Learn The Guitar Lessons Part 1 Tuning and Notes

Welcome to part 1 of our learn guitar lessons. We are excited to be kicking it all off today with the first of many free guitar lessons. Over time this will develop into a 40 part series of Beginners Guitar Lessons, all for free! If you are keen on mastering the fretboard and becoming a proficient guitarist, youre about to embark on a very exciting journey, joining millions of other guitar players from all walks of life. Learning the guitar is easier than you think, but like anything, it does take work, and plenty of practice! It is very important that you understand the learning process, and understand that the progress you make is directly relative to the action you take and the effort you put forth. You wont learn guitar overnight, and learning will not be entirely incremental. Youll reach highs, lows, and mid-points in your learning, and all of a sudden, youll reach the next level! Dont give up, and know that youre never too young, or too old, to learn the guitar. For the first in our series of Beginners Guitar Lessons, well talk about guitar tuning and basic notes. Listen To Beginners Lesson 1 Guitar Tuning by Matt McKay

Learn Guitar Lesson 1 Guitar Tuning

Guitar Tuning is perhaps the single most frustrating element when you are beginning to learn guitar, and of course, is also among the most important. Even electronic guitar tuners, which are quite helpful, will not be reliable if your guitar is drastically out of tune. Since electronic tuners are only worthwhile if the guitar is semi in-tune a pitch pipe, or an electronic tuner with audible note tones, is the best starting point. Starting from the thickest string, proceeding to the thinnest, are the string number and note names as follows: 6E, 5A, 4D, 3G, 2B, 1E (as seen below). Remember EADGBE is also a good start in learning the note names.

The basic method of guitar tuning, is to get a reference low E note. You may get a reference E note from a pitch pipe, electronic tuner with audible tone, or from another instrument such as a piano or keyboard. If using a keyboard, the E youre looking for is the E below middle Cdont worry, keyboard players will know what youre asking! When the low E string is brought up to pitch, its time to tune the other strings: Press down on the 5th fret of the low E string, which results in an A note. Match up this note with the open 5th (A) string, and bring up to pitch. When the A string is in tune, press on the 5th fret of the A string, resulting on a D note. Tune the next open string (the 4th or D) to this note. Proceed by fretting the D string on the 5th fret, producing a G note, and tune the 3rd (G) string to pitch. This is where things change a bit When the G string is in tune, press on the 4th fret of the G string, producing a B note. Bring the 2nd (B) string up to pitch. Now were back to the 5th fret again. On the 2nd (B) string, press the 5th fret, producing an E note. Bring the 6th (E) string up to pitch and youre done! You may now use the electronic guitar tuner to tweak and double check the tuning.

Basic Guitar Notes For Beginners

Weve already learned that the open strings on the guitar, from thickest to thinnest (low to high) are E,A,D,G,B,E. Well be using those note names as a reference for learning more notes. The guitar is a chromatic instrument, meaning that each fret represents one-half step of the chromatic musical scale.

The basic musical scale includes seven notes, placed in alphabetical order: A,B,C,D,E,F,G. Sharps (#) and flats (b) are added to each note except between B and C, and between E and F, resulting in the 12 notes of the chromatic musical scale. The chromatic scale contains every possible musical note, arranged in half-steps. Incidentally, a whole-step equals two frets on the guitar, and jumps one note in the scale: A, A# or Bb, B, C, C# or Db, D, D# or Db, E, F, F# or Gb, G, G# or Ab, and back to A again. The difference between sharps and flats can cause some confusion for beginners, but its really not a mystery. For example, A# and Bb sound exactly the same and they are! They are written and called one name or the other depending on their use in other scales. The primary reason is to keep the note names in alphabetical order. This concept will become a bit clearer as we move on to future learn guitar lessons, but for now, dont worry about it! Since each fret on the guitar equals one half-step in the chromatic scale, any one fret movement, up or down, results in the next note in the chromatic scale (also up or down). For example, play the low E string on your guitar, and locate the note in the chromatic scale above. Press on the first fret. Youve just produced an F note, which is the next note in the scale. Press on the second fret, and youve produced an F#/Gb note. Third fret will produce a G, fourth fret will produce a G#/Ab note, fifth fret produces and A note, and so on. As we learned in our guitar tuning exercise, the fifth fret of every string (with the exception of the 3rd (G) string, which is the fourth fret) produces the same note as the next open string. The guitar is laid out this way, in order to offer a certain dynamic range and ease of playability.

Exercise Notes And Fingering

Learn the chromatic notes on the guitar up to the 5th fret on each string (except the third string, which you will learn to the fourth fret). This grouping of notes is what is called the first position on the guitar, starting from the low E string. Use your first finger for notes on the first fret, the second finger for the second fret, third finger for third fret, and fourth finger for the fourth and fifth freteasy enough? Play and say each note on each string, moving along to the higher strings until you finally come to the fifth fret of the high E stringthat note will be A. This exercise will get your fingers used to the fretboard, and learn all the notes, and proper fingering, in the first position. We hope you have enjoyed part 1 of our learn guitar beginners series and are excited about learning the guitar. So, what are you waiting for? Get into stuck into guitar tuning and start learning a few of the basic notes as mentioned above. If you can stick to our

Beginners Learn The Guitar Lesson 2 The Major Scale

Great to have you back for part two of our 40 part series of Beginners Guitar Lessons. We hope you have been implementing the tips from lesson one, where talked about guitar tuning, learning first position notes, and the chromatic scale. For beginners guitar lesson two, we are going to learn about major scales and how to play one. Here is both the audio and written version of the lesson Lets start rocking! Beginners Guitar Lessons Audio Lesson 2

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 2 The Major Scale

The major scale is a grouping of eight notes used in every form of modern music. We learned in part 1 of Beginners Guitar Lessons, that the chromatic scale contains all the possible notes in music, separated by half-steps. The major scale is a taken from the chromatic scale, using a specific formula of steps. If you recall, one fret equals one-half of a step, and two frets equal a whole-step. Using the following formula, it is possible to create every major scale, no matter where you start on any given point of the chromatic scale: Major Scale Formula: Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half (WWHWWWH) Chromatic Scale: A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, back to A and infinity.

Excersice C Major Scale

Well use the C Major scale as an example. Note that C major contains no sharp (#) or flat (b) notes. Using the formula, for this example, well start at the C which occurs on the 5th (A) string, on the third fret.

Fret the C note with your third finger. According to the formula, well be going up a whole-step, which would land you on D. Well use the open 4th (D) string as our D note. The second step in the formula is also a whole-step, which will bring us to E. The E were looking for occurs when you press the 2nd fret on the 4th string with your second finger. The next step in the formula is a half-step, or one fret. Place your third finger on the 3rd fret of the 4th string to get our next note, which is an F. Cool! Youre halfway thereso far, weve got C, D, E, and F. Take a few minutes and practice those four notes.

