Acoustic Guitar For Beginners

Welcome to Acoustic Guitar For Beginners! Time to dust off your guitar and start strumming. You won't be bogged down in this course by tedious exercises or music theory. Instead, we get straight to the mechanics of chords and strums so that you can pick up a piece of sheet music (or find some online) and start playing songs that you know and love.

Just like you can be a better driver when you know how a car's gas pedal, clutch and brake work, a cursory understanding of the guitar's functional parts will help you make your way around the instrument. It also provides a vocabulary for the upcoming lessons as we discuss string numbers and fret positions.

If you start out holding the guitar comfortably, the only pain you should ever experience is on your left-hand fingertips - and even that will go away after the first few days of practicing. Mind these tips on posture to play in comfort.

You'll also want to make sure your guitar is in good working condition. Even the finest guitars go out of whack. Since wood is an organic material, it's vulnerable to changes in temperature and humidity. Any guitar that is new or has been sitting around unused for a long time will benefit from a quick tune-up and restringing at your local music store.

An electronic guitar tuner is a sound investment in your playing and in your sanity. You'll develop a good ear in time, so that you can tell when you're in or out of tune, but for a few bucks you can take out all the guess work.

Also get yourself some thin picks (flat picks), and a strap if you want to play standing up. You'll also want a metronome or some other way of keeping time. The Jam tracks in our player will be helpful for that, and if you don't want to drop a dime on an actual metronome, search for one online (there's a good one at <b><u><a href="http://www.metronomeonline.com">Metronomeonline.com</a></u></b>). The numbers you see on a metronome represent pace or "tempo," which is measured in beats per minute, often abbreviated BPM.

Rhythm is the beating heart of music, and playing a steady rhythm is what keeps your music alive. To start playing strums in good rhythm, get in the habit of tapping along to a beat when you're listening to music. (If it's tricky to find the beat, concentrate first on what the drummer is playing.) But instead of tapping on your desk or slapping your leg, pick up your guitar and strum the strings. Lay back casually into the feel of the rhythm you hear and let your elbow swing like a pendulum as you strum. Don't worry about the left hand for now - just lay it across the fretboard to mute the strings.

Like the majority of rhythmic feels in popular music, the rhythms in this course break down neatly into blocks of four beats each. You could even count along instead of strumming or tapping: 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4. Each four-beat block is referred to as a "measure" or "bar" of music.

When four evenly spaced beats fill up a measure, each beat is a quarter note. So if you strum down on each number ( 1 2 3 4 ) you're strumming quarter notes. If your arm is swinging steadily and you catch all the strums on the way back up as well (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and), each beat is an 8th note.

Once your strumming hand is in motion, you're ready to start playing chords. So first we want to establish some terms so we can talk about how chords are fingered:

- From lowest to highest, we're referring to the strings as 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.

- Chords are played in the frets, which are actually the fret spaces between the lead fretwire.

Now just place your fingers in the crosshairs of a string and a fret, and you'll be playing notes that make up chords. You want each note of a chord to ring cleanly whether the note is fretted (pressing down on a fret) or open (no fingers on the string).

Now that you know how to keep a strum going and how to play a chord, you can start making music.

As we learned in Lesson 3b, the music we're playing here is based on a four-beat measure. Those four beats can be broken up evenly into quarter notes (1 2 3 4) or 8th notes (1 and 2 and 3 and 4). Once you're comfortable playing a chord cleanly, you can start strumming quarter-note and 8th-note rhythms of that chord in steady time. Try to get your right hand strumming steadily, as if on auto pilot, before you add in a chord.

With a third chord under your fingers, you're on your way to playing a full series of chords known as a progression.

In the previous clip we learned a new chord by adding a single finger (index finger on the first fret of the 2nd string). Now we get a new chord by moving two lower notes, or chord voices, up one string each.

Learn the new chord (F major 7th, sometimes written Fmaj7), then start practicing how to change among the three chords while strumming. You may first want to familiarize yourself with the changes by going through the chord shapes without strumming.

