Lesson 1 of 29GuitarBeginner

Welcome to the online course

1:33

James Barratt welcomes you to the course, and explains how to use it to get the best result for your playing.

This lesson is part of the full course. 1 lesson is free to watch.

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What's in the course

29 lessons (1h 29m) · 1 free

- 01. Welcome to the online course
  You are here
  1:33
- 02. Meet Stuart Ryan
  1:52
- 03. Meet Marcus Bonfanti
  2:12
- 01. How to hold guitar and pick
  3:47
- 02. Picking hand position
  2:22
- 03. Fretting hand position
  2:44
- 04. Alternate picking
  3:08
- 01. Another Dime
  1:03
- 02. 101
  1:03
- 03. Beat The Mersey
  1:00
- 04. Helicopter
  Free lesson
  0:59
- 05. Cashville
  1:03
- 06. Spike
  0:59
- 01. Another Dime
  10:19
- 02. 101
  6:34
- 03. Beat the mersey
  5:20
- 04. Helicopter
  6:46
- 05. Cashville
  8:11
- 06. Spike
  5:37
- 01. Intro to technical exercises
  2:44
- 02. Tech advice (early grades)
  3:10
- 03. Group A: Scales
  1:11
- 04. Group B: Chords
  0:57
- 01. Intro to Approaches to improvisation
  1:00
- 02. Getting started with improvisation
  9:22
- 01. Sight reading tips
  1:51
- 01. Course outro
  0:32
- 02. About Rockschool exams
  0:30
- 03. Preparing for your Rockschool exam
  1:28

Hey guys, welcome to the course. You've made a great choice!

A few things before you get started: I just want to make sure you get the most out of the course.

Rock School Book:
- There's a lot of information you can get from this course without owning a Rock School book.
- It's not essential.
- However, I would recommend getting hold of a book if you're looking to really dive deep into the performance pieces.
- You'll have access to all the transcriptions.
- Particularly, if you're interested in booking yourself in for a graded exam, a book of your own will be absolutely essential for you to sit the exam.

The course is divided into a few sections:

Performance of Each Piece:
- Followed by an analysis of the piece, which covers:
  - Technique
  - Structure
  - Ways to develop and improvise in designated sections.
Technical Exercises:
- A run-through of all the technical exercises at your grade.
Improvisation and Creativity:
- An approach to improvisation which includes:
  - Melodic and rhythmic comping improvisation.
  - This can be really useful in approaching improvisation outside of any of the Rock School syllabus, as well as within the pieces where you need to come up with solos, etc.
Additional Materials:
- Lots of additional download materials, PDFs, and examples to help you progress further.