1.1 Level 1 Guitar Course Workbook PDF

Introduction to the Course
Congratulations on investing in yourself!

I am so excited that you are ready to learn to play the guitar and are committed
to your success. Your purchase of this course shows your dedication to wanting to
learn the guitar and I am going to be there to help you succeed.
This course was developed over years of trial and error with my own beginner
guitar students. I made notes of the things that worked and threw out the things
that did not seem to help my students at all.
Over the years, I saw the success of my students improve based on the
techniques I was using and the very specific process and goals I teach my
students. I found my students were less likely to give up playing guitar compared
to other teachers because I focused on getting them playing and having fun as
quickly as possible.
Let’s talk about the things I am going to do for you in this course that most guitar
teachers fail to do for their students:
1. Exact goals and endpoints.
a. You need to know where you are starting but you also need to know
where you are going. Most teachers do not give their students an
endpoint or a goal to work towards. This lack of structure makes the
learning process puzzling for the student. What’s the point of what I
am doing? What’s the long term strategy? By letting you know where
you are and where you are going, you will be motivated to get
through each step and each new level of playing.
2. The right amount of content at the right time.
a. The #1 failure of most guitar teachers is that they overwhelm their

students with more and more content each and every week. This
does not help students learn. It makes them want to quit. In my
course, you are not allowed to move on to the next piece of content
until you are ready. You have to show a certain level of
understanding and ‘mastery’ to move on. In this course, I will tell you
pg. 1 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.
step-by-step how to work through the course so you do not
overwhelm yourself.
3. Keep it simple and not so technical.
a. The biggest compliment I get from students in person and online is

that I have a very good way of breaking things down and making
them simple for beginners. I do not have a degree in music. I used to
be a scientist. This means I am not going to go all ‘Berklee’ on you.
I’m going to talk to you in a language you understand and introduce
music theory concepts when you need them. I taught myself how to
play guitar and I taught myself because I wanted to have fun. When I
teach students, I make sure it’s to help them have fun first and
foremost. That is why I stick to the 3 Fundamentals of guitar playing
with all my beginner guitar students.
4. Interaction, Motivation, Q&A
a. I believe the BIGGEST failure of most online courses is that you do

not have access to a teacher to answer your questions. You buy a
course and are left to fend for yourself. It doesn’t matter how high
the production value, how many camera angles they use or how
many hours of content they give you. The key is: do you have
someone to ask questions to and get answers? In my course you will
have access to me and my staff via Q&A’s in my Facebook group:
Beginner Guitar Lessons on Facebook
This course was designed to take you from knowing absolutely nothing about the
guitar to strumming along to your favorite songs, even if you have never touched
a guitar before.
I am dedicated to your success. I truly believe the ability to play music is a
blessing. It improves overall happiness, reduces stress and keeps your brain active
and growing.
I want to help you be able to enjoy doing something you have always dreamed of.
It is my absolute pleasure and honor to work with you. I can’t wait to see your
progress over the coming months.
Let’s get started!
Getting The Most Out Of Your Guitar Practice
1. Find a distraction free place to study. Try not to practice in front of the TV or in a place
where there will be lots of noise and people coming and going.
2. Write out a weekly practice schedule and try and practice at the same time each day.
This may be 10-15 minutes the first couple of weeks and can grow as you learn more
skills and develop your hand strength. Never get overwhelmed with having to practice
for an hour. 15 minutes will work wonders if you focus on only a couple items.
3. Try not to get into “playing” your guitar. Make sure you are working on things that give
you trouble. Working on the things you are already good at will not make you a better
player. Reward yourself at the end with the fun stuff.
4. Keep a practice log. You can write down questions, practice speeds and times and any
other notes you come across during your practice time.
5. Keep your guitar out of your case. Out of sight, out of mind. You are more likely to
practice if your guitar is easy to get to. A guitar in a stand is begging to be played.
6. Slow down. If something is giving you a hard time, slow it down. You do not have to
master each exercise or song each week. Sometimes it might take you a few weeks to
master something. And by slow down, I mean super slow.
7. Always end on something positive. This will make you enjoy your practice and look
forward to doing it again.

Course Design
My beginner guitar course is broken up into the 3 main fundamentals you need to
know to get started with the guitar. No fluff, just exactly what you need to get
from point A to point B.
The 3 fundamentals you will learn are:

1. Hand Dexterity & Picking
2. Chords & Chord Changes
3. Rhythm & Strumming
Now there are two paths you can take when going through the course: a linear
approach or a multidimensional approach (how I teach).
Linear Approach:
The linear approach is, you start with Fundamental 1 and work through each level
one at a time. Once all the items for Fundamental 1 are complete, you move on to
Fundamental 2 and work your way through each level there. Once you complete
Fundamental 2, you start Fundamental 3 and complete all coursework for that
topic.
The linear approach gives you a very direct path from point A to point B within
each fundamental. Some people like working in a stepwise pattern. The only thing
I don’t like with a linear approach is that you have to go back to being an absolute
beginner every time you start a new fundamental. Also, you only get to develop
one skill or technique at a time.
This why I like to take a multidimensional approach.
Multidimensional Approach:
With the multidimensional approach, you will be able to develop all the
fundamental skills at the same time. Progressing from Level 1, to Level 2, to Level
3 and so forth and so on.

