Guitar KickStarter Program - PDF Free Download

Introduction The chords we ll be covering in this lesson are: Hi Paul Bright, Founder of BeginnerGuitaristAcademy.com here, Welcome to lesson #1 in the Guitar KickStarter Online Coaching Program. By now you should have gone through the pretraining material which you would have had access to immediately after joining this program. In that lesson you would have learned the basics of the guitar, including the parts of the guitar, how to hold the guitar, how to hold a guitar pick, and how to tune your guitar with a digital tuner, and more. After you know the basics about guitar, it s time to grab your acoustic or electric guitar and begin learning and playing your first few chords, which is what we ll be doing in this lesson The E minor chord The E major chord The A major chord The D major chord I ll be going step by step on how to play these chords, so simply follow along with the videos and use the instructions, pictures and chord charts on the following pages to assist you. The chords we ll be learning in this lesson will get us ready for the two songs (Wild Thing by The Troggs & Hound Dog by Elvis) which we ll be learning in Lesson #2. Enjoy!

The E Chord For me, the E chord was the very first chord I learnt to play when I was getting started with the guitar. I ve decided to start with this chord first because out of all the different chords available, I believe the E chord is probably the easiest to master as your fingers are grouped closely together, it s easy to remember, and you can strum every string unlike some other chords like D, where you can t play the top 2 stings. Step 1: Press your 2nd finger on the 5th string, in the 2nd fret Step 2: Press your 3rd finger on the 4th string (directly below your 2nd finger) in the 2nd fret. Step 3: Press your 1st finger on the 3rd string in the 1st fret. Step 4: Strum the guitar from the 6th string to the 1st string. As I mentioned earlier, the E chord is a great chord because you re allowed to strum every single string, even those that aren t pressed down like the 6th, 2nd & 1st string. This makes it easier as you don t need to worry about what stings you re strumming, allowing you to focus on the proper placement of your fingers. To play the E minor Chord, simply follow the steps as listed above, excluding step #3 as picture to the left.

The A Chord I love the A Chord, and to be perfectly honest, I was debating on whether I should feature this chord first instead of the E Chord. The only reason why I chose the E chord over the A chord, is because when you strum this chord, you need to make sure you don t play the 6 th (low-e) string. We ll chat about that a little more in a few moments, but let s learn how to play the A Chord first. Step 1: Press your 2nd finger on the 4 th string in the 2 nd fret Step 2: Press your 3rd finger on the 3 rd string in the 2 nd fret. (Directly below your 2 nd finger) Step 3: Press your 4 th Finger on the 2 nd string in the 2 nd fret (Directly below your 3 rd finger) Step 4: To strum the A Chord, you begin playing the chord at the 5 th string. So make sure you do not play the 6 th (Low-E) string otherwise your chord will sound off. Side Note: Even though the 5 th string & 1 st string aren t pressed, ensure you include those strings when you strum. Those 2 strings are played open, meaning not pressed. You ve probably already noticed in the chord chart that is says to press down with just your first finger. That is one way to play the A major chord. However, I normally play the A major chord with my 2 nd, 3 rd, and 4 th fingers. Others play it with their 1 st, 2 nd & 3 rd fingers. It s really up to you see which is most comfortable and easiest to play.

The D Chord Step 1: Press your 1 st finger on the 3 rd string in the 2 nd fret. Step 2: Press your 2 nd finger on the 1 st string in the 2 nd fret. Step 3: Press your 3 rd finger on the 2 nd string in the 3 rd fret. Step 4: To strum the D Chord, you begin playing the chord at the 4 th string. This means the 4 th string is played open. With this chord, you ll need to pay special attention to ensuring you don t strum the top 2 strings (ie. 6 th & 5 th Strings). When I got started playing this chord I remember I would accidentally strum the top 2 strings without meaning it. This will happen from time to time, and all you can do is take it slow and be careful. With the guitar practice makes perfect, and practice is something you ll need to do, even if its 5 minutes per day.

Sore Fingers Fortunately, after a few weeks of regular playing you'll develop calluses on your fingertips, or at least the skin on your fingertips will toughen up, and that should end the soreness you may be experiencing. As long as you continue to play regularly, you'll maintain your calluses and you'll never have to worry about sore fingers again. The key to building calluses is to play regularly, but not to play too much. If you try to play for several hours on your first few days, you may get a blister or two instead of a callus. Blisters or cuts can make it almost impossible to play, and they're slow to heal, so don't overdo it! If you can only play for 5 minutes in the morning, and 10 minutes in the afternoon, then that is fine. Splitting up your practice time will help ease the soreness of your fingers. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of people starting out have a tendency to press down on the strings too hard. Relax your fingers, and press down just hard enough to make sure the string firmly contacts the fret. To see if you're pressing too hard, fret a chord or string as you normally would, and then release the pressure just a little bit. If it still sounds fine (or better), try to break your habit of pressing too hard. Certain things can dull the pain to help you get through it. One of the most popular I've heard of (but never tried), is apple cider vinegar. Just soak your fingertips in the vinegar for about 30 seconds before and after playing. In the past I would rub ice on my fingertips for a minute or so before and after playing to help alleviate soreness. Another option a student of mine told me about, but I ve never tried, are Herron's Flying Fingertips (as pictured), which you can grab off Amazon.com or ebay for about $3.99. They re a simple solution to give relief to your sore fingertips, while allowing you to increase practice time.

Lesson #1: Assignment Spend at least 15 minutes per day going through the different tasks as listed below Assignment #1 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Try the 3 different Continue practice Continue practice Go through ways for holding the playing each of the playing each of the lesson #2 guitar and find out chords covered in this chords covered in this which one feels most lesson in any random lesson in any random comfortable to you order you choose. order you choose. Assignment #2 Practice playing each of the chords covered in this lesson in any random order you choose. Practice forming each chord in this specific order: Practice forming each chord in this specific order: Assignment #3 Remember to start slow, form the chord and pick each string individually Practice forming each chord in this specific order: Buy, download, or get a metronome and set it to 50 60 bpm. Buy, download, or get a metronome and set it to 50 60 bpm. Doing this will prepare us for the songs we ll be covering in Lesson #2 on Thursday. Practice forming each chord in this specific order to every first count on the metronome: Practice forming each chord in this specific order to every first count on the metronome: