Beginning Acoustic Guitar Music Lessons

Learn how to play guitar at your own pace. These easy-to-follow videos feature examples in TAB and standard music notation, and hands-on instruction by guitar virtuoso Jared Meeker.

Introduction

• Welcome

1. Getting Started

• Getting to know your tools
• Tuning
• The notes on the fretboard
• Reading tablature (TAB)
• Your first chords: "Easy" G, C, and D7
• Strumming a song
• Awesome tips for learning and switching chords
• Full-size chords: D, A, and G
• Full-size chords: E and C

2. Reading Music

• The notes and the staff
• Notes on the 1st string
• Notes on the 2nd string
• Time
• Notes on the 3rd string
• Rests
• Eighth notes
• Notes on the 4th string
• Eighth rests and dotted notes
• Notes on the 5th and 6th strings
• Sight-reading songs
• Adding sharps and flats
• Reading key signatures
• 1st and 2nd endings

3. More New Chords

• Minor chords
• Bluegrass G chord and a C chord to match
• The art of strumming
• Country and bluegrass strumming
• Country and bluegrass flatpicking
• Rocking out with syncopation
• Cadd9
• Waltz time

4. Basic Fingerpicking

• The right-hand position
• First fingerpicking patterns
• Alternating bass patterns
• Travis picking and pinch patterns
• Fingerpicking in waltz time

5. Improvisation, Music Theory, and Intervals

• Improvisation and music theory
• The major scale
• The circle of 5ths
• Open-position major scales in C, G, and D
• Movable major scale fingerings
• Intervals are your building blocks
• Interval fingerings
• Harmony and chords
• Getting started with improvisation

6. The Blues

• The 12-bar blues
• Blues rhythm
• The minor pentatonic scale
• Beginning blues improvisation
• Bending
• New chords: The dominant 7th
• More 7th chords: Blues in E
• Minor blues and minor 7th chords
• The major pentatonic scale

7. New Techniques

• Switching chords mid-measure
• Split strumming
• The mute stroke
• A new folk/country strum and I–V–vi–IV
• Transposition
• Power chords
• Barre chords
• Thumb chords
• Hammer-ons and pull-offs
• Walking the bass

8. Expression, Phrasing, and Dynamics

• Musical expression, phrasing, and dynamics

Conclusion

• Goodbye