Introduction to Guitar

Master basic guitar skills and become the musician you've always wanted to be.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

Starting February 12, 2025

Offered in partnership with your preferred school

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Learning method

Instructor-Moderated

$150

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Starting February 12 | March 12

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Details + Objectives

Course code: icg

Learn to play guitar, and become the musician you've always wanted to be! In these fun and informative lessons, you'll build basic guitar skills step-by-step with the help of hands-on exercises, audio and video recordings, and detailed illustrations.

The classical guitar skills you'll master in this course will allow you to play any style of music, from hard rock to country-and-western. Good guitar players know that the secret to making beautiful music is to practice, practice, practice—so that's what you'll do. You'll make rapid progress as you follow a carefully planned practice schedule that reinforces each new skill you learn. Whether you're a beginner or an intermediate student, this course will take your musical talent to the next level. By the time you're finished, you'll be well on your way to becoming a skilled guitar player.

What you will learn

Discover how to correctly hold, tune, and achieve the proper right-hand position on your guitar
Understand the essential techniques of tone, the fundamentals of music notation, and the basic music rhythms
Identify bass and treble string notes on the music staff, and learn the finger-picking technique through various rhythm exercises
Gain an understanding of the correct left-hand position
Recognize rest symbols, and understand how to apply them in music with two voices
Understand the concept and technique for playing two notes together
Learn about tempo terms and volume control
Realize and practice techniques to minimize unwanted sounds that naturally occur when you play

How you will benefit

Learn to play guitar, and become the musician you've always wanted to be
Get a carefully planned practice schedule that reinforces each new skill you learn
Take your musical talent to the next level and develop a great new hobby

How the course is taught

Instructor-Moderated online course
6 Weeks access
24 course hours

Outline

In the first lesson, you'll learn the fundamentals for making music with a guitar. You'll get to know your instrument, realize the benefits of the proper playing position, explore methods for tuning, and discover how to achieve the correct right-hand position. You'll also learn a few playing techniques for producing clear, beautiful notes. This is the first step toward becoming a guitar player. By the end of the lesson, you'll be sitting comfortably and playing notes on your guitar!

Want your guitar to sound as beautiful as it looks? In this lesson, you'll learn basic techniques for creating beautiful-sounding notes when you play. The lesson will talk about basic music notation and rhythmic note values and how to interpret those rhythmic note values so that you can play your music in rhythm. By the end of this lesson, you'll be reading and playing guitar music!

In this lesson, you'll learn how to identify bass and treble string notes on the music staff and about the concept of arpeggios for finger picking the bass and treble strings. You'll explore how to play simple music studies in rhythm and learn how to recognize new music notations and rhythmic values. Of course, you'll have multiple opportunities to apply these new understandings throughout this lesson, and you'll continue to develop your overall proficiency.

You've got the right hand down. Now it's time to learn about your left hand. This lesson will teach you how to establish the correct left-hand position and the details that go into pressing your left-hand fingers against the strings. You'll also learn to identify the E1 string notes on the music staff and begin playing simple exercises that include open strings. After that, you'll be introduced to stretching exercises that will enhance the range of motion in your fingers. Finally, the lesson will discuss a few new music notations and terms!

In this lesson, you'll discover new notes on your B2 string and examine the details that go into creating harmony between the B2 and E1 string notes. You'll learn how to combine your newfound notes together with open strings to play more complex music, allowing you to improve your skill level. You'll also learn about the musical term legato, the facing repeat sign for music with multiple endings. And you'll discover a new time signature, the concept of the pick-up note.

In this lesson, you'll begin by focusing on the G3 string. You'll learn notes on the G3 string, be able to identify their location on the music staff, and then practice creating harmony between all three treble string notes to play more beautiful music. You'll learn about rests and their corresponding symbols, find out about music in two voices, and discover techniques that will allow you to gain more control over the way your music sounds.

This lesson will discuss accidentals (sharps and flats) in music. You'll learn to identify their symbols and apply them to play more interesting and beautiful music. You'll also learn about sixteenth notes and the associated rest symbol, and do an exercise so that you can apply this rhythmic value. You'll conclude the lesson by examining a scale and learning why scales are important to your development as a guitarist.

This is where things really get exciting! In this lesson, you'll examine techniques for playing two notes together. You'll discover a new time signature and various ways of playing this rhythm in music. You'll learn how to use guide and pivot fingers to create smooth chord transitions and continue to build on your skills by learning new music and right-hand exercises.

This lesson will discuss open string equivalents, and you'll learn to identify their location on the music staff and on the fret board. You'll also take a look at a few new notes and discover other possible ways of playing two notes together to further understand the value of playing with correct right-hand fingering. You'll examine how to read other repeat markings and signs that direct you through the music. Finally, the lesson will conclude with a technical exercise to help build your coordination and develop the stretch range of your fingers!

