Guitar Skills Beyond the Basics

Lessons

1. Getting the Guitar Out of Your Way

   Before we fix your hands, we make sure the instrument isn't the thing fighting you.

   • •Setup and action: why high strings quit more players than talent does20 min
   • •Sitting, holding, and the hand position we'll build everything on18 min
   • •Fretting hand basics: pressure, thumb placement, and where your fingers actually go22 min
   • •Reading tab and chord charts (I don't read notation well and you don't have to either)15 min
2. The Barre Chord, Slowly and Correctly

   We learn the barre the patient way so you're not fighting an F for the next twenty years.

   • •The index barre by itself: rolling the finger, finding the ring20 min
   • •The full F: adding the rest without collapsing the barre25 min
   • •E-shape barre chords up and down the neck22 min
   • •A-shape barre chords and switching shapes cleanly22 min
   • •B minor, and being honest about the ones that don't always cooperate18 min
3. Moving Between Chords Without Falling Apart

   Clean chords are only useful if you can get from one to the next in time.

   • •Anchor fingers and common shapes: doing less between changes18 min
   • •Open-to-barre transitions, the slow drill20 min
   • •Practicing the change itself, not just the chords15 min
   • •Building a two-minute daily routine that actually helps15 min
4. Fingerpicking, Thumb First

   Everybody wants to fix the fingers, but the thumb is the foundation and where the mistake usually lives.

   • •The thumb alone: a steady bass line before we touch the fingers20 min
   • •Adding one finger, then two, without rushing22 min
   • •A basic Travis pattern (I learned it wrong for months, so we'll do it right)25 min
   • •Alternating bass across chord changes22 min
   • •Pinch patterns and letting notes ring together18 min
5. Playing With Time, Not Near It

   Most players who can't play in time have simply never played with the click.

   • •Meeting the metronome: it is not the enemy18 min
   • •Slow tempos first, and why slow is harder than it sounds20 min
   • •Playing along with a recording start to finish22 min
   • •Speeding up gradually (and catching yourself rushing the chorus, which I still do)20 min
6. Putting a Few Songs Together

   We'd rather send you home with four songs clean than forty sloppy.

   • •Picking songs that fit the skills we built18 min
   • •Combining barre chords and fingerpicking in one piece25 min
   • •Playing for other people without your hands shaking off the pick20 min
   • •Your practice plan for after the class ends18 min

Class discussion