Not wanting to show off here but I've now progressed to beginner / lower intermediate after playing for 20 years. In other words, I can play barre chords where not all the strings are accidentally muted.
One thing I learned when trying to change the chords seamlessly: Do not try to adjust finger by finger. Practice the position of all fingers at the same time. Don't press finger by finger, do them all at the same time. I know, you will fail a lot, but bad habits tend to persist. Also, all the "melodies" you know how to play, try to learn them again but by using only left hand, then only right hand, then combine.
This is great advice! I kept wandering why my dad couldn't change chords seamlessly while trying to teach him. I think he was adjusting finger by finger :)
You are so right. I practiced for 2 years with the one-finger-at-a-time method, hoping it would get faster and faster til the fingers were going down all at the same time, but that never happened. I then determined to hover my fingers over the strings in the right shape before pressing down (not easy at first) and do that over and over. Hover, press/strum, remove hand, repeat. That got me going and now I can play lots of chords (but I’m still terrible).
@@calliopeshif7581 if you're right-handed that would mean learn the chords first and then the strumming method. Practice the chords first until you can switch them back and forth with your eyes closed. Once you can do that you'll be ready to start strumming with your right hand. Once you have both down then SLOWLY combine them together and speed it up until you match the tempo you're trying to get to.
Agree. I'm only what I'd call an early intermediate or advanced beginner, but, yeah... this is a good refresher lesson. I'm adding these lessons to my daily practice, even if it's just to warm up.
True dat. The video should be titled “Five Fundamental Guitar Techniques.” How many of us learned properly, then started playing loud, with a ton of fuzz & reverb and thought we were good... until sitting down with an acoustic and being faced with the cold fact that our technique had gotten sloppy, needed to take a step back before taking any more forward? 🤚
Do it! My dad started playing at about 60. He just likes to strum these chords and sing rotten songs about his friends. I'll play leads for him sometimes. It's a lot of fun.
I agree, do it. Get a guitar, maybe a few lessons and strum the tunes you like. Never too old. Music is something that doesn't care about age. Good luck to you!
Alamo Music (Chris McKee/Cooper Greenberg videos) and Bob Taylor's The Ebony Project made me do that and I'm 65 now. Johnny Guitar (broadcast engineer at KCHU.org) and I talked about this: Guitar is easier to learn and a decent instrument is cheaper. Besides, neighborhood dogs don't howl as much with it. If you want them to howl, a harmonica works, too. Thanks, Rick!
I realized this lesson is 45 years to late for me. I tell young musicians all the time how lucky they are to have the internet. I would have killed for information like this when I was young. Good luck with your girls. I hope they know how lucky they are having you knowledge and treasure trove!
If only I'd known as a teen what I know now. Ya know, "Money for nuthin' and chicks for free". But if a teen doesn't have access to a guitar and their parents won't buy one ... well, tough.
@@hacunamatata6802 Hmm? Where I came from kids were babysitters, had paper routes, collected cans and bottles, mowed lawns, painted someone's fence or a room, washed cars etc, There were many opportunities before us to make things happen.
@@JB-bc9nm Just think if you could've shredded on guitar by 15-16 how different life would've been. But most of us at 10 years old don't understand the potential brought into a life by mastering an instrument like guitar while young and attractive.
Rick, These are all great lessons and I agree. I have one thing that I always start a student with. It is the only thing I wish that someone had told the young me when I was starting out. This might sound boring or innocuous, but there is nothing more important. Relaxation. Find your tensions. To all students, this will yield great results if you are mindful. I tell the students that tension does not just occur in the fingers and hands. It travels. Up the arm, to the shoulder, to the brain, and elsewhere. All students need to be reminded, but if you pay attention to your tensions your path to playing guitar is easier.
