Good guitar courses?

NinaST

Hi Dudes and Divas!

I've been thinking about really getting into playing the guitar again, but I don't really know where to start.
Are there any online courses of decent quality?
The most important thing for me is that I know what I'm playing. (Which notes, scales and chords etc.)
Cuz I want to use my skills to become a better songwriter.
Can anyone help me?

Thanks in advance!

sjonrokz4u

I’ve heard Doug marks is really good but I’ve never taken his course. I took private lessons eventually from a top rated teacher here. I would suggest starting out you get a private teach. One that’s experienced in teaching beginners until you get the dundementels down

Klaus_T

i am not sure where you are at guitar-skill wise, but the goals you mention seem relatively humble, and i would believe you can actually learn that stuff using free resources, and self-education.

you could have a browse here, there is lots of free content:

https://www.justinguitar.com/

i sometimes use that page for some exercise ideas.

but you can also google the 5 pentatonic shapes on guitar, or the 7 major scale shapes on guitar, and learn them, one after the other (it takes time and patience). you could also invest in a book that lays it out systematically. i have this book i can really recommend, but it is only available in german, so probably of limited use for you?

in general, play to a metronome, and start at slow tempos (50-80 depending on the exercise). to get a grip of the exercise at first, you can leave the metronome off, but they say you should use a metronome for about 50-80% of your practice time.

for chords, depending on which type of music you do, you could get away with learning a few bar chord shapes and then be set for about 90% of the most common progressions.

let me know if the self-education thing sounds like a path that could be interesting for you, and i can give you some more details on what to practice, for example a few exercises from the book i mentioned above

NinaST

Yeah, I'm sorry I forgot to mention where I'm at guitar-skill wise. Although, It's pretty hard to describe. I used to be pretty good at playing the classical guitar, but I was just reading the score. I didn't learn anything about chord progressions and scales etc.
I think the link that you've send me can really help me, thanks! I'll look into it.
My goal is not to become a shredder or anything, but simply to become better at writing music. (It would be nice if I could play awesome solos, though. )

Anyway, thanks a lot for your advice! I'll try to self study as much as I can, until I get stuck. I'll see how far I will get.

Klaus_T

for songwriting on guitar, look at Rikky Rooksby's books, i think they are a good place to start

RLV

You can learn an awful lot from Paul Davids on YouTube, I have. https://www.youtube.com/user/Luapper

bentk

Really learn music theory and applying the theory to your playing/composing and figuring out songs. Theory is not a set of rules, but tools. It helps you understand music. You don't have to strictly follow a certain 'theory'. That's why i don't call it rules.

An immediate side note: If you want to use musical notation, definitely give it enough attention. It can be a very useful skill to have, but not a must (depends on your goal!).

There are so many resources to learn guitar. I quite like the course 'Modern Method For Guitar' by Frank Vignola which you can find at Truefire (a website with a lot of material for learning guitar).

With theory, start very basic if you need to. There are so many resources for this that I don't even know what to recommend. But some explanations work better than others. If you get stuck, seek out the answer somewhere else. Don't allow yourself to remain stuck anywhere! There is always an answer.

If you need some guidance, you could always let use know where you are with your current understanding of musical concepts etc? I am not an expert, but on a musical journey for a while now!

If you can get some private teaching, even if its only every other week, that can help guide you and help you progress.