Eric Patrick Clapton was born on March 30, 1945 in England. Clapton's musical career has developed from band member to solo artist and has allowed Clapton to be considered one of the premiere rock and blues guitarists in history. Clapton was raised by his grandmother who he thought was his mother until age 9 when he learned that his "sister" was actually is mom and he was an illegitimate child. By the time Clapton was 15, he was fascinated with the blues and playing guitar (a gift for his 13th birthday) and by age 17, he had dropped out of Kingston College of Art to focus on a career in music in London.

Click here for an excellent Eric Clapton timeline of his career.

During that time he has sold millions of albums and known worldwide fame - but also experienced the pain of drug and alcohol addiction and the tragic death of his son.

Born in Ripley, Surrey, on 30 March, 1945, Eric Patrick Clapton began learning the guitar as a result of his love for blues and US R&B in the shape of artists such as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.

He became a serious scholar of the blues, learning about its historey , listening to legendary exponents such as Robert Johnson and discovering the work songs of the US deep south.

"It did something to me emotionally," he later said of his affinity with practitioners of the blues sound.

"The blues are what I've turned to, what has given me inspiration and relief in all the trials of my life."

After brief spells with various British blues bands in the early 1960s, Clapton rose to public acclaim in 1964 as a member of The Yardbirds, playing lead guitar at London's Marquee club on the band's first album, Five Live Yardbirds.

While The Yardbirds would go on to recruit fellow guitar heroes Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, Clapton had joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and would soon emerge at the heart of one of the late 1960s' most important rock bands, Cream.

Co-founded with bass player Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, Cream combined the era's psychedelic influence with hard-rocking remakes of blues standards such as Crossroads and Born Under A Bad Sign.

Before the decade was over, Clapton and drummer Baker joined multi-instrumentalist Steve Winwood and bassist Ric Grech in the so-called supergroup Blind Faith, recording a number one album that was hailed by critics.

After a spell in Delaney and Bonnie & Friends, Clapton began to test his vocal skills, recording a 1970 solo album and the widely-admired track Layla on an album recorded under the name of Derek and the Dominos.

Throughout the 1970s he enjoyed continued success with a string of solo albums featuring hits such as I Shot the Sheriff and Lay Down Sally.

At the height of his fame Clapton was devastated by the death of his four-year-old son Conor, who fell from the 53rd-storey window of a New York City apartment in 1991. Clapton later recorded the song Tears in Heaven in tribute.

He has acknowledged a drug habit that began at art school at the age of 15. By 1969, he was drinking two bottles of vodka a day, and five years later his heroin addiction was costing him £1,500 a week.

He has been sober since 1982 and now raises millions of dollars for his drink and drugs rehabilitation centre in the Caribbean.

A winner of eight Grammys and the only triple inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Clapton, now 58, married American Melia McEnery, 27, the mother of his daughters Ella and Julie, in Surrey a year ago.

For nine years he was married to Patti Boyd, previously the wife of former Beatle George Harrison and the subject of Layla.

The string layout on the guitar allows us to play some of the component notes that make up the chord more than once. The usual way to play the E Major chord is shown here. The numbers indicate which finger you will use to fret that note, (1) is your index finger, (2) is your middle finger, (3) is your ring finger and (4) is your pinky finger (not used in these easy guitar chords however). The O on the left side of the string indicate that string is to be struck in the "O"pen position. Place your fingers at the appropriate frets and strum all six strings together (with a downstroke). Congratulations, you just strummed your first guitar chord!

Next we will learn how to read guitar tab and also how to read guitar sheet music.

Solid back, solid side and solid top usually provides the best quality of sound - as well as the highest prices. However, affordable alternatives utilize non-solid sides or backs, or even tops - reducing the cost, but it does impact the tone. Laminates (fake wood) are the cheapest, but they generally have poor tonal qualities. While fine for a beginner who is just starting to learn to play - professional musicians or even those who have start to play well just will not be able use a laminate body/top guitar.

There are a number of factors that determine the tonal properties of wood. In addition, tonewoods respond differently in the hands of different makers. They can also take on different characteristics when used in different models of guitars - even those built by the same maker. Whether a particular wood sounds good or bad ultimately depends on who is doing the listening, so any attempt to sort out distinctions can only be subjective.

Perhaps the most important factor a luthier must take into account is velocity of sound, which refers to the speed at which a material transmits received energy. A luthier must design with materials that facilitate the transmission of vibrational energy. Lively materials, those with a high velocity of sound, or low internal damping make the best facilitators.

Most luthiers (though not all) believe that the wood chosen for the top is the single most important factor in determining the quality of tone of the instrument. It is also interesting to note that the wood itself takes on different characteristics depending on which part of the guitar it's used for. Makers of electric guitars with bolt-on necks have long been aware of the fact that neck and fretboard materials can have a significant bearing on tone. Bridge materials, like fretboards, cannot make or break an instrument, but they serve to enhance or edit the tonal effects of other woods in the guitar's construction.

In conclusion, it is important to remember that wood species can be responsible only for certain aspects of the tone of any guitar. Equally important are design, skill of the maker, and the quality of each individual piece of wood used. Tonewood selection however, can be a determining factor in the creation of a very special guitar or a guitar designed for a specific purpose.

