Level 1
3-Credit Tuition
$1,497Non-Credit Tuition
$1,250Welcome to the guitar! This course is designed to get you playing right away, and set you up with the basic skills and knowledge that form the foundation for different styles of guitar playing. It recognizes that within a group of “beginners” there will be players of varying age and experience—from those of you who have just picked up the instrument, to those who come from a self-taught or lesson background and are looking to fill in your gaps. Each topic in this lesson includes conceptual information and a practice list that will be valuable to you at your level and experience.
In this course, we’ll cover the following topics in depth:
- Posture, Hand Position, Technique
- Notes on the Fretboard
- Reading: charts, standard notation, TAB
- Music theory in practice
- Pentatonic scale, major and minor
- Modes of the Major scale
- Improvisation
- Triad and seventh chords
- Chord progressions
- 12- bar blues and blues scale
- Strumming patterns
- Fingerpicking patterns
- Creating song arrangements
- Playing with others
Guitar for Beginners uses a multi-faceted approach, with video demonstration, recorded music, practice tracks, a variety of notated music forms, chord diagrams, and exercises designed to assist you as you deepen your knowledge of each topic. Listening examples and interviews embedded in each lesson are drawn from across the guitar world, from a variety of styles. In the Berklee guitar program, we value a core of musicianship and instrumental skill, respect for all styles, and the expression of personal creativity. This course is a guide that will last you through years of guitar practice as you build your foundation on our instrument. From here, you will continue to develop your skills and create — in the style of your choice and in your voice on our instrument.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Utilize basic techniques and posture for the right and left hand, including: pick-playing, strumming, and fingerstyle; hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends
- Basic improvisation with scales: pentatonic, major modes
- Read chord forms: open, moveable: power chords, triad shapes, barre chords
- Read rhythmic notation
- Read TAB and standard notation
- Read song charts and arrangements
- Discuss and define basic music theory concepts fundamental to a variety of musical styles
Syllabus
Lesson 1: Guitar Basics, Part 1
- Guitar Basics: Parts, Posture, Pick
- Notes on the 6th String: Playing Bass Lines
- Rhythm Basics: Playing “in 4”
- Power Chords: Roots on the 6th String
- Assignment 1: Songs using Power Chords
Lesson 2: Guitar Basics, Part 2
- Pentatonic Scale: Pattern 1
- Improvising with Pattern 1 of the Pentatonic
- Notes on the 5th String: Playing Bass Lines
- Power chords: Roots on the 5th String
- Rhythmic Notation Basics
- Basic “Down-Strumming Patterns”
- Assignment 2: Rhythm and Melody
Lesson 3: Reading Basics
- Notes on the Neck
- Basic Standard Notation: Notes on the Staff
- Reading Standard Notation: Reading in First Position
- Reading Standard Notation: “Reading up”
- Reading TAB
- Assignment 3: Melody in 5th Position and TAB Writing
Lesson 4: Scale Theory (Major and Pentatonic) and Improvisation
- Basic Scale Theory: Major and Pentatonic
- Scale Patterns: Five Patterns of the Pentatonic Scale
- Improvising Strategies: Connecting Patterns of the Pentatonic
- Techniques for Tone: Parameters of Sound
- Musical Examples for Practice, Improvisation
- Assignment 4: Melody Creation
Lesson 5: Open Chords, Strumming Patterns
- Open Chords: First Group [C, F, G, Am, D]
- Open Chords: Second Group [A, E, Dm, Bm, F#m, C#m, B7]
- Strumming Patterns in 4/4 : Split Strum and Folk Strum
- Strumming in 4/4: Changing Chords (once and twice per bar)
- Strumming Patterns in 3 /4 and 6/8
- Changing Chords: 3 /4 and 6/8
- Assignment 5: Chord Chart Reading
Lesson 6: Common Chord Progressions
- Basic Key Theory: Building chords, “What is a Key?”
