Learning acoustic guitar is an extremely broad topic. One that would no doubt fill many books. The following guide focuses on some of the most important aspects of playing guitar providing you with an excellent starting point. This guide was written for the right handed, absolute beginner using a steel string guitar. My apologies to all of you left handed guitarists in advance.

ABOUT THE STEEL STRING GUITAR

The steel string guitar is a masterpiece of musical instrument engineering. Before the steel string, the acoustic guitar was very limited. The guitars of old were very quiet when played, so much so, that a guitarist was not able to play along with other musicians as the sound produced was simply too low. In order to overcome this shortcoming, the steel string guitar was born. The steel string produced a louder sound, but also caused too much stress on the instrument because of the added weight. The body construction therefore needed to be altered to accommodate the heavier strings. These changes not only made the guitar stronger, but they also increased the life of the guitar.

GUITAR STYLES – WHAT STYLE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Guitars are available in a variety of different styles and sizes and it really depends on what is most comfortable and enjoyable for you. Popular guitar styles include the Dreadnought, Nex, Artist, Classic and Jumbo. Each guitar has its own unique look, feel and sound. The larger styles like the Jumbo and Dreadnought produce more bass and are more difficult to hold and play. The smaller models like the Nex and Artist favor the midranges and treble and are much easier to hold and play. The Classic guitar is a whole different animal. It can only be played using nylon strings and produces a sound that is noticeably different than steel string guitars. So if you aren’t sure what guitar style is right for you, then head over to your nearest music center and give them all a test drive.

Need a reliable, high quality and  affordable acoustic guitar? Click here for our list of the top best selling acoustic guitars!

HOW TO HOLD THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Holding your acoustic guitar is not an exact science.  Everyone has different body types, finger lengths and there are a variety of different sizes and shapes of guitars.  There are many points to keep in mind and it really comes down to how comfortable you are when holding and playing your guitar.

I posted an excellent video on this topic not too long ago that demonstrates and explains how to hold your guitar in detail.

Follow this link to view this video on how to hold your acoustic guitar.

HAND, FINGER AND THUMB POSITIONING

How to position your hands, fingers and thumbs may seem obvious to some, but there is a right and wrong way to do this.  It would be very difficult for you to visualize how to position your hands when playing guitar if I were to explain it here.  A video would do a much better job, so I included a link below to an excellent video.

Guitar Lesson – Hands, Fingers & Thumb Positioning

LEARN HOW TO TUNE YOUR GUITAR

Make certain that you spend time learning how to tune a guitar. Purchase a guitar tuner at any local music store and practice tuning your guitar with the guitar tuner. Or if you do not own a guitar tuner, there are plenty of lessons and tools online that will guide you.  I have posted several videos on this topic that I recommend you watch:

How to keep your electric or acoustic guitar in tune

Get Your Guitar In Tune

LEARN HOW TO CHANGE YOUR STRINGS

Learn how to change your strings and change them often. I know the idea of changing your strings on your own is intimidating, but it really isn’t that difficult and eventually it will become second nature. I put together a post not too long ago that includes video instructions on how to change strings on both an acoustic and electric guitar.

Click here to reach that post on changing your guitar strings.

GUITAR MUSIC THEORY

Guitar music theory is where all of your scales, chords, progressions, notes and more come into play. It is such a huge topic and would fill many books all on its own. Music theory is extremely important to your growth as a musician and should not be overlooked. Many beginners frown upon guitar theory and completely ignore it. They would much rather take the short route and learn tablature and start playing their favorite songs. There is nothing wrong with learning tablature and playing your favorite songs, but don’t make that your only form of study.

There are a plethora of free sites online that teach guitar music theory, but not all are created equal. One of the best sites I have found on this topic is: TheoryLessons.Com. I highly recommend you start there. The owner of that site starts at the very beginning and covers all the major bases. Your guitar is like a challenging puzzle and guitar music theory is a key that will open up many new doors for you.

SHOULD YOU HIRE A GUITAR TEACHER OR LEARN ON YOUR OWN?

Learning on your own

With the right home study course, teaching yourself how to play is quite possible, assuming you are dedicated to working hard and practicing. Teaching yourself how to play will save you a ton of money in the long run and allow you to learn at your own pace. You also have the option to access the same information whenever you want and for as many times as you want. There are several excellent home study courses available that can be just as effective as hiring a a good teacher. Courses can cost anywhere from $30 to as much as a few hundred dollars, depending on the quality and content of the home study course.