You already have three chords in the bag: Cmaj7, C, and Fmaj7. Now we're going to play an E minor (Em). It's not tough to play but its shape is unrelated to the first three chords we learned.

Em uses only two fingers, and it's a nice, full chord you can strum on all six strings. Let all those open strings ring through.

As you try strumming Fmaj7 to Em - in time - notice that the Fmaj7 should be played only from the 4th string down, while on the Em you strum from the 6th string down. A bit of attention has to be paid to the strumming hand to get this together, but most of the work is on the fretting hand.

The more chords you know, the more songs you'll be able to play. Here's a look at two more chords that show up in thousands of songs.

You already have three chords in the bag: Cmaj7, C, and Fmaj7. Now we’re going to play an E minor (Em). It’s not tough to play but its shape is unrelated to the first three chords we learned.

A minor (Am), being a minor chord, has that same dark, slightly subdued character that the Em chord has. If you're already comfortable with the Em, notice that if you move the two fingers used on an Em up one string each, you have the bottom end of Am. Then just add your first finger to the first fret on the 2nd string. Strum an Am from the 5th string down.

The D chord has a bright, sunny sound. As you continue learning, you'll see that it's a really easy chord to modify, too. Strum from the 4th string down.

To practice, first try the chord change shown here from Am to D. Then try interchanging these chords with chords from previous clips. Again, keep a steady beat, changing chords only when you're ready - but always in time to the beat.

Ever heard the expression "Three chords and the truth"? It comes from the idea that it takes just three chords to make a great song, and you don't have to look far to find many examples. Very often each section of a popular song (verse, chorus, or bridge) will include no more than three chords each.

The exercise here is a three-chord progression using Am, C and D. The three chords are played over the course of 4 measures: Am for 1 measure, C for 1 measure, and D for 2 measures. Written in shorthand, it would look something like this:

| Am | C | D | D |

It doesn't matter if you're playing whole notes, quarter notes, or 8th notes - the progression still takes up just 4 measures, or bars, of music. Each time the fourth bar ends, you loop back around to Am.

Try playing the 4-bar progression shown at a comfortable tempo - as always, starting as slow as needed to switch chords in time. Then look for other three-chord combinations, using the chords you know, to develop progressions of your own.

We're back to the right hand now, and considering how to change the rhythmic feel by modifying a strum.

By keeping your right arm swinging in steady time, you can come up with a great variety of rhythms that combine quarter-note and 8th-note strums. Every downwards stroke lands on a "downbeat" (1 2 3 4) and every 8th note is an "upbeat" (the AND in 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and).

Accents - strums that are hit a little harder than others - make a big difference in the feel of the rhythms you play. Start to work accents into your strumming by emphasizing that first downbeat (the "1" in 1 2 3 4). Then accent the 1 and 2. Then the 1 and 3.

Hear how it changes the feel?

By making very small changes to chord fingerings - lift a finger here, add a finger there - you can quickly multiply the number of left-hand options available.

You can look for new chords based on all the shapes learned in this series. For starters, we look at chords in the family of A. Consider that you might need to reconfigure how your left hand is fingering an A, depending on what changes you want to make.

In case you come across the "A" family chords in sheet music or tab you find online, here are the chords we've covered - all with one-note changes to the simple A major form.

A major (A)
A minor (Am)
A minor 7th (Am7)
A suspended 4th (Asus4)
A suspended 2nd (Asus2)
A dominant 7th (A7)
A7 sus4

In the last lesson we found half a dozen new chords by moving just one note of an A chord each time. Now we're doing the same on a D chord to see what kinds of sounds are available in the D family:

D major (D)
D suspended 2nd (Dsus2)
D suspended 4th (Dsus4)
D major 7th (Dmaj7)
D minor (Dm)
D dominant 7th (D7)

The E chord has a deep, bold sound on acoustic guitar.

The progression of D to A to E has a familiar sound. What's not so familiar, though, is having to completely re-configure your fingers for each chord - no easy added or lifted fingers in this progression.