In this lesson, you'll learn more about tempo and how it's used to create musical expression. You'll continue to build on your understanding of correct left- and right-hand fingering, examine triplets, and learn how to count and play this new rhythm in various time signatures. The lesson will then discuss volume, and you'll learn how you can use it to add expression to your music. Of course, you'll also continue to develop your overall coordination. See you on the inside!

In this lesson, you'll learn about dynamic markings so that you can further express your music. You'll examine the technique for playing three notes together and continue to build on your understanding of correct right-hand fingering. You'll also discover ways to minimize unwanted sounds that naturally occur when you're playing, and then practice a new exercise that will help to increase your skill level.

In the final lesson, you'll be introduced to dynamic tempo terms that will help you artistically express your music. You'll find out how accenting notes can define the melody and reveal other hidden voices in the music to add nuance and interest. You'll discover how to play four notes together and study some techniques for strumming through the strings so that you can finish a song with flare. You'll also take a look at a final song that incorporates many of the terms and techniques you've learned in this course so you can continue practicing and improving your skills!

Instructors & Support

Edward Burns

Edward Burns has an extensive musical background as a professional performer, instructor, composer, and recording artist. He has published two guitar methods and composed several guitar technique studies designed to develop specific skills. Burns has also taught guitar and music theory courses for colleges, music academies, and conservatories.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.
You will need a guitar in good working condition and an adjustable footstool for correct positioning. It's advisable to purchase a metronome for developing your rhythm skills and a music stand so you can practice in a correct playing position.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

FAQ

A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Reviews

I've really enjoyed all the material provided for this class. I've always loved classical guitar and this class has truly inspired me to keep practicing at my pace. I can't thank you enough for all the wonderful lesson materials, songs and encouragement you have provided throughout this course. I look forward to continuing to learn and grow with this newly loved instrument. Thank you!

I could hardly believe I'd be able to play such a beautiful piece on my guitar after only 6 weeks. You skillfully led students towards this goal one exercise at a time. The material was all completely new to me and I learned so much. Very grateful!

After years of no formal training, I feel like I am on the road from playing notes to making music. This was very enjoyable and helpful! Thanks for helping to improve the quality of my life!

I have attempted other guitar courses that only teach chords. I gave up because of not understanding and immediately lost interest. This course was the best. It covered every question that I have ever had about how to play the guitar correctly, and I can read music now. I am 55 years old and this was my first real guitar course. I am playing the guitar and enjoying it. If anyone out there is wondering whether you can learn to play the guitar at your age, the answer is YES, YOU CAN. Take this course and you will be amazed at how good you can be at playing the guitar.

One of the things which I find so inspiring about this class is the instructor's obvious love and passion for the guitar. It's almost poetic, reading the way he describes things. This helps paint a picture in my mind. It is not just another dry guitar class, but something really beautiful. Thank you for that!

I enjoyed taking the course and looked forward to each class. This is a good introduction to playing guitar regardless of preferred style of music. The course puts a student on a path of productive learning and inspires continued guitar playing. The instructor and course materials were very helpful in learning to play the guitar. I could practice and study at home whenever I wanted to. I'll be signing up for more ed2go guitar classes. Thanks!

This course was absolutely wonderful! I am so glad to have the saved lessons so I may spend more time repeating the exercises and reminding myself of proper technique. The video and audio components are immeasurably helpful. I am inspired to find a teacher and set aside practice time. Thank you for such a thorough and well-balanced course.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course as it was well written making it very interesting, easy to understand, and fun. The numerous video and audio clips were very helpful leading up to beautiful song compositions. I learned so much as each lesson progressed to the next making me want to continue with learning even more.

I loved it! Thank you to the instructor who explained everything so perfectly! I thought playing guitar from notes was impossible for me. I was proven wrong!

In the first lesson, the instructor, Edward Burns, played a piece of music and said that by the end of this course, we would be able to play something similar. I laughed out loud and said, ""No way!"" But I have to say that this course is so well written and structured that even someone with no musical experience can come out the other end doing far more with their guitar than they ever imagined! Edward is gifted at motivating and encouraging students to achieve their goals. I highly recommend this course!

Thanks for the great course! I've been trying to learn guitar since 2000 when my wife gave me my guitar. I tried private lessons, books, YouTube, and an Xbox guitar trainer. Your course worked. I can finally call my guitar something other than "My Display Guitar."

Mr. Burns is passionate about his craft and appears very willing to teach others to share that same passion. I found it helpful that Mr. Burns stressed that each student use expressive and artistic techniques that come from within to bring the music alive, and not merely play robotically. Quite interesting and eye opening for me. Awesome teacher and lessons!

After years of no formal training, I feel like I am on the road from playing notes to making music. This was very enjoyable and helpful! Thanks for helping to improve the quality of my life!

I loved it! Thank you to the instructor who explained everything so perfectly! I thought playing guitar from notes was impossible for me. I was proven wrong!

Introduction to Guitar

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