I have been playing guitar for well over 10 years and I have tried just about every method out there to try to improve my skills.  From some methods, I have learned much. Other methods I tried did not work out near as well.  I have also had the privilege of being on the teaching end and have discovered that not all students have the same learning style.  Here I will describe some of the best learning methods I have found for both the beginner and intermediate guitarist.

Learn Guitar Online

In recent years learning has become increasingly more accessible with video on the internet becoming more popular.  You can actually learn guitar online from a well qualified instructor and from the comfort of your home.  What method you take when learning guitar online just depends on what you want to get out of the lessons.

Free Video Lessons

One way to learn a few things is to just browse the free sites like Youtube for people teaching the songs you want to learn how to play.  You can learn a couple of good riffs from this method without ever really learning how to play the guitar.  If your only goal is to pick apart a few simple songs to try and impress your friends then this is probably all you need.  For the rest of us, we quickly learn that to gain any real skill or master any music or tablature reading skills we are going to need a bit more guidance. But don’t fret (pun intended), there are some other inexpensive alternatives for those that are really serious about learning to play the guitar.

Subscription Guitar Lesson Sites

Sites like JamPlay and Guitar Tricks have ever expanding libraries of lessons on all styles and techniques that you can access anytime and from any computer with an internet connection.  With this method you typically have access to multiple instructors and thousands of lessons for a low monthly fee that is a fraction of what you would pay for private lessons.  This one of my favorite ways of learning since I travel a lot with my laptop. I have a travel guitar I can take with me and can watch the lessons right on my laptop computer.  The only downside is that it does come out a bit more expensive (yearly) than a DVD course would.

Learn Guitar DVDs

Guitar DVD courses are another great way to learn guitar on your own time.  While you don’t always get as many lessons or instructors, the quality is far superior to what you will find online.  It also ends up coming out a little bit more cost effective over the long term since most quality DVD courses will contain a year or more worth of lessons.  Also, one thing I liked about courses like Learn and Master Guitar was that it came with a book to follow along with and I could do the lessons sitting in front of the TV rather than in front of the computer.

Private Guitar Lessons

Some students prefer to learn from an actual instructor so that they can ask questions and get feedback as they are learning and practicing. For those students the best bet is to go ahead and hire a private guitar instructor. This is by far the most expensive method of learning guitar and can cost more than $2,000 USD per year.  However, for those that need that personal touch, private guitar lessons are irreplaceable.  Of course finding a good instructor is not an easy task either since there are so many self-proclaimed instructors out there with varying skill levels and education.  There are tools like TakeLessons though that can help make this process much easier.  Still you may have to try more than one instructor before you find the right fit.

Group Guitar Lessons

A more frugal option where you still get some of that personal touch is to team up with other like minded people looking for beginner guitar lessons and form a class. You won’t get quite the same amount of personalized attention as you would get with the private lessons but it might also be more likely to fit your budget. TakeLessons can also set these types of lessons and classes up as well or you can just check your local community college or churches for classes as well.  I have been both a student and a teacher in these classes.  I think the major advantage other than the slightly lower cost is that you have the ability to also work with other classmates which makes it a much more exciting experience. After all, music is meant to be shared!

I remember well when I first learned how to play the acoustic guitar; a friend of mine offered to give me lessons after I’d fallen in love with the guitar during a Pink Floyd concert.  Another friend loaned me his old, beat-up Harmony 6-string that was serving as a doorstop and I headed off to learn how to play acoustic guitar.

The First Acoustic Guitar Lesson

After that first lesson, the most valuable thing I learned about how to play acoustic guitar was that I should have had it set up properly.  Remember that line in the old “Summer of ‘69” song by Bryan Adams, “played it till my fingers bled”?  Green as I was, I thought that was normal but when my friend saw my fingers covered in Band-Aids at the next acoustic guitar lesson he immediately adjusted the action.  You could’ve flown a 747 between those strings and the neck!

After that first acoustic guitar lesson and learning how important it was to properly set up the guitar, things went a little easier.  Although it was no walk in the park, once I learned the names of each string, the names of the notes and how they were placed, I was able to construct a few simple chords and by the end of my second acoustic guitar lesson I could put together a few chords into a decent melody.

