Welcome to the first lesson of Joni's introductory guitar course. This package contains the lesson (rest of this file) and the words and chords for four songs. A sound file of how the song should be played is included with each song.
This lesson will show you:
I cannot stress enough how important it is to sit
correctly with the guitar. Not only does it make it much easier
for you to balance the instrument, but it also enables you to
see the keyboard more clearly. Sitting this way, your hands will
fall into the correct position which, in turn, will help your
speed, tone and accuracy.
Once you are playing proficiently you can then try standing or sitting on the floor - whatever - so please bear with me initially.
| LEFT HAND | RIGHT HAND | |
| Holds the chords | Picks and strums | |
| Thumb | Supports the hand | T |
| Index finger | 1 | i |
| Middle finger | 2 | m |
| Ring finger | 3 | r |
| Baby finger | 4 | Not normally used |
| 
|
Chords are drawn on a grid. Here is a simple grid of an A chord together with a photograph of the left hand holding the chord.
The three dots denote the fingers of the left hand holding down certain strings. Thus
1 = 1st finger on the third string in the second fret
2 = 2nd finger on the fourth string in the second fret
3 = 3rd finger on the second string in the second fret.
Sit correctly and place your fingers on the strings as shown in
the diagram. Press firmly and run your right thumb down over the
six strings.
Initially the strings may buzz and clunk a little until you get the knack and your hand and fingers become stronger.
Please refer to the left hand fingering graphic.
Here are the three chords that you will be using in this lesson's songs with a graphic of a basic thumb run.
0 = Open or unfingered string.
= Thumb picks that string (see pick strums
in lesson 2).
X = Don't play that string (discordant).
Start with a simple thumb run as shown above. Note that your thumb is strumming away from you towards the ground - from the lowest sounding string towards the highest sounding.
Put the A chord on with your left hand and run your right thumb down evenly over the six strings. Now try the D and E chords. Notice that with the D chord you must not play the 6th (lowest sounding) string as it is discordant.
Try these three chords separately and then try changing from A to D to A to E to D to A.
Notice that your first finger stays on the third string for all these chords and thus acts like a pivot for making easy, smooth chord changes.
Now you can try the basic 4/4 strum shown below:
Your thumb plays down away from you over 5 or 6 strings (depending on which chord you are holding), your index finger ( i ) strums up towards you over 3 strings, down over 3 strings and then up towards you over 3 strings.
Practice this strum without any chords on until you get the coordination and feel of it right. Then practice it with your three chords doing 3 strums on each chord:
| COUNT | / | / | / |
| 1234 | 1234 | 1234 | |
| STRUM | One | Two | Three |
Now practice the same strum emphasizing the thumb a little. This will syncopate and jazz the strum up a bit.
In the past, tuning the guitar has always been one of the most difficult parts of learning to play. Fortunately there are now some easy to use aids. In a later lesson you will learn some of the traditional tuning methods. These are useful for those times when you don't have access to a computer and also help to develop your ear. For now I suggest that you download and use one of the automated tuning programs. There are a number of these on the market, but initially I recommend "Tune ! It". It is freely available on the Internet. Search for TUNIT in www.shareware.com.
Tune ! It is a shareware progam. The unregistered version does not have all the features of the registered version, but works adequately for our purposes. The only thing that you need to know to tune the guitar is the note to which each of the strings should be tuned as given above
You may not always have your computer with you. Until you learn some of the other methods of tuning the guitar, here are some tips on how to keep your guitar in tune:
1. Initially, try to keep your guitar out of its cover bag. Putting the bag on and taking it off sometimes snags and turns the tuning knobs.
2. Keep your guitar out of reach of small children and toddlers.
3. Keep your guitar out of the direct sun.
4. Don't leave it in a hot vehicle.
There are four songs packaged with this lesson:
I suggest that you select the song that you know best to work on. You are, of course, welcome to try them all. Click on the song you select to see the words and chords and listen to the song.
Each song includes timing marks ( /) and the chords ( A, D, E ) required for the song. These are shown above each line of the song text. The songs are in 4/4 time so one timing mark equals one count of four and applies to one thumb run or one basic strum. The correct chord for each timing mark is shown immediately before the mark.
Please note that where no chord is shown with a timing mark, you should continue holding the previous chord. This also applies where the start of a chorus or verse does not show a chord for the first timing mark.
Put on an A chord and do a few thumb runs. Then do four thumb runs each on A, D and E. Do the same with the basic 4/4 strum and practice until you have some continuity going. Do be patient with yourself! Smooth chord changes will come with time and practice.
Further instructions for playing each song are included at the end of the song text.
This is a difficult question to answer as it varies from person to person depending on enthusiasm and time availability.
Initially you do need to discipline yourself to say a minimum of 1/2 hour daily. If you have more time - great.
Within a few lessons you should start enjoying yourself and may even start neglecting other tasks in favor of your guitar and start burning the midnight oil. Then we'll know that you're getting hooked! Most of all, have fun.
While the original intention of the paid course was to include personalized feedback from Joni on your progress and any problems you may experience, this no longer applies to these free lessons.
However, if you have found the lesson useful, Joni would appreciate an email from you on shuter@mweb.co.za
Thank you very much for trying this lesson. We certainly hope that you have enjoyed it.
Once you have mastered this lesson, feel free to move on to Lesson Two
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