Beginning Classical Guitar

You will learn about the different parts of the guitar in this lecture. Your guitar may look a little different and that is totally fine. The parts of the guitar that are covered in this lecture are standard to acoustic guitars (either steel-string acoustic guitars or nylon-string classical guitars). This is not an exhaustive list, the point is to understand the basic elements so that you are ready to play.

Because this a classical guitar course, I don't talk about the parts of the guitar that are unique to electric guitars (things like pickups, tone knobs, input jacks), but everything that is covered here besides the sound-hole will be relevant if you have an electric guitar.

In this lecture you will learn how to sit with the classical guitar. The video features a wider shot so you can see how to sit from foot to head. I removed some sound-deadening material from my studio so you could see a full view, so there may be some echo in this video.

Remember that everybody is different and your exact sitting position will vary. If you have never sat with a guitar "classical-style" before, give it a shot here. The best tool for elevating your left leg is a "classical guitar foot-rest," available online or at most guitar stores. Something that also works well is using your guitar case if you have a hard-shell case. Just make sure that your right leg is parallel to the ground and that your left leg is elevated a bit higher.

While it is true that classical guitar players use their fingernails on their right-hands when they pluck the strings, I recommend that if you are new to guitar playing or new to classical playing that you learn the basic mechanics without nails.

My classical guitar teachers/mentors recommend this approach and after years of teaching private lessons I found students have made faster progress without using nails at first. If you develop good technique and habits first, adding long nails will give you the bonus of a louder and more projected sound.

That being said, if you do use nails, it's a good idea to keep the nails short. A good measure is to have about 2 millimeters of nail past the end of the flesh of your fingertip. If you look at your hand with the palm facing you, the nail should be just barely visible.

An electronic tuner will be a great help as you are learning to play. I recommend the app called "Guitar Tuna." All tuners use the same basic approach and they are intuitive to use.

The guitar can go out of tune very quickly so it's a good idea to tune before each practice session.

Pressing down the string with the left hand inside boxes called frets changes the sound, and you will learn how to start using your left hand in this lecture.

You will start by playing notes on the same string and changing which left hand fingers you use, and then you will move on to moving from string to string with your left hand, in order to build your range of motion and strength.

This lecture will only use the right hand, so all of the strings that you play will be "open," meaning that you will not  press down any frets with the left hand.

This course will focus on "free-stroke" technique, meaning that as you play the strings with your right hand fingers, the follow through of the finger will swing free and not run into the next string. This is important to develop good technique. Even if it means being a little reckless at first, develop a loose, relaxed free stroke technique.

In this lecture you will build on the skills that you learned for your left hand. You will take the same basic concepts of the previous lecture and take them a bit farther. This will help you prepare for the kinds of left hand moves that you will need to do when you are playing solo guitar pieces.

You will learn how to play your first piece of music in this lecture. The Pami Song is designed so that you can quickly develop co-ordination of the hands.

Since the right-hand actually makes the sound, it's important to keep the right hand picking pattern going. Practice it until you can play it automatically without having to think about it too much.

Once you can play it all the way through, practice "performing" the song, going from the beginning to the end without stopping, even if you make a mistake.

This lecture will show you how to use the fingers of the right hand to play the strings efficiently and accurately. It is important to have your right hand fingers alternate back and forth, since this technique will be your foundation for playing single-note lines and scales.

With practice you will be able to alternate your right hand fingers without having to consciously think about every single motion. Since you are at the beginning of your classical guitar studies, it's important to build this habit now, it will make your progress go much faster.

You will learn how to play 4 different scales in this lecture. The 4 scales covered in this lecture are G Major, F Major, A minor, and E minor.

Scales are the building block of musical composition in classical music and you will get the most benefit for your time and effort by practicing scales.

This is just an introduction to scales, but it should be encouraging to know that the best professional players practice scales every day. Scales are that valuable to your development.

This lecture covers the notes on the 1st string, which is the string closest to the ground.

The notes are E open, F on the 1st fret, and G on the 3rd fret.

This lecture covers the notes on the 2nd string, which is the B string.

The notes are B open, C on the 1st fret, and D on the 3rd fret.

This lecture covers the notes on the 3rd string, which is the G string.

