Guitar Lessons for Beginners
by Jim Barrie

There are a lot of resources available online for the beginner guitarist, varying from free, to expensive - so how can you really be sure you're not wasting and time or money on something when you could be learning so much faster elsewhere and wowing your friends?

Read this checklist and you will have a number of questions to ask of the online resources to make sure you get the best value for your money.

There are no magic shortcuts - despite amazing claims many systems make. Deciding to teach yourself means disciplining yourself. Keeping motivated and making sure you practice as often as possible is the key.

1. Does the guitar lessons have video? - To be value for money insist your guitar lessons are shown as video as it will be much easier to learn and much more fun.

2. Make sure you get audio to play along to? - Playing along to music is the fastest way to learn and develop your technique & rhythm.

3. Make sure the content has an easy way to learn to read music and tab? This is another must have seeing as the tab and music for just about every song ever written is available online - you need something easy so you can learn to play any guitar song.

4. Guitar tuning software is a must? Playing your favourite tracks or with custom made jam tracks is pointless if your not in tune...

5. Does the system guitar lesson have a method of keeping you motivated? When your beginning to learn the guitar motivation is everything, the best systems have ways to deal with this, this is a must have requirement.

6. Does the content have something to keep you in time? The best ones offer a metronome or other rhythm keeping device.

7. Does the system have a clear learning path? Look for a game plan so you know you are making progress.

This simple checklist should help you decide which beginner guitar lesson option is best for you. You basically get what you pay so keep these 7 basic questions in your mind when evaluating your option

Recommended resources that I am aware of that offer great value and cover the 7 key points.

Lead guitar lessons for beginners.

Acoustic guitar lessons for beginners.

Source: Ultimate guitar blog.

Guitar Lessons for Beginners
By Andreas Wahlstedt

Playing guitar is a lot of fun, and you can never learn too much about it. That's why I've put together some "off-the-beaten-path" guitar lessons for beginners here that I hope you'll enjoy. Although these lessons won't make you an overnight guitar hero, my hope is that they'll give you some quick insights to advance your skills.

Lesson #1: Fretboard Facts
Did you know that your fretboard is 'doubled' at the 12th fret position? What I mean by 'doubled' is that all of the open-string notes repeat in the same order (as octaves) at the 12th fret.

If you just strum your guitar without fretting (holding down) any notes, you have the following pattern in 'standard' tuning: E-A-D-G-B-E. Then, if you were to place your index finger across all six strings at the 12th fret, you get: E-A-D-G-B-E again!

Why is this useful?
It is useful because it means that all of the chord shapes and scale patterns you learn below the 12th fret are repeated and in the same relative positions. So, once you've learned how things work from the open position and 1st fret onwards, you've automatically got everything at the 12th fret and beyond mastered, too!

Lesson #2: Two-Note 'Drones'
Here's an experiment for you to try: Play an open 'D' note simultaneously with a fretted 'A' note on your third string. Now, keep hitting that open 'D' as you move up the D-major scale on the third string. In other words, keep hitting that 'D' as you slide your finger up the fretboard from A to B to D to E and so on.

Sounds pretty cool, right? You can do this for the E and A string below as well.
If you want a song to follow along with and practice this technique, check out the early U2 song called "Electric Co." The Edge is a big fan of these two-note 'drones' and used the technique in that song.

If memory serves, 'Electric Co.' is in the key of D-major, and the riff progresses like so:
D/A - D/C - D/B - D/E - D/F# - D/D (that second D is played at the 7th fret position) D/A -D/C - D/B - D/G (open G on 3rd string) - D/E - D/F#

Hint: You may need to tune down a half-step to get in key with the album version of the song.

Lesson #3: Easy 'Thirds' in G-Major
The Beatles' song, 'Blackbird', popularized this sound. The progression of intervals of 'thirds' creates a very cool sounding harmony that feels both 'major' and 'minor' at the same time.

In case you aren't familiar with the concept of intervals, the basic definition of an interval is that it is the difference in pitch between two notes. What you do is count up from the root note of the major scale to find the interval number.

In the key of G-major, for example, the distance from from G to C is an interval of a fourth because C is the fourth note in the scale.

In this example, however, what we're actually doing is taking the thirds relative to the chords being played. Let's go from G-major to A-minor to B-minor. The intervals of thirds for each of these chords is: G/B, A/C and B/D, respectively.

Now, trying plucking these intervals with your thumb and index finger. Start with G on the sixth string and B on the second string, open position. Move to A on the fifth string, open position, with C played on the second string, first fret. Finally, play B on the fifth string, second fret, with D on the second string, third fret.

In 'pseudo-tab', the notation would look like this: (6/3 - 2/0) - (5/0 - 2/1) - (5/2 - 2/3). The first number in the 'fraction' represents which string to play on, while the second number represents which fret on that string to hold down.

The parenthesis indicate that you should play both strings simultaneously, rather than one after the other.

So, (6/3 - 2/0) means play the note on the 3rd fret of the sixth string at the same time as you play the second string (0= open position).

That's it for this round of beginner's guitar lessons. I hope you enjoyed them and try experimenting with them to come up with new sounds of your own!

Andreas Wahlstedt is committed to learn ordinary people play guitar.
Get his free report and mails here:http://www.andreaswahlstedt.com

Source: Ultimate guitar blog.