Berklee Beginning Guitar

Learn to play guitar! Develop a healthy, efficient technique, and play melodies and chords using today’s most effective approaches to learning the guitar. You will explore the fretboard, master the essential skills for playing the instrument, and understand musical concepts such as scales, modes, and chord construction. You’ll work on guitar-specific techniques, including how to hold the instrument and use a pick, improvisation and rhythm playing, strumming patterns, chord shapes, and how and when to read standard notation and use tablature.

This is the essential approach now taught at Berklee College of Music. It will provide a foundation for playing in all styles, including: rock, pop, R&B, jazz, classical, blues, fingerstyle, and the foundational concepts of theory to help you become a better musician.

You will learn to:

• Hold and play the guitar using healthy hand and body positions

• Read guitar notation, including traditional notation, chord charts, and tablature

• Play chords in a variety of ways, starting with simple triads and expanding them to seventh chords and beyond, as both barre chords and moveable forms that you will use all around the neck

• Perform common chord progressions and melodies – essential techniques for songwriters and those playing “by ear”

• Understand essential music theory concepts and how they help simplify your music learning process, setting the ground for more advanced explorations