These guitar lessons, exercises, and resources are intended to help beginner guitarists.
Learn about beginner guitar amplifiers, software modeling, and my top recommendations for each. Amplifiers can change the sound of the guitar more than the guitar itself. Today’s beginner amps can model expensive tube amplifiers for […]
If you are here, it means you are interested in getting started with some chord progressions. You probably heard from a friend or teacher that you should start out learning the note names and perhaps […]
Question What are some of the biggest mistakes you see beginner guitar players make when learning: a) basic guitar chords and b) barre chords. Answer a. Every individual is different, but a common issue is […]
Upgrade your blues jamming with this classic blues ending that is suitable for beginners.
Improve your fretboard knowledge with this rut-breaking ladder exercise from my upcoming book on learning the fretboard. This exercise can be applied to any sequence of notes, such as a scale, mode, or arpeggio.
Question I started my music course this week and had to play a song from memory. I struggled to recall the chord progression without my safety net. Any advice on how to improve this please?
Question Why are chords called major chords or minor chords? ~Tony Answer Major and minor chords have a difference in one particular note, the third. Let’s look at how it gets that name through a […]
Question I am a rank beginner to the guitar. I am trying to learn the function of the fretboard. The guitar I have borrowed is classical with 12 frets. How do I transfer what I […]
This is the second of eight sets of chromatic exercises. It is a continuation of Ex-007 Fretting Hand Exercise Set. It continues to work your fretting hand, but with new combinations. This exercise set […]
This is a simple and effective exercise for developing right hand speed.
Have fun with this jazz lick using the altered scale. This lick was recorded by Roman Garcia.
The object of these exercises is to work on your fretting hand combinations over all 6 strings. Each exercise in the set of 6 varies slightly from the previous one. All of the exercises below […]
This riff only uses four notes plus a couple 1/2 step bends. It has a nice funky blues edge to it. This riff was written and recorded by Charles Gervase.
Learn the 12 Bar Blues in style. This lesson covers the traditional, quick change, and shuffle blues. It includes the first chords you should know and some substitutions that you can try. I even cover […]
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to construct the song, Romance Anonimo. It is a beginner fingerstyle song that is great for demonstrating how you can construct a fingerstyle song from a simple melody into a harmonized […]
This is an easy beginner version of silent night. It is played predominantly in the second position, with a shift to the fifth position in measure 17.
This is a simple exercise that you can do for about 1 minute. It can easily be fit into anyone’s practice or warmup schedule. You will need a metronome and two chords that will challenge […]
This exercise expands on the Fretting Combinations exercise. This exercise will train both your fretting hand and your picking hand by playing all the fretting combinations and all the picking combinations. The picking combinations are […]
The goal of this exercise is to improve the speed of your fingers when playing on a single string in a given fretboard position. The example below shows the 6th string in 1st position. Place […]
This exercise has three steps and can be done on any string and in all fretboard positions Step 1 – Place all four fingers on adjacent frets of a string. Step 2 – Lift two […]
The goal of this exercise is to improve the speed and accuracy of your alternate picking. Go slow enough to play it perfectly before increasing the speed. The following picking combination should be used: d, […]
The goal of this exercise is to make each finger on your fretting hand as smooth and independent as possible. The fingers of the hand do not move equally well. This exercise helps you overcome […]
This lesson teaches you how to approach learning alternate tunings. I will also discuss a few alternate tunings, why they’re useful, and my approach to using them.
I am going to show you how to find the key when you have just a written piece of music in standard notation and also when you just know the chord progression. Determining the Key […]
Jazz Progressions are simply common chord progressions in jazz music. One of the most common progressions is the ii-V-I progression. The ii-V-I sounds at its best when you use seventh chords and their expanded voicings. […]
This lesson is going to familiarize you with the chord tones within the scale patterns. Yes, that’s right now you have to learn the notes instead of blazing trough patterns. Why should you learn them… […]
The Blues Scale is derived from the Minor Pentatonic Scale. It has an added #4th. This note gives the scale a bluesy feel. It is the only difference between the Blues Scale and the Minor […]
Learn the major and minor pentatonic scales, their patterns, when to use them, and why they’re the scale shortcut.
Learn everything you need to know about slash chords in this quick and easy lesson.
To understand this method of figuring out seventh chords, you must have a basic knowledge of the degrees of the major scale. I will show you how to find every 7th chord you’ll ever need […]
Power chords are used in many musical styles, but Rock music may be the most common. These chords sound thick and raw. Power chords are easy to play because they are played using modified versions […]
First let’s define Bar Chords. Bar Chords are chords that have your index finger holding down more than one string and not playing with any open strings. Confused? Well let me clarify things. I’ll show […]
The neat thing about suspended 4 chords is that they are made up of this formula: I-IV-V. Now you’re asking what this means. I’ll tell you by showing you the degrees for the major scale […]
The Circle of Fifths is an easy way to find out the key a song is in. The Circle of Fifths tells you how many sharps or flats are in a given key. C has […]
This lesson will teach you progressions in several styles so you can learn from known progressions and styles. This lesson will cover the 50’s progression, the Let It Be progression, jazz progressions, blues progressions, and […]
Learn how to play, form, and use the major scale effectively. This is arguably the most important scale you can learn. It is used in improvisation, chord construction, diatonic harmony, and much more.
Learn beginner finger picking techniques and the song, House of the Rising Sun!
Learn strumming, alternate picking, and sweep picking in this lesson that covers an introduction to each.
This lesson will show you how to read chord diagrams, fretboard patterns, and rhythm charts. These diagrams are a perfect way to quickly communicate what you are playing with other guitarists and musicians.
Although, we love to listen to music, we need to be able to read and write it. This lesson show you how to read (and write) tablature and notation.
Learning the fretboard is a challenge that this lesson will help you tackle efficiently. Did you know that a 22-fret guitar contains 138 notes? It is a huge task that challenges both beginner and experienced guitarists. […]
Learn the fundamental and common beginner techniques that every guitarist must know.
There are many ways to tune a guitar. Even if you have an electronic tuner, which I recommend, you should know how to tune a guitar without one. In this lesson, you’ll learn the most […]
Did you know that there are at least 21 parts of a guitar for a beginner to learn? In this lesson, I’ll show you the parts of an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. I’ll […]
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