One of the most important aspects of learning how to play acoustic guitar is picking out the guitar itself.  Obviously, that old Harmony had seen better days and when I’d saved enough money I bought my own guitar.  The most important thing is the sound; once you find one that pleases you, hit a harmonic on the seventh fret and listen to how long it rings.  That is a very accurate measure of the quality of an acoustic guitar.  I chose a Fender, you may prefer a Takamine, a Gibson or other quality make.

Learn How to Play the Acoustic Guitar Tips

It’s important when you learn to play acoustic guitar that you not get bogged down in theory.  Although theory is very important if you want to compose your own songs and learn different disciplines, when you are first learning how to play the acoustic guitar the bare essentials are all that is necessary.  Once you get the notes and intervals under your fingers and in your muscle memory, then you can get into the more complicated nuances of music theory.

It’s rewarding to learn to play acoustic guitar; it opens up a whole new universe of expression, conversation and undiluted pleasure.  You can have a friend that gives you lessons, pay an instructor or take each acoustic guitar lesson from an internet site.

There are few things more rewarding in life than learning how to play acoustic guitar.  You can be creative and compose your own songs or enjoy playing the work of others.  You can start a band or just learn to play acoustic guitar for your own pleasure.  Either way, you’ll find it hard to put down.  Learning how to play acoustic guitar can give you one problem, though—you won’t want to put it down!

Many people absolutely love blues music, and many love Jimi Hendrix. Some would actually argue that he is the most influential guitarist to ever grace the planet. Blues/rock guitar tends to have a very distinct sound to it. There is of course a very distinct style of playing that goes along with that blues solo sound that is created.  How to play blues guitar is covered in great detail in the new Learn and Master Spotlight Series: Blues Guitar.   However, one question that is often asked is ‘Once I know how to play the STYLE, how do I get that ‘sound’ out of my amp?’. There are many factors that contribute to this ‘sound’. Let’s look at a few of them.

- Of course the ability of the player to play that style is going to be the most important factor.
- Choice of guitar (i.e. Electric or acoustic?? Solid body or semi-acoustic, single coil pickups or hum-bucking pickups??)
- Choice of what amplifier is used
- Settings on the actual guitar
- Settings on the amplifier
- Other items such as strings and effects pedals

So, we can see that there is not any single aspect that will directly change the sound to make it into the blues/rock sound we are looking for. It is using all of these things together that points to the final sound that we get. Of course one of the most important aspects is the ability of the guitar player. There would be no reason in having all of the other settings correct if the player couldn’t actually play blues guitar.

Let’s get started. First, lets look at the settings on the guitar itself. The best type of guitar would be a solid body electric guitar such as a Fender Stratocaster, or a Gibson lespaul. Any solid body electric guitar will probably work. Once you have the guitar then you should look at the settings. You will want to select the neck pickup. This will be the pick up that is closest to the neck of the guitar. It gives you a more rounded and natural sound. The volume and tone knobs on the guitar can also be used. To get the bluesy sound you should roll the tone knob back to about 7 or 8.

Once you have the guitar settings going it is time to look at the amplifier. The blues guitar sound is slightly over driven and distorted. In order to achieve this sound you should make sure that you are plugging the guitar into a hi-gain input of your amplifier. If there is only one input then use that one of course. Next is the fun part. Thats right, you get to crank up the amp! Turn up the gain to a point where the sound coming out is just slightly distorted. Usually this is just beyond halfway. If your amp doesn’t distort or overdrive then there are other alternatives. You could use a distortion effect pedal and that would work just as well.

Now we need to work on the EQ settings. Basically all you need to do is take a look at the EQ and make sure all the knobs are set in the middle. Most of the bluesy sound really comes from the neck pickup and the sightly distorted amp sound. Thats it! You are set to play your blues solo and I guarantee you it will actually sound like a blues solo when you are learning how to play blues guitar.

