By Michael Fletcher

We’ve all been there before… at the beginning. We all asked the same questions. For example, what should one learn first? Should we learn guitar chords, guitar scales, or songs?

The answer to the questions posed above is, it depends! I know this sounds vague, but hang in there with me for a second or two.

You’ll need to build strength and endurance on the guitar. Trust me, without learning these fundamental elements on the guitar, you might as well become an accountant, doctor, or lawyer (please, not a lawyer).

Most great guitarists started out by learning simple songs. With a little help from your friends (other guitarists), you’ll learn some of your favorite songs (riffs and all). This is a great way (and very normal) to begin to build strength and endurance on the guitar. The truth be known, this is what most of us did in the beginning… we wood-shedded! This is absolutely normal and natural.

Why would anyone jump into an advanced guitar course as a beginner? Answer… .not many! The advanced stuff could literally kill the enthusiasm for a beginner. Why? Too much theory, mechanical development, and not enough FUN. That’s right… FUN! It’s essential to have fun. Fun is learning to play songs that your peers are playing. Once one spends good quality FUN time, the rest (knowledge of theory, application, etc.), will eventually catch up to you (or not). The desire to progress as a player will hit you like a ton of bricks or you’ll be satisfied as an individual who knows a bunch of songs and commercial licks. The choice is always yours to make.

The choice to excel on the guitar is as much mental as it is physical. Personally, I think the mental part is more important than the physical (at least in the beginning).

In the beginning, have FUN, FUN, FUN,. That’s what it’s all about folks, fun!

Most professional guitarists will tell you (hopefully), that their good old days were spent on the front porch playing guitar with their friends (learning songs, figuring out solos, etc.). For those who pursue a professional career in music, the guitar becomes a way-of-life (very serious stuff folks). Why get ahead of yourself? Have fun in the early years.

I understand that you, along with most beginning guitarists, want to shred the guitar like a finely tuned chain saw. However, remember that willingness without action equals fantasy. Don’t kid yourself. Shredding is an art. It requires mechanical ability that develops over time. Hard work and practice is the answer. Facility on the guitar is everything!

In the beginning stages of learning to play the guitar it’s important to start with basic techniques. Learning how to properly hold a guitar pick, building hand and wrist strength, timing and tempo are all essential elements. Learning simple songs will deliver those elements. Learning how to play chords and chord progressions, in tempo, is another essential element of learning to play the guitar.

Whether one’s goal is to become an accomplished guitarist or to simply play a few songs, the common thread between the two types of players is practice. If one commits to quality practice, one will progress. It’s really that simple. Either way, it starts with one’s passion for the guitar.

?2011 Michael E. Fletcher. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

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So you are looking to further your learning as an acoustic guitarist but not sure what to do next? There is a vast array of options available to you and things can get rather confusing. You basically have two options when learning how to play acoustic guitar: Hire a guitar teacher or Learn on your own. This topic is open for debate. Honestly, I feel it really depends on you and your particular needs as an individual. We will explore both options in this article, so that you will be able to make a better decision.

Learning on your Own

Learning on your own can be broken down into two simple categories: You can either learn for free or you can invest in a home study course.

Learn For Free

Learning for free is definitely a possibility. With the Internet at your fingertips, anything is possible these days. There are a handful of excellent free guitar websites that offer lessons and other great resources for those of us on a tight budget. However, some of these free sites and resources may be difficult to locate and not all of them are created by professionals. So you may find, after some time, that the free route may not be enough or may prove to be too frustrating.

One huge advantage to the free learning, besides being cost effective, is that it gives you the option to test the waters before you invest any money into private lessons or home study courses. Guitar playing is not for everyone. You may find after playing for a short while that your heart isn’t into it. In order to become a good guitar player you must be passionate about playing, have patience and dedication. Without those qualities, I am afraid you won’t get very far.

Our Picks For Free Learning Resources Online:

Learn-Acoustic-Gutiar.Com -  Of course we are going to recommend this site!  You will find a wide variety of free acoustic guitar lessons here on this website.  Use the navigation bar up top to look around or search for specific lessons using the search bar at the top of this page.

YouTube -  YouTube is loaded with free acoustic guitar lessons.  You will find an endless amount of free videos there.  Head over today and browse around.  There are two specific users to search for on YouTube that we find offer excellent instruction.  Search for the keywords: “next level guitar”  and “justinsandercoe”.

AcousticGuitar.Com – Great selection of lessons from beginner to advanced.

TheoryLessons.Com -  One of our favorite websites for learning guitar.  It is packed with lots of free lesson on guitar theory.  This is essential learning for beginner and advanced guitarists.

Home Study Courses

With the right home study course, learning how to play guitar is very possible, assuming you are dedicated to working hard and practicing. With the right home study course, you will not only save money (when compared to hiring a private instructor), but you will also be able 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. That is probably the biggest advantage to this option. We learn best by repetition. Sometimes we have to hear or watch something over and over again before it sinks in. With a home study course, you simply pop a cd or dvd in and watch or listen whenever you feel the need. With an instructor you don’t have that option.

There are several excellent home study courses available that can be just as effective or better than hiring a private instructor. 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 a Private 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.

One big advantage to a private instructor is the direct feedback they can provide . One of the most common problems a beginner faces is developing bad habits. A good instructor will help you recognize your bad playing habits and help you correct them on the spot.