Here are our picks for the best Home Study Courses For Guitar:

Learn & Master Guitar – Our #1 Pick!

Jamorama Acoustic Guitar

Next Level Guitar

Hiring an Instructor

First and foremost, this option is expensive. Private guitar lessons, on average, can cost about $15 – $30 for a half hour lesson, and $20 to as much as $75 for an hour lesson, depending on the teachers experience and reputation.

Finding a good teacher can be a difficult task and you should choose one carefully if you decide to go that route. Even the most talented guitarists, that have been playing for decades, can make terrible instructors, so your criteria for choosing a teacher should not be based on experience alone.

One of the most common problems a beginner faces is developing bad playing habits. A good instructor will help you recognize your bad playing habits and help you correct them.

The choice is yours. Only you can determine which options is best for you. Some of us simply cannot afford to hire a teacher, so the choice is rather simple. Others are simply unable to learn on their own and need the guidance and encouragement that a teacher can provide.

PRACTICE

Whoever coined the phrase: “Practice Makes Perfect”, knew what they were talking about. 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 guitar do not rush through any of your exercises. Twenty minutes of quality focused practice is much more effective than an hour of sloppy practice.

Be sure to visit our section on acoustic guitar practice for more great tips on how to practice your guitar.

EASY GUITAR SONGS

As I explained earlier in this guide, there is nothing wrong with learning how to play your favorite songs.  In fact, it is an excellent and fun way to familiarize yourself with the guitar as long as your are not making this your only form of practice.

That being said, I put together a post that includes 20 easy guitar songs that you can start playing right away. This post includes free video lesson as well as links to chords, lyrics and tablature.

Follow this link to view this post on easy guitar songs for the beginner.

One extremely important point that Peter makes in this video is how to actually push down on the frets of your guitar  with your fretting hand.  Many beginners falsely believe that you need to push down on the string so that it touches the wood. This is not the case. You only have the push the string down hard enough to where it is touching the fret.  This is demonstrated in the video below as well as some other great tips.  I hope you find this lesson helpful!  Please feel free to leave any comments or questions in the comments box below. Thanks!

Beginner Guitar Lesson: Finger & Thumb Positions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_ATggw3ucg

A big thanks to the folks over at FreeGuitarVideos.com for providing this lesson! You can learn more about them and view more awesome video lesson over at their site by following This Link. Highly Recommended!

Acoustic guitar lessons online are not difficult to come by. There are many sites offering free tips and lessons for the beginner, but it can be rather difficult sifting through pages of content to find direct answers to some of the most basic questions beginners have. I researched many of the frequently asked questions that beginners have and created this list of quick acoustic guitar lessons and tips to make life a bit easier for you. I do hope this helps.

1 – Learn how to play the acoustic guitar with both your fingers and your pick. Practice using both. This will make you a more versatile player.

2 – Learn how to use a capo. A capo is a clamp that you can apply to different frets of your guitar to change the pitch. You will definitely need to become familiar with this wonderful tool. If you do not already own one, head out to your local music store and buy one today.

3 – Make sure you choose the right guitar for your size. Guitars come in different sizes from classic to jumbo. It is very important that you find a guitar size that you are comfortable playing.

4 – Learn how to change your acoustic guitar strings .  The dirt and oil on your fingers and hands builds up on your strings over time and will ruin their sound. It is therefore extremely important that you learn how to change your strings.  How often you change them, really depends on how often you play.

5 – Wash your hands before you play and clean your strings after you play. Dirt and oils from your fingers and hands can wear down your strings.

6 – Build up those calluses. Many beginners complain of pain in their fingertips when first starting out. This is normal and will go away after you have been playing for a little while and start to form calluses. The more often you practice your acoustic guitar the faster you will build up calluses.

7 – Learn how to tune your acoustic guitar. Make sure your guitar is in tune before you start every practice session. Tuning your guitar is really quite easy. You can either purchase one of those small battery powered guitar tuners, or you can use an online guitar tuner here.

8 – Use YouTube to find free acoustic guitar lessons.  They have a huge variety of free lessons. Two providers of free lessons that I recommend you check out are: “Next Level Guitar” (goes by the user name “rockongoodpeople“) and “Justinguitar.com” (goes by the username “JustinSandercoeSongs“). They offer some of the best free online acoustic guitar lessons. Highly recommended.