You will complete Level 1 in all areas and then move on to Level 2 in all areas. This
will help you become a well-rounded player and help you apply what you are
learning to your favorite music even faster.
It’s great to know chords, but what fun are they if you can’t strum them?
It’s great to have dexterous hands and be a great picker, but that’s no fun unless
you have the chords to go along with it and make it sound great.
The choice is yours. You know your learning style best.
But…
I would recommend taking the multidimensional approach if that is possible for
you and that is what I am going to discuss and refer to in this workbook.

Information and exercises in this workbook:
Fundamental 1: Dexterity & Picking

Level 1: Pick Control Exercise 1
Level 2: Spider Exercise 1
Level 3: Ode To Joy
Level 5: Amazing Grace
Level 5: 3 String Arpeggios
Level 6: 4 string Arpeggios
Level 7: 5 & 6 String Arpeggios
Fundamental 2: Chords & Chord Changes

Level 1: The Em & D6/9 Chords
Level 2: The Simple C & G Chords
Level 2: The D Chord
Level 3: The Full C & G Chords
Level 4: The A & E Chords
Level 4: The Am & Dm Chords
Level 5: The Easy F and F#m Chords
Level 6: The Open 7 Chords
Level 7: 12 Bar Blues
Fundamental 3: Rhythm & Strumming
Level 1: Quarter Notes & Quarter Note Rests

Level 1: Whole, Half & Quarter Notes
Level 3: Eighth Note Rhythms
Level 4: ¾ Time
Level 6: Syncopated Eighth Notes

As you can see, each Fundamental Topic is broken up into a series of Levels which
you can work your way through one at a time.
For example:
It is very good to pair, Pick Control Exercise 1 with learning the Em & D6/9 Chords
and Quarter Note Rhythms. It is also good to pair The Full C & G chords with Pick
Control Exercise 2, Ode To Joy and Eighth Note Rhythms.
Practicing all of these items at the same time will help you develop all three areas
of your playing at once without getting overwhelmed.
Do not be surprised if some areas progress faster than others.
For example:
Maybe your picking is progressing faster than your chord changes. It is perfectly
fine to be on Level 2 of chords and Level 4 of picking and Level 3 of Rhythm. If you
get to an exercise that requires you to know more chords for instance, you may
want to focus on your weaker areas so they catch up.
If you work through one level at a time, it will ensure that you never have more
than 4 items to work on at a time at any given stage in the process. And yes, I
know there are ‘missing’ levels in the rhythm section. 
This is because I hold off on teaching students 8th notes until their chords changes
are fast enough to handle full 8th note patterns which usually happens around
Level 3. This is when students have their first 4 chords down pat. Up until then,
whole notes, half notes and quarter notes are our bread and butter.
GOAL POINT:
For most exercises, the goal it to play the exercise at 100 beats per minute (bpm)
with a metronome. This is the ‘graduating’ point where you have shown enough
skill to move on to the next level.

I’ve been working on my chord changes for weeks now and I can’t get
them any faster, but I’m not at 100 bpm. What do I do?
This sometimes happens, especially with chord changes and certain rhythm
patterns. Do not get discouraged. Try and push your speed up by 2-3 beats per
minute each practice session.
On chord changes, I highly recommend getting to at least 80bpm. Most students
can get their chord changes to 100bpm but I do have some older students whose
hands are a bit slower and 80bpm works fine for them, but FIRST try to get as
close to 100bpm as you can.
If after 2-3 weeks you can’t get any faster on your chords changes not matter how
hard you try:
1. Let me know in the Facebook group. There may be some physical things
preventing you from doing so like thumb or wrist placement.
2. You can graduate on to the next level.
How long should it take me to work through the course?

That is entirely up to you and how much your practice.
The limiting factor for the majority of students is chord changes. It’s something
your hand has to develop the dexterity and muscle memory for. On average,
students that practice at least 15 minutes a day, 3 times a week can take
anywhere from 4-12 weeks to complete the 1st 3 levels of chord changes.
This is why I put so much emphasis on chord changes with my students. It really is
the limiting factor in strumming, playing along to songs and having fun.
After that, levels 4-7 tend to come much faster since hand dexterity and speed
has been developed in the first 3 levels.
Some items you may ‘master’ in 1 week while others may take you multiple
weeks to play through. Speaking of mastery….

What is mastery?
Mastery is not perfection. At least not for the beginner guitar player. For me,
mastery is understanding the concepts and being able to play them at a medium
level of playability.
For example, take Ode To Joy. Speed is not my concern with this exercise.
Things I listen for with my students:

a. Do the notes sound good?
b. Is the tempo fairly consistent even if it’s played very slow?
c. Is the student understanding the location of the fret numbers?
d. Does it kind of sound like the song?
If you hit all those points for me, then I will graduate you even if the song isn’t at
full speed and/or 100% perfect.
We are not practicing for a performance in front of 10,000 people. My biggest
concern with beginner guitar students is: are they learning the concepts they
need to know to get to the big end goal? Even though you graduate from Ode to
Joy, the picking exercises that come after that will only help to reinforce what you
have already learned.
Often times, students walk away from a piece like Ode to Joy and find they can
play it better a 2-3 months down the road even without practicing it.