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. You need to find a person that actually “enjoys” teaching and isn’t just doing it for a paycheck.

The first thing I would do is to come up with a list of possible instructors in your area.

You can do this by:

Asking Your Friends and Family

A great place to start when searching for a guitar teacher is to simply ask your friends, family or co-workers. You may have a close personal friend, relative or co-worker that has already taken lessons and will be able to recommend a good instructor.

The Internet

The Internet is a great resource for finding possible instructors. You can simply do a search on Google for guitar teachers in your local area. You could also visit guitar discussion groups online and ask around there.

Yellow Pages or other Publications

Grab a yellow pages, newspaper or other publication and search for local guitar instructors that way.

Once you compile your list, you need to make certain you are getting the best possible instruction for your money, so be prepared to ask your instructor a few questions. Ask him or her how long they have been teaching, the teaching qualifications he or she has, the number of students he or she currently teaches and ask for the phone number or contact information of a few of his or her students. From the answers you receive, you should be able to determine which instructor is right for you.

So the choice is now yours. Only you can determine which option is right 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.

I wish you luck!

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 Keith Dean

You can use it to hitch a ride. Roger Ebert has made a fortune using one or both – up or down. It’s universally recognized as the sign for a number of affirmatives – “okay”, “good job”, “looking good”, “it’s under control”, among others. It’s also the appendage that one would be inserting “where the sun don’t shine” in a well known metaphor for aimlessly idling one’s time away. We are, of course, referring to the thumb.

In terms of playing guitar, the thumb is like the “red headed step child” of the playing hand. More neglected than even the “pinky” finger (but that’s for another article).

The focus of our playing hand, the hand that attacks the fret board, is typically centered on the first three fingers. These are the easiest to use. They are stronger, longer and faster than the pinky or thumb, so they face the call to action much more than their “weaker” siblings.

But as guitar players, we would be wise to make full use of all of our appendages when playing. In fact, we might be surprised to find that the effort that goes in to incorporating the use of the thumb into our playing technique will result in making some tasks on the guitar neck even easier!

Here are some uses for the thumb when playing guitar:

1. Walk Downs

2. Chord Formations

3. Muting

4. Added Pressure

5. Playing Lead

Let’s take a look at some of these:

1. Walk Downs – The thumb can be put to good use when playing a “walk down”. This is when you start on one chord and “walk down” to a resolution chord, typically by way of a “passing” chord in between.

When the bass notes of a walk down occur on the 6th string (low E in standard tuning), it is often easier to use the thumb to play some or all of those bass notes, rather than trying to use the fingers.

A good example would be the commonly used walk down from an open G chord, down to an Em. The passing chord between these two chords is normally a D/F# (D over F#). The easiest way to play this chord is to form an open D chord as normal, then wrap the thumb up on to the 2nd fret of the 6th string (F#). This method makes for a smooth transition.

2. Chord Formations – The thumb can also be used to assist in the formation of chords. Many chords are conducive to using the thumb. For example, a minor 7th chord could just as easily be played with the thumb.

Jimi Hendrix was known for making use of the thumb to form chords where most of us would use barre chords. Rather than “barring” the 1st finger across a fret to make a standard barre chord, he would often use his thumb to play the bass note, form the rest of the chord like normal, and then play the remaining notes as necessary with the first finger.

Try this next time you pick up the guitar. Play an A barre chord at the 5th fret. Now lift off your 1st finger that is making the “barre”. Then take your thumb and use it to play the A root note on the 5th fret of the 6th string. Finish by placing your 1st finger in the 5th fret of the 1st and 2nd strings. You are playing the same identical notes as the barre chord version, just with a different hand formation. Try this with minor barre chords as well. It can be a little liberating once you get used to it!

3. Muting – The thumb is a great tool to use for muting strings when strumming rhythm patterns. For example, an F chord in the open position is normally played using only the first four strings. It would be difficult to perform some aggressive strumming maneuvers without striking the 5th and 6th strings. Using the thumb to lightly mute these two strings will solve the problem. The same can be said for many open chords that do not use all six strings, such as the C, D and Am chords in the open position.

4. Added Pressure – There is a natural tendency when playing guitar to keep the thumb in a position that is wrapped over the top of the neck. There are times, however, when you may need some extra finger pressure on the strings to form a chord or play a lick. That extra pressure can often be found by bringing the thumb down to a position where the ball of the thumb is planted firmly on the middle of the back of the guitar neck. This increases the amount of pressure for the fingers and provides extra pivoting power.

In terms of conventional guitar instruction, this thumb placement position is often considered to be the accepted way to play guitar.

5. Playing Lead – There are some players who incorporate the thumb into playing lead runs and solos. It is really a matter of personal preference and what you get used to. I have never mastered this approach to playing leads but have seen other players use it effectively.

Regardless of your guitar playing style or approach, there are probably times when using your thumb when executing chords and licks might make good sense, and, make life a little easier. So when your fingers go out for a “dance” on the fret board, don’t forget to take the thumb along for the ride!

Keith Dean is founder of AdultGuitarLessons.com and a 30 veteran of stage and studio. He toured extensively as a road musician throughout the US and Europe, was a former lead guitarist for Jason Aldean, and has shared stages with Little Big Town, Wild Rose, Winger, Confederate Railroad and more. He is a published songwriter, owned and operated a successful music store, and has instructed numerous students in guitar. http://www.adultguitarlessons.com

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