Free Acoustic Guitar Lessons, Tips & Resources For Beginners

The steel string guitar is a masterpiece of musical instrument engineering. Before the steel string, the acoustic guitar was very limited. The guitars of old were very quiet when played, so much so, that a guitarist was not able to play along with other musicians as the sound produced was simply too low. In order to overcome this shortcoming, the steel string guitar was born. The steel string produced a louder sound, but also caused too much stress on the instrument because of the added weight. The body construction therefore needed to be altered to accommodate the heavier strings. These changes not only made the guitar stronger, but they also increased the life of the guitar.

Learn and master guitar is an all-inclusive easy to understand instructional guitar series that is designed to take the absolute beginner through the most fundamental concepts of guitar playing.

Learning how to play guitar can be intimidating. It is such a broad topic with so many different things to learn and practice.

What you really need is high-quality, step-by-step video instruction that takes you from beginner (or intermediate) all the way through to advanced instruction. A thirty-minute "Learn Guitar Overnight" video isn't going to do it, and advanced instructional videos are usually too specialized and they often assume that you know more than you do.

That's not a problem for Learn and Master Guitar, because it is a complete step-by-step video based instructional course that takes you from any skill level, all the way through the advanced skills training used by the pros.

If you are a little experienced thats ok too. You can skip right through the basics and get straight into the more advanced training.

Printed materials alone, when not accompanied by detailed video instruction, can leave you frustrated and confused. Software-based instruction is cumbersome and difficult to use. Private instruction is costly and inconvenient. And perhaps worst of all, none of these methods are really any fun!

Learn and Master Guitar is the winner of the 2008 Acoustic Guitar Magazine Players' Choice Awards, two Telly Awards and an AEGIS Award for Excellence in Education, Learn & Master Guitar is widely recognized as the best home instruction course for learning guitar available anywhere. It consists of 20 professionally produced DVDs, 5 Jam-Along CDs, a 100+ page lesson book, and a free online student support site. It is the only guitar home study product you'll ever need. The only thing you need to do is practice!

Click here now to Learn and Master Guitar!

Guitars are available in a variety of different styles and sizes and it really depends on what is most comfortable and enjoyable for you. Popular guitar styles include the Dreadnought, Nex, Artist, Classic and Jumbo. Each guitar has its own unique look, feel and sound. The larger styles like the Jumbo and Dreadnought produce more bass and are more difficult to hold and play. The smaller models like the Nex and Artist favor the midranges and treble and are much easier to hold and play. The Classic guitar is a whole different animal. It can only be played using nylon strings and produces a sound that is noticeably different than steel string guitars. So if you aren't sure what guitar style is right for you, then head over to your nearest music center and give them all a test drive.

Need a reliable, high quality and affordable acoustic guitar? Click here for our list of the top best selling acoustic guitars!

Buying a beginner acoustic guitar can be a real challenge. There are so many different brands and models of acoustic guitars on the market today and it can confuse a beginner.

I am hoping to help alleviate some of that confusion by recommending the excellent acoustic guitar below.

Once you get good enough and you are ready to upgrade to a better model, consider investing in the following:


Takamine G Series 340C Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Great for beginners who want the added versatility of an acoustic-electric!

TP4T electronics generate realistic acoustic-tone signal for accurate amplification. Large cutaway dreadnought body and spruce top crank out bold volume acoustically. Added warmth comes from mahogany back and sides. Rosewood fretboard and gold tuners add a touch of visual class.

Takamine G Series 340C Acoustic-Electric Guitar Features:

* Spruce top

* Mahogany back and sides

* Rosewood fretboard

* Gold tuners

* TP4T electronics

Order now for a magical musical experience.


Purchase This Guitar

The very first step toward learning to play acoustic guitar is to develop confidence and to destroy that "I can't do it" mentality. Your biggest obstacle in your acoustic guitar playing is not going to be money, time, or the absence of a good teacher. The biggest obstacle is going to be you. You are your own worst enemy. Once you learn how to tame the negativity inside, you will be that much closer to becoming a good acoustic guitar player.

Frustration is normal during the learning process. Learning anything new is not meant to be easy. Resistance is what helps us grow. So the next time you are working on a scale, or chord progression, and you find yourself fumbling or messing up, don't throw down the guitar with frustration, instead welcome the challenge and have patience in it.