9 – Find a good guitar teacher. While it is possible to learn at your own pace at home using free guitar lessons online, books and guitar home study courses, nothing can really replace a guitar teacher. A guitar teacher will help keep you from forming bad guitar playing habits and praise you when you are making progress.

10 – Stretch and warm up your hands and fingers before each playing session. This is important. Proper warm up and stretching exercises are essential in helping you avoid injury and improving your guitar playing. For more information on stretching and warm up exercises, do a search on Google using the key phrase: “guitar warm up”. You will find plenty of tutorials on this subject.

11 – Learn guitar music theory. I know music theory can be boring and difficult, but it is essential learning if you want to become a good guitar player.

12 – Learn about the parts of your guitar. Spend as much time as possible familiarizing yourself with all the various parts of your guitar and how it is constructed.

13 – Learn how to practice your acoustic guitar. This may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many guitarists are not practicing correctly. There is definitely a right and a wrong way to practice. Make sure you understand how to make the best out of your practice sessions.

14 – Keep your finger nails on your fretting hand trimmed. Your fingernails on your fretting hand must be kept short. If not, they will  make playing more difficult as they will prevent your fingers from pushing down the strings properly.

15 – Don’t over do it. If you are experiencing any pain or discomfort during your playing or practice session, then stop and take a break.

16 – Try and learn something new. If you continually do the same thing, day after day, then your guitar playing will become stagnant and you will not progress.

17 – Join discussion forums online. Search for guitar discussion forums online and begin discussions with experienced and professional guitarists.

18 – Listen to a variety of different music. Not just your favorite styles either. You would be surprised at how much this can influence your guitar playing.

19 – Learn alternate guitar tunings. Not every song is played in standard tuning.

20 – Go to live performances. This will give you a chance to get up close and personal with the musicians enabling you to see first hand how a professional plays.

By Mike P Hayes

Bright Side Of The Road, Gloria, Moondance, Brown Eyed Girl, Have I Told You lately, who doesn’t have a favorite Van Morrison song? Like Cat Stevens, Don McLean and James Taylor, Van Morrison’s songs sound great with just one guitar, you don’t need a band to enjoy these great songs.

Another neat thing about Van Morrison’s material is that there’s something for everyone … “Moon Dance” for the Jazz fans, “Gloria” for those who enjoy rock, and “Have I Told You Lately” for lovers.

With songs like “Brown Eyed Girl” in your guitar repertoire you will be the life of the party. Here’s 3 tips to help to play professional versions of Van Morrison songs.

Tip 1: Open Chord Voicings – Moondance – minor seventh chords

The key to playing songs like Moondance is playing open voiced minor seventh chords. Every popular song has a musical ID, it may be a lead guitar riff, a unique sounding chord progression or a particular rhythm, something that immediately enables the listener to identify that song.

When a song is well written it only takes 2 or 3 seconds for the listener to know what song is being played, even without the vocals.

With Van Morrison’s “Moondance” the first two chords correctly played is all we need … the chords are Am7 to Bm7, now while there is nothing new about these chords, it’s the way Van Morrison arranges the notes in the chord that makes the song instantly recognizable.

What do we mean by open voiced chords? The first step is to know what notes are used to build each chord, Am7 = A, C, E, G / Bm7 = B, D, F#, A.

Notice with the chord spelling for each chord how the notes are arranged in an alphabetical style sequence: Am7 = A then the next note that occurs in the chord is C then E etc, obviously certain
notes of our standard alphabet have been omitted, but you get the idea, study the Bm7 chord to make sure you understand the concept.

When the notes for each chord are arranged in alphabetical order this is called “root position”, our next step is to create four part open voiced chords.

Four part open voiced chords are usually played upon the 6th, 4th 3rd and 2nd strings. The 5th and the 1st strings are muffled by the fingers playing the other notes.

The idea is to avoid note duplication. By using chord-structures that have no duplication of chord tones it is much easier to alter the basic chords to form further altered chords.

Example of a “Am7″ four part open voiced chord: A=6th string, 5th fret, G=4th string, 5th fret, C=3rd string 5th fret, E=2nd string, 5th fret. This is the first chord for “Moondance”, move this shape up two frets and you will have the second chord Bm7.

Tip 2: intervals – thirds – Brown Eyed Girl

Brown Eyed Girl has a simple yet effective lead guitar introduction that instantly identifies the song.

