“Guitar teachers who understand how to teach “creative application” are very rare.“
Every musician has to start somewhere and for a stringed instrument musician, the beginning stage is even more important. Playing the guitar, bass, or ukulele is built on Muscle Memory, which is the human body’s way of being more efficient with repetitive motions. For the Early Beginner more focus will be put on the physical part of playing and learning how to watch and analyze what both hands are doing both simultaneously and separately. Below is a checklist for a player who has reached Late Beginner status and is ready to move on to more advanced subjects and songs.
Basics
Know the basic parts of the guitar
Own and use an electronic tuner properly
Exhibit good basic posture
Name the open strings
Chords
The Basic Eight Shapes: A, D, E, G, C, Am, Em, Dm.
The Dominant Shapes: A7, D7, E7, G7, C7, B7.
The Sus Shapes: Asus2, Asus4, Dsus2, Dsus4, Esus4.
F Chord and variations: F, Fmaj7.
Basic Slash Chords: D/F#, G/B, C/G.
Power Chords on the fourth, fifth, and sixth strings
Understand how to read and draw a chord diagram
Understand the difference in sound between the three basic chord types – Major, Minor and Dominant 7
Rhythms
Proper strumming mechanics and how to play a variety of strumming patterns confidently and fluently at various tempos while tapping your foot.
Basic fingerstyle and the ability to make up your own patterns.
Palm muting
Understand and explain basic time signatures, such as 4/4 and 3/4
Understand and execute basic rhythms, such as whole, half, quarter and 8th notes
Scales
C and G Open Position Scales
Major and minor Pentatonic Fragments
One String Soloing
Music Theory
The note names of the open strings.
The Musical Alphabet.
Sharps and flats.
Identify string numbers, finger numbers and fret numbers
Explain the term “root note” (or tonic)
The principle elements of rhythm
All the note names on the thickest two strings.
How to use a capo.
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