Free Online Acoustic Guitar Lessons For The Beginner

Looking for free online acoustic guitar lessons? What beginner isn’t?

There is certainly no shortage of free lessons online, but many of the lessons you will find are not of the best quality.

I came across a real gem on YouTube today. Chances are you are already familiar with this guy. If not, I highly recommend you stop what you are doing and check out the following free video lessons below.

The following acoustic guitar lessons are from a gentleman by the name of Justin Sandercoe. Justin is a very talented London based guitarist, songwriter, performer, producer and educator.

You can listen to some of his original music over at his myspace page. He is currently in the process of recording his first solo record which features vocal songs as well as instrumental guitar pieces.

I have learned a great deal by watching Justin’s videos and I know you will as well.

Enjoy the free online acoustic guitar lessons below and be sure to also check out Justin’s website here.

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Acoustic Guitar for Beginners – Lessons and Tips for Better Guitar Playing

This article was written to address some of the more basic questions that beginner acoustic guitar players have.

What is the best beginner acoustic guitar?

This is probably the most common question from beginner acoustic guitar players. Do not buy the most expensive top quality guitar, but do not buy the cheapest either. A good amount to spend would be between 100 – 300 dollars.

If you can, find an experienced guitarist to come along with you. Ask him or her to pick up and play every guitar in your price range and then buy the one that feels and sounds the best. Make certain to examine any guitar you plan on buying.

Examine the neck of the guitar to see if it is warped. Check the action on the guitar. The action refers to the height of the strings from the fret board. If the action is too high or too low, it can cause problems with your playing.

Remember that you are just a beginner. Do not spend a lot of money on a guitar at this stage. If you do, and you find that [tag-tec]acoustic guitar playing[/tag-tec] is not your thing, then you will have a beautiful guitar collecting dust in the corner of your room. If you enjoy playing and you find yourself getting better, then consider investing in a better guitar.

Do not get stressed out when choosing your first guitar. Just get a descent one and start practicing.

Some good brands to think about: Epiphone, Takamine, Yamaha and Squier.

Ouch! My fingers hurt. I can’t play!

This is a very common complaint from beginners. Every guitarist has experienced hand and finger pain at some point. It is something that you cannot avoid. The remedy? Keep playing and build up strength in your hands and fingers and develop those calluses!

Building calluses on your fingertips will allow you to hold down the strings of the guitar without any pain while flattening your fingertips to produce a better sounding note.

You build up calluses and strength from practicing. In time the pain will subside, but you have to get through this difficult stage of playing first, so hang in there.

Listen to your body though. If you are in serious pain then by all means give your hands and fingers a rest.

Here is a great exercise to help strengthen your hands and fingers and to build up calluses:

This exercise will also familiarize you with the entire neck of your guitar and give you the agility to play chords and solos. Building the muscles in your hands will improve your stamina for playing and will develop what is called “muscle memory”.

The object of this exercise is to play each note going up and down the neck of the guitar.

Start with your pointer finger on the 6th string 1st fret, let your fingers follow up the neck of the guitar, one note at a time, staying on the 6th string until your pinky finger reaches the fourth fret.

Play the 1st fret with your pointer finger
Play the 2nd fret with your middle finger
Play the 3rd fret with your ring finger
Play the 4th fret with your pinky finger

Note: After you have played the first fret do not lift your pointer finger up. Keep each finger on the string as you play them. This is important as it will aid in the strengthening process.

Repeat the same process on the 5th string, then the 4th, and so on.

When you get to the bottom string, slide your entire hand over one fret without lifting your fingers.

So at this point, your pinky finger should be on the 1st string 5th fret, your ring finger on the 4th fret, middle finger on the 3rd fret and your pointer finger on the 2nd fret.

Now play in reverse, starting with your pinky, going back up the guitar to the 6th string, only this time you have to lift up your fingers as you play.

Then simply repeat the process until you reach the last fret of your guitar.

Do not rush this exercise or you will develop poor playing habits. Go nice and slow making sure you are producing a nice tone with each note you play.

More Beginner Guitar Tips

Make sure to stretch your fingers and hands before practicing.

Learn to actually read music and not just tablature.

Hire a guitar teacher if you can. A teacher can catch any mistakes you are making and correct you on the spot. This will help you avoid poor playing habits. If you cannot afford a guitar teacher, then consider buying a good home study course.

Learn to play chords, scales and other techniques and not just your favorite songs. I know you just want to jump right in and learn “Stairway to Heaven”, but if you do not put the time in to learn the theory behind those great songs, you will not improve as a guitar player.

Do not pack up your guitar. Leave it out in the open. This will make it easier to just pick up your guitar and play at any time.

Practice each day for at least 20 minutes, more if you can. If you find yourself getting bored, or making a lot of mistakes, then take a break and do something else. 20 minutes of quality practice is better than an hour of sloppy practice.

Listen to other guitarists and not just in your favorite genre of music. You will be surprised at how other styles of music can influence your playing.

Play with other guitarists as often as you can. This is a great way to learn and pick up new techniques and advice.

Learn how to string and tune your guitar.

Learn the correct way to take care of and maintain your instrument.

I hope this article has helped. The best tip I can give you is to never give up. Keep playing each day and try not to get discouraged. Good guitar playing is not just about technique, it also comes from your heart. If you truly love playing guitar, and you are dedicated to getting better, then it is only a matter of time. Enjoy and God Bless!

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Guitar Lesson: Help Yourself To Practice – By Peter Edvinsson

By Peter Edvinsson

What can you do to make it easy for yourself to practice on your guitar? In order to continue to learn to play guitar and not give up you have to create an atmosphere of joy and fun around this activity. Let’s see what you can do to make it as easy as possible to play guitar.

As a you boy I had a lot of interests at the same time. Reading, sporting, playing piano, playing chess, a lot of more things and, of course, playing guitar.

I developed a habit to always have my guitar laying on my bed. Always as I walked into my room my guitar was laying there waiting for me. It was very easy to sit down on my bed starting to play because of two facts:

1. I could see the guitar as I walked into my room which immediately reminded me of how fun it is to play.

2. The guitar was easily accessible. The only thing I had to do in order to play the guitar was to grab it and start playing.

This made it possible for me to play a lot on my guitar in spite of all other activities. All other things I did was interwoven with my guitar playing and my musical experiences connected with it.

This way of working with my guitar was not a conscious plan to maintain energy and motivation to practice. It just happened to be that way. These moments with my guitar became a part of my personal development.

When I sat there playing guitar I also had time to digest life as it proceeded. It way a form of meditation because as I played on my guitar I allowed my mind at times to wander and I remember that some important decisions in life were made as I sat there playing.

Enough talk about myself! What can you learn from my experiences?

Let’s apply my experiences to the art of learning to play guitar and see if we can find principles that are applicable to all guitar players.

Here are some thoughts and suggestions:

1. See to it that you have your guitar as accessible as you dare to. It will be a reminder for you that playing guitar is fun. I have sometimes reminded my guitar students to pull out the guitar from the hard case or gigbag as soon as they come home from the lesson and start to play something connected with their homework. Otherwise there is an imminent risk that they will not open the case until the next lesson is at hand.

This is how humans often react. If it is a little effort involved in starting to do something we want to do there is a risk that we will procrastinate the activity until it is too late.

2. If you have set goals or have homework to do on your guitar I recommend that you also have these sheets or written down goals handy. No use to have goals if you are not reminded of them on a daily basis.

To facilitate all things that can be facilitated is one way to accomplish more of the important things in life including playing guitar.

Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free sheet music, guitar tabs, ebooks, music lessons and read his music blog at http://www.capotastomusic.com

Guitar Lesson: Fretboard Education – By Peter Edvinsson

By Peter Edvinsson

Do you really know the name of the notes on your guitar fretboard? You can learn the notes well and in a short time if you put a little energy into the project!

It will really help you as a guitarist if you know the names of the notes on your guitar. Let’s see some of the benefits you reap from learning to know your guitar:

1. It will be much easier to learn to play sheet music notation as you already know where to find the notes on your guitar. The only remaining task is to learn the names of the notes on the sheet music staff.

2. You will find it much easier to understand chords and remember chords as you easily can see where to put your fingers to play the required notes.

3. It will be easier for you to understand guitar lessons on the net or in guitar instructional books as you understand an important part of the language used in guitar instruction.

We will start with something you can learn as your first task if don’t already know this. It is to know the names of the notes on the open strings of your guitar. An open string is a string not pressed down by a left hand finger.

The first string with the highest pitch on your guitar is normally tuned to an E. If you press down the twelfth fret you will find an E one octave higher. I will now give you the names of the open strings beginning with the first string:

E B G D A E

You can practice the names of the strings by playing the strings from the sixt string down to the first and back at the same time saying the names of the strings aloud or in your mind.

An easy and effective exercise to use to learn the notes on the fretboard is to concentrate on one note at a time trying to find the note on all the strings beginning with the sixth string.

Let’s start with the note E. On the sixth string you will find it on the open string. Can you spot the E on the next string? This exercise will also help you develop your ear.

Listen to the E on the sixth string and press down a finger on the fifth string and slide it until you will find an E on this string. As this is not a test but an article I will tell you that you will find an E on fret 7.

On string four you will find an E on fret 2. On string three it’s on fret 8. On string 2 on fret 5 and on string one on the open string.

Now you can practice the E notes by playing one string at a time from the sixth string down to the first and back again until you can do it automatically.

Do the same with the note G for example trying to find the right fret by listening. On the sixth string you will fing G on fret three. Of course the notes will be found in different octaves and this will be a great exercise to hear the notes and recognize them by listening.