Thought it came from something else, it started in my shoulder bought a guitar and great fun to do it. Think the pressure and time playing it and stress holding acords is the real crime behind this 👍
These are the EXACT rules my dad taught me 25 years ago. I'm kinda mind blown right now. I can't tell you how many times guys who've learned from a teacher give me grief about my thumb over technique. I always just tell them to go watch SRV and leave me alone. :)
john frusciante, the legendary guitarist from the red hot chili peppers, plays with his thumb over the top all the time. John Mayer, Jimi Hendrix are a couple others who do this too. it actually gives you way more dexterity and options in your playing. im not too good at it. but most ppl who do this, and do it well, have large hands/long fingers.
Don't worry about the thumb over the top, especially if you have small hands. There are other things you can do down the road....I'm actually surprised Rick even included that for a beginner right now. It's just going to discourage people as its difficult enough already just learning the basics. Total respect to Rick. No one go off on this. .Pls. Life's hard enough right now
I sustained a severe multiple fracture to my left wrist 30 yrs ago - the surgeon told me he couldn't understand why I still had a hand. I was told by guitar players I wouldn't be able to play. So I made the mistake & believed them. Now at 53, I've got lyrics I've written but no accompanying music. I've watched you a long time Rick, & gobble up everything you do, though I usually can't use it. But I can apply this immediately. I just want to play good enough to aid my writing & maybe a little singing too. Thanks for all you do!
I'm missing two fingers on the right hand, middle doesn't work and the index works a little. Thumb is only thing that really works..........not as good as I once was but don't give up. You can still do some things with practice.
@ FrAA888 grindR...Some excellent songs can be created with just simple techniques if you have good “musical sense”, rhythm, timing, sense of melody and tone, etc. You don’t have to shred like Yngwie, Buckethead, or Eddie Van Halen! It may be showy and impressive, but doesn’t make a song great without the basics! Beato RULES!!! He ALWAYS has great advice!
I'm 66. I was a rather competent lead player. But in the 80's I had to have brain surgery that trashed my left hand and knocked me down to beginner's level. I can't play any sort of lead beyond a simple melody to save my life. So I switched to acoustic. I sill have to "set up" complex fingerings, chord inversions, etc.
The 4 phases of life for men (not my joke): 1. You believe in Santa Claus. 2. You don't believe in Santa Claus. 3. You are Santa Claus. 4. You look like Santa Claus.
This is a prime example of why Rick is such a good player/teacher. He doesn’t mention scales once when speaking about what beginners should do because he knows developing a solid rhythm will make you so much better when trying to play lead. Great video for even me and I would consider myself intermediate at least!🎸 rock on Rick!
Aaron B I put tune your guitar at number one because you have no idea how many of my students won’t tune their guitars before lessons. It’s like pulling teeth to get them to tune the damn things!
tubemcg not just beginners! There’s so many ways to hold the pick that I think it’s a huge process to find exactly what works for you. But yeah some people just flat out hold it horribly and you need to at least have a good baseline to work with.
Tuning up. That is what killed my interest in learning to play guitar. Natural musicians and those with a good ear may not appreciate this but I found it so frustrating every time I picked up the thing. That was why I switched to keyboards.
Completely agree. Rhythm/tempo is king. In performance, a "wrong" note is far less noticeable than a hesitation, tentative chord change, or other stumble in the rhythm.
I'm 59 years old and just picked up a guitar to start learning how to play. I know starting a bit late in life. Damn Rick, I've learned more in this video than I have in the free online lessons that came with the guitar. I love how you explain the how but more importantly, the why! I'm going to add these tips to my practicing, especially the open stroke to give time to change the chord. These old fingers aren't as agile as they used to be!!!
I'm 68 and took up the guitar 7 years ago (I did play a little when I was a kid). Found out from guitar teachers that i have perfext pitch, so I pick up things fast. I play for about two hours every day! It's been so wonderful playing the guitar, you'll have fun and I think it's very good for your brain too. Good luck!
Dave McKay people don’t “cheat” chord changes using open strings enough when they’re human these days too. With good right hand control you can smooth out the most finger twisting changes and stay in key.