Guitar Basics: 9 videos – 60 minutes
5 PDFs
This section was designed to give you the basics behind the guitar. I
encourage you to watch each video and really listen. Pause and rewind
if you need clarification. I recommend blocking out 60 minutes to watch
the entire section in one session. Then, go back to review and clarifying.
Don’t have 60 minutes? No problem!
Like anything in this course DO NOT overwhelm yourself. These videos

range anywhere from 5 minutes to 9 minutes in length. If you only have
20 minutes, watch this section over the course of 3 days.
1. Acoustic vs Electric
a. Talks about the pluses and minuses of each
2. Guitar Accessories
a. The items you should have to complete this course
successfully
3. How To Use A Metronome

a. How to use one of the most important items vital for
tracking your progress and achieving success with this
course
4. How To Hold Your Guitar

a. Learn the proper positions for holding the guitar and choose
the most comfortable one for you

5. How To Hold Your Guitar Pick
a. Learn how to hold your pick as well as listen to some of my
recommendations on picks for beginner guitar players
6. How To Tune Your Guitar

a. Learn how to use a guitar tuner so that you can keep your
guitar sounding good all the time.
7. How To Read Guitar Tab

a. Tablature is one type of music notation and very popular in
guitar. If you want to look up songs online, you will need to
learn the basics of reading guitar tablature. You will also
need to know tablature to complete exercises and songs in
this course.
8. The Musical Alphabet

a. The absolute basic need to know information about the
musical alphabet and how it applies to your guitar.
9. Preventing Wrist Tension

a. My tips for preventing injury to your wrist. Wrist tension is
common in guitar players especially in the beginning stages.
Learn to see the problems and how to fix them.

Getting To Know Your Guitar
(pair with video #1)
The above diagram is a picture of your guitar. The thickest string is closest to you (far left) and
the thinnest string is far away from you (far right).
Open Strings
An open string is when you play or pluck a string on the guitar without using your left hand. The
string is said to be played “open”. In tablature, this is noted with the number “0”.
String Numbering
Strings are numbered from 1 to 6 with 1 being the skinniest string on the bottom of the guitar
and 6 being the fattest string at the top of the guitar. Each string has a name:
You can remember how to tune your guitar by saying: Easter Bunnies Get Doughnuts At Easter

Practicing With A Metronome
Practicing with a metronome is something I recommend to all of my students and

is a vital part of this course.
What is a metronome?
A metronome is a click that indicates the exact tempo or speed of a piece of

music.
Should You Practice Everything with a Metronome?
No. I do not recommend practicing everything with a metronome all the time. It is
an important part of improving your speed for chord changes as well as improving
picking speeds and developing fluidity when playing individual notes. When using
a metronome with a piece of music, you should be able to flow through a piece of
music without taking a lot of breaks or stops between notes or chords.
It is best to have the pieces memorized or work on the piece in multiple small
sections at a time. Usually, starting off at 30-45 beats per minute (bpm) is a good
way to know whether or not you can keep time with music while making chord or
note changes.
Why Use a Metronome?
Metronomes are a great way to measure progress in terms of speed as well as

help you develop accurate rhythm skills. Some songs will require that you play
with different rhythmic strumming patterns, so practicing with a metronome
helps to ensure you stay in time with the music you are trying to play. Staying in
time is a valuable and critical skill for those of you that are looking to jam with
friends or play with other musicians.
Remember, when practicing with a metronome, keep the speed slow first then
build faster and faster. Increasing speed by 3-5 bpm is a great way to build speed
in what you are practicing.

How To Tune Your Guitar
Learning to tune your guitar is one of the most important aspects of learning how to play the
guitar. It does not matter how good of a player you are. If your guitar is out of tune, it is not
going to sound good.
The best thing to do is purchase a guitar tuner. Tuners that can clip on to your headstock are
great and fairly inexpensive.
Before Tuning: Notes Of Your Guitar Strings
You will need to know what notes you are going to tune your guitar to. The
table on the left shows you the notes of each of your guitar strings. The 6th
string (the fat string closest to you) is tuned to E, the 5th, to A, the 4th to D, the
3rd to G, the 2nd to B and the 1st, (the skinniest string on the bottom of the
guitar neck), to E.
You will notice that two strings are tuned to E.
At the top of your guitar headstock, you will have tuning pegs which are knobs
you will turn to adjust what note each string is tuned to.
First: Play one string on your guitar and look at your tuner.
Second: A letter should pop up. We want to make sure it is the letter of
the string you played and that the needle is pointing in the middle. In the
picture to the right, the string being tuned is a D string. The needle is
saying the note is too high (called sharp #) and the tuning peg will need
to be turned so that the needle points in the middle. Some tuners have a
light that turns green when you reach the correct tuning.
Note: Make sure the letter reads natural notes and not sharps (#) or flats
(b). For example if you tune your 4th string to D# instead of D, you guitar
will still be out of tune.
Tip: You do not need to keep hitting the string. Hit it once, let it ring, then tune while it is ringing, then
play the string again.

How To Read Guitar Tablature
Guitar tablature (referred to as TAB) is a way to read music without having to know how to read
proper musical notation. We will use TAB throughout your studies for learning various parts of
songs that require picking individual notes. Below is a TAB excerpt from the song Ode To Joy.
TAB looks like the neck of your guitar except the opposite of what you would think. The thick
string (6) is on the bottom and the thin string (1) is on the top.
In TAB, the number represents the fret number NOT the finger number. A “0” indicates that
you play the string open without fretting.
In Ode To Joy, the first note is the number 0 on the first or bottom string. So you would play the
first string without fretting it. The second note is also a “0” so you would play the bottom string
open again. Then, the third note is a 1 on the bottom string, so you would play the 1 st fret on
the bottom string followed by the 3rd fret on the bottom string.
So the first 4 notes in the song are all on the first string in the order of 0, 0, 1, 3.
If you look at the 8th note in the song, you will see the number 3 again, but this time it is played
on the 2nd string instead of the first. So the first 8 notes of Ode To Joy are fretted as follows:
First String: 0, 0, 1, 3, 3, 1, 0 Second String: 3
Right now, we are not worrying about the rhythm, timing or what notes we are actually playing,
but rather focusing on the basics of reading guitar tablature.

