Guitar: free course in 31 lessons

This course takes you from your very first plucked string to the tremolo of Recuerdos de la Alhambra. It suits classical, folk and electric guitar alike: each chapter says when a technique belongs to a particular style.

The path

1. Getting started: the instrument, posture, tuning, reading tab and rhythm.
2. First notes: first position, from the treble strings to the bass strings, and keeping time.
3. Open chords and strumming: the basic chords, strumming patterns, smooth changes.
4. Fingerstyle: p-i-m-a arpeggios, Travis picking, melody and bass.
5. The neck: notes everywhere, the major scale in positions, pentatonic boxes, the CAGED system.
6. Barre chords, power chords and rock: barre chords, palm muting, riffs and syncopation.
7. The blues: the 12-bar form, the shuffle, the blues scale, bends and improvisation.
8. Classical technique: rest and free strokes, slurs, Giuliani and Carcassi arpeggios, tremolo.
9. Theory on the fretboard and practice routine: intervals, triads, seventh chords, organising practice and staying healthy.

The tools

Every score shows the staff and the tab, and can be played with the microphone in the Pieces tab. Also use the tuner, the interactive fretboard and the chord dictionary. The backing tracks on the Improvisation page are shared with the piano.