When used as a top, Mahogany has a relatively low velocity of sound, (compared to other topwoods) considerable density and a low overtone content producing a solid tone and respond best at the upper end of the dynamic range. Mahogany topped guitars have a strong "punchy" tone that is well suited to country blues playing.

When considered as back and sides, Mahogany has relatively high velocity of sound, which contributes much overtone coloration. While rosewood guitars may be thought of has having a metallic sound, mahogany guitars sound more wood-like. The harder, denser examples of these woods can take also on the characteristics of the rosewoods. Mahogany back and sides tends to emphasize the bass and the treble.

Mahogany necks help to create a warmer, more 'woody' tonal range. As bridge material, mahogany imparts the same tonal characteristic as it does when used as neck material, only less so.

Koa

Koa has been used for soundboards since the 20's. This hardwood has a relatively low velocity of sound, considerable density and a low overtone content. Therefore, it tends to produce a solid tone and respond best at the upper end of the dynamic range. Koa has a somewhat more 'midrangey' tone that works well for playing rhythm and truly shines in guitars made for Hawaiian-style slide playing.

For back and sides, Koa tends to behave much like mahogany in terms of adding tonal coloration, but it's emphasis is again more in the midrange.

Brazilian Rosewood

The rosewoods contribute to tone coloration. Brazilian rosewood is known for its high sound velocity and broad range of overtones, also characterized by strength and complexity in the bottom end and an overall darkness of tone in the rest of the range. Strong mids and highs also contribute a richness of tone to the upper registers. Rosewood guitars also have a pronounced reverberant-like tone quality, caused by audible delays in the onset of certain harmonics. While both species exhibit complexity, darkness and a reverberant tone, Brazilian rosewood has tremendous clarity in the bottom end and sparkle in the top.

Indian rosewood is also known for high sound velocity and broad range of overtones, strength and complexity in the bottom end and an overall darkness of tone in the rest of the range. Strong mids and highs also contribute a richness of tone to the upper registers. Rosewood guitars also have a pronounced reverberant-like tone quality, caused by audible delays in the onset of certain harmonics. Indian rosewood has a thicker, more midrange overall coloration.

When used for necks, Indian rosewood can help fatten up the midrange.

Sitka Spruce

Spruce is the standard material for soundboards, the most commonly used species being Sitka. Its high stiffness combined with the lightweight characteristics of most softwoods, makes it a recipe for high velocity of sound. A strong fundamental to overtone ratio gives Sitka a powerful direct tone capable of retaining its clarity when played forcefully. This makes Sitka an excellent choice for topwood for players whose style demands a wide dynamic response and a robust, meaty tone. On the other hand, the lack of complex overtones in Sitka can produce a somewhat thin sound when played with a light touch - of course, depending upon the design of the guitar and the other choices of wood in its construction.

Red Spruce

Red spruce is relatively heavy, has a high velocity of sound, and the highest stiffness across and along the grain of all the topwoods. Like Sitka, is has a strong fundamental, but also a more complex overtone content. Tops produce the highest volume, yet they also have a rich fullness of tone that retains clarity at all dynamic levels. In short, red spruce may well be the Holy Grail of topwoods for acoustic steel string guitars.

Maple

Maple, as a result of its greater weight and lower sound velocity, can be downright flat sounding, a blessing in disguise when a guitar is amplified at high sound pressure levels. This is why maple is the wood of choice for electric guitar tops. West Coast big leaf maple is the softest and lightest of the maple family, with a wood grain that (or this, whichever) resembles waves. Aside from a visually breathtaking pattern, the wavy fibers of 'curly' maple reduce the long grain stiffness and vibrate more freely. (This is the secret to the bright, clear powerful sound of the Parker Fly, the only solid-body guitar made with a curly maple body.

Maple necks can impart a bright "poppy" tone that can do much to reinforce the top end of a large-bodied guitar. Fender electrics tend to use maple necks for the aforementioned "bright poppy" tone. Walnut Black walnut tends to lean slightly more in the tonal direction of mahogany, while claro walnut tends toward tonal transparency.

Alder

Alder is a lightweight wood that is highly resonant, producing a full rich tone. When used for solid-body construction, alder provides a very good low end and midrange with the best performance in the lower mid range. Alder also exhibits good high-end characteristics and sustain.

Poplar

Poplar is a string, dense, yet lightweight hardwood that like is unusually resonant. Poplar, when used in solid-body electric guitars, has an exceptionally crisp sound, often described as "spirited" and "bouncy" - even "funky." Poplar guitars are ideal choices for players who favor single-coil snap and clean sound. Swamp Ash Swamp Ash, which grows partially underwater, is a lightweight wood with high stiffness (for high sound velocity), famous for its mid-range snarl and biting response.

Basswood

Basswood is light, stiff, and stable, which makes it particularly effective for necks and bass instruments thanks to its excellent low- end response.

Ebony

Ebony, the traditional material found on the necks of violins, classical guitars, and high-end steel strings, has the lowest velocity of sound of all the woods commonly used and has definite damping characteristics. While not a problem for large-bodied guitars mad of red spruce or Brazilian rosewood, it may be something to consider when designing smaller guitars, particularly those using less resonant tonewoods for tops and backs.