guitar heroes, but it's much easier to play.

Making a Sound

Your right hand is used to strike the strings of the guitar (which makes a noise), while your left hand selects what notes to play on the fret board. Depending on the style of song, you might hold a plectrum (or pick) with your right hand to strike the strings or you might use your fingers.

I would suggest using a plectrum for now as this makes the guitar louder and clearer. I'll cover right hand finger styles later in the tutorial. See the photo which shows the correct way to hold a plectrum.

You can also pick individual strings with your plectrum one at a time. First we'll clarify a few things. Your left hand fingers are numbered 1 to 4 starting from your index finger, the strings are numbered 1 to 6 from bottom to top, and the frets are numbered from 1 to about 19 or so, depending on what type of guitar you have. Have a look at the diagram.

Now take your first finger off the fret board and experiment with your other left hand fingers. Try fretting your 2nd finger on one of the strings on another part of the fret board and listen to what it sounds like. Do the same thing with all your left hand fingers until you can get a clear sound with no buzzing. Once again make sure your finger is next to the fret on the side closest the machine heads and standing upright bent at the first joint.