If you've always wanted to learn how to play acoustic guitar - or even started once or twice in the past only to put it down in frustration - this series of beginner acoustic guitar lessons is likely the perfect approach for you. Acoustic Guitar for Beginners is a jump-start method designed to get you up and strumming quickly without having to work through tedious theory, scales and exercises. In fact, you'll be strumming chords and playing a few songs in your very first week of working with the course.

Video Introduction

Click below for a sample video from the course.

About the Guitar Lesson Plan

Acoustic Guitar for Beginners is tailored specifically for adults who don't have the time or desire for formal training. To get you on the fast track, we've deliberately steered clear of music theory, reading notation, exercises and scales (there's plenty of time for all that good stuff later). Instead, you'll dig in immediately learning how to play chords, strums and how to work with song books and lyric sheets.

About Your Instructor

Rich Maloof

Your extremely capable guide to the world of guitar is Rich Maloof. Formerly the Editor In Chief of Guitar magazine, Rich has produced a ton of instructional content for musicians, including the book series The Way They Play, Alternate Tunings for Guitar, Joe Satriani - Riff By Riff, the biography of amp legend Jim Marshall, and many more notable titles.

Rich wastes no time getting you going. You'll be fingering great-sounding chords right from the very first lesson. A few short lessons later you'll have a grip on a dozen more chord shapes and be able to strum them in rhythm. You'll quickly learn how to switch between chords smoothly, learn how to play new chords on your own and keep a steady beat. On-screen chord diagrams and beat counters keep you on track and there's even a bank of guitar lessons on troubleshooting to help you get past the muted notes, tuning problems and general awkwardness that typically trip up newcomers. Best of all, Maloof shows you how to decode and simplify any songbook so you can play hundreds of your favorite songs.