There are many more exercises you can use to learn the notes on the fretboard. The message is that you will learn the notes on the guitar fretboard in a short time if you make a conscious effort to learn them.

Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free sheet music, guitar tabs, ebooks, music lessons and read his music blog at http://www.capotastomusic.com

Learning to Play Acoustic Guitar For the Beginner

The very first step toward learning to play acoustic guitaris to develop confidence and to destroy that “I can’t do it” mentality. Your biggest obstacle in your acoustic guitar playing is not going to be money, time, or the absence of a good teacher. The biggest obstacle is going to be you. You are your own worst enemy. Once you learn how to tame the negativity inside, you will be that much closer to becoming a good acoustic guitar player.

Frustration is normal during the learning process. Learning anything new is not meant to be easy. Resistance is what helps us grow. So the next time you are working on a scale, or chord progression, and you find yourself fumbling or messing up, don’t throw down the guitar with frustration, instead welcome the challenge and have patience in it.

YOUR FIRST GUITAR

Buying a first guitar is an important step for the beginner guitarist. You should have a good understanding of the acoustic guitar as a whole as well as a good idea of what your goals are as an acoustic guitar player. By educating yourself in these areas, you will be able to make an intelligent purchase that can provide you with years of enjoyable playing.

There are two kinds of acoustic guitars that you can purchase and they are your classic or nylon string guitar and your steel string guitar. One is not necessarily better than the other as it is really a matter of personal taste, but each guitar does have its own unique feel and sound. The classic or nylon guitars produce a round or dull tone, where as the steel string guitars are much different, producing a bright tinny or metallic sound. You will certainly develop your own preference the longer you play, or like many guitarists, you will enjoy using both. Only time will tell.

Another thing you will have to consider is the body style of your acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitars come in a variety of different body sizes from small to jumbo. Each size has its own distinct sound. Smaller body guitars have more treble and midrange sounds and are much easier to hold. Lead guitarists tend to favor smaller body guitars because they tend to have a more balanced sound to them and are easier to make out when playing with other musicians in a band. Your larger body guitars have more bass and are more difficult to hold. The only way to really know what body style is right for you is to try one out for yourself. Your best bet is to find a guitar that you are comfortable holding and playing. Guitar playing is challenging enough in the beginning and you do not need any added difficulties.

Guitar quality will differ depending on the model and brand. Sometimes two instruments of the same make and model can differ as well. It is therefore important to try out as many guitars as possible within your price range. It is also recommended that you bring along an experienced musician when you go guitar shopping. An experienced guitar player will be able to better judge the quality of a guitar.

Buy the best guitar that you can afford. Many of the guitars that sell for under $100 are poorly made for the most part. If you cannot afford to spend more, then save up and wait until you can. A well made guitar will be easier to play, more appealing to the eye and more responsive. If you enjoy playing your instrument more, you will then be more inspired to play. You can find a fine beginner acoustic guitar for under $500. Some brands to look into are Seagull, Martin, Yamaha, Fender and Ibanez to name a few. You may also want to look into the used acoustic guitar market. You may be able to find some real gems out there at great prices, but you have to be very careful with used guitars. Make sure you take an experienced guitar player with you if you decide to buy a used guitar.

LEARNING & PRACTICE

There is probably no substitution for a good guitar teacher, but it can be rather expensive over time, so many guitar players are left with no other choice then to learn on their own. For those of you who may not be able to afford a professional instructor right now, below are some guidelines for helping you get the most out of your practice time.

Practice as many days out of the week as you can for at least twenty to thirty minutes, more if possible. The more often you play the faster you will learn. Be careful not to overdo it though and take breaks of course. Your brain can only absorb so much information before it needs a break and your hands and the rest of your body need time to recuperate as well. When you practice do not rush through any of your exercises. Twenty minutes of quality focused practice is much more effective than an hour of sloppy practice

Study Your Instrument

Take some time to learn more about the parts of your acoustic guitar. Learn about how it is constructed and how all the parts work together to produce those beautiful sounds that you hear.

Learn How to Tune Your Guitar

You can find free step by step guides online for tuning your acoustic guitar. Make certain that you spend time learning how to do this. Purchase a guitar tuner at any local music store and practice tuning your guitar with the guitar tuner. When you begin to develop a better ear, try tuning it without the guitar tuner. Then use the guitar tuner to check and see how accurate your ear was. This will help you develop a good ear.

Learn the Right Posture

If you are accustomed to just grabbing your guitar and sitting down to play in any old position, then you are at risk of injuring yourself and developing bad playing habits. Make sure you understand the correct way to sit and hold your instrument for optimal performance.

Learn Your Chords & Scales

Learn as many different chords and variations of the same chord that you can and practice your scales. This will give you a well rounded familiarity with the frets on the guitar and it will build up strength in your fingers and hands.

I hope this article has helped with your acoustic guitar learning. Keep a positive attitude and practice! Before you know you will be playing acoustic guitar like a pro. I wish you well. God Bless.

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