Technique, Reading & Theory

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• Introduction
• Finger combination exercise
• String crossing exercise
• Pull-offs & hammer-ons
• Subdivision studies
• Upstroke exercise
• Spider exercises
• The rhythmic heirarchy exercise
• Scales
• Intro to standard notation
• Notes on the staff
• Open strings
• First string
• Second string
• Third string
• Fourth string
• Fifth string
• Sixth string
• Tab and standard notation together
• Music theory
• Guitar geography
• The chromatic scale
• Building major scales
• Circle of 4ths/5ths & key signatures
• Intervals
• Intro to ear training
• Building triads
• Functional harmony, Roman numerals, Nashville numbers & common chord progressions

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• Next Course: 3. Blues, CAGED, and Pentatonics

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• Previous Course: 1. Free Guitar Basics Course

Picking exercise: String crossing

These exercises focus on the right hand. It is not uncommon for a guitarist’s left hand to surpass the right hand’s ability to keep up. A focus on right-hand technique early on will help to counterbalance this tendency. Aspects of these picking exercises may later be applied to left-hand exercises like scales. This exercise helps with pick accuracy by focusing on awkward jumps to non-adjacent strings. It may be difficult to judge which string you are playing without looking at the right hand. This challenge often holds back students who feel as if they must constantly look at each hand before playing. While you progress you will learn to play even the most complicated passages without looking at either hand—this exercise will get you started. Don’t rush into this exercise, or any exercise for that matter. Begin slowly with downstrokes only and eventually progress to upstrokes only and alternate picking (down-up and up-down).

Back: Finger combination exercise Next: Pull-offs & hammer-ons