I reckon that extra D note makes it sound empty. The low B is pretty soft to pick up, and it's especially empty when playing a bass G note with the thumb and plucking the top three strings as a shell chord, it completely loses substance without the high B there. Absolutely should learn it for the reason he said but use it sparingly.
The extra d note sometimes sounds better and sometimes worse depending on the rest of the chords. In reality you should know both because each one has its advantages. In my opinion, the pinky and ring finger is actually more useful and EASIER overall for two reasons: 1. You can actually play it with ONLY TWO FINGERS. Use ring finger for the E string 3rd fret but let it touch on the A string and MUTE it because that B note is actually unnecessary a lot of the times and it just makes the chord sound muddy. Use little finger for high e string 3rd fret. 2. While the other version makes the chord change from D to G easier, this version makes the change from G to C and from G to F easier, plus it frees your first finger (and your middle finger if you use the version I explained above) to embellish the chord with other notes or melody lines.
I wish someone showed me this method of chord change from G to D when I was starting out. I ended up bastardizing my D chord by playing it without my index finger and using the pinky on the b string.
@@neophytosdm That's the way Fender is teaching me "Wild Horses". Only the middle finger for the E sting mute the A, and the ring finger for high E. It works for me.
Been playing sax an keyboard all my life but have just begun playing guitar over past year. Am 77 yrs old and having difficult time getting comfortable on guitar but since seeing your five things to do has really been a huge help. Thank you.
That’s EXACTLY what I tell my beginning guitar students. Makes me feel like a darn good teacher as I have immense respect for your knowledge and skill Rick
I'm gonna teach my first guitar lesson tomorrow, thank you for your tips. I'm still quite nervous, but I incorporated a few of your ideas into my lesson plan Edit: the first lesson went great! Planning some before hand was definitely a good idea. My new student is excited, and I am too. Doing the first lesson has significantly reduced my anxiety about teaching and has increased my confidence
What a strong lesson delivered in such a pleasant way! The combination of his guitar skill sets, his music theory knowledge base, and his personality all show that he is an experienced, patient teacher. I admire him for that and for his taking the time to share his experience and wisdom.
As a beginner who started this april, but have made very good progress, I can say the hardest things that beginner guitarist will come across is timing, chord changes, and isolating strings. These were and still sometimes are my biggest challenges. Thank you for covering them all in this video.
A friend of mine introduced me to Rick's channel at the start of lockdown. All the videos I've watched are extremely informative and Rick comes across as extremely engaging and knowledgeable. Then what pops up out of nowhere? Rick giving a guitar lesson. I knock about on a guitar most days. This lesson is absolutely fantastic. Anyone who wants to criticise because of their own virtuoso skills should ask themselves why they are watching a video titled '5 Things every beginner guitarist SHOULD Learn' in the first place? As far as I am concerned Rick joins Marty and Justin at the top of the tree. More of this please Rick.
Rick is the man- I put music down long before covid. I was in working bands through the 90's and early 2000's (at one point in 5 bands at one time) and I just got burned out and decided to get a day job. Covid came and I was searching for something to do that I'd like- I tuned into Beato after a friend mentioned his youtube and got interested in playing again kind of immediately. Haven't stopped since- Rick reminded me about what I loved about playing and hearing him relate the tidbits on the biz-I realized it was biz side that burned me out- not the music. I feel like I owe the guy.
What I love about Rick is that he is as amazed and enthusiastic by how good these basic chord changes are as the most complex Bach or Jazz chord progressions.
As an entirely self-taught kid, I really wish someone had sat me down with a metronome and taught me how to clap and count time properly. That and to play through my mistakes, rather than stopping and backing up to "get it". Now as a much older guy, when I practice (bass especially) I warm up for a few minutes with the Dr. Beat and plucking muted strings to settle my time.
My favourite bass track to practice my timing is The Sisters Of Mercy's cover of Hot Chocolates 'Emma' steady, beautiful beat. (They never had a drummer so it's all a drum machine so no timing float and a great song to play along to).
