Most Popular Lessons

In this first tutorial of Guitar Fundamentals we'll learn proper posture and how to hold the guitar. We will also learn how to use the tuning pegs and tune up, then learn the string names: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Goodbye Eddie! Once we're tuned up and in position we'll look at how to navigate the fretboard using string names and fret numbers, while also exploring about how to best fret notes. You can start out using just your index finger, but after that you should try using your other 3 fingers as well.

Now that you know how to navigate the fretboard and play notes, it's time to try playing some simple chords: E minor and G major. If you or anyone in your life sings, you'll be able to play your very first song the end of this tutorial.

Now it's time to explore your first two chords that use all six strings: the full E minor chord and the full A minor chord. This will be a little harder for your left hand, but in return it makes it easier for your right hand. And most importantly it sounds great!

Up until now we've focused almost exclusively on our left hand, so now it's time to turn our attention towards our right hand for a bit. We'll explore the different ways you can strum and pick with your fingers and of course we'll talk about how to use an actual pick. We'll talk about the different types of picks and how to choose the right one for you, how to hold it and of course we'll try it all out in some musical examples.

In this tutorial we'll tackle the challenge of chord transitions by combining all the chords we've learned so far in various useful combinations. This may seem like a lot of work, but we're dealing with chords that are used all the time here, so it really is worth the extra focus.

In this tutorial we'll learn two new and extremely important chords: C major and D major. These chords are a bit harder than the ones you've learned up until now, but as always we'll take it nice and slow and if you remember to stay patient and positive, your fingers will figure it out eventually. And as an extra bit of motivation I can tell you that once you add these two chords in with the ones you learned earlier you'll have a collection of chords that can be used to play thousands of songs.

In this tutorial we'll explore the most basic version of what's called a strumming pattern using the chords we've learned so far. The idea is that you could now use this rhythmic pattern to go play a million different songs. As your skills grow we'll keep building on this strumming pattern to make it more and more cool sounding and useful.

Rhythm is one of the most powerful concepts you can master and learning it early on will only put you ahead of the curve. In this tutorial we'll learn the basics of rhythmic counting and subdivisions.

In this chapter we'll be exploring the exciting topic of melodies. This is where our guitar steps out of the supporting role and becomes the center of attention. If you took the time, you could most likely use your ears and eventually be able to find where the notes are to play a certain melody - but you would quickly realize that it's a lot of work to search around blindly on the neck like that. So in this lesson we'll get around that by learning what's called a major scale, and then you'll be able to find so many melodies within that scale.

In the previous tutorial we explored how our major scale pattern ended with the same note we started on. In this tutorial we'll extend the scale to play it beyond one octave. Among many other melodies, this will give us access to the classic melody 'Happy Birthday To You'.

One of the best things about playing guitar is that we get play what's called riffs. The word riff is used in many different ways, but in this context most people use it to describe an instrumental part in a song that's instantly recognizable and often happens several times throughout the song. It's that guitar part that makes everyone know what the song is right away!

Whenever you play a chord with all six strings it sounds nice and full, which is great. But you can also get some really cool results out of separating the low strings from the high strings. This concept can ultimately get incredibly advanced and super cool, and even here in its most early stages it's extremely useful and fun to explore.

In this tutorial we'll explore a new type of subdivision and a whole new way to play it with your right hand: an upstroke. This technique may be a challenge for you at first, particularly when it comes to holding your pick. But it's an absolutely crucial skill for a guitar player on any level, and as always we'll take it one step at a time.

In this tutorial I'll teach you what I'm fairly certain is the most popular scale on guitar. This scale is called the minor pentatonic scale and it's used almost every time you hear someone play a guitar solo, from absolute beginners to world famous guitar players.

A big part of learning to play guitar consists of trying to get your fingers to do a number of things they have never tried before. In this tutorial I'm going to show you some exercises that you can use to get your hands and fingers more comfortable with these new challenges. These exercises aren't meant to sound great, but they can still be really fun to work on.

In this tutorial I'll introduce you to a brand new tool that will be helpful from now on and throughout the rest of your guitar playing journey. In itself it's not particularly exciting, but it can help you do some really exciting things. The tool is called a metronome, and it's used by everyone from beginners to virtuosos.

In this tutorial we'll explore a classic blues riff, which can be used like the riffs we've explored up until now as a signature part of the song, but it can also be used as a supportive rhythm guitar part for the rest of the song.

In this tutorial we'll explore the most basic example of what's called a power chord. Power chords are a super useful tool and they're tons of fun to play around with. We'll also use the musical alphabet notes to name the power chords.

