Let’s dive into your 12-month guitar plan:
– Months 1-5: Chords and mastering the fundamentals.
– Months 6-8: Strumming with rhythm, energy and flow (& creating variety).
– Months 9-10: Beginning to develop your lead guitar skills (scales, riffs etc).
– Months 11-12: Understanding simple music theory for guitarists.
You should start by focusing on learning simple open chords and your aim should be to present them in a consistent way, with steady strumming (with no gaps of silence when you change chords).
Then progress to tackling barre chords. This is when the whole fretboard opens up to you!
Your most useful video training workshops
Our ‘Guitar Fundamentals’ videos are a must-watch for beginners and people who aren’t making progress as quickly as they’d like.
Video 1: Mastering the fundamentals video 1
Video 2: Mastering the fundamentals video 2
Assuming you have good fundamentals in place and have mastered the basics, you should use these chord training workshops to open up the next level for your chord technique and knowledge:
Chords workshop 1: Click here to watch workshop 1
Chords workshop 2: Click here to watch workshop 2
Open chords & barre chords
For open chords, remember to use ‘stepping stone chords’ to quickly develop your finger dexterity and accuracy.
Here are some useful resources that will save you hundreds of hours of frustration:
- Download my e-book ‘Guitar Chords For Beginners‘ here. It’s over 100 pages of GOLDMINE information for guitar beginners. I hope you enjoy it.
- Read one of the most popular guides on our site: ‘14 Easy Chords For Beginners‘
- Visit the ‘Easy Chords’ section of our site which will help you a lot.
For barre chords, check out these free resources which will help you a lot:
Barre chords training video: 3 Tips That Get Results Quickly
Check out our mega-guide: How To Play Barre Chords
Your strumming
To begin your guitar journey with perfect strumming technique, read our world-famous guide: How To Strum A Guitar
Your ideal courses
Your perfect National Guitar Academy starting course is ChordMaster. That is where you should focus most of your time during the next 4 months.
- Remember, our courses ChordMaster and RhythmMaster are designed to work together so after 2-3 months of the ChordMaster course you should begin the RhythmMaster course.
- Why? Because ChordMaster focuses on your ‘chord hand’ and RhythmMaster focuses on your ‘strumming hand’.
RhythmMaster will complement your progress with chords perfectly.
RhythmMaster is a lot of fun, but please don’t begin that course until you can change simple chords cleanly (like Em and G), because its important you don’t get overwhelmed and start trying too many new things!
Remember… The best place for you to start is CHORDS, CHORDS, CHORDS. They are the foundation of your success as a guitarist.
So watch the above videos and to get your fundamentals and chord technique up to speed quickly and then you’ll be primed you for the full ChordMaster course, which is where you should focus for the next 2-3 months.
Your step-by-step plan:
Step 1) Watch the guitar fundamentals videos
Video 1: Mastering the fundamentals video 1
Video 2: Mastering the fundamentals video 2
Step 2) Watch the chords training workshops
Chords workshop 1: Click here to watch workshop 1
Chords workshop 2: Click here to watch workshop 2
Step 3) Read ‘Guitar Chords For Beginners’
Click here to download a copy now
Step 4) Begin the ChordMaster course and after a month or two -if you feel that you have the headspace- begin the RhythmMaster course.
(Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. It’s totally fine to stay in ChordMaster for longer if you feel like it.)
- You can zoom through the courses within a few weeks, but a more sensible timescale is around 3-4 months per course.
- This will give you the time to internalise the things you learn and incorporate them into your own playing. This can take time.
- We need to hear things many times (and appreciate them from many different angles) before we truly learn and ‘embody’ them.
And the beauty of this journey is, there is no rush.
Your guitar is a lifelong friend. It will be there for you in good times and bad. Every stage of learning guitar holds its own charm! So don’t rush to reach the destination, enjoy the journey.
Your 12-month guitar plan:
This week: Guitar Fundamentals videos and ‘Guitar Chords For Beginners’ ebook.
Months 1-5: Chords and mastering the fundamentals. (Take the ChordMaster course.)
Months 6-8: Strumming with rhythm, energy, flow & creating variety. (Take the RhythmMaster course.)
Months 9-10: Developing your lead guitar skills. (Take the LeadMaster course.)
Months 11-12: Understanding music theory for guitarists. (Take the TheoryMaster course.)
You are beginning something wonderful and it’s our great pleasure to help you along your musical journey!
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