All set? The next note in C major, after CDEF, is the next whole-step in the formula, which is G in this example. The G were looking for can be found by playing the 3rd string openeasy enough! After G, well need another whole-step, which is A. A is located on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string, using your second finger. Next, we have another whole-step, which is B. Play B by picking the open 2nd string. The final note in the scale is another C, which is one half-step from B. Play C with your 1st finger, on the 1st fret of the 2nd string.

Youve done it! Now play the scale in its entirety, saying the notes as you play them: C,D,E,F,G,A,B, and C. Practice playing the C major scale forward and backward, saying the notes while youre playing them.

Beginners Learn The Guitar Lessons 3 Chords

Welcome back to lesson 3 of our Beginners Guitar Lessons series. Now that weve discussed guitar tuning, basic notes and basic scales, its time to learn about guitar chords. Simply put, chords are combinations of three or more notes played together. Just as weve learned to use the chromatic scale to create a major scale, the notes in a chord are derived from the major scale. In music, everything builds upon something else. Here is the Beginners Guitar Lessons part 3 audio by Matt McKay, which goes hand in hand with the written lesson below Get stuck into it and you will be playing the guitar like a pro in no time! Beginners Guitar Lessons Audio Lesson 3 By Matt McKay

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 3

As scales have formulas, so do chords. Lets start by taking the notes in the C major scale, and apply numbers to each note: C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4, G=5, A=6, B=7, C=8 The first note in the scale is known as the root note, which in this case, is C.

To form a major chord, well use the following formula: 1, 3, 5thats it! Simply take the number one note, C, the number three note, E, and the number five note, G, and play them together. It doesnt even matter if the notes are played in order or not, as those three notes played together, in any order, will always form a C major chord.

Chord Charts
Chord charts are a helpful way to learn guitar chords, and are quite simple to read. Looking at the diagram, the vertical lines represent the strings, low to high E, from left to right. The horizontal lines represent the frets. Unless designated by a number on the top horizontal line, the line represents the nut of the guitar, meaning an open string. The second horizontal line represents the first fret, and so on. Chord charts use a legend, which is a map of sorts, to tell you what the other markings mean. Numbers 1 through 4 below the vertical string lines represent the finger number used to place on the dot. An X placed above (or below) a vertical string line means to not play that string. An O means to play that string open. Here we have a chord chart for a C major chord:

Given your new knowledge of notes, reading the chart from left to right: The third finger is fretting the C note, the second is fretting the E note, the third G string is open, the first finger is fretting the C note, and the first E string is played open. This corresponds to our major scale formula, 1,3,5, in which the notes from the C major scale are C,E and G. The repeating C and E are there in the guitar chord to add fullness, but playing any combination of the three notes will still result in the same chord. It stands to reason, that since there are many repeating notes on the guitar, that the C major chord, and all other chords, can be played in numerous ways. This example is only one of the common forms of the C major chord on the guitar. To sweeten the pot a bit, lets learn another chord before we move on to the next lesson, the G major chord. We wont get into the specifics just yet, as we havent learned the G major scale, but rest assured that the G major chord follows the same 1, 3, 5 formula, only using the G major scale. As it turns out however, the G major chord does fit along

with the C major, because it has some of the same notes as the C major scale. This will be an important fact to consider from here on, as every note and chord played within a song, needs to relate to one another in order to sound good.

Follow along with the legend which we discussed earlier to play the chord. The notes within the chord, although originally derived from the G major scale, do work within the C major scale as well: From left to right, the 2nd finger is fretting the G note. The first finger is fretting the B note. The 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings, D, G, and B, are being played open. Finally, the 3rd finger is fretting another G note on the first string- this gives us all the notes in a G major chord which are G, B and D.

Guitar Lesson 3 Exercise

Practice playing the C major chord, strumming it 8 times. Switch to the G chord, strumming it 8 times, then back to C, and so on. It will take a bit of getting used to, but youre well on your way to playing the guitar! We will be back with Beginners Guitar Lessons #4 in a few days, until then let your fingers do the talking!

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 4 Picking and Strumming

Welcome back to part four of Beginners Guitar Lessons. Today, well learn about picking and strumming. Picking and strumming use varying patterns of up and down strokes, noted in music to form some sort of arrow. Using combinations of up and down strokes helps make a more efficient use of movement, making the notes and chords easier to play faster, and provide for a more fluid sound. There is no right way or wrong way to pick or strum, only different ways to achieve a certain result. Using all down or up strokes results in a choppier sound with more attack, while playing alternating up and down strokes will result in a smoother sound. Using alternating up and down strokes, is also the method used to play extremely fast and fluid. Different combinations of up and down strokes are also used to achieve a combination of soft or sharp attach sounds and effects.

Audio Track by Matt McKay Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 4

Finger Picking
There are many playing who alternative with using a pick, and finger picking, while others use their fingers exclusively. Well get into finger picking at another time, but while both methods have merits, using a pick at this point is a good idea. As you progress with these Beginners Guitar Lessons, you will soon decide which method, if not both, are right for the style of music you will be playing.

Anatomy Of A Pick
Picks are made from many different materials, including stone, metal, heavy felt, or even wood, those made of a plastic composite are most popular. Picks come in many sizes and thicknesses also, and choosing the right one for you is a matter of personal preference. Try a few different shapes and thicknesses and you will invariably find one that feels comfortable.

Holding The Pick

There is no right or wrong way to hold a pick, but most guitarists hold the pick between their thumb and index finger. This also frees up other fingers to perform finger picking if you so desire. When youre starting out, the pick may feel as though it will fall out of your hand at any given timeand it will at first! A firm, but not too tight of a grip, with the hand relaxed, is right about where you want to be.

Guitar Practice Picking With Scales

Lets take the C major scale for our first picking exercise. C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. Well use alternative up and down picking for each note:

Practice the C major scale backwards and forwards, starting with a down stroke on the first note.

Guitar Practice Picking With Chords

Picking chords is a little different than picking scales. Try playing a C chord with a down stroke, then again with an up stroke. Since youre hitting the lower notes first on a down stroke, and the higher notes first on the up stroke, the chord will sound slightly different. Lets work out a chord picking pattern with the C chord:

The beats are listed below, in the beat pattern of: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &. Well be omitting the & beat between the 1 and 2, and the 2 and 3, so the last three strums will be quicker. Now add the G chord after a succession of C chords, and play the same pattern. Well talk about more picking and strumming patterns in another lesson, but the patterns weve discussed will give you a good, all-around, system to work with. Talk with you in Beginners Guitar Lessons 5 Click below!