The notes are G open, A on the 2nd fret.

This lecture covers the notes on the 4th string, which is the D string.

The notes are D open, E on the 2nd fret, and F on the 3rd fret.

This lecture covers the notes on the 5th string, which is the A string.

The notes are A open, B on the 2nd fret, and C on the 3rd fret.

This lecture covers the notes on the 6th string, which is the string closest to the ceiling, the low E string.

The notes are E open, F on the 1st fret, and G on the 3rd fret.

This lecture will focus on the left hand technique involved in playing "Ode to Joy." You will be able to see and hear an example of the piece played all the way through and then you will get to work on the left hand.

Once you can play the first phrase, you will be set up to play the whole song well, so take your time and make sure that you can play smoothly. The goal is to have a seamless transition from note to note. This isn't meant to be a particularly fast piece of music, but in any case the key to playing faster is not using fast finger movements, but having smooth and uninterrupted motion.

The right hand motion that you will use for "Ode to Joy" is right-hand walking, which you should be comfortable with at this point in the course.

This lecture video will go immediately to a view of the right hand, if you would like to hear the reference recording of the piece, you can refer back to the previous lecture.

The key as always is alternating the right hand fingers so that the same finger isn't being used over and over. You will be able to run faster by using 2 legs as opposed to hopping up and down on one leg, and in the same way you will play faster (and also more evenly) by alternating your right hand fingers. Start by using your index and middle fingers to pluck the strings, starting with your index finger.

There are 2 alternating sections of "Spanish Cancion," the single-note line and the strummed chords. The song is structured so that you will be constantly going back and forth between the 2 sections.

This lecture will focus on the single note lines, the technique you use for this part will be very similar to the technique you used in "Ode to Joy."

This lecture will introduce you to playing chords on the classical guitar. Chords refer to when you play multiple notes at the same time. Chords typically get introduced sooner when people are learning to play rock guitar. Here we will go back and forth between single-note lines and chords, giving you a chance to ease into chords.

You will learn how to play the A minor, E Major, and D minor chord shapes as well as some strategies for practicing these shapes.

There will also be a brief introduction to a strumming technique called "rasgueado." Flamenco guitarists are masters of all types of rasgueados, the technique presented here is a simplified version that ensures that you keep your right wrist loose and relaxed, and not locked.

This lecture will help you develop strategies to transition smoothly and in time between the single-note lines and the chords.

The right hand is what creates the sound and in this song it is what drives the sound, so you'll start by looking at how to think about your right hand as your are playing.

This lecture will help you learn the first part of the classical guitar piece "Malaguena." You'll learn how to play in basic 3/4 time as you work on this great piece.

You'll play scales on both the bass strings and the treble strings, as well as play some chords by brushing the strings with your right-hand thumb.

It's good to know that the 2 chords that you will play (E Major and A minor) have already been covered in "Spanish Cancion."

You will learn to play the part of "Malaguena" that has a single-note melody and uses right hand walking. You should be well-prepared to play this section, the only aspect that is different from "Ode to Joy" is that each measure (each grouping of notes) is 3 counts.

Make sure that you continue to alternate your right hand fingers as you play. Once again I would recommend starting by using your index and middle fingers, beginning with your index finger.

This lecture has a short right-hand only exercise to prepare you for the third and final part of "Malaguena." The thumb will play the important part (the melody) while the middle finger will play a repeated note on the 1st string.

This creates the effect of playing both a melody and accompaniment at the same time, which is a favorite technique of classical guitarists.

This lecture covers the second half of "Malaguena" and focuses on a technique where you play the moving melody in the bass with your right hand thumb while playing the high E string repeatedly as an accompaniment.

Once you finish this lecture, you will know how to play the entire piece. See if you can play the piece all the way from the beginning to the end without stopping. If there is any section that you would like to work on, you can go back and work on that section in detail. That way you can get the most out of your practice time.

Great work, you have made it to the end. A great project would be to play "The Pami Song," "Ode to Joy," "Spanish Cancion," and "Malaguena" all in a row, without stopping. That way you will have your first recital program.

I wish you the best as you continue your classical guitar studies, thank you for working through the course. Your hard work will pay off.