Fingerstyle guitar is one of the more difficult styles of guitar to master. The term does not necessarily refer to a genre of music but more a way of playing the guitar. Fingerstyle guitar usually involves very intricate finger work on the fret board of the guitar. However, the main thing that makes it fingerstyle is actually the way that the strings are plucked. Fingerstyle techniques involve finger picking or plucking the strings of the guitar with the fingers instead of with a pick (strumming or plucking with a pick is known as flat picking). It requires a lot of dexterity in the fingers and a lot of practice to master the techniques. Fingerstyle guitar is used in many genres of music. When playing fingerstyle guitar the right hand is usually hovered over the strings with the fingers barely touching their assigned strings. The thumb is used to play the sixth through fourth strings which is usually the bass sound of the chord. The index finger then rests just below the third string, the middle finger just below the second string and the ring finger just below the first string. Keeping the hand positioned in this way allows the guitarist to play each string individually when it needs to be played. An accomplished fingerstyle guitarist can play very intricate and complicated guitar riffs with this technique.

Picking Pattern

A fingerstyle guitarist often uses what is known as a picking pattern.This is basically exactly what it sounds like. It is an ordered pattern of picking that is played and then repeated. It is usually associated with a particular rhythm and time of the music. If you listen to a lot of softer songs with the acoustic guitar playing then you have probably heard a picking pattern. A picking pattern is used in most acoustic music when it is being picked out rather than strummed.

There are many positions patterns and exercises that can help you to learn fingerstyle guitar.One technique used in fingerstyle is the alternating bass.This is one of the most widely used techniques and creates an effect from the guitar that actually can sometimes make it sound like there are two guitars being played as opposed to just one.The reason for this is that the guitarist simultaneously plays the bass guitars part while maintaining the playing of its own part of the music. This is done by alternating the bass note that is being played by the thumb.The thumb will switch back and forth each time it plays.

The main thing to remember when trying to learn to play Fingerstyle guitar is simply to relax. Take a moment to make sure your right playing hand is relaxed and does not get overly tensed. This can often happen without you even realizing it simply because your muscles are not used to playing guitar in this way yet. As always make sure you are seated comfortably at the edge of your chair holding the guitar properly in your hands. Then simply choose a picking pattern to try and play consistently with your right hand and don’t even worry about your left hand at first. You can even make up a pattern as long as it is a consistent pattern that repeats anything will work just so that you are training your right hands fingers to work individually.Go ahead and try it out and see how you do.Keep practicing and I know you will get it down!

Chord Diagram

In the chord diagram being shown below you may notice that the A major chord is played using fingers 1, 2, and 3.This is the style of chord diagram that we will be using from now on. The A major chord is made up of several notes.These notes are A, C# and E.For now we will not worry about knowledge of individual notes.

You may notice a red dot next to the sixth or top string in the diagram above. This simply indicates that the string will not be played for this chord. All other strings will be played.So what does the chord look like when being played?Well, I’m glad you asked!Check out the demonstration below and then lets head into our first practice exercise.

Playing the A Major Chord

Are you ready to start playing? Ok, the first thing you do is go ahead and try to position your fingers like you see them positioned in the above diagrams. Make sure that your fingers are positioned just behind the fret on the neck of the guitar. Now go ahead and pluck each string individually one by one. Work at it until you get it so that none of the strings sound muted or buzzing. Make sure each finger is only playing the string it is intended to play and not touching any other strings. This will cause them to be muted or they will buzz if they are lightly touching your hand. Once you get the chord down and can play it readily without muting or buzzing of the strings lets start working on strumming patterns.

Intro To Strumming Patterns

When strumming the guitar there are 2 obvious types of strokes. The up stroke and the down stroke. These are often indicated by arrows when illustrating a strumming pattern. Rhythm and strumming is a major part of being a successful guitarist so do not take this strumming exercise lightly and skip it unless you are confident that you have it down.

So lets try it out! Go ahead and position your fingers on the guitar as indicated to play an A major chord. Make sure that you are holding the chord properly and pluck each string individually so that you can hear whether there is any buzzing or muted strings. When you are sure that you are holding the chord properly then try to strum the downward stroke as indicated.Try and count an even 4 count out loud as you strum the strings. Also try and make sure that you are not playing the top or 6th string while you are strumming. If you do hit it won’t sound bad but it sounds more professional if you play it right. The main thing to remember is to just stay relaxed. Your fingers and hand may be a little sore but this will get better over time as they adjust to your new found guitar playing skills.

Got it? If so then great! If not, then keep at it.Remember the practice techniques. When you learn to play guitar, repetition is key rather than prolonged periods of practicing. So take a break! But remember to come back and keep practicing. Speaking of breaks, lets take one from all of this strumming and chords stuff. Next up, learning to tune your guitar to itself.