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 5 Hand Positioning

Its very cool to have you back for part five of Beginners Guitar Lessons. Before we advance into other lessons, it will be necessary for you to work on proper hand, fret-hand positioning. You may think that this is a bit trivial, but wait until you try it. The position of your fretting hand is the key to speed, finger stretching, position and dexterity. To assist your learning, we have included an audio track below to accompany the written lesson.

Audio Lesson by Matt Mckay Guitar Hand Positioning

Fret Hand Positioning

Think of a ball with a stick attached to it. If you place the stick and one side of the ball on the ground, and move it around in that position, you have only one range of motionwhich is to move it around in a circle. Now picture yourself with the stick on the ground with the ball directly above. Not only can you easily duplicate the previous movement, but now you can move it in arches and radiuses, using the stick as a central pivoting anchor point. Your hand is the ball, and your thumb is the stick. Grab your guitar as you would a broom handle, with the back of the neck against the crook of your thumb and forefinger. Swivel your hand back and forth, noticing the limited range of motion. Now place the tip of your thumb to the middle of the back of the neck, allowing your hand no contact with the fretboard. Swivel your hand again, back and forth, and notice how much more fluid movement youve got. This is the proper hand positioning for playing the guitar. Although it may seem awkward and unsteady at first, you will be amazed at how this will help your guitar playing in so many ways when you get used to it. This thumb and finger position can be likened to holding the guitar neck and fingerboard as though you were pinching it. Your fingers are now free to do the work while your thumb acts as a pivot anchor. The rest of your hand should be somewhat relaxed. Sometimes it is small things such as this, that make all the difference in making it easier to learn the guitar. Since your hand is relaxed, and your finger muscles and joints are working smarter, not harder, you will have more playing stamina.

Get Comfortable With Your Guitar

How about that fret-hand arm is it pressed up against your side? Well, let it relax, and try this other demonstration exercise. Pinch the guitar neck again with your thumb on the back, and your fingers over the frets and strings. Bring your arm close to your body, and pivot your hand as before, noticing the range of motion. Leaving your hand where it is, allow your arm to relax and hang freely. With the thumb firmly anchored the back of the neck, move your elbow away from your body, then back to the side several times, and notice how the angle of your hand changes. Once again, we see that a very simple change in our posture can drastically increase the range of motion, and create economy of movement. Playing guitar doesnt have to be taxing for the body, and following these simple suggestions will make learning and playing the guitar much more pleasant and loads more fun!

Talk with you next time in Beginners Guitar Lessons part 6, where we cover guitar chords in more detail Click below.

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 6 Guitar Chords Part 2

Great to see you back for lesson six! In lesson three of our beginners learn the guitar series, we talked about the basics of Guitar Chords, and learned the C and G major chords. So lets continue and get a few more chords mastered! First up, to make learning the guitar easier, we have provided the lesson on audio which goes hand in hand with the written lesson below.

Audio by Matt McKay Guitar Chords Part 2

As we mentioned before, chords are taken from major scales. Since we love the C major scale so much, well work on the other chords that work within C major. Remember that chords are simply groups of complimentary notes taken from a particular scale. Therefore, all the notes contained in the chord must also appear in the scale. Music has rules, which rely on other related rules. So learning the basics right from the start will help you all along the way. Lets refresh our memories with the notes of the C major scale. It has no sharps (#) or flats (b) so we start at C and move forward alphabetically:

C D E F G A B 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Since each key and corresponding chord has a number of sharps and flats (with the exception of C), well need to modify the chords slightly so they contain notes which appear in the major scale we are working in. Our chords will be either major or minor, with the exception of the 7 chord, which in the case of C major is B, will be a diminished chord. Diminished chords are marked with the abbreviation: dim Just as we have formulas for scales and chords, we have a formula for the basic chords within a key. Note that this does not include every possible chord, but it is a starting point for the basic chords, with others built from them. The basic chord formula for any major key (or major scale) is as follows. The numbers represent the notes within the scale as they appear in order. 1=major chord, 2=minor chord, 3=minor chord, 4=major chord, 5=major chord, 6=minor chord, 7=diminished chord, and finally back to the 1, which is a major chord again.

In the case of C major, our Guitar Chords will be: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, and C. Notice that the name of major chords are not marked as major. So if you see chord marked only by a note name, it will always be a major chord. Our next chord to learn will be A minor (Am). As well learn in a future lesson, all major scales have what is called a relative minor key. The relative minor key is always the sixth note of any major scale, which in this case is A. The A minor chord contains the notes: A, C and E, and is played like this:

Next, well learn the D minor chord. D minor contains the notes: D, F, A, and is played like this:

Now for the complete C major collection of guitar chords:

Another quick note: When you see a chord with next to the name, as with the F and Bdim/A above, this means that this is one of several similar versions of the chord.

Practice Using Guitar Chords To Form A Basic Song

Lets work on a song using some of our new guitar chords. A slash above the chord name means to strum each time a slash is present. You may also practice the song using one of the strumming patterns we covered in the Picking and Strumming Lesson. C C //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// //// G G Am Am G G Em Em Dm Dm G C C G

Try different combinations of Guitar Chords and write them down, creating your own song. Hope to see you back in a few days for Beginners Guitar Lessons part 7, where we get stuck into guitar tablature.

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 7 Guitar Tablature

Glad to have you back here for beginners guitar lesson part seven on guitar tablature. If you happened to miss last weeks lesson, make sure you check out Guitar Chords part two.

Guitar Tablature (also called guitar tabs) is an old form of music notation, which made its way back into modern guitar teaching in the 1980s. Since many guitarists are self-taught, reading musical notation was out of the question. As always, we have included an audio track of todays lesson just to make it that little bit easier for you to learn the guitar. It also helps those up and coming guitarists who dont like to read!

Audio Lesson by Matt McKay Guitar Tablature

Although musical notation should eventually be learned by every serious guitar player, Guitar Tablature makes it easy to learn the tunes of other musicians, and relay your own musical creations in the meantime. Other instruments have their own set of tablature, including drums and other stringed instruments, but tablature has its own language, unique to each instrument.

Blank Tablature Staff for Guitar

The six horizontal lines represent the 6 guitar strings. The bottom of the tablature staff is the 6th, or low E string (the thickest string), continuing upward to the A, D, G, B and the 1st, or high E string (the thinnest string) on top of the staff. Numbers placed on the tablature lines represent the fret and string you will place your finger on. The 1 in the example tells you to place your finger on the first fret of the second (B) string. The 2 tells you to place a finger on the second fret of the fourth (D) string. The 3 tells you to place your finger on the 3rd fret of the fifth (A) string. The O tells you to play that string open.

