Name: Beginner Guitar Course: Have More Fun With Your Guitar
Rating: 4.7 (396 reviews)

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Created byLauren Bateman

Last updated 9/2020

English

What you'll learn

Learn The Chords Needed To Play 1000s Of Songs
Fun Strumming Patterns That Make You Feel Like A Guitar Player
Easy Beginner Fixes For Difficult Barre Chords
Build Finger Dexterity For Faster Chords Changes And Cleaner Chords
Simple Picking Patterns To Sound Like A Pro
A Self Paced And Step-By-Step Process For Making REAL Progress On Your Guitar
Training Modules To Practice Along In Time With Lauren

Course content

12 sections • 105 lectures • 6h 14m total length

DOWNLOAD YOUR WORKBOOK To Get The Most Out Of Your Guitar Practice2:32
Getting The Most Out Of Your Guitar Practice

1.     Find a distraction free place to study. Try not to practice in front of the TV or in a place where there will be lots of noise and people coming and going.

2.     Write out a weekly practice schedule and try and practice at the same time each day. This may be 10-15 minutes the first couple of weeks and can grow as you learn more skills and develop your hand strength. Never get overwhelmed with having to practice for an hour. 15 minutes will work wonders if you focus on only a couple items.

3.     Try not to get into “playing” your guitar. Make sure you are working on things that give you trouble. Working on the things you are already good at will not make you a better player. Reward yourself at the end with the fun stuff.

4.     Keep a practice log. You can write down questions, practice speeds and times and any other notes you come across during your practice time.

5.     Keep your guitar out of your case. Out of sight, out of mind. You are more likely to practice if your guitar is easy to get to. A guitar in a stand is begging to be played.

6.     Slow down. If something is giving you a hard time, slow it down. You do not have to master each exercise or song each week. Sometimes it might take you a few weeks to master something. And by slow down, I mean super slow.

7.     Always end on something positive. This will make you enjoy your practice and look forward to doing it again.

DOWNLOAD THE GUITAR COURSE WORKBOOK BELOW
External Resources For Working With My course0:21
Helpful external resources to help you work through the course that I cannot include as part of the Udemy course.
Acoustic VS Electric Guitars7:15
Whether you want to play electric guitar or acoustic guitar, there are pros and cons to both. Electric guitars tend to be easier to play but often times require and amp to get any really tone and being able to mute strings become much more important.

I recommend practicing on both electric and acoustic guitars because they have different feels. If you can play something on an acoustic, you can absolutely play it on an electric guitar.

Pop on to the video to see some of the pros and cons.
Essential Guitar Accessories5:35
While there are many more accessories gizmos and gadgets than the one's list in this video, these are going to be the essentials you will need to get you started with playing the guitar. You can easy spend an entire mortgage payment on guitar gear, but it's definitely not necessary to get started.

Pop on to the video to learn more about some of the basic accessories. You can also find recommendations on my website: https://www.laurenbateman.com/guitar-accessories/
How To Hold Your Guitar4:30
Learn the proper way to hold you guitar. There are a couple schools of thought on this and I know I held the guitar 'wrong' for many years since I was mostly self taught. Ergonomics is important in guitar and can often times save you from a lot of wrist tension.

Take a listen to some of the suggestions in this video and decide for yourself how you would like to hold your guitar.
How To Tune Your Guitar8:50
Learning to tune your guitar is one of the most important aspects of learning how to play the guitar. It does not matter how good of a player you are. If your guitar is out of tune, it is not going to sound good.

Learning to tune your guitar is one of the most important aspects of learning how to play the guitar. It does not matter how good of a player you are. If your guitar is out of tune, it is not going to sound good.
The best thing to do is purchase a guitar tuner. Tuners that can clip on to your headstock are great and fairly inexpensive.

Before Tuning: Notes Of Your Guitar Strings

You will need to know what notes you are going to tune your guitar to. The 6th string (the fat string closest to you) is tuned to E, the 5th, to A, the 4th to D, the 3rd to G, the 2nd to B and the 1st, (the skinniest string on the bottom of the guitar neck), to E.

You will notice that two strings are tuned to E.
At the top of your guitar headstock, you will have tuning pegs which are knobs you will turn to adjust what note each string is tuned to.

First: Play one string on your guitar and look at your tuner.

Second: A letter should pop up. We want to make sure it is the letter of the string you played and that the needle is pointing in the middle. The needle tells us whether the note is too high (called sharp #) or too low (called flat b). The tuning peg will need to be turned so that the needle points in the middle. Some tuners have a light that turns green when you reach the correct tuning.