LEARNING & PRACTICE

There is probably no substitution for a good guitar teacher, but it can be rather expensive over time, so many guitar players are left with no other choice then to learn on their own. For those of you who may not be able to afford a professional instructor right now, below are some guidelines for helping you get the most out of your practice time.

Practice as many days out of the week as you can for at least twenty to thirty minutes, more if possible. The more often you play the faster you will learn. Be careful not to overdo it though and take breaks of course. Your brain can only absorb so much information before it needs a break and your hands and the rest of your body need time to recuperate as well. When you practice do not rush through any of your exercises. Twenty minutes of quality focused practice is much more effective than an hour of sloppy practice

Study Your Instrument

Take some time to learn more about the parts of your acoustic guitar. Learn about how it is constructed and how all the parts work together to produce those beautiful sounds that you hear.

Learn How to Tune Your Guitar

You can find free step by step guides online for tuning your acoustic guitar. Make certain that you spend time learning how to do this. Purchase a guitar tuner at any local music store and practice tuning your guitar with the guitar tuner. When you begin to develop a better ear, try tuning it without the guitar tuner. Then use the guitar tuner to check and see how accurate your ear was. This will help you develop a good ear.

Learn the Right Posture

If you are accustomed to just grabbing your guitar and sitting down to play in any old position, then you are at risk of injuring yourself and developing bad playing habits. Make sure you understand the correct way to sit and hold your instrument for optimal performance.

Learn Your Chords & Scales

Learn as many different chords and variations of the same chord that you can and practice your scales. This will give you a well rounded familiarity with the frets on the guitar and it will build up strength in your fingers and hands.

Acoustic guitar lessons online are not difficult to come by. There are many sites offering free tips and lessons for the beginner, but it can be rather difficult sifting through pages of content to find direct answers to some of the most basic questions beginners have. I researched many of the frequently asked questions that beginners have and created this list of quick acoustic guitar lessons and tips to make life a bit easier for you. I do hope this helps.

1 - Learn how to play the acoustic guitar with both your fingers and your pick. Practice using both. This will make you a more versatile player.

2 - Learn how to use a capo. A capo is a clamp that you can apply to different frets of your guitar to change the pitch. You will definitely need to become familiar with this wonderful tool. If you do not already own one, head out to your local music store and buy one today.

3 - Make sure you choose the right guitar for your size. Guitars come in different sizes from classic to jumbo. It is very important that you find a guitar size that you are comfortable playing.

4 - Learn how to change your strings and change them often. If you do not know how to change your guitar strings yet, stop what you are doing and search for articles and videos online right now. This is very important.

5 - Wash your hands before you play and clean your strings after you play. Dirt and oils from your fingers and hands can wear down your strings....

Please follow this link to view the rest of these acoustic guitar tips for beginners

This is a very common complaint amongst the beginner. Every single guitarist has experienced hand and finger pain when just starting out. It is something that you simply cannot avoid. The remedy? Keep playing and build up strength in your hands and fingers and develop those calluses! Building calluses on your fingertips will allow you to hold down the strings of the guitar without any pain while flattening your fingertips to produce a better sounding note.

You build up calluses and strength from practicing. Practice, practice and more practice. In time the pain will subside, but you have to get through this difficult stage of playing first, so hang in there. Listen to your body though. If you are in serious pain then by all means give your hands and fingers a rest.

When beginner acoustic guitar players are faced with the task of changing their acoustic guitar strings for the first time, they panic, in fear that it is some impossible task that will take hours to complete or that only a professional with years of experience can do. This is simply not the case...

Learn more about changing your guitar strings

Irecently put together a post on my guitar blog that has 20 easy acoustic guitar songs for beginners.

Many beginners are searching for easy songs to play so I thought this post would be helpful as everything is located on one convenient page.

It includes video lessons and links to chords, tabs and lyrics.
Click here for the 20 easy acoustic guitar tabs and songs list.

Jamorama Acoustic guitar is based on the Jamorama Guitar Learning Kit that is widely recognized at the best guitar course available. The Jamorama Acoustic Guitar Learning Kit specifically targets the acoustic guitar player with 148 video acoustic guitar lessons and exercises and 26 Acoustic Jam Tracks for the student to play along with.

This package is impressive because it is the most complete package available and covers the whole process of learning the guitar, from strumming, muting and bending, to timing, reading music and transcribing IN DEPTH.

