Introduction to Acoustic Guitar
Course Overview
Introduction to Acoustic Guitar will enable beginning and aspiring guitar students to learn the basics of guitar. Students will get to know their instrument, learn how to tune it, learn many chords, scales, songs, and much more. These forty lessons will put students in a position to follow their musical dreams; after this course, students will be ready to pursue a path in several genres of music on guitar including classical, rock, blues, traditional, blue-grass, and more.
This course includes:
- 8 units
- 40 lessons
- 44 handouts including 12 songs
- 40 video lessons
- 8 online quizzes
- Detailed explanation connecting the concepts in videos and corresponding handouts
Course Goals:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able toPlay basic major and minor chords
- Play various strum patterns
- Read and play guitar tablature
- Recognize several genres of music including old-time, blues, and classical
- Recognize time signatures and standard notation whole, half, quarter, eighth and dotted notes
- Play several songs with a pick
- Play three fingerstyle songs
- Improvise over the Am Pentatonic scale
- Play 7th chords
- Understand the concept of barre chords
- Experiment with writing an original own song
Target Audience
This video-course is primarily intended for late elementary to middle school age youth
Course Requirements
Students taking this course will need to have completed:
- Reading each of the 40 lessons
- Watching all 40 videos
- Practicing each new concept
- Completing all 8 quizzes
Course Topics
Unit 1: Introduction
Lessons
Parts of the Guitar
Tuning the Guitar
Your First Chords
D and Em
Strumming
Unit 2: Cold Frosty Morning and Intro to Tabs
Lessons
Am and Transitions with other Chords
Your First Song: Cold Frosty Morning (Chords)
Alternating Bass Strum for Cold Frosty Morning
Notes on E and A Strings
Intro to Guitar Tablature
Unit 3: Am Lead
Lessons
More on Tabs
Cold Frosty Morning (Tabs)
Cold Frosty Part B
Am Pentatonic Scale
Am Blues Pentatonic Scale
Unit 4: Noodling and Ornamentation
Lessons
Noodling Around
Key of C
Ornamentation Part 1
Ornamentation Part 2
Still Noodling Around
Unit 5: Amazing Grace and Shady Grove
Lessons
Review
Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace Lead
Shady Grove
Shady Grove Part 2
Unit 6: Scales and Songs
Lessons
G Scale Exercises
Sailor’s Hornpipe
Wildwood Flower
Snuffdawg’s Blues
Unit 7: Fingerstyle
Lessons
Intro to Fingerstyle
Intro to Fingerstyle Part 2
Scarborough Fair: Fingerstyle over Chords
Chord Shapes: Rock Patterns and Classical Lead
Unit 8: Standard Notation and Advanced Chords
Lessons
Standard Notation
Standard Music Notation Timing
7th Chords
Barre Chords
Salt Creek and the Capo
Simple Gifts and Intro to Composing
Write Your Own Song