Note: Make sure the letter reads natural notes and not sharps (#) or flats (b). For example if you tune your 4th string to D# instead of D, you guitar will still be out of tune.

Tip: You do not need to keep hitting the string. Hit it once, let it ring, then tune while it is ringing, then play the string again.

See the PDF for full article and diagrams.
How To Hold Your Guitar Pick9:05
Just like holding my guitar, I held my guitar pick wrong for a numbers of year. While I do feel there are a couple ways you can hold your guitar pick based on what you are playing, in this video I'm going to show you how my first guitar teacher showed me how to hold my pick.

A variety of guitar picks exist out there, some of which I will show you in this video. It really comes down to a matter of personal preference and comfort. What one guitar player loves, another might absolutely hate and there is nothing wrong with that.

I recommend buying a variety pack of picks so that you can try out a few different picks and see which one you like best before going all in.
How To Read Guitar Tablature5:46
Guitar tablature (referred to as TAB) is a way to read music without having to know how to read proper musical notation. We will use TAB throughout your studies for learning various parts of songs that require picking individual notes.

TAB looks like the neck of your guitar except the opposite of what you would think. The thick string (6) is on the bottom and the thin string (1) is on the top.

In TAB, the number represents the fret number NOT the finger number. A “0” indicates that you play the string open without fretting.

Right now, we are not worrying about the rhythm, timing or what notes we are actually playing, but rather focusing on the basics of reading guitar tablature.

See the PDF for full article and diagrams.
How To Use A Metronome5:41
Practicing with a metronome is something I recommend to all of my students and is a vital part of this course.

What is a metronome?
A metronome is a click that indicates the exact tempo or speed of a piece of music.

Should You Practice Everything with a Metronome?

No. I do not recommend practicing everything with a metronome all the time. It is an important part of improving your speed for chord changes as well as improving picking speeds and developing fluidity when playing individual notes. When using a metronome with a piece of music, you should be able to flow through a piece of music without taking a lot of breaks or stops between notes or chords.

It is best to have the pieces memorized or work on the piece in multiple small sections at a time. Usually, starting off at 30-45 beats per minute (bpm) is a good way to know whether or not you can keep time with music while making chord or note changes.

Why Use a Metronome?

Metronomes are a great way to measure progress in terms of speed as well as help you develop accurate rhythm skills. Some songs will require that you play with different rhythmic strumming patterns, so practicing with a metronome helps to ensure you stay in time with the music you are trying to play. Staying in time is a valuable and critical skill for those of you that are looking to jam with friends or play with other musicians.

Remember, when practicing with a metronome, keep the speed slow first then build faster and faster. Increasing speed by 3-5 bpm is a great way to build speed in what you are practicing.
The Musical Alphabet6:25
Music is like learning a whole new language. There are symbols that mean all sorts of things. It even had it's own alphabet. In this video, I will discuss the musical alphabet and why it's important to know when you learn guitar or any kind of musical instrument.
Preventing Injury & Wrist Tension7:01
The #1 thing beginner guitarists commonly suffer from is wrist pain caused by wrist tension and bad ergonomics. In this video, I'm going to talk about some of the common issues I've seen with my students over the years and some of the things you can do to prevent wrist tension.
NEVER play through wrist pain. It is OK to take a break from your practice. Over time, you will develop more dexterity and flexibility in your hand which will make playing the guitar more comfortable for longer periods of time.

Pick Control Exercise 16:24
I recommend starting with this section first as developing hand dexterity will make learning your chords easier down the road. Often times, I start teaching students chords along with Spider Exercise 1.

Level 1: Pick Control Exercise 1
(Pair with Em & D6/9 Chords, Quarter Notes & Quarter Note Rests, Whole, Half & Quarter Notes)
The pick control exercise is intended to increase awareness of the string locations on your guitar but will also help to start developing your picking hand (right hand for righties and left hand for lefties).

Start by watching your picking hand. Play through each string very slowly and one at a time following the lesson. Once you feel comfortable doing this, use a metronome. Your goal is to do this while watching your hand at 60 bpm on a metronome.

*GOAL: 60BPM

Once you have hit this goal, you should continue the exercise but this time WITHOUT watching your picking hand. Take your time and then put it to a metronome. You goal is also 60bpm for this exercise.

*GOAL: 60 BPM
How To Read A Chord Diagram4:49
Chord diagrams are used all over the place including music books that you might buy to learn your favorite songs. We will use chord diagrams throughout your lessons, so it is a good idea to make sure you know exactly how to read one.