C Major Chord in Tablature Form

The problem with tablature, like standard musical notation, is that it will not always be specific in what fingers to use. That is why we discussed fingering in guitar lesson 3. In the first guitar position, which is the open, and 1st through 4th (and sometimes 5th) frets, the 1st finger will always play notes on the first fret, the second finger on the second fret, the third on the third, fourth finger on the fourth and fifth. This fingering only applied to playing single notes, as it is not possible to use this fingering method for guitar chords.

Also in the example, note that the numbers are stacked on top of one other. This number array tells you that all notes are to be played at the same time, which normally denotes a chord or other multiple note grouping. Here is an example of guitar tablature where the notes follow one another. This would be how a scale, melody, or solo is written:

Begin by playing the 5th fret on the low E string, the 3rd fret on the low E, back to the 5th fret on the low E string. Continue on to the 3rd fret of the A string, the 5th fret of the A string, and so on. There are other Guitar Tablature marks which well talk about in future guitar lessons, but weve covered the basics. Hope this was helpful, and well talk with you next time!

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 8 Guitar Arpeggios

Welcome back to beginners guitar lessons number 8! In this lesson, well talk about guitar arpeggios, and learn more guitar chords. First up, heres the audio lesson that goes hand in hand with the written lesson.

Audio Lesson by Matt McKay Guitar Arpeggios

Playing Guitar Arpeggios

An arpeggio simply means, broken chord. Rather than strum the entire chord, well play it in an arpeggiated style, meaning that well play the notes individually. The ways to play guitar arpeggios are almost limitless, as well find out, and it can make your playing sound very interesting, without a lot of effort. For starters, lets take a C chord:

Rather than strum the whole thing, begin by playing the first three notes of the chord in succession, and repeat four times. Begin by playing the C note, on the 3rd fret of the A (5th) string, proceed to the E note, on the 2nd fret of the D (4th) string, the G note on the open G string, and repeat once. After you reach the open G a second time, play the open G once more, go to the C note, on the 2nd fret of the B string, the open E string, and repeat. Sounds pretty cool, doesnt it? Try mixing it up a bit now. Play the C note (3rd fret, A/5th string), the open G/3rd string, the E note (2nd fret, D/4th string, the higher C (1st fret, B/2nd string), the open G/3rd string, the open E/1st string, back to C (1st fret, B/2nd string), and finally to the open G/3rd string. With our new knowledge of guitar tablature, this is what this arpeggiated piece above looks like:

Try other guitar arpeggios with different chords, and make up your own patternsyou might even get the start of a cool new song!

More Guitar Chords

Here a few more guitar chords for you to practice and play around with:

The D, E, G7, and A7 chords are popular and easy to play. Well get to how these chords are use in particular keys in a future lesson, but thats no reason to not have fun with them now. The B and F chords may be difficult at first, but it will get you used to playing bar chords, which are perhaps the most used chord type, aside from those you are now learning, in pop, blues, folk, and rock music. In the B chord chart, youll notice that the (1) has parenthesis around it. This means that playing that note is optional. If you choose to play it, lay your first finger across the second fret, and press down on all strings. This is what is called barring, used in bar chords. Youll also do a simpler form of barring on the F chord, by playing the 2nd and 3rd strings on the 1str fret with your 1st finger. It may be tricky at first, but keep trying. By the way, remember in lesson 5 we talked about hand positioning? Give it a shot, and you may find that the more difficult chords, are not all that difficult. Hope you enjoyed this lesson on guitar arpeggios, see you soon for beginners guitar lessons 9 where we get stuck into major keys.

Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 9 Major Keys

Hi and welcome back to the beginners guitar lessons series, where we will get stuck right into Major Keys. By now, weve had some discussion about the key of C major, so now well learn two more. In music, a key is like a road map. It contains all the information needed to produce scales, chords, melodies, harmonies, and solos, with notes that work together. As per usual, we have included an audio lesson that goes with the written instruction below. Enjoy!

Audio Guitar Lesson 9 Major Keys

Major Keys
Weve learned that C major is the only major key that contains no sharps (#) or flats (b) but what does that really mean? We covered the chromatic scale and the major scale structure formula in lesson two, but here is a refresher view: Chromatic Scale: A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab, back A and infinity. Major Scale Formula in Steps: Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half (WWHWWWH) If we apply the step formula to the chromatic scale, starting on C, it just so happens that no sharp or flat notes are included. This isnt the case with any other scale. But theres another pattern there as well. As we move on to later lessons, youll find that the scales well learn have an increasing number of sharps or flats, and the pattern will begin to become apparent. Lets begin by learning the G major scale, or to put it another way, the major scale in the key of G major:

Key Of G Major

At this point, Id like to call attention to the F#. Since F# is the same note as Gb, why is it called F#? The answer is alphabetical order. If it were called Gb, it could create some

confusion, since we already have a G in the scale. Remember that music has rules, and this one of many that makes perfect sense.

Relative Minor
Remember that the sixth note of any major scale is called the Relative Minor. In the case of G major, the relative minor is E. You may have heard talk of songs being played in minor keys, and this is where they come from. A minor key is really a sort of misnomer, as minor keys are actually Major Keys played in a different order. To demonstrate, lets take E minor as an example. Now, there are a few different modifications of minor scales, but for now, well deal with the natural minor scale. The natural minor scale begins with the sixth note of the major scale, and continues along for eight notes: E, F#, G, A, B, C, D, E. Well talk more about minor keys in another lesson, as there are a few commonly used rules in the modern use of minor scales.

An Endless Repetition Of Notes

To make this scale extension concept a little easier, think of any scale as an endless repetition of notes, as if it were written in a circle. If you start at any point and move around the circle, youll end up going around as many times as youd like. As a linear example, think of a scale as a never ending line, starting at a given point: GABCDEF#GABCDEF#GABCDEF#GABCDEF#GABCDEF#Gand so on. The linear and circle example can also be applied to the chromatic scale, and applying formulas to get other scales, which is the case in the major scale formula in steps: WWHWWWH We also talked about the basic chord formula for major scales: M stands for Major, m stands for minor, and d stands for diminished. Well use G major for our chords:

So how do we use this information? Well, lets start by learning a new chord, F# diminished (F#d). Youve already learned the other guitar chords in G major, but well do a refresher on those as well.

So now we have the complete collection of the basic G major chords. Try playing them in order

Now lets try playing the major scale, G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G, using guitar tablature. To make things a bit easier, weve placed a chart below the tab, telling you which fingers to use, and the note names. You will sometimes see tablature written in this way:

Guitar Exercise
Heres an exercise, using the chords in G major. A slash above the chord tells us to strum

Hope you enjoyed this lesson on Major Keys, and well see you real soon for beginners guitar lessons part 10!

Minor Scales Beginners Guitar Lessons Part 10

Hello and welcome to beginners guitar lessons part 10 Minor Scales. Below you will find an audio guitar lesson that goes hand in hand with the written lesson. Let your fingers do the talking!