Also note that the bass notes fall on the 4th, 5th and 6th strings, respectively. Once you get comfortable making the chord shapes with your left hand, you'll want to make sure you're strumming from the "correct" lowest string each time.

Another great - and very popular - three-chord grouping is G, C and D. You know C and D already, so the G chord is all you need to learn. G is a 6th-string based chord; you can strum all the strings when you hit a G chord.

As in prior examples, we're using a three-chord progression in a 4-bar progression. Using shorthand, the four bars could be written like this:

| D | C | G | G |

To give the progression some life, add accents to the 1st beat of each measure. That is, each time you change chords, hit the first downstroke a little harder than your other strums.

Music can be represented on the written page in several different ways. And when a piece of sheet music also represents where a guitarist should put his/her fingers, the page can look like a bunch of hieroglyphics. None of it is really very complicated though, so let's look at the elements commonly used.

CHORD GRIDS - graphic representation of the guitar neck, showing where to place your fingers

SLASH CHORDS - a chord name separated by the bass note to be used, such as G/B or Am/G. Sometimes the slash is spoken as "over" - as in "G over B" or "A minor over G"

CHORD NAMES ABOVE LYRICS - refers to the chord grids usually

TABLATURE - a graphic system for representing notes on the neck of the guitar

MEASURE or BAR - unit of time comprised of a fixed number beats

RHYTHM SLASHES - Basic way of showing beats or strums

Some of the ways written music can be represented:

CHORDS AND LYRICS - Clean and simple, but without measures or other traditional elements of sheet music

STANDARD MUSIC NOTATION - Classic system showing pitches and rhythms on a staff. This is the best and most accurate way to represent music on a page, but you don't have to learn music notation to be able to strum the guitar

TABLATURE (TAB)- A graphic system for representing notes on the neck of a guitar. Digits on lines show which frets to use on each string. Tab does not show rhythms

GUITAR/PIANO PARTS - For most strumming, you can ignore the piano parts (shown in standard notation) and just look for the chord names and/or chord blocs shown above the staff for guitar players

FULL ARRANGEMENTS - Don't trouble yourself with parts written out for other instruments, such as bass, saxophone or drums. Just look for the chords shown for guitarists

Here we're seeing what two measures looks like. This will give you an idea of what you'll encounter on a standard piece of sheet music.

Each measure has four beats in it, and you'll see each beat highlighted at first. Then we play a full measure of Fmaj7 followed by a full measure of Em. As seen before, it doesn't matter if you're playing one "whole note," four quarter notes, eight 8th notes - each of these takes up a full bar.

Whether you're playing with other people or just strumming while you look at a piece of sheet music, you'll want to maintain a steady beat and keep track of where you are in the song. Once you understand beats and measures, you'll never get lost.

Picking up on our two-measure example from the last clip, here's a closer look at a full four measures (bars) of music. Popular music is very often broken up into 4-bar sections or "phrases." It's a balanced amount of time for a chord progression to go by.

Our previous examples have been showing one chord per measure (sometimes the same chord is held out over several measures at a time). Now we're subdividing a measure. The 4th bar in this example includes two chords (Am and D).

Rhythm notations will sometimes show you where exactly to change chords. When a "strummy" song shows two chords in one measure, you can simply divide the measure evenly in half so that each chord gets two beats.

Dominant 7 chords - often abbreviated dom7, 7th, or simply 7 - are very common. You're bound to come across them as you pick up sheet music in most any style of music, from rock to alternative to folk, funk and blues.

Look at the chord grids in the video and in the accompanying pdf to see how the major chords here are changed to 7 chords by changing just one note.

7 chords have some dissonance in them. Dissonance creates tension, and tension wants to resolve. So one characteristic of 7 chords is that they lead your ear to another chord. As shown in the examples here, where the last chord is a 7 chord, it pulls back strongly to the first chord of the progression.

Shown in the video clip are examples of accents falling on downbeats and then on upbeats in an 8th-note strum. Downbeats are simply the numbered beats ( 1 2 3 4 ); upbeats are the "ands" that fall in between downbeats ( 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and ). See the PDF to see what these accents look like on paper. The ">" sign indicates an accent.