A chord diagram looks like the frets and strings on your guitar. The blocks or squares represent your guitar frets, while the vertical lines running up and down represent your different strings. The thickest string will be all the way to your left, while the thinnest string will be all the way to your right.

You will notice that there are different markings on the chord diagram. The black dots with the numbers represent where you will place your fingers and what finger to use.

The “O” at the top means that you play that string open. Remember, playing a string open means no finger is fretting the guitar string.
The “X” at the top means that you do not play that string.

See PDF for full article and diagrams.
Em & D 6/95:43
Use these two chords to try your first song Horse With No Name: https://www.laurenbateman.com/horse-with-no-name-guitar-chord-chart
Intro To Rhythm: Whole, Quarter & Half Notes1:54
Learn the foundation of rhythm and counting needed to be a great guitar player.
Quarter Note Strumming6:48
Learn how to count and play quarter note rhythms along with rests.
Quarter Note Strumming: Close Up View2:00
Close-ups of the Level 1 rhythm patterns.
Whole, Half & Quarter Note Strumming5:20
Learn how to play along with various quarter, half note and whole note strumming patterns.
Whole, Half & Quarter Note Strumming Close-Ups2:36
Close-up view of the Level 1a rhythm patterns.

Spider Exercise 17:56
Level 2: Spider Exercise 1
(Pair with Simple C & G Chords, D Chord, Continue with Level 1 Rhythms)
The spider exercise is designed to start building hand dexterity and hand stretch using your first three fingers. Using the pinky often times can create wrist tension and discomfort in the beginning. I choose to start developing finger dexterity using only the first three fingers (1-index, 2-middle and 3-ring).
*GOAL: 80bpm
TIP: If you find starting at the 5th fret too tough, you can always start at the 7th fret which is a little bit less of a stretch.
Easy C and G Chord8:56
The D Chord6:22
How To Make Your Chord Changes Faster4:38

Pick Control Exercise 24:20
Level 3: Pick Control Exercise 2
(Pair with The Full C & G Chords, Ode To Joy and Eighth Note Rhythm Patterns)
Much like Pick Control Exercise 1, exercise 2 helps to further develop and strengthen your muscle memory in your picking hand. Practice in the same way you practiced Pick Control Exercise 1.

*GOAL: 60BPM watching your picking hand

*GOAL: 60BPM not watching your picking had
Ode To Joy12:25
Level 3: Ode To Joy
(Pair with The Full C & G Chords, Pick Control 2)
Since you have been getting used to using your first three fingers with the spider exercise, the next thing to do would be to use it in a song. Ode to Joy is a very simple melody that most people know, so we don’t have to get into too much discussion yet on rhythm.

This song focuses primarily on using the 1st and 2nd strings of the guitar and the 1st and 3rd fingers of the fretting hand.

*GOAL: 60BPM, playing slowly and fluidly

Level 3: Pick Control Exercise 2
(Pair with The Full C & G Chords, Ode To Joy and Eighth Note Rhythm Patterns)
Much like Pick Control Exercise 1, exercise 2 helps to further develop and strengthen your muscle memory in your picking hand. Practice in the same way you practiced Pick Control Exercise 1.

*GOAL: 60BPM watching your picking hand

*GOAL: 60BPM not watching your picking had
Full C & G Chords5:17
Fun Eighth Note Rhythms Part 16:03
Learn how to play along to eighth note rhythms patterns. These are the strumming patterns that make you feel like you really know how to strum the guitar. Make sure you have your Level 1 & 1a strumming patterns and counting down pat before you attempt Level 2.
Fun Eighth Note Rhythms Part 26:03
Level 2 Part 2 of the eighth note rhythm patterns.
Fun Eighth Note Rhythms Part 1 Close Up View3:30
Close-up view of the Level 2 Part 1 rhythm patterns.
Fun Eighth Note Rhythms Part 2 Close Up View4:31
Close-up view of Level 2 Part 2 strumming patterns.

Spider Exercise 28:50
Level 4: Spider Exercise 2
(Pair with The A & E chords, The Am & Dm chords, ¾ Time Rhythms)

Spider Exercise 2 is much like Spider Exercise 1 except we are now adding in the pinky to our picking pattern. Not only that, we will be moving around the fretboard instead of staying stationary.

First, practice by using all down picks on with your picking hand just like you did in Spider exercise #1.

*GOAL: 60BPM
Once you hit the goal, switch to using alternate picking (down, up, down, up) picking. This will help you develop more speed in your picking hand and working on hand synchronization even more.