Audio Guitar Lessons Part 10 Minor Scales

Minor Scales
Weve discussed major scales in some detail, so lets switch gears to minor scales. Minor scales are simply major scales starting with the sixth note in the scale. Well use C major as our example:

The sixth note, A in our C major example, is the relative minor. So to play the scale, we simply play all the notes in order starting with A. ABCDEFG simple enough. But of course, with most things in music, there are frequent twists to rules, and Minor Scales are no exception. This particular minor scale: ABCDEFG, is called a Natural Minor scale, as it uses the notes within the major scale without modification. The other types of minor scales are as follows: Harmonic Minor: Sharp the 7 note in any minor scale: ABCDEFG#A Melodic Minor: Sharp the 6 and 7 notes in any minor scale: ABCDEF#G#A

(Incidentally, you can also see where the alphabetical logic of # and b notes is useful. G# leading A rather than Ab leading to A). Where do minor scales fit in if all they consist of are major scale notes? Thats a great question. Minor scales create a mood that can be described as less happy sounding when compared with major scales. Lets do a refresher on chords that work within C major: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C Well try a chord progression beginning with C: C, G, C, F (repeat) Now lets do something beginning with Am: Am, Em, F, G (repeat) Even though were using chords that belong to C major, were concentrating on using more minor-sounding chords to create a mood. We can use any chord within the key, but by favoring certain guitar chords, we can totally change the mood of the song. Hope that takes some of the mystery out of minor vs. major keys. Well elaborate more in future lessons, but the key point to remember is: Just because a song is in a major key, we dont have to follow any set order. Changing the chords and notes around, favoring some over others, is how we create music with a certain sound, mood, and feel. Thanks for stopping by for this lesson on Minor Scales. Dont forget to check out all of our previous guitar lessons, which you can find in the sidebar on the right.

Guitar Cleaning and Maintenance Beginners Lesson 11

Hello, and welcome back for beginners guitar lessons part eleven where we will give you some tips on guitar cleaning and maintenance. If you missed guitar lesson 10, it was all about minor scales. Youve invested money and care in your choice of instrument, so well talk a little bit about taking care if it. Most guitars will last for many years with proper care, treatment and storage.

Guitar Care Humidity

The biggest enemy of wood is humidity, and even though much of an instruments surface is protected by a paint finish, the unfinished bits, such as the fingerboard on electric guitars, are not. Humidity is even more of an issue with acoustic guitars. The interior of the guitar is quite susceptible, and in addition to the fingerboard, bridges are often unfinished.

With too much humidity, wood swells, joints and glue becomes weak, and once the process begins, it is difficult or impossible to correct. Dry conditions suck moisture out of wood, and can cause wood, glue, and joints to split and crack, which also is difficult or impossible to correct when it reaches a certain point. Commercial guitar humidifiers and dehumidifiers are inexpensive and reliable, and should be used according to seasonal and atmospheric conditions. Always store guitars in their case when not in use, and avoid basement or garage storage. As a general rule of thumb, if humidity levels are uncomfortable for you, your guitar probably feels the same way. Proper humidity levels for guitars are between 45 and 55% relative humidity.

Guitar Cleaning
Guitar cleaning not only makes your axe look good, it also protects the finish. Guitar finishes are designed not to clog wood pores, they allow acoustic soundboards to vibrate freely, and electric bodies to resonate properly. Guitar finishes are much different than furniture polishes, so furniture polish should never be substituted. Furniture polish can contain waxes and other substances which may clog finish pores, and may actually damage the guitars finish eventually. Always use a commercial polish or cleaner made especially for guitars, and use a dedicated clean, dry, cotton cloth one for polish application, and one for final buffing. Generally, it is not advisable to apply cleaners to unfinished guitar parts, such as fingerboards and bridges, but it is worth checking the manufacturers literature or web site for specifics. For some instruments, these parts can be treated and cleaned with a small amount of linseed or lemon oil. In all cases, a wipe with a cotton cloth very lightly dampened with water, followed by immediate drying is using sufficient. Clean metal parts with a damp cloth, and there are some commercially available guitar hardware cleaners or combination finish/metal cleaners that will do a fine job. Another rule of thumb for guitar cleaning: Use the mildest possible cleaner, progressing to stronger formulations only if necessary.

Tips On Guitar Strings

Guitar strings should be changed whenever you are unhappy with the sound. There is no set rule when to change strings, and it is a matter of preference. It is best to always tune your strings up to pitch so there is constant tension on the neck.

If the guitar is to be shipped, or will be stored for long periods of time, strings should be loosened. Of course this may result in neck adjustment when the guitar is ready to be played again, but the necks natural tendency to relax without strings is better than forced tension with strings installed over long periods of time. So, there you go! Every manufacturer has suggested methods of guitar care, so visiting the website or reading the literature which came with your instrument is highly recommended. Keep up with your guitar cleaning and maintenance and you will have a guitar you can depend upon for years to come. See you soon for beginners guitar lessons part 12 where we will get stuck into guitar restringing.

Guitar Restringing Beginners Guitar Lesson 12

Thanks for joining us back here for part 12 of our beginners guitar lessons series. After covering guitar cleaning in the last lesson, today we will get stuck into Guitar Restringing in depth.

Learning how to restring your guitar can be frustrating and mysterious, but with a bit of experience and a few tips, youll be restringing like a pro in no time. Restringing your own instrument will save time and money, and will help you become familiar with your guitar. Unless your guitar is fitted with special locking tuners or vibrato tailpieces, for which you should consult the owners manual or website, restringing guitars is very similar no matter what make you have. First up is an audio guitar lesson, followed by a written step by step instruction on Guitar Restringing.

Guitar Restringing Audio Guitar Lesson

Guitar Restringing Step 1

Place the guitar on a flat, padded surface, such as a table covered with a blanket or towel.

Step 2
Elevate and secure the neck by placing a small cardboard box or foam block underneath the neck below the nut.

Step 3
Notice how the previous strings were installed, and make mental or physical notes if necessary. In particular, note the wraps around the tuning posts, and the direction in which they are wound. Of course, this is assuming that the strings were installed correctly in the first place. Plan to restring your guitar one string at a time to minimize neck tension shock.

Step 4
Loosen the 6th string (low E, or thickest string) by hand or with a peg winder, turning clockwise until the windings are loose.

Step 5
Unwrap the windings, and pull the old string out of the tuning post hole.

Step 6
Remove the string from the tailpiece, which will be on the top or underside of the guitar, depending on bridge type. You can snip the string with wire cutters to facilitate easier removal, as the bent winding end of the string may be difficult to pull through, but this is optional.

Step 7
Thread the new string through the bridge hole, and pull all the way through.