Musical Symbols, Alphabet & Notation
(pair with video #7 & #8)
Let’s take a step back for a moment to look at some typical musical symbols you will see as well
as the difference between TAB and Standard Notation
Staff:
A staff is where musical notes are written. Both TAB and
Standard Notation use a staff.
Notation is divided into measures or bars of music represented by vertical lines.

Measure 1 Measure 2 Measure 3
The Musical Alphabet has seven natural notes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The higher the pitch, the
higher on the staff the note is placed. Musical notes represented by standard notation can be
seen below (top) along with a TAB equivalent (bottom).
E F G A B C D E F
This is a G or Treble Clef. In piano, it is often played by the right hand and represents
the melody. Guitarists use the Treble Clef when reading standard notation.
This is called a time signature. For now, all you need to know is that the top number
tells you how many beats are in one measure. Meaning the top number tells you how
high you will count. In this example, you would count to 4.
We will be using standard notation in this workbook to help us with rhythm and we will be
using tablature to discuss melody and picking.

Fundamental 1: Picking & Dexterity
9 videos – 78 minutes
9 PDFs
I recommend starting with this section first as developing hand dexterity will
make learning your chords easier down the road. Often times, I start teaching
students chords along with Spider Exercise 1.

(Pair with Em & D6/9 Chords, Quarter Notes & Quarter Note Rests, Whole, Half & Quarter
Notes)
The pick control exercise is intended to increase awareness of the string locations
on your guitar but will also help to start developing your picking hand (right hand
for righties and left hand for lefties).
Start by watching your picking hand. Play through each string very slowly and one
at a time following the lesson. Once you feel comfortable doing this, use a
metronome. Your goal is to do this while watching your hand at 60 bpm on a
metronome.
*GOAL: 60BPM
Once you have hit this goal, you should continue the exercise but this time
WITHOUT watching your picking hand. Take your time and then put it to a
metronome. You goal is also 60bpm for this exercise.
*GOAL: 60 BPM

(Pair with Simple C & G Chords, D Chord, Continue with Level 1 Rhythms)
The spider exercise is designed to start building hand dexterity and hand stretch
using your first three fingers. Using the pinky often times can create wrist tension
and discomfort in the beginning. I choose to start developing finger dexterity
using only the first three fingers (1-index, 2-middle and 3-ring).

*GOAL: 80bpm
TIP: If you find starting at the 5th fret too tough, you can always start at the 7th fret
which is a little bit less of a stretch.
Level 3: Ode To Joy

(Pair with The Full C & G Chords, Pick Control 2)
Since you have been getting used to using your first three fingers with the spider
exercise, the next thing to do would be to use it in a song. Ode to Joy is a very
simple melody that most people know, so we don’t have to get into too much
discussion yet on rhythm.
This song focuses primarily on using the 1st and 2nd strings of the guitar and the 1st
and 3rd fingers of the fretting hand.
*GOAL: 60BPM, playing slowly and fluidly

(Pair with The Full C & G Chords, Ode To Joy and Eighth Note Rhythm Patterns)
Much like Pick Control Exercise 1, exercise 2 helps to further develop and
strengthen your muscle memory in your picking hand. Practice in the same way
you practiced Pick Control Exercise 1.
*GOAL: 60BPM watching your picking hand

*GOAL: 60BPM not watching your picking had

(Pair with The A & E chords, The Am & Dm chords, ¾ Time Rhythms)
Spider Exercise 2 is much like Spider Exercise 1 except we are now adding in the
pinky to our picking pattern. Not only that, we will be moving around the
fretboard instead of staying stationary.
First, practice by using all down picks on with your picking hand just like you did in
Spider exercise #1.
*GOAL: 60BPM
Once you hit the goal, switch to using alternate picking (down, up, down, up)
picking. This will help you develop more speed in your picking hand and working
on hand synchronization even more.
*GOAL: 100BPM
Level 5: Amazing Grace

(Pair with The Easy F & F#m Chords, Continue Practicing Eighth Note Rhythms)
A very simple song that uses mostly open strings to develop your picking hand.
This exercise is in ¾ time and is a great reinforcement of muscle memory in the
picking hand. You will be using more of the strings of the guitar so synching your
two hands together to play the same string will be very important.
*GOAL: 90BPM
You can try using ¾ quarter note strums on this song as well if you would like to
take the opportunity to strum and play chords.
*GOAL: 90BPM
Level 5: 3 String Arpeggios

(pair with Amazing Grace, The Easy F & F#m Chords, Continue Practicing Eighth Note Rhythms)
Arpeggios are a great way to practice your picking and are also a great way to
help you improve upon the cleanliness of your chord playing. Picking will help to
accent mistakes in your chord playing so you can correct them to have better
sounding chords all the time.
Take this exercise one line at a time. First, memorize the picking patterns. Then,
once you feel you have a good handle on that, memorize the chords for that line.
Practice each line slowly and work on connecting the notes and not leaving big
pauses between chord changes.
Once you have worked each line, put the whole exercise together to play from
beginning to end.
*GOAL: 100BPM
Level 6: 4 string Arpeggios

(pair with the Open 7 Chords, Syncopated Eighth Note Strumming)
Approach this exercise in the exact same way you practiced your 3 string
arpeggios. Focus first on the picking pattern alone, then playing along with the
chords.
*GOAL: 100BPM
You can also start practicing finger picking with this song. If you choose to practice
that option, I would recommend going a bit slower than you would with your
regular picking. Start first by getting your fingers used to the finger picking pattern
over and over again. Then apply it to the exercise.
*GOAL: 80BPM
Level 7: 5 & 6 String Arpeggios