*GOAL: 100BPM
Chord A & E8:02
Chords Am & Dm7:07
Basic Of Time Signatures3:33
Learn the very basic of time signatures and why it important to know how high your should count.

Easy F & F#m4:38
Amazing Grace8:38
Level 5: Amazing Grace
(Pair with The Easy F & F#m Chords, Continue Practicing Eighth Note Rhythms)

A very simple song that uses mostly open strings to develop your picking hand. This exercise is in ¾ time and is a great reinforcement of muscle memory in the picking hand. You will be using more of the strings of the guitar so synching your two hands together to play the same string will be very important.

*GOAL: 90BPM
You can try using ¾ quarter note strums on this song as well if you would like to take the opportunity to strum and play chords.
*GOAL: 90BPM
3 String Arpeggios6:36
Level 5: 3 String Arpeggios

(pair with Amazing Grace, The Easy F & F#m Chords, Continue Practicing Eighth Note Rhythms)

Arpeggios are a great way to practice your picking and are also a great way to help you improve upon the cleanliness of your chord playing. Picking will help to accent mistakes in your chord playing so you can correct them to have better sounding chords all the time.

Take this exercise one line at a time. First, memorize the picking patterns. Then, once you feel you have a good handle on that, memorize the chords for that line. Practice each line slowly and work on connecting the notes and not leaving big pauses between chord changes.

Once you have worked each line, put the whole exercise together to play from beginning to end.

*GOAL: 100BPM

Open 7 Chords7:59
4 String Arpeggios11:54
Level 6: 4 string Arpeggios
(pair with the Open 7 Chords, Syncopated Eighth Note Strumming)
Approach this exercise in the exact same way you practiced your 3 string arpeggios. Focus first on the picking pattern alone, then playing along with the chords.

*GOAL: 100BPM
You can also start practicing finger picking with this song. If you choose to practice that option, I would recommend going a bit slower than you would with your regular picking. Start first by getting your fingers used to the finger picking pattern over and over again. Then apply it to the exercise.

*GOAL: 80BPM
Syncopated Eighth Note Strumming Patterns8:02
Learn syncopated eighth note rhythms patterns. These are a lot of fun to play along with. They work with a lot of songs but require a bit more coordination. Make sure you have you Level 1 & Level 2 Rhythms down pay before venturing to Level 3.
Syncopated Eighth Note Strumming Patterns Close-Ups2:52
Close-up view of the Level 3 rhythm patterns.

5 & 6 String Arpeggios10:50
Level 7: 5 & 6 String Arpeggios
(pair with 12 Bar Blues & Continue practicing Syncopated Eighth Note Strumming)

Approach this exercise in the exact same way you practiced your 3 & 4 string arpeggios but focusing first on the picking pattern alone, then by playing along with the chords.
It might be helpful to review Pick Control Exercise 2 as this exercise will reinforce the string skipping needed to master this exercise.

*GOAL: 120BPM

With Fingerpicking:

*GOAL: 100bpm
How To Play 12 Bar Blues9:46
12 Bar Blues is a super fun and cool way to play guitar. There are many songs that use the 12 bar blues progression including songs that are written outside of the blues genre. It's basically a pattern that repeats over and over again and we will be going over that in this video.
BONUS: Most Popular Strumming Pattern1:57
BONUS!!! Who doesn't like a good bonus. In this video I show you one of the most common strumming patterns used. You can use this strumming pattern for so many songs it's crazy. Even if it isn't the real strumming pattern for the song, it will work so well, most people won't even notice.
It is a syncopated eighth note pattern, so make sure you have covered all the material up to this point.
Also, I have included a PDF on 3/4 rhythms & recorded the play along audio. Go back and review the time signatures and the worksheet on time signatures. As long as you can count to 3, you will do great!

Em to C 40bpm2:12
Em to C 60bpm2:10
Em to C 80bpm2:05
Em to C 100bpm2:04
Em to G 40bpm1:55
Em to G 60bpm2:08
Em to G 80bpm2:09
Em to G 100bpm2:07
Em to D 40bpm2:08
Em to D 60bpm2:07
Em to D 80bpm2:08
Em to D 100bpm2:06
C to G 40bpm2:00
C to G 60bpm2:07
C to G 80bpm2:07
C to G 100bpm2:09
C to D 40bpm2:18
C to D 60bpm2:09
C to D 80bpm2:08
C to D 100bpm2:13
G to D 40bpm2:04
G to D 60bpm2:08
G to D 80bpm2:06
G to D 100bpm2:07

Requirements

You will need a guitar and some guitar picks.
A guitar tuning app and a metronome app.
A printer to print out PDFs would be great.