If you played the intro as a single note melody in the key of “G” the notes would be as follows: B, C, D, C, B the next phrase would be E, F, G, F, E then back to the first phrase B, C, D, C, B and finally F#, F# G, A.

This single note melody is then supported by adding additional harmony notes played underneath the melody. The harmony notes are placed at an interval distance of a third below the melody.

To work out the harmony notes simply count backwards from the melody e.g. to work out the harmony note for the given “B” melody note count back three. B=>A=>G.

Here is the first five melody notes B, C, D, C, B, the harmony notes a third below indicated by [ ].

B [G], C [A], D [B], C [A], B [G},

Tip 3: chord progressions – 1-3-4-5 Bright Side Of The Road.

Learning to recognize chord progressions of by ear is a great way to remember songs.

Each key has a series of chords that are created from that particular scale.

In the key of C the basic chords are C, Dm, Em ,F ,G , Am ,B dim.

C = chord 1, Dm = chord 2, Em = chord 3 ,F = chord 4 ,G = chord 5, Am = chord 6 ,B dim = chord 7.

The opening chord progression for Van Morrison’s “Bright Side Of The Road” is a 1-3-4-5 progression which when played in the key of C becomes C-Em-F-G. This is the same chord progression Van Morrison uses for the opening chords of “Have I Told You Lately”.

So you can see, by identifying the sound of chord progressions it makes the process of learning new material much easier.

Mike Hayes develops systems and products to help you succeed in your guitar playing. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular free ecourse, available at:
=> http://www.guitarcoaching.com

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By Mike P Hayes

Learning guitar scales can be frustrating and confusing for the beginning guitarist. Often the student simply doesn’t know where to start.

How important are scales?

It appears that learning and understanding scales is vital to becoming a better guitarist, how many scales should I learn and which scales should I learn first?

Good questions, the truth is scales re important, they’re like our musical alphabet. The thing to keep in mind is that you only need to know a few scales, guitarists often become obsessed with practicing scales and over their real purpose which is to make music.

Here’s a list to help you choose what scales to practice and eliminate the confusion.

Tip 1 — Select a style

With literally thousands of scales to learn the first thing to do is decide on which style of music you want to play. Certain scales are more applicable to particular types of music e.g., the minor pentatonic scale works well for rock, blues, metal music…mainly songs with power chords.

The blues scale is used mainly for rock, blues, metal music while the major pentatonic scale is mostly used for country, pop, country rock …generally songs with open chords.

Of course, I’m generalizing here, you can use any scale you wish for any style of music, however some scales work better than others. The idea is to use the correct musical alphabet (scale) for the style of music you want to play.

Tip 2 — start on the keynote

Simply running up and down a scale won’t produce any meaningful music no matter how fast you play them. It won’t communicate anything to the listener.

The idea is to train our brain and fingers to make musical decisions, which note do you want to play next? Where is the note I’m hearing in my head is it higher or lower than the previous note?

To get this brain — fingers connection practice starting on the keynote of the scale and decide whether your next note is higher or lower than the keynote.

The keynote is the first note of the scale, e.g., the keynote for the A minor pentatonic scale would be “A”.

Tip 3 — record a background

Once you have decided on a scale to practice, record a background in the key you want to practice. The recording does not have to be elaborate, a simple acoustic guitar will work fine.

Record the backing track for 5 to 10 minutes duration, this will give you plenty of time to practice and try out your ideas.

A good idea is to try and play just one note (the keynote is an idea choice for this), practice all different types of rhythms, slides, bends etc., to see how creative you can be.

Recording a backing track is very helpful as you will find that you react differently to certain chord textures, the same note will sound different when played against a variety of chords.

Tip 4 — learn all keys

Guitarists should practice their favorite scale(s) in all keys, this is especially important when working with singers.

Each key has it’s own personality, certain keys have a warm feeling, while others are bright.

Try playing a “G” minor pentatonic scale over a recorded background in the key of “G”, then, play a “B” minor pentatonic scale over a pre-recorded background in the key of “B”.

Scales can “free your fingers and freeze your brain” the whole idea of scales is to help you play music. Think of music as a language, scales are our musical alphabet, knowing the alphabet is just the beginning, it’s how we use the alphabet to communicate that’s important.

These ideas will help you develop your own style and soon you will be transferring the music you are hearing in your head onto the guitar.

Mike Hayes develops systems and products to help you succeed in your guitar playing. Find out more about how to learn guitar fast with his popular free ecourse, available at:
=> http://www.guitarcoaching.com

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