How To Play Acoustic Guitar for the Beginner and Intermediate

How to Play Acoustic Guitar -
fuel for your acoustic guitar playing quest...

Some of the online lessons about how to play acoustic guitar are either confusing or risky. Here's top instruction for your acoustic guitar playing quest. Whether you're a beginner just starting out or you've been playing a while and want to take it to the next level - everything you need is here.

Btw, if you ARE a beginner, I'd strongly suggest taking a look at the beginner guitar lessons - if you haven't already. The lessons below are best suited for those of you who have mastered a few basic guitar chords and are ready to spice things up.

How to "do" these lessons...

The best way to approach these acoustic guitar lessons is to take an honest look at your own playing. Just saying "it sucks" doesn't help you pinpoint the areas that need work. Read through the lesson carefully - and if there's a guitar lesson video on that page, watch it.

I would recommend going through the above procedure for each lesson that interests you. Not only that, but I strongly suggest repeating each of your lessons a minimum of 3 times. That way, it becomes like a seed that grows as you nourish and water it. It will eventually expand into all your guitar playing. It does take some discipline to learn how to play acoustic guitar - but it truly is worthwhile :-)

Strumming...

If you're like most of the students I've seen over the years, your strumming could probably be "juiced up" a bit. You might need new ideas and patterns. Not to mention a stronger sense of "time". If you've got a good handle on strumming, you can improve any number of other guitar techniques or concepts. Why don't you take a look at the acoustic guitar lessons below and see what strikes a chord? ;-)

The Lessons

Tune Acoustic Guitar Online
There's an online tuner on this page as well as some important tips on how to tune your acoustic guitar.

Fingerpicking Lessons
Start learning acoustic fingerstyle guitar with good technique. These 2 lessons get you started right.

Guitar Strumming Patterns
Learn the fundamentals of rock solid timing as well as new ideas and patterns to strum.

Guitar Bar Chords
The infamous barre chord ;-) Not only are barre (correct spelling) chords necessary to play songs, but they lead to deeper understanding of the guitar fretboard.

Guitar Chord Lessons
What can you do with a chord besides simply strum it? This acoustic guitar lesson opens your mind up to other possibilities.

Guitar Pentatonic Scales
Penta... wha'? Simple patterns for single note runs. Can also be used on electric guitar - but here, we'll focus on how to play them with acoustic guitar.

Learn Guitar Fretboard
Do you know the names of the bar chords you've been playing? Learn the notenames quickly and easily. Here's how...

How To Play Reggae Guitar
Ya mon! Who doesn't love the chilled out vibe of reggae guitar? Learn the basics of this popular world beat and start jammin' ;-)

Hope you're enjoying your stay here at how to play acoustic guitar :-) There's a lot of material here to dig into. If you have any questions - or you feel unsure about anything, click here to contact me. I'd love to hear you're feedback. Best in guitar and Life,

Dave

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Tune Acoustic Guitar Online...Helpful Tips

How To Tune Acoustic Guitar Online...
Works for Electric Guitars Too

Online tuners are easy to find on the internet...but how to tune acoustic guitar online is an excellent tutorial on tuning your guitar. A tuner is useless if you don't know what you're listening for. I've seen people who have been playing for a few years make basic mistakes tuning.

Here's An Online Tuner

...but continue reading below for some great tips to help you get the most out of the online tuner.

Important: Is Your Guitar Adjusted and Set-up Properly?

If your guitar is new it should be under warranty. Make sure to have it set-up within the allotted time period. This is usually 1 year. A set-up is like a tune-up for a car. It is crucial to the life of your guitar and to your guitar playing. You won't be able to get your guitar nicely in tune if it's in need of a set-up. A decent guitar is one of the few things in this world that holds its value. If properly maintained it can last for years. Be careful of extreme heat, cold or humidity. Find a good music store with an experienced guitar repair person. Ask them what you need to know about maintaining your guitar. It's a relatively inexpensive job, and depending on the specifics of your guitar it only needs to be done every 2-3 years. Please don't underestimate this important point.

One of the most frustrating things I've seen with beginning acoustic guitar students is that the instrument is too physically demanding for them to play. This can be remedied with a good set-up. The guitar technician can file the bridge saddle down or re-slot the grooves in the nut. The string action can be set lower and light gauge strings can be put on so that you don't need to wear out your hand just to play the guitar.

Tune Acoustic Guitar Online...

OK. So you hear the little digital noise on the tuner. Or, if you're tuning to a friend's guitar or a piano you hear a real sound. What now? Do you just randomly turn the pegs until you think it's in tune?

Before you begin, go through the following list of tips about how to tune your acoustic guitar online.

Which peg is connected to each string?

Which way do you need to turn the peg to make the pitch go higher? Lower?

Not all the strings are necessarily out of tune. I see this mistake often. People assume all the strings are out. Many times it's only 1 or 2 strings.

Take your time and actually listen. What's the rush? Slow down.

Some people need to do some ear training first. Can you sing the pitches of your open guitar strings? If not, or you aren't sure, you need some basic ear training.

If you can match those pitches with your voice, it means you are hearing it properly. Then you can match the string on your guitar to whatever you are using to tune up to.

Consider getting a pitch pipe or tuning fork. Keep it in your guitar case. That way you can tune up away from your computer. Or maybe you dropped your i-phone in a puddle. God forbid!

In summary...if you can't sing the pitches it's going to be just about impossible for you to tune acoustic guitar online... right now. But if you keep practicing trying to sing the pitches and hear them, you will soon make excellent progress. Then the online tuner will help you. So sing to the online guitar tuner first. Then try to match the guitar to it. Stick with it :-)

If you've got your own electronic tuner at home and the needle is jumping about wildly? Assuming your battery is still good, you'll have to know how to tune acoustic guitar by ear. At least to get it close enough that you can then run it through your electronic guitar tuner and it will be able to "read" the information correctly.

That sums up how to tune acoustic guitar online. I hope it made things easier for you on your guitar playing journey. I'm grateful to play a small part in inspiring you to keep dusting off your guitar :-)

Dave

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