It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally launching a series of Guitar Noise Podcasts -Â half-hour lessons hosted by yours truly. We’re hoping, schedule-wise, to have a new one every other Monday.
You can find the first Podcast up online at the  Guitar Noise Blog. This initial series of lessons will focus on strumming and all the various aspects of it from the very basics to simple ways to spice up your strumming patterns to tips of ways to play rhythm when you’ve multiple guitarists. GN Podcast #1 introduces the very basics of strumming. Next time out we’ll explore more with alternating bass lines and also start adding very simple hammer-ons and pull-offs to liven up any basic strumming pattern.
In the near future, we’ll also be looking at “missing†downstroke beats during our strumming patterns. This may sound easy, but usually gives many beginners a bit of a fit. But once you can get this under your belt, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting any strumming pattern at all, with a bit of practice of course! Down the line we’ll have lessons on cross-picking, partial chord strumming, palm muting and percussive strumming, how to figure out complex strumming patterns and strumming with an ear towards voice leading and chord melody playing.
So drop over to the Guitar Noise Blog and give our first lesson a listen. Hope you find all the GN Podcasts as helpful as this one.
As always, feel free to drop me a line with any questions, comments, concerns and/or suggestions. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
 Peace
January 29th, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
Hi Dave
Just a quick note to say thanks for all your effort for us beginners, Got a guitar for Christmas and was looking for lessons found your site and was so impressed with the teaching method have stopped looking elsewhere, Once again thank you.
Kev, Liverpool, England
January 30th, 2008 @ 7:29 am
Hi Kev
Thanks for your kind words! And as much as I’m flattered, I do want to tell you that you should never stop looking. Three things that will help you even more than you know are playing with other people, asking questions to anyone who plays guitar, and listening as a student. That advice may seem intuitive, but it’s amazing how many people need help remembering those three simple ideas.
Oh, and one more quick note – while I’d love to take the credit for Guitar Noise, it’s not my website. Guitar Noise was created, and is still owned and run by Paul Hackett, who does an incredible (and often thankless) job of keeping it running online. I’m simply one of many volunteers who donate free time to helping it be one of the premiere Internet guitar tutorial sites.
Welcome to the magical and musical world of the guitar! I look forward to hearing how things are going with you.
Peace
January 31st, 2008 @ 10:38 pm
I’m a beginner acoustic guitar player and am glad to “happen upon” someone who writes/teaches in a style I can follow. The chords to the songs also actually sound like they should!
I’m looking forward to checking out whatever I can find that you’ve written. For this phase of my learning – you’re it! 🙂
My Dad plays and I know he’ll be proud his baby girl can play Sitting on the Dock of the Bay!
Thanks for the patience it takes to write down word for word everything you’d probably rather say – your online fans appreciate the extra effort!!
February 1st, 2008 @ 9:24 am
Hi Adrienne
Thank you for your kind words concerning my lessons at Guitar Noise. Writing those articles, particularly the song lessons, has always been a lot of fun for me and I hope that this sense of fun comes across to the readers. To me, making music is about sharing the fun and enjoyment and being able to do so through the Guitar Columns and song lessons at Guitar Noise has been a joy for me.
I hope you continue to find them useful. Please feel free to write with any questions, comments or suggestions you might have. That way I can continue to make each new lesson better.
Peace
February 3rd, 2008 @ 9:36 am
Thanks for helping me become a better guitar player. I found that the beginning songs were much easier for me to learn when accompanied by the mp3 links. Now with the podcast they are even better. Fun too. Thanks!
Peace, love, and organic foods!
February 3rd, 2008 @ 9:48 am
Hi Joe
Thanks for the thanks, but I can’t take all the credit. If you’re becoming a better guitar player, you are obviously putting in time and effort and that definitely goes a long way towards progressing as a guitarist and a musician. I’m simply a helping hand!
Looking forward to hearing how things are going!
Peace
February 10th, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
Thanks David,
I’m just an old retired sea capt. and have a Yamaha acoustic I bought in Guam. I’ve been picking around since I was a kid but now have the time to devote to the guitar. Thanks to you and Paul H. for the blog and the site. You guys make it nice for us oldsters to learn (and keep the fingers limber). Without sounding pushy (I hope) please keep up the good work.
Thanks
Jack M.
February 10th, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
Hi Jack
You don’t sound pushy at all! I’m hoping to be able to write lessons for Guitar Noise for a long, long, long time. I guess it will depend on whether or not folks still read the lessons (or listen to the podcasts)…
Peace
February 15th, 2008 @ 4:43 pm
David:
Came across one of your lessons on GuitarNoise. Can’t remember how I got there…but I am sure glad it exposed you to me. As a beginner, I cannot fully express how much of a help that one lesson was… amazing. I will now be digging for more and more of your content. Thank you so much for allowing me to sponge up a bit of your knowledge and experience, and thank you for putting it out there in a “I love music so much I want you to be able to enjoy it too” fashion that is elementary while coming across as “you can do it” instead of condescending or arrogant. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Greg
February 15th, 2008 @ 7:10 pm
Hi Greg
You’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome!
