Why watch these videos? They’re in order of how you should learn to play guitar. You should stop wandering YouTube hoping a hundred different videos and teachers will magically give you the secret to effortless “finger-style” playing. You need to build your basic toolbox, and this is how you do it.

Print out each song, listen to the sound file a zillion times while looking at the sheet music, and then watch the video a couple of times to check your posture and finger choices. These are not great videos, but they should give you a reference to compare how YOU are playing the same song.

A hint on using the sound files: The MP3s are generated from the actual sheet music and you should attempt to play along with them rather than using a metronome. If they move too fast or too slow, there are apps you can download to your phone (like Tempo SloMo), or programs on the internet you can use (like Audacity) to slow the recording down while keeping it at the same pitch. Slow the speed down until you can play along with the recording, then start speeding it up. Learn to accept mistakes and move on to the next note.

A hint on using sheet music: If you plan to pursue guitar in formal education either on the high school or collegiate level, you should not use tablature. You have a long, lonely, and completely unnecessary path ahead of you dealing with standard notation. Everyone else should use tablature. The lute players of the 15th century were right.

Level 1

How to Tune Your Guitar

How to Hold Your Guitar

Frère Jacques Melody

Frère Jacques Sound File

Frère Jacques Sheet Music with Tablature

Frère Jacques Sheet Music without Tablature