Learn To Play Acoustic Guitar: A comprehensive course for beginners

By Dwayne Jenkins

Learn To Play Acoustic Guitar is a comprehensive course for beginners to get started enjoying the fun of playing the acoustic guitar. It will lead you on a path to acoustic guitar mastery.  It will show you in a very simple method of how to get started playing acoustic guitar.  Learn parts of the guitar, how to properly hold it, what

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tritone Publishing
• Release date: Feb 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781736639375

Dwayne Jenkins

Dwayne Jenkins is an independent author, private instructor, accomplished musician, and entrepreneur. He has been an accomplished musician for 35 years and has authored many books on how to play guitar. He runs a very successful guitar-teaching business out of Denver, Colorado, and has been in business for over 20 years. Dwayne's has a unique teaching style that gets students of all ages and skill levels to have fun playing guitar quickly. His passion for music and teaching shines through with every lesson plan, book, and online course that he creates. So if you'd like to learn to play the guitar, no matter if it's electric or acoustic, be sure to get involved with Dwayne's Guitar Lessons, where more can be found at his website @dwaynesguitarlessons.com.

Book preview

Chapter 1 Getting Started

Lesson 1: Acoustic guitar parts

What kind of acoustic guitar is needed to get started? Well, when it comes to the acoustic guitar there are many different ones to choose from. And since this is the case, you can find one that is right for you.

Although they are all very similar, some are lighter, bigger, smaller, have shorter necks and even come in different colors. So it’s best to do some research and even try some out at your local music store.

Once you find one that you really like and it motivates you to learn, It is a good idea to get familiar with the guitar itself. All the parts of the guitar and how they function with each other to make the guitar what it is.

The more you know about the guitar and how it works, the more appreciation you’ll begin to develop for this wonderful instrument. The guitar is the best instrument in the whole musical instrument family, and it is for this reason I choose to teach it.

So let’s look at the acoustic guitar and get familiar with the parts:

In the picture above we have the most common type of acoustic guitar and we will use this as a guideline. Although they come in different variations like I stated before, they are all built very similar and have the same parts.

Headstock: This is the top of the guitar where the tuning pegs are located.

Tuning Pegs: These are what you will use to get the guitar in tune.

Nut: This is what holds the guitar strings in place so that you can form chords.

Fretboard: This is the top of the guitar neck and will be where you will form and play your chords.

Frets: The metal wires that separate the fretboard into playing positions.

Fret Markers: These are dots that represent where you are on the fretboard.

Neck: Back of the fretboard.

Sound Hole: This is where the sound of the acoustic guitar is produced when you strum the strings.

Pick Guard: This keeps the body of the guitar from getting scratched by the guitar pick when strumming chords.

Body: This is the guitar body and is usually a bit boxy with the width being a bit different in all model guitars.

Bridge: This is where the strings are held in place on the body of the guitar.

Lesson 2: Learning guitar posture

When it comes to playing the guitar you can do it in two positions, sitting down or standing up. For our purposes here I recommend you learn the instrument sitting down. It will be much easier to learn.

Once you have the fundamentals down and are confident in what you are doing, you can then try to play it standing up. As you will see this position is a bit different.

I also recommend you use a guitar pick as this will benefit you in many ways down the line and we will get into this later in this book, but for now let’s talk about guitar posture.

If you look at the acoustic guitar you will notice the curve in the body. This is designed specifically so that you can rest the guitar comfortably on your leg as you play it.

You should be able to reach the tuning pegs and all positions on the fretboard so that you can form and play guitar chords. The guitar should be able to rest well balanced and you should feel at ease with playing it.

Lesson 3: Both hands positioning

When using your fingers to form the chords and strum the strings you want to focus on what works best for you. This is very important to remember because everyone is different.

Most instruction books use conventional methods and you will notice for the most part that this will work. But as you progress in your studies, you’ll discover easier ways that work specifically for you.

This will be a good thing because it will help you to develop your own style. And that is what you want. To find your musical voice and personality. This book will help you to do that.

Your fretboard hand

With this hand you will form and play the guitar chords. These will be the foundation for the song progression. Development of this hand is crucial and will take time.

Here is a good example of how your hand should look.

You want your thumb to be facing up in the back (never have it facing down) as this will help you to push the strings on the fretboard to hold the chords down.

Your fingers will be in the front on the fretboard (facing up like the picture) and ready to form the chords along multiple strings. This will be important for the chords to sound out properly.

It will take some time to develop your hand and finger muscles as they are not used to being in this position. So take your time when learning. It will come if you stick with it and know, we all went through this development. So shall you.

Your picking hand

The development of this hand is vitally important as well as this hand is what’s going to create the