Your strummed chords may sound muddled or like they have wrong notes in them if you don't know where the bottom note is. Watch the chord grids so that you know whether you should strum 6, 5, or 4 strings. If the grid shows an X next to a string, that means it shouldn't be strummed. Once you get familiar with your chords, you'll get used to strumming them from the 6th string down, from the 5th string down, or from the 4th string down. An entirely new type of right-hand movement combines plucked and strummed strings. For this you will definitely need to know which is the lowest string you can pluck, so mind those chord grids and watch out for strings that should not be played at all (marked with an X).

An entirely new type of right-hand movement combines plucked and strummed strings. For this you will definitely need to know which is the lowest string you can pluck, so mind those chord grids and watch out for strings that should not be played at all (marked with an X).

This right-hand action first plucks the lowest note, then proceeds with a strum. It has a lilting feel. In its most basic form it seems like a country 'n western rhythm. The technique has broader applications as you expand on it with variations.

(Note: the word "root" is often misused to describe the lowest note of a chord. However, the root note really tells you the NAME of the chord. For example, "E" is the root note in an E chord, or an E minor, or an E7. Sometimes, the lowest note is not the root but another note from the chord.)

Tips for changing chords smoothly and in good time:

- Practice chords that change with minimal movement, such as lifting or adding a finger.

- Practice chords that have similar shapes.

- Look for pivot points. That is, look for notes that are shared between two chords. Those fingers can often stay planted while others move around.

- Don't press down too hard - use just enough pressure to make the notes ring without sounding muted.

- Make sure your fingers are landing in the fret spaces, not over the fret wires.

- Don't let the pad of your finger block other strings. When necessary, change your fingers' angle of approach to the face of the fretboard. If you're having a lot of "buzz" trouble, adjust the angle to be more straight on (perpendicular to the fretboard).

Understanding how to play well and actually applying what you know can be two different things. Here are some tips:

- Work at your own pace. Don't speed up until you can play the rhythm and change the chords smoothly at the slower tempo. When you're ready, increase tempo incrementally.

- Keep a steady rhythm.

- Work on short passages of music. Break up what you want to learn into 2-, 4- or 8-bar blocks.

Even the most accomplished players have a few tricks to help them get through difficult spots. While you're building your skill set, consider workarounds you can use to get through a song. Sometimes, you have to fake it to make it!

- Sometimes a chord is tucked between two other chords. Especially in a progression with a descending bass line, that middle chord (in some instances called a passing chord) doesn't have to be fully shaped. You may be able to get away with just plucking its bass note.

- Use chord substitutions. For instance, when you see 9 chords (A9, E9), you can play dominant 7 instead (A7, E7).

- Look at the chord grid instead of the chord name.

- Trust your ears, not your eyes. If you come upon a really difficult part, listen back to the original recording you're trying to replicate. Does that part really have to be mastered to strum your way through the song? Or does it pass by quickly, allowing for some quick cheat?

Not to beat a dead horse here, but if you keep a steady rhythm going, you can get away with just about anything.

Another option for getting through a tricky chord change is to play just a part of the chord rather than the whole thing. You may be able to play only the upper or lower voices. The character of the chord may still come through enough to get you over the rough spot.

If playing in a band context, rest while another instrument plays the chord change. Just make sure you know where you are in the music, so you can come back in at the right spot.

The F chord gives a lot of people trouble, but it doesn't have to be so bad. The hardest thing about it is that one finger is playing two notes, which we haven't seen yet. What makes it difficult is that those two notes happen right down near the end of the neck, where it's hardest to press down.

As with other new chords, F is easiest to learn in the context of a chord you already know. So work with the easy-to-play Fmaj7 (F major 7) chord from early in this course. Then you're just one note away from F.

The B minor (Bm) is unlike any chord we've seen since it's not played within the first three frets. But there's nothing magical about playing up the neck a little bit.

Again we're going to learn something new by working with something old. So start with the A minor (Am) shape you already know. Just make sure to play it with your middle, ring and pinky fingers. Move that Am up two frets, plant the bass note with your index finger, and you'll have Bm.