(pair with 12 Bar Blues & Continue practicing Syncopated Eighth Note Strumming)
Approach this exercise in the exact same way you practiced your 3 & 4 string
arpeggios but focusing first on the picking pattern alone, then by playing along
with the chords.
It might be helpful to review Pick Control Exercise 2 as this exercise will reinforce
the string skipping needed to master this exercise.
*GOAL: 120BPM
With Fingerpicking:
*GOAL: 100bpm

Pick Control Exercise
The sooner you can learn the distance between your strings the better. This simple exercise will
help you to start navigating the strings on your guitar while also working on your picking
technique.
You will start on the fat 6th string and work your way up to the skinny 1st string and then back.
Pick down toward the floor 4 times in a row and try to keep a steady tempo and beat.
Tempo – is kind of like miles per hour on a speedometer. Measured in beats per minute (BMP),
tempo is how fast or slow the music is played
Beat – is referred to as the pulse of the music. It’s the part of the music that you tap your foot
to. It is always kept even and is often times established by the drummer of the band. When you
play alone, it is up to you to establish the beat and stick to it.
Playing Tips:
1. Try playing watching your picking hand.
2. Try playing with your eyes closed.

Spider Exercise 1
You will start on the 6th string and work your way up to the skinny 1st string and then back.
Pick down toward the floor 3 times in a row and try to keep a steady tempo and beat.
Use your 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers to play this exercise.
1st finger – index – plays 5th fret

2nd finger – middle – plays 6th fret
3rd finger – ring – plays 7th fret

Pick Control 2
Playing Tips:
1. Try playing watching your picking hand.
2. Try playing with your eyes closed.

Ode To Joy

Alternate Picking Exercise
Alternate picking is one of the most common picking motions used in guitar playing. You pick
by alternating between a downward picking motion ( ) and an upward picking motion ( ).
Below is a great exercise for developing finger dexterity along with your picking technique.
You can start this exercise by using all downward picking motions to get used to the pattern.
Then, move to alternate picking for the entire exercise. Use a metronome to make sure you are
picking at a consistent tempo between notes and strings.
Spider Exercise 2

Amazing Grace

3 String Chord Arpeggios



Fundamental 2: Chords & Chord Changes
11 videos ~ 60 minutes
60 Chord Change Play Along Videos
9 PDFs
I recommend starting with this section after you have developed a little dexterity
in your fretting hand. Often times, I will start teaching students chords along with
Spider 1 exercise. Starting with the Em and D6/9 chord will also help build
dexterity for chord changing.
*GOAL: 100BPM
For all chord changes, your goal is 100bpm. If you are practicing and are having a
hard time moving from 80bpm to 100 bpm, after 2-3 weeks of practicing, I
recommend moving on to the next Level.
For some people it takes a bit more time to develop the speed, but the chord
changes will be reinforced in your picking exercises as well as any songs you
choose to learn.
Looking for songs to play?
For a list of great beginner guitar songs to play along with, visit my website at:
www.laurenbateman.com/guitar-chord-charts
You can find a list ordered by the types of chords in the song here:
www.laurenbateman.com/beginner-guitar-songs
Level 1: The Em & D6/9 Chords

(pair with Pick Control Exercise 1, Quarter Note & Quarter Note Rests, and Whole, Half &
Quarter Notes)
Level 2: The Simple C & G Chords

(pair with Spider Exercise 1 and ¾ Time)
Level 3: The D Chord

(pair with Pick Control Exercise 2 and Ode to Joy)

Level 4: The Full C & G Chords
(pair with Spider Exercise 2 and Eighth Note Rhythms)
Level 5: The A & E Chords

(pair with Amazing Grace, 3 string Arpeggios, and continue Eighth Note Rhythm Practice)
Level 6: The Open 7 Chords

(pair with 4 String arpeggios and Syncopated Eighth Notes)
Level 7: 12 Bar Blues

(pair with 5 & 6 String Arpeggios and continue Syncopated Eighth Note Practice)

How To Read A Chord Diagram
Chord diagrams are used all over the place including music books that you might buy to learn
your favorite songs. We will use chord diagrams throughout your lessons, so it is a good idea to
make sure you know exactly how to read one.
A chord diagram looks like the frets and

strings on your guitar. The blocks or
squares represent your guitar frets, while
the vertical lines running up and down
represent your different strings. The
thickest string will be all the way to your
left, while the thinnest string will be all the
way to your right.
You will notice that there are different

markings on the chord diagram. The black
dots with the numbers represent where
you will place your fingers and what finger
to use.
For example:
In the diagram above, you would place your first finger on the 3rd string (G) of the 2nd fret, your
second finger on the 1st string (E) on the second fret, and your third finger on the 2 nd string (B)
at the third fret.
The “O” at the top means that you play that string open. Remember, playing a string open
means no finger is fretting the guitar string. In the diagram above, string 4 (D) will be played
open.
The “X” at the top means that you do not play that string. In the diagram above, strings 5 and 6
(E and A) will not be played.
On the next page, you will see chords with their respective chord diagrams. See if you can figure
out how to play these chords.