Step 8
Wrap the string around the machine head several times, and insert the tip into the tuning post hole. Pre-wrapping takes the guesswork out if some other string slackening methods, and allows a suitable number of wraps to prevent string slippage.

Step 9
Secure the string by grasping the end near the tuning post hole with needle-nose pliers and pulling snug. Bending it up at a 90 degree angle will lock the string into place.

Step 10
Bring up to pitch by turning counter-clockwise. Hold the string and pull up slightly as you tune, which will help to pre-stretch the string, but dont pull too hard! This may need to be repeated several times until the string stabilizes.

Step 11
Repeat steps 3 through 10 for additional strings.

Guitar Restringing Step 12

Guitar tuning after restringing Stretch and tune all strings two to three additional times with a tuner, pitch pipe, or tuning fork, to further stabilize. Thats about it! Guitar Restringing does require some practice, but is a vital part of the learn the guitar puzzle. You may investigate other methods, but over many years of professional playing, this method has proven to be quick and reliable. See you next time for part 13 of our beginners guitar lessons series. Until then, rock on!

Guitar Adjustments Beginners Guitar Lessons Pt13

Nice to have you back for part 13 of the beginners guitar lessons series. Lets talk a bit about some guitar setup situations and terms that are often quite fuzzy when youre starting out. While this is not a tutorial for performing guitar adjustments, as most are best left to repair pros, it does help to understand what the terms mean, and how they affect your guitar.

Audio Lesson Guitar Adjustments

Intonation
Intonation is the pitch of all notes over the entire guitar neck. The basic idea of intonation, is that a strings length from the nut to its center (the 12th fret octave) must be must the same distance to the bridge saddle. If its not, notes higher up on the fretboard will sound out of tune. Improper intonation can come about when changing string gauges, improper neck adjustments, action set too high, or instrument damage. Since each string is of a different thickness, slightly different lengths are required for the notes to sound true. Electric guitars are normally fitted with adjustable bridges, allowing individual string saddles to be adjusted accordingly. Most acoustic guitars are equipped with nonadjustable bridges, called compensating bridges, and are pre-set at the factory.

Intonation cannot be accurately determined by ear, so guitar shop personnel use a stroboscopic (strobe) tuner when performing the procedure. The technician frets each string on the 12th fret (the octave) and checks the tuner to determine if the note is sharp (high) or flat (low). If the note is sharp, the technician adjusts the saddle backwards to add length to the string. If the note is flat, the saddle is adjusted forward to shorten the strings length. Intonation should be checked as part of your guitar maintenance schedule, particularly when making other adjustments and string modifications. Improper intonation will not harm your guitar or cause playability problems, but will cause the guitar to sound out of tune in the higher note registers. Unless you own an accurate tuner such as a strobe, and dont bother fiddling around with your instrument, intonation is best handled by professionals.

Guitar Adjustments Action

Every guitar player searches for the guitars perfect action or string height. While this is normally accomplished by adjusting the bridge up and down on electric guitars, or shaving or shimming the saddle on acoustic guitars, its not always as simple as that. While lowering the bridge will bring the strings closer to the fretboard, neck or fret misalignment can cause buzzing notes and flat spots. As with intonation, unless you are prepared to fiddle about for a while, with no positive results guaranteed, these type of guitar adjustments are best left to professionals considering all the variables involved.

Guitar Adjustments Neck

Neck adjustments are perhaps one of the most important guitar adjustments needed, and should be taken care of before all else. A maladjusted neck will cause buzzing frets, intonation issues, and action problems. Performing string adjustments with a neck out of whack will cause undesirable results, and may make problems worse.

Guitars are usually supplied with a neck adjustment tool, typically a hex wrench, but attempting to adjust a neck on your own can cause disastrous results if done improperly. Guitar necks contain an internal truss rod, which expands or contracts when adjusted, prompting the wood to follow suit. Truss rods can break, sometimes causing wood damage and always causing the neck to adjust whichever way it likes, resulting in very expensive repairs or neck replacement. A warped neck is when the guitar neck warps upward toward the strings. Frets are pushed up as well, causing the guitar to play badly, sometimes to the point of being unplayable. Warped necks are just plain bad!

A bowed neck is when the neck is bowed away from the strings, which is how a properly adjusted neck should be. If too much bow exists, the action and intonation will be affected, and the guitar will be difficult to play, and can sound out of tune. Bowed necks are good, as long as they are not bowed too much. A reliable way of telling whether a neck needs adjusting, is not sighting the neck down the center, as many believe. This is okay to do when inspecting a guitar to see if the neck is off-kilter side to side (which is rare), but frets will create an optical illusion, preventing visible evidence of warping or bowing. To do this, look at the guitar fingerboard from the side. Press the low E string down on the first fret with one hand, and the last fret with the other hand. If the frets are making positive contact with the guitar strings (indicating a possibly warped neck), or if there is a considerable gap between them (indicating a possibly bowed neck) the guitar should probably be brought in for adjustment. Doing this adjustment check with a straight-edge or ruler of sufficient length is also acceptable, and will actually give you a more accurate indication. The string method is handy when a straight edge is not available. Hope this clears up some of the mystery of guitar adjustments and terms. A bit of advice: When purchasing a new or used instrument from a store, always ask them to throw in a complete set-up, which will include string change, intonation, neck and action adjustments. If they refuse, and you have to pay a bit for set-up, its totally worth the expense. Youll know that your guitar is starting out its new life properly adjusted, and you will better be able to feel the difference if problems come up. Until our next guitar lesson, best of luck!

How To Tune A Guitar With An Electronic Tuner Lesson 14

Hi, and welcome to back to beginners guitar lessons part fourteen. As you have probably experienced by now, tuning a guitar with an electronic tuner rarely eases the pain of learning to tune. While electronic guitar tuners

can help you tune more accurately, they will not help when your instrument is drastically out of whack. Electronic guitar tuners work on analyzing frequency vibrations in Hertz (Hz). Since guitar strings will reach other notes and vibrations on its way to proper pitch, the electronic tuner can misinterpret these, and think the string is in tune when it is not. When using any electronic guitar tuner, the guitar should first be tuned by ear to avoid these false, confusing readings. Lets go through the steps on how to tune a guitar with an electronic tuner painlessly and effortlessly. Dont forget to check out our audio guitar lessons if you prefer to learn by listening!

How To Tune A Guitar with an Electronic Tuner Step 1

Tune the guitar by ear. A guitar tuning pitch pipe, the audible note tones on the tuner, or an E tuning fork may be used as a guide to achieve approximate tuning.

Step 2
Turn the electronic tuner power on by pressing the power button. The display will light up and perform a brief calibration cycle.