In this tutorial we'll take the first important step on the journey towards understanding the fretboard on a deeper level than just fret numbers and visual shapes. We'll learn the musical alphabet notes and how to locate them on the guitar.

Now it's time to try out another fun example of a riff and construct a cool song around it. We'll use the same song form, where we start with the riff, then continue with the verse leading to our first chorus. Then we'll repeat the riff and do the second verse and second chorus. And then finally we'll end the song with the riff. So it'll be the same structure, but our parts and the overall song will be entirely different.

In this tutorial we'll learn the 12 bar form in the context of the blues. Step by step, we will go from playing through the 12 bar form with basic open chords to adding the bluesy dominant 7 chords, a turnaround lick, and much more. After each lesson, we will try out the new "tricks" with an authentic blues backing track.

One of the most beloved sounds on the guitar is the sound of finger picking. It sounds great on both electric and acoustic guitar, and it can be used to play an infinite number of songs. It can also be used for solo guitar playing and instrumental arrangements, and it's just a wonderful sound overall.

In this tutorial we'll add the full G major chords to your arsenal. This one requires an extra bit of left hand finger stretching, but it is probably one of the most frequently used chords on the guitar, so it's more than worth the extra effort. Once we've gone through and practiced the full G chord, we'll combine it with our C and D chords and you'll see how these three chords share a very special relationship.

In this tutorial we’ll explore all the great sounds you can get when you take any of our open chords and play the notes of that chord one at a time. The technical term for a chord, where the notes are played one at a time is arpeggio and when we use it as a verb we call it arpeggiation or to arpeggiate. It's an extremely common technique on both acoustic and electric guitar, and it's a wonderful sound.

In this opening tutorial in Rock Level 1, Anders Mouridsen will take a look at using open chords in rock. After a brief introduction, you'll learn how to dial in a good tone for these type of chords. Next, you'll learn the classic "stadium" A, D, and G open chords. We'll follow that with a lesson on the open C chord, then how to rock your open E chord. We'll conclude the lesson with a practice tune, putting it all together with a backing track.

In this tutorial we'll look at some super cool and useful embellishments that you can add to your basic open chords. Think of the open chords as the cake and the embellishments as adding icing or decoration. We'll go through some of the most common examples of open chord embellishments

In this tutorial we are going to break down a classic blues riff. You are probably already familiar with the sound of it, but now you will learn how to play it, how to use it to play through the 12 bar form and how to add a cool "lick" to it.

Anders will show you the basics of the simple acoustic guitar strumming pattern.

Up until now we've used a very simple eighth note based strumming pattern, and I hope you've seen how incredibly useful and fun that pattern can be. Now we'll breakdown and practice another simple strumming pattern, that's only slightly more involved and even more useful.

In this tutorial we'll add the classic A major chord to the arsenal. This one can be a little tricky as well, but it's so common that it's entirely worth the extra effort. Once we've practiced the full chord shape we'll combine it two other chords to get a whole little chord family in the key of A.

In this tutorial we'll break down and play through a song with multiple sections that uses most of the new picking hand techniques we've explored in this chapter. This is a song that was written specifically for this tutorial, but you can take this approach with any song you already know or that you learn down the road. If you know what the chords are, then try to make it work as a finger picking song or with the new strumming pattern or the arpeggiation.

Hopefully you're having fun with these riffs and songs, because we're going to do one more. I'm sure you'll recognize the sound of this riff, because it's been used in so many songs over the years. We'll combine that with our blues riff from the previous tutorial and then we'll use it all to play a whole little blues song.

In this tutorial we'll add another very important chord to your arsenal, the F major chords. The traditional way to play the F chord is one of the hardest of the open chords, but in this tutorial we’ll learn an easier way to get around that. Someday you'll probably want to learn the harder version too, but the F chord is so common that it's really useful to have an easier alternative in the meantime.

In this tutorial we'll add the D minor chord to the arsenal, and then explore what it sounds like when we combine it with the A minor and E minor chords. Once again, the most important thing to get from this tutorial is to learn the D minor chord and practice switching between that and two of the most common chord shapes that are used along with it: A minor and E minor.

