Recommended Guitar Tutorials for Beginners and Intermediate Players

For most guitar learners, progress often halts at the stage of strumming and singing. While many start with C major chords, a significant number remain stuck in that familiar territory—playing the four basic chords without a deeper understanding of music. After years of playing, they may still only know how to switch chords, lacking genuine musical comprehension and often playing mechanically from sheet music.

While learning the guitar is important, it’s essential to remember that it’s merely an instrument. Our goal should not only be to master playing techniques but also to use the instrument as a medium to experience and learn about music.

In the early stages of learning guitar, the focus should be on developing proper playing techniques. Once you grasp the fundamentals of playing, it becomes crucial to advance your understanding of music theory. Therefore, the recommended materials will prioritize both playing and musical comprehension.

Learning guitar involves developing muscle memory through repetitive practice. It’s vital to start slowly with exercises, ensuring each note is played accurately and with quality. Musical technique is an accumulative process; consistent practice will eventually improve your speed and precision.

Many practice routines can feel monotonous, and grasping music theory can be challenging, often requiring extensive listening and analysis. During this learning phase, it’s beneficial to play pieces you enjoy, as the initial motivation for learning guitar is often to play your favorite songs.

Acoustic Guitar:

Beginner Tutorials:

• Guitar Self-Study in Three Months

• MI Guitar Fretboard Handbook

• Berklee Modern Guitar Method

• Carcassi Complete Guitar Method

• Collection of Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners

While I recommend Guitar Self-Study in Three Months, it’s an older resource and may not realistically allow you to master guitar in that timeframe. However, it provides solid foundational techniques for beginners, particularly for learning basic hand shapes and chords. The latter half of the book focuses heavily on music theory, which can be skimmed. The core emphasis should be on the MI Guitar Fretboard Handbook, Carcassi Complete Guitar Method, and Berklee Modern Guitar Method. Both Berklee and Carcassi are written in standard notation and focus on teaching you to read and understand music rather than just mechanical playing.

I also recommend a collection of guitar chord charts for popular songs. This is essential for developing your musical ear during the initial stages of acoustic guitar study.

Intermediate Tutorials:

• Fingerstyle, Flamenco, and various styles of guitar tutorials (avoid domestic tutorials).

I advise against domestic tutorials due to the inconsistent quality of guitar instruction in many localities. While many guitarists teach various styles, few can match the caliber of renowned artists like押尾桑 or Tommy Emmanuel. For authentic and rigorous learning, steer clear of local materials.

Electric Guitar Tutorials:

Beginner Tutorials:

• Berklee Modern Guitar Method

• MI Guitar Fretboard Handbook

• Joey Guitar Classroom: Heavy Metal Rhythm Guitar

• Joey Guitar Classroom: Lead Guitar Speed Techniques

• Konomi Kobayashi's Rock Guitar Classroom: Intermediate Level

These resources emphasize foundational skills. You only need to complete the first two volumes of the Joey series for rhythm guitar, as the lead guitar materials can be complex. Instead, I recommend Konomi Kobayashi's intermediate guitar tutorials paired with Joey's lead guitar speed techniques. Together, these provide a comprehensive understanding of nearly all methods and techniques for electric guitar playing. Upon completing these, you should be able to play any song as long as you have the sheet music.

The Berklee Modern Guitar Method books focus on standard notation and do not include classic songs. The exercises are designed with an emphasis on understanding music, which may make them challenging and slow to progress. The MI Guitar Fretboard Handbook emphasizes music theory while integrating it into your guitar practice, making it an excellent resource.

Intermediate Tutorials:

• Creative Expression in Guitar Phrases

• Takaya Okamoto's Speed Playing Techniques

• Berklee Series on Blues, Jazz, and Funk

This stage focuses on familiarizing yourself with various styles. The Berklee series offers excellent materials for quickly understanding and playing different music genres. Once you've explored multiple styles, you can decide to specialize in one that resonates with you. Takaya Okamoto's guitar materials are speed-focused and currently available only in Japanese, though if language is a barrier, consider Konomi Kobayashi's “Hell Guitar” series for practice. However, I feel that Kobayashi’s speed materials can be overwhelming, given the volume available.

At this stage, it’s also essential to start honing your speed playing. Developing this skill takes time and practice. Creative Expression in Guitar Phrases is invaluable for building your improvisation foundation.