And thank you for your exceptionally kind words. I’m glad that you’ve found Guitar Noise and I hope you find all the lessons to be of some help. And be sure to check out the podcasts, which you can find at the link in the main text on this page.
Looking forward to hearing how things are going with you!
Peace
February 22nd, 2008 @ 10:13 am
David as with the previous comments thanks for all your hard work…… i unfortunately suffer from a lack of determination and concentration and i tend to put a lot of effort into practicing and then inexplicably i lose interest because of my poor progress…… Since following your lessons ( your style of teaching is so perfect for me to follow ) i’ve really noticed a difference and developed a belief in the possibility i may eventually become competent with the guitar …..this has been backed up for me by my wife saying she really has noticed a difference….. would love to know if you have any plans to produce a book for for the acoustic beginner….many thanks from England
February 22nd, 2008 @ 10:23 am
Hi Fletch
Thank you for your comments, too! I’m thrilled to hear about your progress (if one’s wife or family hears a difference, it’s usually a good thing!) and I hope you stick with the guitar.
Frustration over the perceived lack of progress is probably the biggest obstacle anyone faces when taking up something like making music. And usually the lack of progress is a matter of perception. Whenever you pick up the guitar and make even one chord change, you’re helping yourself along the path to learning more and getting better.
As for a book for acoustic beginners, I am (and have been for a while now) trying to get some publishers interested in a book along the style of the Guitar Noise lessons. So far no takers. But I’m going to keep trying.
Thanks again for your comment and I look forward to hearing how things are progressing with you.
Peace
February 25th, 2008 @ 9:44 pm
Daivd,
Thanks for all the great lessons on Guitar Noise. I would like to request a lesson on About a Girl by Nirvana as one of the easy songs for beginners. I don’t know how easy it is but I see it advertised as an easy one and would like to be able to play it. Emphasis on easy please.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Casey
February 25th, 2008 @ 11:35 pm
Hi Casey
And thanks for the kudos concerning my lessons at Guitar Noise. I’ve been trying to decide between a number of Nirvana songs for a future “Easy Songs for Beginners” lesson, and this one’s definitely on the list of possibilities.
Hopefully sometime before summer…
Peace
June 9th, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
David,
I need to say thank you for what you have taught me with your guitar lessons. I have wanted to learn to play guitar for years without much success. Your lessons are well thought out and easy to follow. I have loads of books and online lessons but until I came across your teachings I haven’t progressed much. You have increased my willingness to learn through your teachings. Thank you for the time and effort you have put in to helping us learn how to play. It is truly appreciated.
Thank You
Rich
June 14th, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
Hi Rich
And you’re very welcome. It’s a thrill for me to hear people play music and I’m glad that the lessons at Guitar Noise are helping you to work toward your guitar-playing goals.
But remember that it’s your time and effort that is going to really make the difference. It’s so easy to get frustrated and to forget that progress is all part of a life-long journey.
Looking forward to hearing how things are progressing with you!
Peace
June 17th, 2008 @ 11:36 am
Hey David,
I have been a long time fan of your music and teaching style David. I myself have taught and played the guitar for more than 26 years and couldn’t imagine doing anything else, that brings me as much satisfaction.
I honestly can’t thank you enough for the many years that you have taken the time to teach us all a thing or two. I really enjoy your arrangements of simple songs for beginners and intermediate students. This is great stuff!
Your lessons at guitar noise, are indispensable. I own a guitar studio in of all places, Barstow Ca, (LA native, long story)and have used some of your examples at guitar noise, to help further my own student’s progress on the guitar. For me, it’s always good to know that an old dog can learn a new trick or two.
Anyway, from one teacher/player to another, thanks again for all of your wonderful contributions to music. Keep up the great work!
Peace to you and yours.
June 19th, 2008 @ 1:04 am
August,
Thank you for your post. It’s great to hear that my lessons are being helpful to your students – and praise coming from a teacher of your background and experience means a lot to me. My thanks for taking the time to write.
More important, thank you for using your own gift of music to help others find theirs. As you say, it’s hard to imagine anything else that brings as much satisfaction. Seeing that joy in others when they learn, when they perform, when they teach – as cliche as it sounds, it all seems to make the world a much better place.
Please keep up the good work as well!
Peace
July 21st, 2008 @ 9:45 am
Great articles you have in the net.Really good job!
I just wanna know are your articles copyrighted or something?Can I use them in a blog or something?I’m gonna bookmark this page for your reply.
Cheers!
August 2nd, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
Hi Dave
Sorry to not get back to you sooner. I’ve just gotten home from two weeks of traveling and now I’m trying to catch up with everything.
All the lessons, columns and articles I’ve written are indeed copyrighted and are found exclusively on the Guitar Noise website, except those I wrote specifically for Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Teacher and Play Guitar! Magazines (and, consequently, their online sites as well).
If you would like to use a specific article for your blog, write to me at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and we can discuss how to best go about it. Many people have linked directly to my articles and lessons from their own blogs and that seems to work well. The main thing I object to is when someone uses one of my articles without citing me as author or Guitar Noise as the source website.
Looking forward to chatting with you soon.
Peace