The Em & D6/9 Chords
Em
The little m stands for minor
D 6/9

Basic Starter Chords
(pair with videos #3 & #4)
C D
G Em
These are the simple two-fingered versions of C and G chords I teach to help build
finger dexterity and make playing along to songs much easier in the beginning.
The full chord I often find are two much for students right out of the box.
Students usually progress to the full chords within a matter of 2-4 weeks.

Chord Practice 1
(pair with videos #3 #4 & #5)
Now that you have learned your chords, you will need to:
1. Memorize their names and positions on the guitar.

2. Work on improving you speed.
The faster you can change between two chords, the more the songs you play will sound like music.
1-Minute Chord Change Drills:
Time yourself for 1-minute and see how fast you can do the following chord changes. Strum down, once
per chord, then switch. That will be your Week 1 baseline. Your goal is to consistently change chords at
100 beats per minute (bpm) with a metronome. Usually 10 chord changes in a row.
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6

Em to C
Em to G
C to G
Em to D
D to C
D to G
Simple Chord Progressions:
A chord progression is a cycle of chords that you repeat. Once you have memorized your chords, try
playing these chord progressions starting with one whole note down strum per chord. Try to keep your
changes slow and smooth, not fast and choppy
| Em | C | Em | G :| Repeat 4 times
| Em | C | G | D :| Repeat 4 times
| C | G | Em | D :| Repeat 4 times
| C | D | G | Em :| Repeat 4 times

Full Open Chords Major And Minor
C D G
Em A Am
E Dm

Chord Practice 1
1-Minute Chord Change Drills:
Just like before, you should practice 1-minute drills on the following chord changes. These should go
much quicker than the 1st set. Each is associated with a different level. The first two sections along with
the Am to Dm chord have play along videos. The rest you can practice on your own.
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week6

Full Chords
C to G
C to D
G to D
A to E
A to D
E to D
Am to Dm
Am to Em
Am to C
Am to G
Am to D
Dm to G
Dm to C
Simple Chord Progressions Practice Will Full Chords:
| Em | C | G | D :| Repeat 4 times
| C | G | Em | D :| Repeat 4 times
| C | D | G | Em :| Repeat 4 times
| A | D | E | D :| Repeat 4 times
| E | A | D | A :| Repeat 4 times
| C | Am | G | D :| Repeat 4 times
| Am | Dm | Em | Dm :| Repeat 4 times

Beginner Fixes For F and F#m
(pair with videos #9)
Easy F#m using the A chord
A F#m
Easy F using the C chord

(This F chord is also known as Fmaj7)
C F

Basic Seven Chords
A7 B7 C7
D7 E7 G7
Em7 Am7

12 Bar Blues
Blues in A
Blues in E

Fundamental 3: Rhythm & Strumming
9 videos – 60 minutes
5 Play Along Videos
12 PDFs
168 Play Along mp3 Tracks
This is by far the biggest section of the course and was designed as its own solo
course in beginner strumming. I decided to combine it with my level 1 course to
give you a full background.
In this course, I work through eighth note strumming as these are the most
popular strumming patterns you will find in most of today’s popular music. 16th
note strumming is a more intermediate level skill and can require some VERY fast
hand speed and dexterity. This is why I reserve it for students down the road.
Below is the breakdown for this section of the course and how to best work
through it. The levels correspond to the other items you should pairs these
exercises with and not the actual level of the strumming patterns as shown in
each video or exercise sheet.
Level 1: Quarter Notes & Quarter Note Rests

(pair with Pick Control Exercise 1, The Em & The D6/9 Chords & Whole, Half & Quarter Notes)
Level 1: Whole, Half & Quarter Notes

(pair with Pick Control Exercise 1, The Em & The D6/9 Chords and Quarter Notes & Quarter
Note Rests)
Level 3: Eighth Note Rhythms

(pair with Pick Control 2, Ode To Joy and The Full C & G Chords)
Level 4: ¾ Time
(pair with Spider Exercise 2, The A & E Chords and The Am & Dm Chords)
Level 6: Syncopated Eighth Notes

(pair with 4 string Arpeggios and The open 7 Chords)

The goal of this section of the course is to help you learn how to play basic rhythm
patterns that you can use in the simplest of guitar songs. You can find many song
options on my website (https://www.laurenbateman.com/guitar-chord-charts) that use
simple chords and simple strumming to play along with.
Step 1: INTRO MATERIALS

Review the Intro PDFs. They will serve as a good background information to the
video materials. I would start in this order:
1. How to Count Quarter and Eighth Note Rhythms
2. What is a Time Signature
Hopefully you will have a good understanding, but if you are still a little confused,
don’t worry. Follow-up the written materials with the following videos.
1. Guitar Strumming Intro
2. How to Get the Most Out of This Course
3. Intro To Whole Half and Quarter Notes
4. Intro to Time Signatures
After reviewing the materials, you can either stop there to let the information
absorb of jump right into the Level 1 rhythm patterns.
Step 2: Listen to the Strumming

While I know you want to jump right in with the strumming, I would recommend
listening first. Watch the Rhythm videos (Not the close up videos) where each
rhythm pattern is explained. Print out the PDF that accompanies that level and
read along while you listen.
Once you go through the video, then you can go back to the beginning and try to
play along with me in each section.
Step 3: Learn Each Individual Strumming Pattern First

Start by working only one strumming pattern at a time. Learn the strumming
patterns individually and then try to link them together in order. You can play
along with the close ups or you can use the audio tracks to strum along with.
TIP: While I am trying to strum slow, if you find I am going too fast, stop the video
and work on getting the strum before continuing.
Once you feel you have the individual strums down, use the audio files to try and
increase your speed from 40 beats per minute (bpm) to 100 bpm.
Step 4: Play From Beginning to the End

