Eduguitar eBook ~ beginner guitar course, step by step

This book is for the beginner. It is written for children of 11 or 12 and all ages upwards. It is a basic guide to classical and acoustic (chords) playing. These are two different styles, and in this book we teach you the basics of both. When playing in an amateur band or with friends it is very useful to have both these styles. As soon as you decide to play more professionally, however, it will become necessary to choose between classical and acoustic guitar. If you have already decided that you want to play classical and not acoustic, or vice versa, feel free to do only that section of the book.

Part 1

The first part of this book is about classical or solo playing. This means you pick the melody with your fingers, one string at a time. (Later on, you start adding notes to the melody, so that there are often two or more notes being played at once. It then starts sounding like John Williams.) For the beginner, it usually sounds nicer if you play along with an accompanying instrument. We have added chord symbols (C, G etc.) to the tunes in the classical section so that someone can play an accompaniment for you.

Part 2

Part two consists of the learning of chords. Chords are used to accompany your voice or another instrument. This book contains chords that will be too difficult for small children (under 10) and they might be discouraged from practicing if the chords are too hard. Chords are mostly learned at an older age.

You play a specific arrangement of chords with a song. You can either pick (using four of the fingers on your right hand to pluck the strings - you don’t use the pinkie) or strum (using the right hand fingers to play the strings in a stroking motion). Some chords are used in music far more than others. We have included some of the better known chords with popular songs, so that you can sing along with your strumming.

Music is one of God’s great gifts to us, and it is a wonderful, relaxing activity. We hope you really enjoy learning to play the songs, and that you’ll experience the exhilaration of playing with other musicians.

Salomé Cilliers & Hettie Cilliers