Click here to learn more about this amazing acoustic guitar learning system!

A chord progression is basically a series of chords played one after another in a particular order.

But before you learn how to play the following 7 chord progressions, you must know how to play the chords.

Here are the chords you will need to know in order to play these chord progressions:

A, A Minor, C, D, D Minor, E, E Minor, G

For your convenience, I have included videos on the following page of my blog that demonstrate how to play these chords...

Follow this link to read more about this guitar lesson on learning chord progressions..

Quality acoustic guitar lessons are difficult to come by, so I gathered together 10 of my favorite video lessons from the folks over at Next Level Guitar.

What is Next Level Guitar?

Next Level Guitar is one of the best guitar courses available online today.

It contains Over 100 individual videos starting with Guitar chords and progressing to playing full songs.

Next Level Guitar does not use old tired methods that will leave you frustrated. You will learn the fundamentals of guitar playing that will build a solid foundation and enable you to progress faster. You will learn rock solid principles and techniques and how to avoid developing bad habits.

Click here for the free online acoustic guitar lessons...

Do you want to learn how to play country music on your guitar? Here is a post that includes 7 easy country guitar songs that you can start playing right now, complete with video lessons and links to chords and lyrics. Enjoy!

Click here for the easy country guitar songs.

What Are Power Chords? Power chords are used quite often in rock and heavy metal music on electric guitars, but you can also hear them in other types of music.

Technically speaking, power chords are not true chords. A chord is made up of 3 or more notes. Power chords are only made up of 2 different notes.

Before you can fully understand what a power chord is, let us take a look at a true major chord. A major chord is made up of the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of its corresponding major scale.

Please follow this link to view the rest of this lesson on power chords including a free power chords chart...

Looking for some free and easy Christian guitar songs that you can learn how to play starting today? Look no further. The songs on the following page are fairly easy to learn . Some are quite simple while others may require a bit more time and practice. If you are passionate about playing these songs and are patient, then it is only a matter of time until you are playing them like a pro.

Please follow this link to view these easy Christian Guitar Songs....

The A Major Chord is found in the A Major Scale: A B C# D E F# G# A. It is made up of the 1 (root note), 3 and 5 positions of this scale. In other words, the notes A,C# and E. Now to add more depth to the sound of the chord you add another A and E. The A note is at the root of the chord meaning the top of the chord shown in the diagram on the following page.

This chord does give some guitarists a bit of trouble, because all three fingers have to fit on the second fret on the second, third and fourth strings. This can be particularly difficult for those of us with large fingers. I have given you three different finger variations of the A Major Chord below. Learn all three versions to find one that will best suit your style of playing and one that will allow you to move from one chord to another with ease. Just like anything else in life however, if you practice this chord enough, it will become easier. Make certain you are only strumming the first five strings as indicated in the diagram below....

Read the rest of this a major guitar chord lesson here.

The C Major Chord is one of the easiest acoustic guitar chords to learn and play. The C Major Chord is found in the C Major Scale: C D E F G A B C. It is made up of the 1(root note), 3 and 5 of this scale. Meaning the notes C, E and G. Now to add more depth to the sound of the chord you add another C and E.

The C note is at the root of the chord meaning the top of the chord shown in the diagram below. Make certain you are only strumming the first five strings as indicated in the diagram below...

Read the rest of this c major chord guitar lesson here.

The Jasmine by Takamine S34C Nex Cutaway Acoustic Guitar is an excellent beginner student guitar or works great as a secondary guitar for experienced players. You will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of tone this guitar produces with such a low price tag. The Jasmine by Takamine s34c Nex Cutaway Acoustic Guitar has an excellent finish, stays in tune, and the action is nice and low. It makes playing difficult bar chords a lot easier! The cutaway is an added bonus as it makes getting to the higher frets much easier....

Jasmine by Takamine s34c Nex Cutaway Acoustic Guitar Review here.

Looking for quality acoustic slide guitar lessons? The following post contains 10 awesome slide guitar lessons that were hand picked from Youtube and gathered here for your convenience. Learning how to play slide guitar is challenging in the beginning, but as with anything else, practice will make perfect. Just be persistent and do not give up now matter how long it takes. Soon you will be playing slide guitar like a master bluesman. Enjoy!

View these video blues guitar lessons here.