Learn Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here chords as Dave will show you the iconic acoustic intro, the great lead work and the slide section using the electric guitar. Included in this guitar lesson are the Wish You Were Here tabs and lyrics. You'll also learn how to play this song using a single guitar. Pink Floyd's iconic song "Wish You Were Here" is more than just a melody with memorable chords; it's a poignant reflection on absence and the personal struggles within the band during the mid-1970s. When you strum the Wish You Were Here chords by Pink Floyd on your guitar, you're not just playing notes; you're evoking the spirit of a poignant era for the band. The song is central to the album also titled Wish You Were Here, which serves as a tribute to Syd Barrett, the original frontman and founding member of Pink Floyd. Barrett's deteriorating mental health had led to his departure from the band in 1968. The lyrics and emotional delivery of Wish You Were Here directly address the sense of loss and disconnection from Barrett, whose absence was deeply felt by his former bandmates. The chords for Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here are particularly striking for their simplicity and effectiveness in conveying the song's nostalgic and introspective mood. Playing the Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here guitar chords can feel like stepping into a conversation with an old friend, discussing paths taken and those left behind. Learning the Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here chords allows guitarists to connect deeply with the song’s themes of distance and reflection. Each chord resonates, evoking the somber realization of change and the impact of Barrett's absence on the band. The acoustic intro, blending seamlessly into the iconic riff, is as haunting as it is beautiful, perfectly setting the tone for a song that is both a lament and a tribute.

In Guitar Fundamentals 1 you learned the minor pentatonic scale, and we tried a very basic example of what's called improvisation, where you simply make it up as you go. Now we'll add two notes to our minor pentatonic scale pattern, which will give us a lot of cool, bluesy tension to play around with when we improvise. When we add these two notes to the pattern, we call it the blues scale.

In this tutorial we'll learn an original instrumental song that uses all of our cool new chord and melody techniques. This song will work well on both acoustic and electric and if you learn it well it'll be a perfect piece to try performing for someone in your life.

Anders will show you how to embellish the basic open chords.

In this tutorial we'll explore a whole new type of chord called a 7 chord or with the proper term it's called a dominant 7th chord. These chords have a cool bluesy tension to them, but they're used in all styles of music. Any chord can be turned into a dominant 7th chord, and in this tutorial we'll explore some of the most common examples

In this tutorial we'll breakdown, practice and play through a song that uses all of our new chords and sounds that we've explored in this chapter. This song will follow our usual roadmap starting out with an intro, then a verse and a chorus. Then the verse and the chorus repeat and finally we reuse in the intro for the outro.

Anders will introduce a really simple version of a finger picking pattern, and as always it's really important that you take your time and don't rush ahead with this. And if you're lucky enough that this is easy for you, try to use these lessons to zoom in and perfect your right hand technique.

In this tutorial we'll explore more of the great sounds you can create with the basic two note power chords we first explored in Guitar Fundamentals 1. We'll use power chords to play riffs, which is a ton of fun, and these examples will work well on both electric and acoustic guitar.

In this chapter we'll go through some of the most common issues and questions people have when they're first starting out with the guitar. In this first tutorial we'll talk about all the physical aspects of guitar playing: posture, calluses, hand, finger, arm pain as well as what to do about your fingernails.

In this tutorial we are gonna work on a 12-bar blues progression in the key of E. After breaking down the basic chord structure and chord voicings, we will look at another authentic sounding variation of the blues riff that you learned earlier. After each lesson we will try out the new examples with "the band"...

In this tutorial we'll explore another type of chord called a major 7 chord. Even though this chord also has the number 7 in its name, the sound of it is drastically different from the bluesy dominant 7 chords we explored in the previous tutorial. Major 7 chords don't have any bluesy tension, but more of an emotionally ambiguous rainy day vibe.

In this tutorial I will show you how to play basic barre chords and how to use them in a blues context. The basic barre chord shapes can be very hard to play at first, but if you fight through the pain, I will show you how to use them in a blues context. These are really useful guitar skills that you are going to use for years and years to come, in blues and in all other styles of music, so don't give up on it just because it seems difficult at first!

In this tutorial we'll learn the open position of the C major scale. On top of giving us a fun and bluegrass sound, this open position major scale will also, ultimately enable you to switch seamlessly between the melody notes in our scale pattern and our classic open chords. This is the key ingredient in playing melodies and chords at the same time.

In our second tutorial on rock chords, Anders Mouridsen will teach you how to play basic barre chords in rock. Anders will introduce barre chords to you, then set up a good tone. Next we'll break down the E shape major and minor barre chords on the sixth string, then the A shape barre chords on the fifth string. After that, we'll put our barre chords to use in two rock practice tunes.

These Perfect chords and tabs have been modified into a simpler arrangement that use open chords and an easy strumming pattern. You can play this song with any acoustic guitar and we even have the Perfect lyrics for you to sing along with! Learn how to play Perfect by Ed Sheeran.

Learning guitar is a lot of fun, but as you know it isn't easy. On good days the challenges feel exciting and we patiently practice our way towards a certain goal. But it is completely inevitable that you also hit a lot of low points along the way days where nothing is easy and you wonder how you're ever going to get good at this. Maybe you're in one those spots right now, and if that's the case just put your guitar, give your fingers a break and let's talk about how to get over the hump and back on the horse.