- Chord Theory: Determining the Key of a Song
- Common Chord Progressions
- Transposing a Chord Progression
- Musical Examples for Practice
- Assignment 6: Common Chord Progression and Transposition
Lesson 7: Modes of the Major Scale: Patterns, Improvising, Vamps
- Modes of the Major Scale
- Scale Patterns: 7 Patterns – Modes of the Major Scale
- Improvising over One-Chord Modal Vamps
- Fretting-Hand Phrasing Techniques (Basics): slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs
- Creating Riffs and Melodies with Three Common Modes
- Two- and Three-Chord Modal Chord Progressions: Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian
- Assignment 7: Short Song Creation
Lesson 8: Moveable Triad Chord Forms: Major and Minor
- Major Triad Shapes on String set 3, 2, 1
- Minor Triad Shapes on String set 3, 2, 1
- Moveable Triad Shapes: Playing Charts
- Arranging Rhythm Guitar Parts
- Assignment 8: Three Rhythm Guitar Parts
Lesson 9: Dominant 7 and Minor 7, Barre Chords
- Seventh Chords: Dominant and Minor
- Seventh Chords: Open Chord Shapes
- Barre chords: Shapes with Roots on the 6th strings
- Barre chords: Shapes with Roots on the 5th string
- Musical Examples with Seventh Chords, Using Open and Barre-Chord Shapes
- Assignment 9: Open Chord Progression
Lesson 10: Basics of the Blues in A
- 12-Bar Blues Form, and the “Shuffle” strumming pattern
- The Blues Scale
- Soloing on the 12-Bar form in A
- Strumming Blues in A: Using Open Chords, Barre Chords
- Assignment 10: Blues in A Song: “Baby, What You Want Me to Do”
Lesson 11: Chord theory – “the exceptions to the rules”
- Slash Chords
- “Sus” and “Add” Chords
- Borrowed Chords
- The Major 7 chord and Minor 7-- 4-note shapes (1 each)
- Assignment 11: Song Example Performance
Lesson 12: Finger-style Techniques
- Classical Right-Hand Position
- Three Common Picking Patterns
- Adding a Song melody to your Finger-Picking Pattern
- Adding an Alternating Bass line to your Finger-Picking Pattern
- Assignment 12: Song with Finger-Picking
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
This course does not have any prerequisites.
Required Textbook(s)
- None Required
Software Requirements
-
A basic audio recording tool that will allow you to record yourself playing along with a background track and save the recording in MP3 format. You will have a tool to use for this purpose inside the learning environment. Alternatively, you can use software like Audacity, GarageBand or any Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
Hardware Requirements
- Electric or acoustic guitar. Check out Reverb for guitar deals*
- Guitar pick
- Guitar amplifier and 1/4 inch cable (if using electric guitar)
- Electronic guitar tuner (Alternatively, students can use an app/software version)
- Metronome (Alternatively, students can use an app/software version)
After enrolling, please check the Getting Started section of your course for potential deals on required materials. Our Student Deals page also features several discounts you can take advantage of as a current student. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu for any questions.
General Course Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in live chats. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course.
Mac Users
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author & Instructor
With performances that are deeply personal and express a breadth of tradition, guitarist Kim Perlak has been recognized as an inspired voice in American classical music. Her playing was praised by The Austin-American Statesman as, “thoughtful, enchanting, vivid…a songwriter’s circle without the lyrics,” and by another Austin reviewer as, “moving…the most patriotic thing I’ve experienced in many months.”
Kim’s versatile and inclusive approach to the instrument embraces new composition, education, and public service. Her performances of new classical works and collaborations with jazz and traditional players have been featured on National Public Radio, at the Yale Guitar Extravaganza, and at Boston GuitarFest. Her recording for solo guitar, Common Ground, features the new compositions of five American composers. Her work combining performance, American music history, and outreach has been funded through grants from the Center for African American Southern Music and Yale Alumni Ventures. Kim’s collaborative guitar work with American veterans in the concert project “Ben & I Play for Peace” was honored by the PBS program “From the Top” as part of their Arts Leadership series, and was recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives. She currently serves on the board of the Boston Classical Guitar Society.
Kim is the chair of the Guitar Department at the Berklee College of Music. At Berklee, her artistic work to bridge styles includes collaborations with faculty composers, and in duo playing with master improviser and slide guitarist David Tronzo. Kim’s curriculum development for the department produced the book Classical Technique for the Modern Guitarist, which was published by Berklee Press/Hal Leonard in 2016. Kim is the recipient of the 2016 Berklee Chair Recording Grant.
Kim holds degrees from The University of Texas at Austin (DMA ’08), Yale University School of Music (MM ’01), and Stetson University (BM ’98), and a certificate of completion from the Harvard University Management Development Program (2013).
Kim plays guitars by Thomas Humphrey and Kirk Sand and endorses D’Addario Strings. Read Less
What's Next?
When taken for credit, Guitar for Beginners can be applied towards these associated programs:
Associated Certificate Programs
Questions?
Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.