You can let that high 1st string ring out, mute it, or try barring across the second fret for a totally legit Bm chord. Don't let it trip you up - there are a number of workarounds.

This clip explains the elements you're likely to see on a page from a guitar book. There are a number of styles for presenting these elements, but most include the same information. Some you need, and many you can just ignore for now.

Song Title
Songwriter credit
Chord blocks
Tempo
Alternate tuning (if relevant)
Time signature - look for songs in 4/4
Chord names, and sometimes chord grids, above Music and lyrics
Standard Music notation
Lyrics
Tablature

The key task in reading your first few music charts is to align chords and lyrics. For the purpose of strumming a song, those are the only two elements you need. So, strip away all the other elements on the page and just concern yourself with the chord changes and the words.

Remember what you've learned about counting measures, which will help you keep your place. Tapping your foot can help, too. That way, you might be able to hear exactly where a lyric and a chord change happen at the same time (i.e., on which beat).

Start with a song you know well. You may even want to listen to the recording first while reading along to the written music. Then play it back again, this time noticing how the lyrics fall within the measures. Then once more, following the chord changes. See if you can hear a chord change and anticipate the next one.

Like any web search through user-generated material, finding good song tabs online is a treasure hunt. There's a lot of dirt to dig through, some fool's gold, and some really valuable finds.

Tab, or tablature, is actually a system of lines and numbers representing notes on the guitar neck. But in the digital age, "tab" has become a catch-all term for home-grown music charts. Users post their own shorthand versions of sheet music, making for a huge huge variety of forms and styles available online. It becomes even more of a musical mindfield when people show chords they THINK they hear without knowing for sure how a song should be played.

So, the Internet can be a great source but you have to be wary. For now, stick to those tabs that show just chords and lyrics. Try the chords shown against the original recording and see if it sounds close. Even if the chords are right, there is rarely any representation of bar lines, so you'll want to count your way through the tune once or twice to get your chords lined up with the lyrics.

We won't drag you through a whole lesson on tablature here, but we do want to show you how to use forms you may see online.

User-generated song charts will often include chords and lyrics, but they don't have chord grids to show how the chords are shaped. Instead, they often use some version of tab. So, we're explaining here how a tab chord grid compares to a conventional chord grid, like the ones we've been using on screen in this course.

Again, it's a jungle out there. If you have trouble playing a song with a tab you've found online, don't let it get you down - it's probably the tab, not you.

Here are some of the most common problems that trip up new players. Don't let 'em bring you down. You'll be surprised how quickly you can practice your way right past these stumbling blocks.

NOTES ARE MUTED
Build chords note by note. Don't play over fretwire. Change the angle of your fingers to the fretboard.

FINGERS HURT!
Don't press too hard but do expect calluses. Once they form, you'll be able to play without pain. Only your fingertips should feel it.

HARD TO SYNC STRUMMING HAND AND FRETTING HAND
Think ahead - know what chord you'll have to change to next, and when it's coming. Get your right arm strumming steadily and soon it will be on autopilot. Practice!

CAN'T PLAY IN STEADY TIME
Always practice new material slowly. Play along to a metronome, and play at a tempo that makes it possible to make the chord change in time. Also, look for common tones and pivot points.

BROKEN STRING
Have your strings replaced by a friend or at a local music store. If you feel like experimenting, there are dozens of articles and videos online showing how to restring a guitar. But expect to ruin a few strings or poke a few holes in your finger before you get it right.

TUNING
Get yourself a digital guitar tuner, which will show you with lights and/or meters whether you're on pitch. The video here shows you how to get a string in tune.

That's a wrap for Acoustic Guitar for Beginners. We hope this course has inspired you to spend more time strumming your guitar.

If you made it this far, you've covered a lot of ground in just a little time. There's no end to the variety of possible chords and strums, and now that you know how to form chords and how to strum them in time, you really do have the basic skills to play hundreds and hundreds of songs. If it can be strummed, you can strum it.

Thanks for checking out the course! Rich