Description

Guitar Lessons should be fun and help you play better, not frustrating and confusing.

If you're tired of wasting time on boring music theory when all your want to do is strum along to your favorite songs, then let Lauren's beginner guitar course lead the way? Learning to play the guitar the right way and in the right order will help make playing your guitar much more fun and increase your chances of success. That's why Lauren focuses on the 3 Fundamentals of Learning Guitar:

Chords for playing songs
Strumming to make it fun
Picking to develop finger flexibility and speed

Follow the videos is the order or mix and match according to Lauren's workbook to build your skills all at once.

105 Video Lectures
179 Downloadable Resources
6.5 hours of on-demand video
Available on both PC or Mac
Keep track of which of which lectures you have completed
Follow along step-by-step or use Lauren's leveling system

WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING:

“I’ve learned more in 4 months with [Lauren] than I have in 2 years with in person instruction.” — Joanne Inzinna

“I started the course about four months ago and cannot get over how far I have come in so short a period of time. I’ve gone from knowing absolutely nothing to being able to play “Country Roads,” “Horse With No Name,” and “Eleanor Rigby.”— Daryl Holmes

“I’d had trouble with other online lessons not showing fingering or strum patterns clearly, but Lauren breaks it down to the very simplest steps that things just really began to click with me. I started lessons with her about 3 months ago and I led worship at church this week for the first time playing my acoustic guitar. I would have never dreamed success would come so quickly!” — Pamela Yates

“When I turned 60, I wanted to take guitar lessons. I signed up for classes at a well-known music store. Four instructors, two music schools and two years later, I didn’t feel like I had learned very much. As each instructor moved on, each new instructor taught in a different style and I always felt like I was starting from square one. I decided to try to learn on my own with YouTube. I came across some videos by Lauren Bateman. After watching a few videos and seeing what I liked, I signed up for Lauren’s online classes. I love them. She is a great instructor, very patient and very concise. Her course is laid out very well and I love Lauren’s videos. They are easy to understand and easy to follow along with. I would highly recommend Lauren Bateman’s online course.” - Lori Bennet

Lauren's teaching is very different the other guitar teachers online, probably because she doesn't have a degree in music. Just like you, Lauren picks up the guitar so she could have fun playing the songs she loves and that's how she teaches.

WHO IS THIS GUITAR COURSE FOR?

Absolute beginner with no experience, this course is for YOU!
Those trying to learn on their own but feeling stuck, then this course is for YOU!
Retirees looking for a new hobby or trying to check off your bucket list, then this course is definitely for YOU!
If you feel like you are not getting the results you want from your current guitar instruction methods, then this course is perfect for YOU!

WARNING:

This course does take time and practice. This course will not magically turn you into an amazing guitar player via osmosis. You do need to put the time in to see results. In as little as 5-10 minutes a day, 3-4 times a week, you can see serious progress in your playing.

Scroll up and click the "Take This Course" button now.

Who this course is for:

Absolute beginners looking for a simpler approach to learning guitar
Students feeling lost or overwhelmed by their current learning options
Guitarists looking to build chord speed and clarity
Any student looking to learn fun strumming patterns to apply to songs
Anyone looking to get back into guitar after years of not playing
Students looking to have fun with guitar without wasting time on boring theory
Retired individuals looking for a new hobby

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Guitar Basics: For The Absolute Beginner11 lectures • 1hr 3min

Level 1: Building A Foundation & Learning Your First Song8 lectures • 36min

Level 2: Easy Chords For Playing 1000s Of Songs4 lectures • 28min

Level 3: The Full C&G Chords and Fun Strumming Patterns7 lectures • 42min

Level 4: Time Signatures & More Chords That Sound Good Together4 lectures • 28min

Level 5: Amazing Grace, EASY Fixes For Barre Chord & Your 1st Picking Pattern3 lectures • 20min

Level 6: 7 Chords To Learn The Blues and More Fun Strumming Patterns4 lectures • 31min

Level 7: 12 Bar Blues & Common Picking Patterns For Songs3 lectures • 23min

PLAYALONG WITH LAUREN: Practice Exercises For Faster Chords - Easy Em, C, G & D24 lectures • 51min

PLAYALONG WITH LAUREN: Practice Exercises For Faster Chords - Full C & G20 lectures • 34min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: