Questions & Answers with Neil Hogan #8.2.10

Q. I am thinking about taking folk guitar lessons. What should I expect?

A. Folk guitar lessons are a great place to get started when you are learning to play the guitar. Most of the things you need to master for the style will carry over very well into almost any other type of playing the guitar.

The main element you will start with will be chords. The folk style is primarily based on relatively simple chord progressions, frequently using only the three primary chords in a key. All you have to do chord wise is learn A, D, and E or E7 and you are ready to play hundreds, or maybe thousands of songs.

The other main element you need to combine with the chords is learning a couple of simple strumming patterns. Most patterns consist of a constant motion of even strokes, alternating down and up in steady time. Each stroke would usually be at the speed of eighth notes, meaning you are strumming down on the beats and up between the beats (on the “ands”).

The thing that makes one strumming pattern different from another is which of the eight strokes in a measure (4/4 time) you play and which you don’t. A very common pattern might go- D   D U   U D U

This pattern can be seen in some of the videos where we have examples of different accompaniment techniques.

More information about folk guitar lessons is available at Totally Guitars; check the lessons acoustic guitar link.

Questions & Answers with Neil Hogan #12

Q. Where would you say I could find the best guitar lesson DVDs?

A. Wow, what a loaded question. I’m not even sure I can categorize every type of guitar lesson DVDs that might be around. As far as instructional DVDs are concerned, I would recommend those by established teaching institutions like Homespun or good teachers like Stefan Grossman or Jorma Kaukonen.

On another side of the coin, when looking for the best guitar lesson DVDs that contains concerts or performances, it becomes a lot more subjective. My favorites would be those by my favorite performers, maybe John Renbourn or Keola Beamer. Some people might even be looking for DVDs that address guitar construction. That’s a little off my radar right now.

Basically, If you are looking for good instruction rely on good teachers or schools and if you are looking for a good show check out DVDs by your favorite musicians.

Good luck in the search and be sure to check out acoustic guitar lessons.