Well done :) You have made it to the end, well almost.. time to consolidate all you have learnt so you are ready to go on with the next course, and get into the intermediate stage! So take this little test and make sure that you feel confident with all this stuff.

It is MUCH better to be good at these things and be able to use them well to play some songs than playing more advanced stuff badly. Really it is. Ask anyone that has to listen to you!

When you discover things that you don't know - make a list out of then and work out a practice schedule that gives each problem area a 5 minute practice slot and then work it until they are fixed, then choose some more things to work on, until, eventually, you are cool with this whole list.

Once you are cool with all this stuff then go check out the bottom of the Beginners Course page to see what your options are to explore the guitar further.

I have an intermediate course planned (probably for release early 2010) and I want to keep it free for everyone. But if we don't get reasonable DVD sales of Justin's Beginner Guitar Method DVD, then it will have to be a DVD only release... which I would rather not do... so please but the DVD if you have enjoyed the course and would like to help me keep the free ethos strong. Thanks in advance!

Good luck, take care and I really hope you have enjoyed the course, and I look forward to helping you learn lots more cool stuff in the years to come.

Justin.

Video Lesson

Chords

You should instantly know ALL the following chords and any fingering variations depeding on the situation.

The Basic Eight Shapes: A, D, E, G, C, Am, Em, Dm.
The Dominant Shapes: A7, D7, E7, G7, C7, B7.
The Sus Shapes: Asus2, Asus4, Dsus2, Dsus4, Esus4.
F Chord and variations: F, Fmaj7.
Basic Slash Chords: D/F#, G/B, C/G.

And be able to change between any two chords at a speed of 60 changes per minute (one change per second).

Also be able to locate and play any Power Chord on either the 5th or 6th string and be able to perform them without the open strings ringing through.

Be familiar with some chord variations (for A and G and others) and when you might use them.

Rhythms

You should be able to play RUST strumming patterns 1, 2, 4, 8, 9 and 16. Confidently and fluently at a range of differnt tempos - while tapping your foot.

You should also be able to play basic fingerstyle and be able to make to make up your own patterns.

Scales

You should know the minor pentatonic scale (Position 1) and be able to play it using alternate picking, with one note per click with the metronome set at 120 beats per minute, using all down picks, all up picks and also alternate picking.

Improvising

You should be starting to experiment with using the minor penatonic to improvise. Not expecting too much in this department, just to be able to play about and make up something easy over a blues.

Theory

You should understand and be able to use the following concepts:

∆ - know the note names of the open strings.
∆ - understand tones and semitones and the note circle.
∆ - understand sharps and flats.
∆ - know all the notes in the first 4 frets of the guitar
∆ - understand the principle elements of rhythm (crotchet, quaver, triplet and bars).
∆ - know all the note names on the thickest two strings.
∆ - understand the use of capo.

Songs

You should be able to play at least 10 songs all the way through without stopping. This might seem a lot, but it should be possible now with all the hard work you have done. The strumming should be solid too and you should be able to play in time with a metronome!

Would be great if the songs could incorperate most of the concepts covered in the course, so some suggestions that would make a great first repertiore...

1. Three Little Birds (great song, very easy, uses A, D and E)
2. Knockin' On Heavens Door (very easy again, uses G, C, D and Am)
3. Killing Me Softly (lots of nice easy chords)
4. Everybody Hurts (easy fingerstyle)
5. Pink Bullets (use of bass note strumming)
6. Fly Away (easy use of Power Chords)
7. Fast Car (medium fingerstyle and strumming)
8. Basket Case (medium use of Power Chords)
9. Have You Ever Seen The Rain (Use of slash chords)
10. Before You Accuse Me (12 Bar Blues Style in A)

 

 

I wish you many years of guitar playing fun and hope you enjoy the rest of the material on the site :)

Where to next??? - see the Beginners Index page at the bottom!

 

HELP!!!!

If you need to ask a question about this lesson - there is a topic set up specifically to help you with this lesson. To help you find it easily you can click the following link and it will take you right the topic. You'll be able to see questions that other people had and ask your own questions! Hopefully one of the very helpful members of our community will be there to help you soon, I do go there and answer stuff too - but there are just too many questions for me to answer alone! So click this link to get help with this lesson!

Justinguitar Beginner's Products

I have four great beginners products that will help you make the most of this course. Most popular is The Justinguitar Beginners Songbook which contains 100 songs arranged by difficulty that perfectly match up with each level of the course. Many people told me they like books more than web pages so we've made The Justinguitar Beginners Course Book (comes with 2 x CD's too!) and many people found being online to watch the videos a pain so we offer The Justinguitar Beginners Course DVD which also means you can watch the vids in much better quality. Together they complete the whole online course and are perfect when there is no internet connection!! Also very popular is Practical Music Theory for those that like to know what they are doing and why!! It covers very basic theory in an easy to digest way and puts it onto the guitar! They are all available in Bundle Packs too where you can save a bunch of money!! Buying products and making donations help keep the site free and growing! :)