Step 3
Attach the tuner to the guitar by clipping it onto the headstock, sticking it to the body surface, or by plugging a guitar into the input jack, (depending on the tuner model).

Step 4
Pick the low E 6th string on the guitar (the thickest string) and view the tuner display. The target note (E in this case) will appear. Depending on the model, An LED light or LCD arrow will also appear to the left side of the note, indicating whether the note played is too low (flat=b) or on the right of the note, indicating whether the note played is too high (sharp=#).

Step 5
Adjust the strings corresponding tuning key to bring the note up or down in pitch, until the arrow moves the center position, or the green LED is the sole illuminating light, (with no red LEDs). The string is now in tune.

Step 6
Repeat steps 4 and 5, for remaining 5A, 4D, 3G, 2B, 1E strings.

Step 7
Disconnect the tuner from the guitar and turn power off by pressing the power button once again. Thats about it! Check our lesson on guitar tuning by ear, and your electronic tuner will give more accurate results without frustrating false readings. See you next time!

Learn Guitar Bar Chords Beginners Introduction Lesson 15

Hi, and thanks for joining us for beginners guitar lessons number fifteen. In todays lesson, we are going to cover the mysterious, but ever so useful guitar bar chords. To go with this written lesson, you will also find the corresponding audio lesson in the audio guitar lessons library. Just look for audio guitar lesson 15 Guitar Bar Chords.

Introduction To Guitar Bar Chords

The word bar, which is also spelled barre, is quite simply any open guitar chord, played on any fret, using one finger to fret two or more notes. Picture if you will, that the nut of the guitar (that white piece at the top of the neck that guides the strings over the fretboard) is moveable. If you were able to move it up three frets and play an open E chord, you would now have a G chord. Remember that the low open E string is the root note of the E chord. If you move it up chromatically, the first fret is F, the second fret is F#/Gb, and the third fret is G.

We cant move the nut, but we can move our fingers. Place your first finger across all the guitar strings on the third fret. Now, form an open E chord formation with the other fingers: Third finger on the fifth fret of the A5 string, fourth finger on the fifth fret of the D4 string, and the second finger on the fourth fret of the G3 string. Your first finger should be pressing down on the third fret of the low E6, B2, and E1 strings. To further illustrate the relation of this chord to the open E chord, remove your first finger, and slide all the rest into the open position. You are now playing an open E chord, but with a few finger changes. Well call this the E Position Bar Chord for easier future reference. You can play this bar chord on any fret, and the chord name will correspond to the E string note name your first finger is on. For example, playing the chord with your first finger barring the fifth fret produces an A chord, since A is the note on the fifth fret of the E string. Bar chords are very useful, and can be heard in every musical style. Bar chords are used to make open chords sound different, by way of a thing called inversion. Inverted chords are exactly the same as their common-name counterparts, as they share the same notes, but the notes are simply played in a different order. To illustrate, lets play an open A chord. Now play the E Position Bar Chord on the fifth fret. Theyre both A chords, but sound different because of the order of the notes. Try the following exercise to get used to the E Position Bar Chord. Strum each chord four times:

Hope that gives you some idea about the use and formation of bar chords. It may be difficult as first to bar every string, but keep on trying and remember to use proper hand positioning, discussed in Lesson Five. Well learn more guitar bar chords in future lessons, but for now, thanks for joining us and well see to you next time!

Guitar Bar Chords Part Two Lesson 16

Welcome back for part 16 of our learn guitar lessons beginners series. In this guitar lesson, well learn another popular bar chord and learn how to combine it with the one we learned in part 1 of guitar bar chords. For those of you not into reading, you can listen to this lesson by heading over to the audio guitar lessons library and wrapping your ears around lesson 16. Last lesson, we talked about bar chords as open chords that are played on higher frets, using the first finger as a substitute for the nut, essentially changing the notes of the chord. Bar chords are sometimes called moveable chords because of this feature.

A Position Bar Chord

The next chord well learn, the A Position Bar Chord, is one of the trickier moveable bar chords, as it uses the first and third fingers for barring the notes. The A position chord is just as popular as the E position bar chord, and is essential learning for all guitar players.

The C bar chord in the A position is played by placing the first finger across all strings at the third fret. The only finger the first needs to actually push down, however, is the A5 string on the third fret. The third finger is used to fret the D4, G3, and B2 strings on the fifth fret. The tip of the first finger is used to mute or slightly contact the E6 string, so it doesnt play. The bottom part of the third finger mutes the top E6 string, so it doesnt play either. This can be a bit tricky at first. The A5 string is the root note in this bar chord, and will determine the chord name based on the fret. In this case, the A5 string is played on the third fret, which is C, making the

chord a C major. Take note that the lowest string played, A in this example, is not always the root in other types of bar chords.

Bar Chords Exercise

This exercise combines the E position bar chord from Lesson Fifteen, with the A position bar chord. Play each chord four times, on the designated fret:

Heres a refresher view of the E position bar chord

Practice your own patterns using the E and A position chords, taking notice of the chord name according to the root note and fret. Bar chords are very important to master, and you will use them throughout your guitar playing career. See you next time for beginners guitar lessons #17.

Modified Chords Beginners Guitar Lesson 17

Great to see you back here for part 17 of the beginners guitar lessons series! Dont forget to visit our audio guitar lessons library to listen to the accompanying audio lesson 17, listening while reading through the written lesson is a great way to learn fast. In this lesson, well talk about modified chords. By now, youve learned that major and minor chords are made up of three notes taken from the major scale. Modified chords are major or minor chords that contain other notes from the scale, and are really useful in creating certain moods, and making your chord playing sound more interesting.

Like everything else in music, there are rules to follow. Remember that each note in the scale is assigned a number from one through 8, but were going to take the numbering concept a bit further. If you repeat the notes in a long line, starting with the root note of the scale as number one, you can assign numbers to infinity. We wont go quite as far as that, and in fact, well only go the number thirteen. So lets take C major again as our sample scale, and assign numbers:

The reason we only go to thirteen is a matter of redundancy, as the names and numbers of notes will begin to repeat, and cause unnecessary confusion. To modify a guitar chord, we take its basic form, and add another note to it. Well use C Major as our example: The three notes that make up a C Major chord are, C E and G. If we add the seventh note in the scale, B, weve created a Cmajor7 chord. Thats pretty simple, but of course there are other rules to consider, one of which well talk about now because it comprises a very common chord: the Dominant Seven Chord, or simply, a Seven Chord. Note that C Major 7 is a seven chord, but its a Major 7 chord. A Dominant Seven/Seven chord uses the same methodology as C Major 7, but the seventh note, B in this case, is flatted. This is the case for all Dominant Seven chords. You dont have to say Dominant, as the chord is usually called a Seven chord, which is distinguished from the Major Seven, by not saying Majorget it? Here are some basic modified chords for you to work on. C, D, A, and G Major Seven, and regular (dominant) Seven chords:

