Category Archives: Beginner Guitar

101 Flatpicking Guitar: Beginner’s Crash Course

Welcome to the Pickin’ Lessons Beginner’s Crash Course in Flatpicking Guitar!

This crash course is for the complete beginner wanting to learn to flatpick. Focusing on Bluegrass and other folk styles, the course will get you pickin’ some of your favourite melodies and learn how to accompany others by learning the common chords played on the guitar. Go to lesson...

102 Flatpicking Guitar: Beginner’s Crash Course

G’day and welcome to the second instalment of the beginner’s crash course, 102 Flatpicking Guitar: Beginner’s Crash Course. In this next level, we’ll continue to learn new techniques, new tunes and expand your ability and knowledge on the guitar, focusing on Bluegrass and other folk styles.

This crash course is for the complete beginner wanting to learn to flatpick. Go to lesson...

Back Side of Albany: Guitar Lesson

G’day! In this Back Side of Albany: Guitar Lesson, we’ll take a look at a fun & challenging arrangement for the beginner & intermediate picker, containing 2 variations of the melody for both Part A & B. Back Side of Albany is a traditional American reel in the key of Em (dorian). Go to lesson...

Fretboard Freedom 101: The Musical Alphabet

Fretboard Freedom: The Musical Alphabet is the first lesson in a course that will help you unlock the fretboard, enabling you to find any note, double stop, chord, scale, arpeggio in any position. It will give you the freedom to find your way in any key and have the ability to transpose/reposition breaks, melodies & chord progressions and improve your ability to improvise. Go to lesson...

Fretboard Freedom 102: The Guitar Octave Pattern

Using the guitar octave pattern to gain fretboard freedom is a crucial and quick step to locate a note anywhere on the fretboard. By using the guitar octave pattern and your knowledge of the notes on one or two strings (see Fretboard Freedom 101: The Musical Alphabet) it becomes quite simple to locate any note on any string, then play a chord, scale, arpeggio, etc. Go to lesson...

Go Tell It On The Mountain: Christmas Guitar Lesson

Go Tell It On The Mountain is a traditional Gospel Christmas Carol. This arrangement on the guitar is in the key of G, played at a medium tempo, and will be a great tune for the advancing beginner picker as there are a variety of techniques worth spending time on which will help develop your playing. Go to lesson...

Scales & Technical Practice | Guitar | Level 1

A course focusing on the flatpicking technique including scales, arpeggios, chords, rhythm, improvisation, speed development, general technique exercises & sight-reading.

Scales & Technical Work should form an important, structured part of your practice routine. It will improve your general technique, practical theory knowledge, improvisation, understanding of melody & harmony, rhythm, tone, and so on. Go to lesson...

Scales & Technical Practice | Overview

Scales & Technical Work should form an important, structured part of your practice routine. It will improve your general technique, practical theory knowledge, improvisation, understanding of melody & harmony, rhythm, tone, and so on.

Check out the Pickin’ Lessons structured, 2 part, scales & technical practice below. Give it a shot & I’m positive you’ll find yourself moving forward in no time! Go to lesson...

Southwind: Fingerstyle Guitar Lesson

Southwind is a traditional Irish waltz, played in the key of G. It has a very beautiful melody that we’ll learn in a fingerstyle arrangement, in 2 different variations. First, we’ll first learn it in its basic form, with minimal support from the bass notes found in the harmony. Then we’ll spice it up with a more advanced arrangement that features more support and embellishment around the melody. Go to lesson...

Star of Munster: Flatpicking Guitar Lesson

G’day! In this Star of Munster: Flatpicking Guitar Lesson, we’ll take a look at an arrangement of this traditional Celtic reel for the advancing beginner/intermediate picker. The arrangement is played in both position 1 & 2, in the key of Am (dorian mode).

A feature of this arrangement is the lack of articulation, which makes for a great picking study, but also gives the tune a real drive. Go to lesson...

We Wish You A Merry Christmas: Bluegrass Guitar Lesson

We Wish You A Merry Christmas is a traditional English carol, and in this guitar arrangement we’ll look at a bluegrass style version in the key of G, with two variations of the melody. The first variation is the basic melody, suited to the advanced beginner; while the second is a bluegrass inspired take on the melody, suited to the advancing picker. Go to lesson...

Worried Man Blues: Beginner Guitar

Check out the free updated lesson for Worried Man Blues here Flatpicking Guitar: Beginner’s Crash Course!

The crash course is for the complete beginner wanting to learn to flatpick. Focusing on Bluegrass and other folk styles, the course will get you pickin’ some of your favourite melodies and learn how to accompany others by learning the common chords played on the guitar. Go to lesson...