Once you feel you have a good handle on each individual strumming pattern, you
can try linking them together from the beginning to end without stopping and
without making mistakes. Again, take this very slow at first.
You can use the audio files or videos to play along with entire sections of
strumming.
Step 5: Switch Chords

Once you feel you have a good feel for the rhythms, you can try switching chords
while strumming. You can start with switching between just 2 simple chords or 4
different chords. Below are the chord progressions that I recommend:
Simplest:
Em to D6/9 (shown in Intro video)
Slightly Harder:
G Em C D
Since each strumming pattern is played 4 times in a row you can either play two
chords and switch every 2 measures or you can switch chords over every single
measure for example:
| Em | D6/9 | Em | D6/9 | or
| Em | Em | D6/9 | D6/9 | or
| G | Em | C | D |

Step 6: Move On To The Next Level
You do not have to reach 100bpm on each strumming patterns before moving on
to the next level, but I would shoot for trying to at least reach 80bpm on each.
STEP 7: Applying Strumming to Songs

Most students want to learn how to strum so that they can apply it to songs. To
be able to know exactly what strumming pattern to use, you will have to have a
good ear for what the guitar is playing. That takes time and is not something that
is explored in this course.
BUT….
You can experiment by using these patterns in your favorite songs and see how it
sounds and what you like best. These patterns are so common that they will work
with the majority of songs you will want to play.
You can also visit the Guitar Chord Chart section of my website where I list some
of these strumming patterns as recommendations in the songs. So pop on over
there and you can give them a try as well.

Notes Values
In music, notes can be held for varying lengths of time. The type of note will tell you how many
beats or pulses to hold a note for. Let’s review some of these note value below.
1 Beat 2 Beats 4 Beats

Clap out loud and count along with each type of note.
Quarter note, clap and count with each note 1, 2, 3, 4.
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Half note, clap on the first note and count 1, 2, clap on the second note and count 3, 4
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Whole note clap once and count 1, 2, 3, 4.
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

How To Count Specific Rhythms
When discussing rhythm in general, a good thing to get started with is the beat of the music.
This is usually what you tap your foot to when you are at a concert or listening to a song. The
tempo, or how fast this tapping occurs is measured in beats per minute or BPM. For example,
the second hand on your watch would click at 60 BPM.
Below, we will learn how to count quarter and eighth note rhythms independent of tempo.
Quarter Notes:
Quarter notes are simply the “downbeat” of music. What that means is, it is the pulse of the
music, or what you would clap to or tap your foot to in a particular song. When counting this
rhythm we count each measure as, “1, 2, 3, 4” and then repeat.
Count: 1 2 3 4
Eighth Notes:
8th notes are half of the value of a quarter note. When counting these rhythms, we count each
measure as “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and”.
Count: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
Quarter Note Rest:

A rest is exactly what you think it would be. It is the point in music where you pause to take a
breath. In the example below, you will see a symbol, which represents a quarter note rest.
You would still count the example as 1, 2, 3, 4, but you would not play anything on the 1st
count.
rest 2 3 4
A quarter note and a quarter note rest take up the same amount of space in the measure.

What Is A Time Signature?
In music, we have something called a time signature. It is very important because it tells us how many
beats are in a measure, or how high we have to count before we start back at the number 1.
A time signature consists of two numbers as shown below:
The top number represents how many beats are in a measure, of how high you cunt. The bottom
number represents either quarter notes (4) eighth notes (8) or sixteenth notes (32). There can be many
varieties of times signatures in music as shown below:
We will focus on two types of time signatures for now 3/4 and 4/4. (Pronounced three four and four
four respectively). For now, all you need to know is that the top number tells you whether to count to 3
or to count to 4.

Rhythm Progress Tracking Sheet
Level 1 Learned 40bpm 60bpm 80bpm 100bpm

Single Strumming Patterns
Section 1
Section 2
With Chord Changes
Level 1a Learned 40bpm 60bpm 80bpm 100bpm

Entire Section
With Chord Changes

Section 1
Section 2
With Chord Changes

Section 1
Section 2
With Chord Changes
3/4 Time Learned 40bpm 60bpm 80bpm 100bpm

Section 1
With Chord Changes

Quarter Notes & Quarter Note Rests

Quarter, Half & Whole Note Rhythms

Eighth Note Rhythms

¾ Time With Quarter & Eighth Notes
(

Syncopated Eighth Notes

How to Use Strumming Patterns Even When Your
Chords Are Still Slow
A lot of times when I start eighth note strumming with students, their chord changes still may
not be quick enough to play the whole pattern. To adjust for this, we would only use half the
pattern or drop the last beat of the pattern.
This allows for more time to do your chord changes while still keeping the music in time.
Let’s take a look at an example of how to much a strum easier to play when your chord aren’t
quite fast enough.
Say you are trying to play the below pattern:
The first option would be to leave the last eighth note off the pattern, so you would play the
below pattern instead. Which will give a split second extra to make a chord change.
If that’s not enough, try option 2. Skip the entire last beat and play the below pattern instead.
You play the first three beats of the pattern and count the 4 th beat as a rest.
And if that’s still not enough, try option 3. Skip the last two beat and play the below pattern
instead. You play the first two beats of the pattern and count the 3 rd and 4th beats as a rests.

