Learn Guitar your way with a TakeLessons expert

Ready to learn a cool song on the guitar? Here, Lowell, IN teacher Blake C. shares his guide to the acoustic version of Anna Nalick's "Breathe"...   Looking for cool songs to learn on guitar? You've probably seen the typical suggestions, such as "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin or "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne, but there are a lot more to learn. But there's no point in just listing them out--instead, in this article I will discuss a somewhat unsuspecting cool guitar tune that is fun to play

With the advent of YouTube tutorials for just about everything, it's only fitting that there are a lot of videos out there claiming to be able to teach you how to play guitar. While you might think this is a quick and easy way to become a pro, you'll want to make sure you have all of the information before diving in headfirst. Online Tutorials When you're surfing the Internet, you'll come across many different websites with prerecorded tutorials to help you learn guitar online. But the keywo

Want to play the guitar faster? Incorporate these guitar exercises, as shared by Greeley, CO teacher Andy W., into your practice sessions throughout the week...   A crucial step to successfully melt faces with your guitar solos is to play fast! So, how can you achieve this feat? Here are some suggestions. Alternate Picking Alternate picking is one of the most efficient ways to pick fast. This is simply a downstroke followed by an upstroke. Everything suggested here utilizes alterna

  Have you ever heard a guitar lick that sounded crazy complicated? Guitar teacher Christopher S.  explains how some of the hardest sounding techniques can actually be easy once you try them... We've all seen those guitarists on YouTube who make seemingly impossible-looking moves look easy.  But are they really as simple as they seem?  In this blog post, we'll take a look at five of the most commonly misconstrued guitar moves and break them down into easy steps that anyone ca

Learning the blues scale on guitar is something of a rite of passage for every guitarist. If you’re a beginner with reasonable dexterity and you’re serious about learning, you’ll find the blues scale to be extremely useful. For intermediate guitarists, this scale is essential, but it’s also important to understand that scales are merely the alphabet of the blues language. It's important to go beyond that and play real blues melodies as well, so you can start to better understand

Although it is possible to learn to play guitar without reading sheet music, adding this skill to your arsenal will make you a better musician. Not sure where to start with sheet music on your guitar? Follow music teacher Eric J.'s advice and you'll be sightreading in no time... Learning to read music is important. It increases your understanding of your instrument and makes you more valuable as a musician. Reading music for guitar allows you to collaborate with other instrumentalists in ways

Learning to play barre chords on the guitar is a big step for many beginning guitarists. Guitar teacher Joe L. breaks down the basic things you'll need to know in order to play barre chords and shares tips for practicing them... First off, if you don't know the basic open guitar chords you will have tremendous difficulty with these chords. Learning basic rhythm patterns with simple open chords gives you familiarity with different types of chords, how to play chords, and how they sound. Once y

  There are many details to consider if you’ve decided to learn the guitar. Before you can even begin to learn left-hand and right-hand placement and techniques, you’ll have to learn how to hold the guitar properly, which strings sound which notes, how to label your fingers on each hand, and much more. What Is the E Chord on Guitar? If you’ve just started with guitar lessons, or you’re even learning guitar completely on your own, you’ve likely heard of the E major guitar chord

Knowing your pentatonic scales on the guitar will open up a new world of possibility when it comes to improvisation and soloing. Guitar teacher Milton J. explains why... The guitar is a wonderfully rewarding instrument to play. Its versatility lends itself to a variety of melodies and chords that make the instrument welcome in many musical genres. As we find all of the wonderful ways the guitar will bring musical joy to your life, an essential part of learning the guitar is understanding the

Is it really necessary to learn guitar scales? If you'd rather just focus on chords and songs, you're not alone. But here, Austin, TX teacher Samuel B. shares why practicing your scales will ultimately make you a better guitar player down the line... I'm a 25-year veteran of playing the guitar. In seventh grade, I took an introductory class to both the guitar and keyboard, in which I received only a "B" as I pretty much neglected the keyboard altogether. Besides, I'd taken piano lessons