Beginning Rock Guitar by Doug Marks is Module 1 of the Complete Guitar Course
This Module Includes: 2 Videos to download and stream (9 weekly lessons), printable tab, backing tracks, and optional Guitar Pro files. No subscription fees. Videos will stream to all devices.
Course Description
Beginning Rock Guitar includes the first nine weeks of the forty-eight week course. The course begins with the basics that explain guitar tuning - how to read tablature - basic playing techniques - the pentatonic scale in five positions, diatonic scale patterns - power chords - open position chords - barre chords, chord progressions - riffs - licks - practice tips - and more!
"I used to get bored and gravitate to learning songs. I have the opposite problem now because I just want to practice the lessons and make progress! I'm loving the new course and since I can just grab the iPad and do it anywhere I'm a heck of a lot more consistent." - Mike M
This Course Includes the Following
This program includes a very detailed table of contents with the exact location (00:00) for each of the following topics. There's a ton of information here.
- Course overview and how to get started
- How to read tab (includes pdf)
- Learn to play an A-minor pentatonic lead pattern – tab demonstration
- Configure Guitar Pro for standard notation view
- Tune your guitar by ear
- Tune your guitar with a tuner or a software app
- How to hold the pick
- 5th intervals and power chords
- Introduction to power chords
- Your first jam – play along with backing track
- Learn to play any song with power chords
- Technique – mute sixth string with 5th finger
- Smoke on the Water riff
- How to create a hard rock sound
- Adjust amp for clean volume
- Adjust amp for distortion
- Use gain control for additional distortion
- Amp tone control
- Distortion pedal for maximum distortion
- Technique – correct finger angle
- Correct way to position / hold guitar
- Using a guitar strap
- Technique – flat wrist on fretting hand
- How to use the guitar strap to easily stand and Play
- Fret hand finger technique
- Picking technique – down strokes
- A minor pentatonic scale ascending and descending
- Power chords on 5th and 4th Strings
- Electric vs. acoustic guitar
- Guitar buying tips
- Identifying parts of the guitar
- Pickups
- Pickup selector switch
- Signal path
- How the course is organized
- Guitar Pro software explained
- Forming new habits
- How to read chord diagrams
- Your turn to play rhythm while I play lead.
- Chord progression explained
- Note names (PDF included with lesson materials)
- Octaves explained
- Sharps and flats explained
- Note names on the 6th string
- Note names on the 5th string
- Power chord names
- Guitar licks are defined and composition explained
- Picking techniques: down strokes and alternate picking
- Legato and staccato
- 2nd pattern of the pentatonic scale
- “As you play each note leave the finger pressed to the string. Only lift it when absolutely necessary.”
- First two pentatonic patterns explained
- The five pentatonic patterns (PDF in course materials)
- List of songs for beginner guitarists
- Three of the most popular open chords
- The song “Onward”
- Chord diagrams
- How to play open chords – angle of fingers and finger pressure
- Technique for smoothly changing chords
- The third pattern of A-minor pentatonic
- Three pentatonic patterns combined
- How to memorize note names
- Note rhythmic values
- Time signature – ¾ time
- Eighth note rests
- Heavy chord progression
- Fourth pentatonic pattern
- Scale sequence explanation
- How to play licks, in time, over a chord progression
- 4 basic licks from four pentatonic patterns
- Chords – making each string sounds
- Bar chords explained
- How to position the first finger for an effective bar
- Twisting motion to clamp the bar to the fret
- Speed and accuracy tips and exercise
- Guitar riffs explained
- The cause of out of tune sounding chords
- A properly setup guitar is easier to play
- About string height and guitar set-up
- The 5th pentatonic position
- Changing keys with the 5 pentatonic patterns
- Practice and motivation
- Rhythmic notation
- A minor and E major open chords
- Chord strumming technique
- Mute sixth string with thumb
- AC/DC style riff
- Mastering bar chords
- Drop D tuning - first step to master the barre
- Tuning my low E string to D - drop D tuning demonstration
- Play power chord with one finger
- The barre technique explained (briefly)
- Song with backing track
- Be sure that each string sounds at the barre
- Intervals explained
- Major scale intervals explained
- Minor is evil
- Power chords are the first and fifth tones of the major scale.
- I, IV, V progression explained and demonstrated
- A minor and E major open chords (Closeup)
- A major open chord up close and personal.
- Five-string bar
- Shapes in front of the five string bar to form major, minor, minor seventh, and dominant seventh
- Move the barre up and down the neck to form hundreds of chords
- Adding notes to the open D chord
- Changing notes on the E string while playing the open D chord.
- Make practice a habit, consistency is the key to success.
- Top Ten Tips for Mastering Guitar
- Tip - The value of repetition
- Exercise 1 from Speed and Accuracy for Lead Guitar
- Whole tone and half tone intervals explained
- The three diatonic patterns
- Avoid spider fingers
- Triplets, three notes per beat
- Shapes from the E major open chord.
- Review of the technique for six string barre chords
- Six string G barre chord
- Barre chords: A major, A minor 7th, A minor, A 7
- Tip - Create your own program
- The hammer-on technique
- How to make the hammer-on sound clearly
- My favorite finger dexterity exercise – 02132432
- Acoustic guitar technique
- All common open chords for rock guitar
- Chord chart
What They Say About our Courses
Many of today’s rock stars learned to play guitar with the original version of this course. The following is from an interview by Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge, Slash).
"You know, I started off taking lessons from a teacher and he’d teach me how to read music on guitar and play songs like Mary Had A Little Lamb and that lasted a few months. That just wasn’t going to work for me (laughs). I really wanted to play rock. I actually ordered out of the back of a magazine something called the Metal Method, which was by this guy named Doug Marks. That was how I learned to play. It was this audio cassette with little pamphlet series. It worked great."
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