As you work on your guitar chords, note that all modified chords may not fit into every song. Their use depends on the melody notes used, which well get into more detail in future lessons. But as a general rule, when using modified chords such a dominant seven chords, the modified note in the scale also needs to be modified. If not, youll have a

pretty bad sound clashing of notes. (In the audio portion of this lesson, Ill give an example of note clashing.) By now, youve got a pretty good collection of chords which youve learned here at learn the guitar lessons. Every guitarist needs to study and memorize chords, as they will be a vital part of your playing. The more chords you know, and their proper use within a song, will develop your playing style, and differentiate your playing from others. Beatles music is a great example of different chords. Youll notice that they use very rich modified chords which complement the melody in some very interesting ways. It does take a lot of thought and quite a few years of playing in order to use non-standard chords properly, but it is time well spent on your never-ending guitar playing journey. Hope you had fun with lesson seventeen, and well see you back next time for more guitar lessons.

Modified Guitar Chords Pt 2 Beginners Guitar Lesson 18

Hi! Welcome back to lesson eighteen of our beginners guitar lessons series. In todays lesson, well learn a few more modified major chords, as well as some minor chords, and discuss their proper use within a song. As usual, we have an audio of this lesson which you will find in our audio guitar lessons library, look out for lesson 18. We learned in lesson Seventeen, that modified guitar chords are standard chords which use additional notes added. Notes added to major chords are taken from the major scale, and it is the same with modified minor chords. Lets look at the A minor scale, which is the relative minor of C major..

Even though A minor is based on C major, weve numbered the notes in the minor scale to modify the minor chord. An A minor chord contains the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the minor scale (A E C). The most popular minor chord modification is the Minor Seven. To play an Am7 chord, simply play a standard Am chord, and add the seventh note, which is G. This is easily done by dropping your third finger away from a standard AM chord, and will add the open G note.

Other minor chords that are easily modified include:

Now, lets try some chord progressions using our new modified minor chords, as well as some from previous lessons. Strum each chord four times.

Using modified guitar chords within a song usually poses no problems, as long as the melody and solo parts also contain the modified notes. Remember to memorize and perfect all chords, and in the next two lessons, well be putting it all together. Until next time, thanks for joining us here at Learn The Guitar Lessons.

Guitar Scale Exercises Beginners Guitar Lesson 19

Hello again, and thanks for joining us back here for learn the guitar lesson nineteen! If youve been following our beginners guitar lessons series, by now you should have a pretty good grasp of scales, and have a good inventory guitar chords. If you missed earlier lessons, it might be a good time to go back and see what youve missed. Today, were going to get back to guitar tablature and guitar scales, and do some pretty cool exercises! When playing these guitar scale exercises, the preferred picking pattern is alternate up and down strokes. Note that the fret numbers on the tablature also correspond the fingers used, since we are playing in the first, or open position. The first exercise is in C major, followed by the relative minor of C, A minor.

Guitar Scale Exercise In C Major

Guitar Scale Exercise In A Minor

Guitar Scale Exercise In G Major

Notice how we jumped around a bit, and didnt really favor any particular note. By doing this, you can come up with melodies, solos, bass parts, and other guitar parts. Play around with your own versions, and create other guitar scale exercises for practice. Working on different picking patterns and rhythms is helpful too. Listen to the audio guitar lesson (#19) for some suggestions. Hope you enjoyed these exercises, and dont forget to join us back here soon for beginners guitar lesson #20 where we will get stuck into some guitar chord exercises. Until then Rock On!

Learn The Guitar Beginners Lesson 20 Chord Exercises

Hi, and welcome back to Learn The Guitar lessons for part 20 of our beginners series. Weve accumulated a number of useful chords in past lessons, so lets put them to use in some exercises! Play all exercises with the down/up/down/up/down/up strum pattern as heard on the audio guitar lesson. Also in the audio, well learn a few more strum patterns and see how we can use the same chord progressions to make very different styles of music. Running through this written exercise and combining it with the audio is a great way to Learn The Guitar. Get your fingers warmed up and lets get into it!

Learn The Guitar Chord Exercise 1

Chord Exercise 2

Chord Exercise 3

Chord Exercise 4

By altering the strum pattern and which strings you actually strum, you can achieve different music styles and patterns. To simplify things, play the audio portion to hear some ideas. As mentioned in our previous Learn The Guitar beginners lessons, chord memorization is so important for every guitar player. Be sure to work on timing, picking and strumming patterns too, and well give you some ideas in future lessons. For now, practice, and then practice some more! Well see you again next time here real soon for some more beginners guitar lessons. Scotty Smith and Matt Mckay Learn The Guitar Lessons 2009-2010

Guitar Lessons How To Use A Metronome Lesson 21

In lesson 21 of our beginners guitar lessons series, guest writer Mike Murphy from http://guitarheroschool.com shares some tips on how to use a metronome to become a cleaner, more confident lead guitar player.

How to Use a Metronome

The old saying youve got to walk before you can run certainly holds true when you want start out with guitar lessons. Its very easy to see your

favorite guitar hero rip off a blistering solo and then excitedly grab your guitar and try to shred a few hundred notes out at mach speed, only to be totally let down when it sounds like complete musical gibberish. The thing thats easy to forget when you see these shredders soloing all over the guitar neck is that they all had to start somewhere too! Chances are very good that they started exactly where you started and they could not play much of anything in the early days let alone solo like a mad man. Whether you want to learn to play fast impressive guitar solos or simply want to be able to play cleanly with no mistakes in a nice, fluid manner, the very best way to make either of these happen is to learn how to use a metronome. Metronomes come in a variety of shapes and styles but they all serve the same basic service which is to keep time. Theyll usually have a dial that allows you to select how many beats you want to it to tick at, as well as a speaker to hear the ticks and sometimes a light so you can see the beat ticking away. In addition to handheld metronomes there are also software versions that you can install on your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad etc or if youre really old school like me, you can use a drum machine. To use the metronome effectively, youve got to have a piece of music or a scale or run that youre working on and play through it a few times with no metronome to get the notes under your fingers and try them out a few times. Next youll start the metronome at a moderately slow pace that allows you to comfortably play the exercise or scale with no mistakes. When youve got the piece mastered at the starting tempo and you can play it backward and frontward with no mistakes, you can speed the metronome up a few BPM (beats per minute). Dont be too anxious to move the speed up too soon. This is the building blocks of your lead guitar playing and the more seriously you take learning to play clean in the early days, the better guitarist youll become. If you have any questions or comments, go ahead and post them in the comments section below and well get them answered right away. To learn more about Mike and his lessons, please visit http://guitarsolobasics.com.