NinerFourWhiskey Put a wired metronome in your ear while playing every time you play. Every time, Every time , Every time , Every time, Every time, Every time, Every time, every time you play have a tick tock going in your ear to the beat to the song you are playing. Every time. People don’t get up and leave because you forgot the words or played a wrong chord. They leave because the frequency (the beat) changes. You’re welcome.....
I think it's actually useful to learn both versions of G right at the beginning. The one with the open B is good for basically becoming comfortable with bigger stretches on the weaker fingers and also you can do cool variations on it easily (Gsus4 or C/G).
The flat picking exercise is Champion! Been playing for 7 years and this exercise has helped me incredibly. Do it whenever I have the guitar in my hands and my lazy right hand is improving its accuracy 10 fold. Thank you Rick for all you do! Amazing inspiration and resource and much Respect!
Learning to Fly, sounds ..I had to figure this all out , painfully over the years . ANCHOR points, alternate picking, Crazy Train, More Than A Feeling. Yes.
This is the first time I've heard somebody refer to "anchors"...very useful with fingerstyle playing!! My advise to beginners: You can go as far as you want if you get past two milestones. 1) your fingers don't hurt anymore, build up callouses 2) you no longer have to "set up" chord fingerings. After those two, play all your major and minor chords without your index finger...try it!
When i use to teach guitar, my students always said that the continues strumming, weather or not your playing notes, helped them the most when it came to rhythm guitar. When started playing, i use it to help keep in time with the songs.
Just 22 and gave up guitar thinking its not made for me ..... Watching this video I realized I was practising correctly with no patience..... Thank You good sir ... Im holding up my guitar again ...😉😃
Speaking of anchoring a finger during chord changers whenever possible: I form my open A chord with the index finger in the same position as in the open D chord. This not only facilitates movement between A & D, but also I can just slide the index finger back a fret when moving to E (and E to A).
#1 is a really good one - I would generalize it into trying to play all the strumming patterns (in even signatures) without stopping your right hand - it should act as a metronome. Goes a long way later on, especially with funk.
Rick, I taught guitar to help pay my way through undergraduate school…1965-1969. I travelled to their homes here in Pittsburgh. (What a pain in the butt). The VERY FIRST THING I TAUGHT WAS THIS VERY SAME PATTERN!!! I am laughing my butt off right now. BTW, Love your stuff and have bought your courses.
After not playing for 10 years, I just went out and bought a new Strat and amp. I am going to focus on "re-learning to play" as if I never knew, to clean up bad habits from the past. You hit every item on my list with this video. Keep going ...... bar chord shapes and fingering with the thumb mute on the low-E would great. Most great guitar players use it to maximize their fills.
Hey, guitarist for "No Sin in Eden" I am completely self taught... and I have always done everything you are showing in this video... and I've always been told that I am playing "wrong" (especially with my thumb mutes) and my response has always been... there is really no wrong way to play music if you love what you do... and you can make the instrument sound good (of course its debatable whether or not I accomplish this)... not that I am a beginner (been hacking away at guitar for 30+ years yet I will always be a novice) this is a great video... love your page...
My last guitar lesson was in 1984, when I was 19. Now, august 8th 2020, I picked up my guitar and did as Rick taught. A Rick free lesson should not be wasted.
Here's the lesson lay-out: #1 0:57 Learn basic strumming pattern #2 2:02 Play the G chord with ring finger on the G string #3 4:11 Mute the low E string #4 5:47 Change chords seamlessly by playing open strings on up strum #5 7:30 Learn flat-picking pattern
Wow, so simple and yet eye-opening. A(nother) beginning guitarist thanks you. I know your channel is targeted at more advanced concepts (and I'm fine with that) but it's nice of you to throw a bone to us newbies :)
that 4 chord progression, when me and my friends would hang out drinking, we have this game where we try to sing over that same simple chord progression, with any song we know. ANY SONG. As long as it fits, as long as the verse or lyric, no matter how we bend the melody and pitch and everything fits within that chord prog. We'd go on rotation until one of us either can't think of any song to sing over it or sang something that doesn't really sound decent, then that person downs a shot of wine or whatever we're drinking. good times...
