Learn Guitar A Beginner's Course

By Justin Moss

Complete beginners start here! 40 individually crafted lessons over 166 pages.

Become the player you want to be!

Covers open chords, extensive strumming, barre chords, theory, music and TAB reading, fingerstyle, arpeggio's and riffs + a number of pieces and songs to play.

A course for a beginners to start learning, or if you know a few chords already use this as an opportunity to improve your skills!

Some of the techniques you will learn:
• Open Chords
• Barre Chords
• Music Reading
• Strumming
• Theory
• Major scales
• Basic song structure and analysis
• Riffs
• Scales
• Arpeggios
• Guitar TAB
• Fingerstyle
• Licks and more!

The course has been designed to be the equivalent of Private Guitar Lessons but accessible at any time in your own home - like having your very own guitar teacher in the lounge with you.

As you learn, consider signing up for the optional accompanying video lessons - enjoy a compete package of learning!

Written by New Zealand Guitar Teacher Justin Moss, who has taught guitar for over 20 years as FINGERS OF FIRE GUITAR SCHOOL in Hamilton, NZ. Over 2500 copies of the LEARN GUITAR system have been sold.

PREVIOUS FEEDBACK:
"If you are thinking about it buy it now with confidence." bookdude

"Am on my 4th lesson now and loving it!" tashlynian

"I love the dvd's it's easy to learn from and understand." katcat2

"It's just like having a tutor beside you." rollyn2

"Learned more in 2 weeks from the book and DVD than in the last 5 years." bristolsteve

"Well presented, easy to follow and gets straight into it, no messing about." elbino

"Top Rate Tuition for a fraction of the price." johnjohn8

"Very impressed at the professional presentation and layout." rayurlich

"Very clear and easy to follow!" agy321

• Language: English
• Publisher: Justin Moss
• Release date: Aug 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9780994127747

Justin Moss

Justin Moss has been playing the guitar since he was sixteen-years-old, and started teaching full-time not long after that. Many years on Justin is as passionate about the guitar as today as he was when he first picked it up."The guitar is a fantastic instrument," he says, "it encompasses every style of music, can generate any emotion, and is as pleasurable to play as it is to listen to."With his unique and effective method for learning to play guitar, he has had many successes with private guitar students, and taught thousands more around the world with his series of Learn Guitar Courses.

Book preview

Lesson 1 - Your Guitar

It is important to learn and be aware of the various parts that make up your musical instrument. Study the diagrams below and check the parts against your own guitar.

Have you identified them all on your own guitar?

Test yourself now and point to the :

Bridge

Nut

Fingerboard / Fretboard

Tuning Gear

Strings

Soundhole

Body

Head

Did you get everything right? Good.

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Lesson 2 - Holding Your Guitar

There are several ways of holding your instrument, some good, and some bad.

Holding it casually, with the curve of the guitar’s body resting on your right thigh, is OK provided the neck of the guitar is kept at a right angle to your body. The neck of the guitar has a habit of swinging out so that you end up playing with the guitar almost against your side. This is BAD. It can lead to an imperfect technique that will affect your playing if you ever don a strap and play standing up. It is easy to fall into the trap of playing like this because it is a convenient way to watch your left hand. Be aware of this as you play.

The other way to hold your guitar is what we call the Formal Classical Method. Sit with your knees wide apart and place the curve of the guitar against your left leg’s inner thigh. The guitar will sit quite naturally and firmly in position. It will feel strange at first because your left hand will be far away from your body, but this is how it will feel when you play standing.

Study the diagrams below and compare them to how you are holding your guitar.

THIS IS GOOD

THIS IS EXCELLENT

THIS IS OKAY - provided the neck of the guitar does not swing out so that the guitar ends up being played almost side on.

Head to http://learnguitar.nz

Lesson 3 - Your Hands

Your hands, of course, are what you use to play the guitar with. It is therefore important that we make sure you use them in the correct manner and with proper technique.

If we can make sure that this is done right from the beginning then you can look forward to a long and rewarding relationship playing your guitar. However, if we fail to get this technique right, then you will find the guitar frustrating and unrewarding.

With this lesson we’ll get it right!

Left Hand

With the left hand you use the THUMB to press against the back of the neck and the four FINGERS pressing the strings onto the fretboard and fingering the notes for music. The fingertips must be pressed firmly against the strings, holding them hard between the metal frets, and your left hand should retain an even and flat shape like the diagram.

Notice the back of the hand as well as the nice curve to each finger.

This will be difficult to achieve at first and will be painful on both your fingertips and, to an extent, within the muscles of your hand. Don’t worry! Playing the guitar is in some ways just like any sport and it will take a while to develop strength and dexterity, but it will happen and it will be worth the effort of ensuring your technique is correct.

Study the diagrams below and try to imitate them with your left hand.

NOTE: Take note of the NUMBERED FINGERING. This is how we will be referring to the fingers of your left hand from now on. i.e. your 1st finger, 2nd finger, 3rd finger and 4th finger.

Right Hand

Your right hand plays an equally important role as the left in playing the guitar, although it does not appear as such when first learning because the left hand seems to be doing all the hard work while the right just cruises along. It is important though, that while all the attention is focused on the left that we don’t forget about the right, and that we make sure the right’s technique is correct before we continue on.

The right arm rests on the top of the guitar’s body, allowing the forearm to swing in a free

½-Circle from the elbow. Practice an up & down motion with the forearm a couple of time just to get the feel. From the wrist we use the hand to either pluck or strum the strings. There will be three different right hand techniques we will be learning initially. These are:

Strumming with a pick/plectrum

Fingerpicking

Single string picking with the pick/plectrum

Study the diagrams below and try to get your right hand into the correct position for each one.

Grip the pick/plectrum firmly between your index finger and thumb and gently pick each string individually, always using downstrokes. Each string should ring loud and clear.

When strumming, use a fluid, easy motion. Try down until you have it smooth and even, then do the same with down and up. Experiment using your fingers and then try with the plectrum.

Fingerpicking Fingers

With Fingerpicking on the right hand, each finger is given a title, being : -

P = Thumb

I = Index finger

M = Middle finger

A = Ring ringer

This is your hand’s position against the guitar.

Reviews for Learn Guitar A Beginner's Course

[TrudyMock · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Super well done! Clear and concise. Ordered appropriately for students to add concepts and technique without being too overwhelming. As a teacher I found sooooo many things I can use to help my students. Diagrams and illustrations were clear - just the right amount of detail. I’ve got too see what other books you have out there. Thanks for an awesome teaching tool!