How to Develop Your Strumming Hand to Sing and Play
at the Same Time
Once my guitar students get into strumming and having fun with their guitar, the next question
I usually get is, “How do I play guitar and sing at the same time?”
By the time students get around to asking this question, we are usually on to some syncopated
rhythm patterns. Meaning there isn’t a down strum on every beat. When they go to sing, their
strumming falls apart. This is because the student hasn’t trained their strumming hand to be
able do both yet.
When playing guitar, it’s easy to think that we have mastered something when he haven’t really
taken things out into the real world and applied them. Most guitar students try to sing and play
guitar way before they have actually mastered the art of strumming.
In this article, I’m going to give you some tips for how you can develop your strumming hand to
the point where you can sing and play at the same time.
Step 1: Simplify The Pattern

Let’s say you are working on the strumming pattern below:
In this strumming pattern, there is no down strum on the 3rd beat and that can really throw
students for a loop. What I recommend is simplifying the pattern so that you can sing it. Maybe

something like the one below.
This will allow you to play along with the song and sing while you continue to develop your
strumming hand. I removed the syncopation to allow your brain time to place the lyrics better
without the hand skipping a beat.
Step 2: Practice Mastering Your Strumming Hand

While simplifying the pattern does offer us a temporary quick fix solution, it does not solve the
problem, which is the fact that your strumming hand is not yet on auto pilot.
In order to do this, I want you to take a strumming pattern you know, maybe the first pattern
we used in this article. It is a common one my students have trouble with and one that is used
in many songs.
First, make sure you can play the pattern with your eyes closed. Once you can do that, I want
you to stand up. Make sure you have a guitar strap for this next step.
Start playing the strumming pattern you ‘know so well’ and try to walk. Yes, don’t try to sing,
try to walk and play that strumming pattern at the same time. When you do this, you might find
it very hard to walk naturally. Maybe there are pauses in your steps, maybe there are pauses in
your strumming.
Step 3: Slow Down

While practicing the above activity, go VERY slow. I mean slow. Almost like you are walking
through wet cement. Focus on getting your strumming hand to work perfectly whether you are
taking a step with your right or your left foot.
Once your steps smooth out, start trying to go faster and then try to run while strumming and
even jumping around if you can.
Once you have that down pat you can add even more syncopation like in the strum below:

Here we have three up strums in a row and that can be quite difficult for someone to walk and
play never mind sing over.
Step 4: Hum or Chat It Up

Once you have mastered walking around and strumming or at least feel like you can walk at a
normal pace, try humming along while playing and then try having a conversation. You can have
it with someone else or on your own. Pick your strumming pattern and try to answer these
questions with more than one word answers:
1. How was your day today?

2. What do you have played for the weekend?
3. What your favorite song and why?
When you can talk and play at the same time without thinking about your strumming hand,
then you are ready to strum and sing at the same time.
For some of my students, this process can take a couple months and others it can take a couple
weeks. It really depends on how much you practice and how coordinated you are.
When singing and playing guitar at the same time, the guitar has to be on autopilot. You cannot
be thinking about it at all. Muscle memory takes over at that point which frees up your brain to
think about the lyrics and singing.
Believe it or not, our brains were not made for multitasking. So, if you are thinking about your
strumming at all, you can kiss good-bye to your singing.
Give these tips and tricks a try. They works wonders for my students and hopefully they will
work wonders for you.

1.1 Level 1 Guitar Course Workbook PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1.1 Level 1 Guitar Course Workbook PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

1.1 Level 1 Guitar Course Workbook PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction to the Course

Congratulations on investing in yourself!

1. Exact goals and endpoints.

2. The right amount of content at the right time.

a. The #1 failure of most guitar teachers is that they overwhelm their

3. Keep it simple and not so technical.

a. The biggest compliment I get from students in person and online is

4. Interaction, Motivation, Q&A

a. I believe the BIGGEST failure of most online courses is that you do

pg. 3 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

The 3 fundamentals you will learn are:

pg. 4 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

The choice is yours. You know your learning style best.

pg. 5 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

Fundamental 1: Dexterity & Picking

Fundamental 2: Chords & Chord Changes

Fundamental 3: Rhythm & Strumming

Level 1: Quarter Notes & Quarter Note Rests

pg. 6 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

pg. 7 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

How long should it take me to work through the course?

pg. 8 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

Things I listen for with my students:

pg. 9 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

Don’t have 60 minutes? No problem!

Like anything in this course DO NOT overwhelm yourself. These videos

3. How To Use A Metronome

4. How To Hold Your Guitar

pg. 10 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

6. How To Tune Your Guitar

7. How To Read Guitar Tab

8. The Musical Alphabet

9. Preventing Wrist Tension

pg. 11 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

pg. 12 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

Practicing with a metronome is something I recommend to all of my students and

A metronome is a click that indicates the exact tempo or speed of a piece of

Should You Practice Everything with a Metronome?

Why Use a Metronome?

Metronomes are a great way to measure progress in terms of speed as well as

pg. 13 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

Before Tuning: Notes Of Your Guitar Strings

You will notice that two strings are tuned to E.

pg. 14 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

First String: 0, 0, 1, 3, 3, 1, 0 Second String: 3

pg. 15 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

Notation is divided into measures or bars of music represented by vertical lines.

pg. 16 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

Level 1: Pick Control Exercise 1

Level 2: Spider Exercise 1

pg. 17 Copyright 2017 Lauren Bateman Music,Inc.

Level 3: Ode To Joy

*GOAL: 60BPM, playing slowly and fluidly

Level 3: Pick Control Exercise 2

*GOAL: 60BPM watching your picking hand

Level 4: Spider Exercise 2

Level 5: Amazing Grace

Level 5: 3 String Arpeggios