There will be frustrating moments when it feels impossible to marry them, but hang in there and work it out. Like going through a checklist, knock off each note one by one, or two by two, as the case may be. Come Togetherīring the bass line and the melody together one beat and one measure at a time. Nail the entire melody note by note, as that familiarity will come in handy during the final step. Don’t submit to the temptation to skip ahead. In every case, make sure you’ve got the bass line down, and then focus on learning the whole melody without the bass. “Freight Train” by Elizabeth Cotten exemplifies an elemental educated thumb in her style known as “Cotten picking.” Pete Seeger’s “Living in the Country” is another standard that Leo Kottke mentions in this month’s Frets feature as a milestone he wound up taking to a new level in his own style.įor an excellent pop music example that shows the possibilities of a well-educated thumb – and requires a bit more dexterity – try copping Lindsey Buckingham’s approach on Fleetwood Mac’s “Never Going Back Again.” Pick a tried-and-true fingerpicking tune. Now you’re making something approximating music. This is the first step toward syncopation, which is key to sounding like two guitars playing at once.Ĭan you do it consistently throughout the progression? Add another melody note on beat three. Once that’s clicking like clockwork, add another note on the upbeat of “two” for each chord.
Repeat the whole process using the IV chord, F, and then put it all together in a typical I - IV - V chord progression lasting a typical 12 bars. Once you have that dialed in, try playing the V chord in the same key, which here is G. Can you pluck it with a clean strike at the top of each measure and hear the note ring out clearly while your thumb plucks some variation of root – 3rd – root – 5th on beats 1 through 4? I recommend plucking that with the middle finger, as I try to keep the first three fingers aligned with the top three strings whenever possible. C is a natural beginner, so start there and use the tonic at the first fret of the second string as the first melody note. If you're into the acoustic guitar, you'll probably want to learn fingerstyle guitar songs as well.Start down the melodic road by hitting a note on the “one” of each measure while the alternating bass line is played underneath. The more difficult techniques, such as fingerstyle and playing classical music requires more time, but you will get there, don’t be impatient. You’ll soon realize that through strumming your favorite songs and learning the chord changes, you’ll already be able to actually make music, which is a thrill in itself.
Remember that our lessons on easy acoustic guitar songs are designed to get you actually playing the guitar, not just practicing single techniques. Nevertheless, you’ll need to practice a lot to learn acoustic guitar, but once you do, you’ll be able to entertain yourself, your friends and family, giving countless hours of joy to your surroundings. You’ll find that our easy online acoustic guitar lessons for beginners will be of great help, since each video contains moving tabs, which makes the lessons very easy to follow, thereby shortening the learning curve. Our method of teaching the acoustic guitar is not by practicing single techniques, but mastering the techniques through playing popular guitar songs. If you want to learn to play the acoustic guitar, our video tutorials will be of great help.