❤ 🙏 Rick for all these tips but especially the G chord trick because it’s been such a pain for me learning now at 41 after dragging my 20th anniversary Squier Strat since 21 to get that D chord and changing to it, this makes it so much easier
His intro course is good, but there are so many beginner videos. Rick went to Berkeley School of Music, he has advanced knowledge that most of the teachers on RU-vid don’t have. It is better he handles the advanced material for graduate school level folks.
been playing guitar since 1993 and i'll be a student until the day I die. There is always something to learn even in the simplest of lessons. A good teacher always gives a useful lesson :) I know these would have been useful to me when I started out for sure.
Great tips!!! The 5th tip you might as well teach them Boston’s song, More Than a Feeling. It is so close to what you’re teaching, they might as well learn a song to learn alternate picking. That is the song I taught myself how to alternate pick. I didn’t even know that is what I was learning, I just wanted to learn how to play that song.
I teach my beginners both fingerings for G so they can apply the best fingering for chord progression. 324 for G-C and 2134 for G to D. If you set the expectation and hold the student accountable, they will do it and they will appreciate and realize that there is more than one way to "do the thing."
I’m 65 and now that I’m finally retired, have time to try things I’ve long dreamt of. If my memory were better, I might have a fighting chance at this.
I've been casually and sporadically playing for 25+ years and this is an excellent set of foundational skills/exercises that all players should practice in perpetuity. You're the man, Rick!
Woooo man, I'm a great fan, I'm trying to take to your advise for my music and I even decided to start my channel and adding some of my humble guitar playing in my songs because of u, thank you!
Rick, you're amazing. I rly needed this! Just thought you forgot to mention 'now add a metronome to your practice' cause even though any musician should know this, beginners especially always like to run away from it xD
Throughout my 4 months of playing the guitar and researching, this video has been, by far, the best beginner video I've watched. I'm going to have countless hours of good practice routines that will help me. Thank you, Rick!
If you told me someone's children were named Dillon, Lennon and Layla, I would say that their parents were either DJ's, music teachers, musicians, music fanatics and very hip. That is Rick in one sentence.
One more thing for all beginners that actually comes first-no1 learn to TUNE the instrument well.More time spent on this helps your ear to hear music in tune without which you can't develope.
I only found out recently about tuning a guitar with a 24.5" neck versus a 25". THAT explains a lot. Good grief. My ears always told me something was off.
Buy one on Reverb. Dont know your price range though you can get 100 dollar guitar or 50 dollar guitar used guitar. Or whatever your price range might be....good luck! Enjoy!
Patience by GNR is a great song to illustrate the strumming of the open strings when switching chords. It’s almost exactly what Rick is playing in his example
Hey Rick - love your videos! One more trick I've used is to analyze the chord changes and identify "pivot' notes, or finger/string locations shared by two 'adjacent' chords. A to D, for example, share the first finger/second fret of the g string in common (the way I was taught to play an A chord).
If RU-vid was around 30 years ago, my Yamaha 336SB acoustic guitar and Squier Stratocaster wouldn’t have sat glaring at me in the corner of my living room. I’d get as far as CAGED open chords and basic strum patterns then get frustrated and give up for another 3 or 6 months. THIS basic to the bone beginner first lesson is EXACTLY why hundreds of thousands and more follow Rick.
With over 50 years of playing guitar and preforming, and being self taught, (well for most of it), your videos are wonderful. After struggling for my first few months, it was only after I started playing along with much better guitarist that I finally realize how much there is to learn. And now, after I came across your channel..... I'm still learning how much more there is. Thank you for your time and knowledge being shared.
This flat picking exercise is something I will use. I struggle to land on the right string as I am reading music or tabs. I think I'll practice this until I can do it in my sleep.
05:47 D'oh! All kidding aside, great tips Rick. I've been playing for 55 years, and am just starting to take on new students… after a hiatus of about 47 years. I like these concepts for my beginning students, so thanks!
