Whaddya mean Beginner Guitar Lesson?

This is more than just a free online beginner guitar lesson. You'll find a series of lessons aimed at helping you learn to play fingerstyle guitar.

Just how hard is it to learn to play the guitar? Well, there are a couple of ways to look at that question. Is it complicated to learn to play? Not really. Does it take a lot of work to learn to play? For most people, yes.

Many people actually make it harder for themselves than it needs to be.

The key to learning to play the guitar is to have a plan that will work and to work that plan in a smart way!

I'll clearly lay out the steps that you need to take. This is a process that has worked for me (after a lot of trial and error) and for others. Your results will depend mostly on how you practice.

Learning to play the guitar involves physical and mental work. The biggest challenge for most new players is the physical part. For starters, how do you hold your guitar?

The How To Hold A Guitar page should be your first beginners guitar lesson. I hope that you'll agree with me that using a guitar strap is the best approach. It frees up your hands to do their jobs.

Next, you should learn the correct left hand position. This is important because it puts you in a good position to use the fingertips of your left hand. Using your fingertips lets you get a clearer sound from your notes. It also let's you move around the fingerboard more easily.

Now that you how to hold the guitar and how to position your left hand, it's time to look at your right hand. One of the biggest problems that I see with self taught fingerstyle guitarists is their right hand. There are some great players with clumsy looking right hands. But this isn't what makes them great players.

If you're just beginning with fingerstyle guitar, it's all new to you. Why not learn an efficient way to pick instead of a clumsy, inefficient way to pick.

Learning how to practice is an extremely important beginner guitar lesson. In fact, it's probably in the top 10 good things to know .

A well set up practice area and schedule will advance your learning to play guitar faster than anything else that you do.

OK. Now you know how to hold a guitar, how to position your right and left hands and how to set up your guitar practice. You're ready to start picking, right? Not quiet yet.

Let's tune up first. Tuning an acoustic (or electric) guitar is a skill that everyone should learn. It sharpens your ear, and makes for a more enjoyable playing and listening experience.

Now we're ready to start picking. You'll find a couple of exercises to work on for your left hand.

Include these in your daily practice. They will help you get a good clear sound from each note. They'll also help you get around the fingerboard more easily.

You'll find exercises to help you practice the most important chords. These exercises will also help develop your right hand.

For additional exercises to develop the right hand, check out Tarrega's The Complete Technical Studies. They can be found in Scott Tennant's excellant Pumping Nylon in TAB.

I've also found the ******Music Learning Workshop.com *****. I think that you'll find this a good resource for an in-depth look at music theory.

After days of steady practice, your guitar may start to sound a little dull. Or it may have become hard to tune. This is a clear sign that it's time to change your guitar strings.

It's easy to do and this beginner guitar lesson will make your guitar play and sound better.

I hope that you find these Beginner Guitar Lessons helpful as you begin learning to play fingerstyle guitar.

If you have suggestions on how to improve these beginner guitar lessons, please use the form at the bottom of the page.

• How To Hold A Guitar
• Left Hand Position
• Right Hand Position
• How To Practice
• Tuning An Acoustic Guitar
• Guitar Tab Lesson
  An introduction to how to use guitar tablature.
• Left Hand Exercise 1
  This lesson shows how to do a great warm-up exercise. This exercise is also great for developing strength in your left hand.
• Left Hand Exercises 2
  This is another exercise designed to build strength and coordination in your left hand.
• Lesson 1
  Lesson 1 introduces 3 basic guitar chords and playing with the thumb and 2 fingers.
• Lesson 2
  This lesson is built on Lesson 1. It shows a new pattern with the right hand.
• Lesson 3
  Lesson 3 shows another variation on a 2 finger pattern. There's also a demonstration of picking with bare fingers and fingerpicks.
• Lesson 4
  The 3rd, or ring finger, is thrown into the mix with this beginner guitar lesson.
• Lesson 5
  The first alternate picking pattern using 3 fingers.
• Lesson 6
  This lesson features a second right hand pattern using the 3rd finger.


• Lesson 7
  Lesson 7 introduces the Chord Shapes of C, F, and G.

  These chord shapes, combined with the ones in Lesson 1, make up the CAGED Method.



• Lesson 8
  Lesson 8 shows a right hand pattern using 2 fingers and the Chord Shapes of C, F, and G.


• Lesson 9
  Lesson 9 shows a second right hand pattern using C, F, and G.


• Lesson 10
  Lesson 10 shows how to play a 3 finger pattern using the Chord shapes of C, F, and G.
• Lesson 11
  In Lesson 11 you'll learn to move your left hand within a chord shape while playing a pattern with your right hand.

  This is a crucial step in advancing your playing.

  This beginner guitar lesson includes a discussion on using your right hand fingernails to enhance your playing.



• Lesson 12
  Lesson 12 introduces a new 3 finger right hand pattern. It also shows the important technique of right hand muting.

  Right hand muting allows the player to control how long the note sounds, which creates "more musical" music.



• CAGED Guitar Method
  The CAGED Guitar Method shows you how to move simple chord shapes around the fingerboard to create new chords.



Scales
Scales are the building blocks of music theory.


• Intervals
  An understanding of intervals will help you figure out how chords work.


• Buffalo Gals
  Buffalo Gals is a fun to play folk song. In this beginner guitar lesson you begin to learn how to put your own personal spin on a song.

  It also shows how much difference a simple right hand pattern can make on a song.



• You Are My Sunshine
  You Are My Sunshine has been recorded by everyone from George Clooney to Aretha Franklin. It's a great tune that can be played in different ways.

  The version in this beginner guitar lesson has a "rag-timey" feel to it. It's a good way to begin to become familiar with playing a song with a syncopated feel.