Guitar Thoughts Guitar Lesson
Guitar Thoughts
Lauren Passarelli gives her thoughts on several important aspects of the guitar including holding the guitar, holding the pick, playing chords, string skipping, practicing, learning techniques and even a discussion on why the guitar is so versatile.
Taught by Lauren Passarelli in Lauren Passarelli Artist Series seriesLength: 20:17Difficulty: 1.0 of 5
Supplemental Learning Material
Lauren Passarelli Artist Series
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsLauren Passarelli is an accomplished musician, songwriter and teacher. She is currently a full professor at the Berklee College of Music.
Lesson 1
Lauren Passarelli Interview
This interview covers topics such as music theory, reading sheet music, songwriting, and music technology.
Length: 37:34 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 2
Guitar Purchase and Care
Lauren Passarelli offers up her wisdom on purchasing a guitar. She also includes information regarding proper setup and care.
Length: 19:55 Difficulty: 0.5 FREE
Guitar Thoughts
Lauren Passarelli gives her thoughts on several important aspects of the guitar including holding the guitar, holding the pick, playing chords, string skipping, practicing, learning techniques and even...
Length: 20:17 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Time and Space
Lauren talks about the importance of rhythm and proper practice habits.
Length: 12:56 Difficulty: 1.5 Members Only
Reading Music, Chord Spelling and Arpeggios
Lauren Passarelli is back with a behemoth of a lesson. In this lesson, she gives tips on reading music and provides a wealth of music theory knowledge including chord spellings and arpeggios.
Length: 39:26 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Pick Tricks, Learning Tips and Ear Protection
In this lesson, Lauren offers her thoughts on guitar picks, learning efficiently, and the important of protecting your hearing.
Length: 5:15 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Vocal Tips
Lauren Passarelli gives a few potent tips to improve vocal performance and longevity.
Length: 3:56 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Slide Guitar Tips
Lauren Passarelli discusses slide guitar and dishes out several quality tips.
Length: 4:58 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Songwriting Ideas
Lauren begins discussing the topic of songwriting. In this lesson, she talks about how one simple chord can be a foundation for an entire song.
Length: 13:03 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Chords and Rhythm
Lauren Passarelli gives some tips on playing chords and maintaining rhythm while doing so.
Length: 4:48 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Songwriting Ideas Part 2
Lauren starts off by talking about RAS (Retinal Activation Syndrome) and then moves on to talk about the inspiration that goes into creating a song and its lyrics. She also talks about indirect lines and...
Length: 16:56 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Songwriting Ideas Part 3
Lauren Passarelli returns with more ideas on songwriting. This time around she talks about chords and chord naming, writing lyrics and uses her own song "Playing With the Pieces" as an example.
Length: 11:09 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Simplicity and Songwriting
Lauren talks about how sometimes simple chords, progressions or licks can be used to create some of the most powerful songs. She uses two of her own original songs to illustrate this point.
Length: 17:12 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Using Song Ideas
Lauren Passarelli talks about the process of whittling down massive pools of songwriting inspiration into a single, focused and usable song.
Length: 10:04 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
All the Words
Lauren showcases her original song "All the Words" as a way of demonstrating how powerful an extremely "simple" song can truly be.
Length: 5:52 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Writing Lyrics
Lauren Passarelli talks about the process of writing song lyrics and gives insight as to where both lyrics and song names can come from.
Length: 8:11 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Writing Lyrics Part 2
Lauren returns to the topic of lyric writing with several more potent tips.
Length: 3:33 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Alternate Tunings and Songwriting
Lauren Passarelli discusses how alternate tunings can be used in the songwriting process and demonstrates her original song entitled "From the Water."
Length: 10:34 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Rhythms of the Sun
Lauren introduces her original song "Rhythms of the Sun" and uses it as a springboard to demonstrate how songs can come from nothing into fruition.
Length: 9:12 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Alternate Tunings Part 2
Lauren Passarelli further explorers the world of open tunings. In this lesson, she talks about DACGAD tuning and demonstrates two of her original songs.
Length: 11:09 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Two Original Songs
Lauren Passarelli demonstrates two of her original songs and uses them as examples to show how songs can be written.
Length: 10:44 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Sometimes
Lauren Passarelli introduces her original song entitled "Sometimes." She uses this song as a wonderful jumping off point to discuss how songs can be written.
Length: 8:54 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
The Dreams I'm Living For
Lauren Passarelli demonstrates her original song called "The Dreams I'm Living For" and uses it to discuss different songwriting techniques.
Length: 7:18 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
New Tunings
Lauren Passarelli introduces two new tunings. She plays two of her original songs to demonstrate how they can be used.
Length: 13:20 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
D to C Tuning
Lauren Passarelli introduces a new tuning in which the D string is tuned down to C. She performs her original songs to demonstrate how this tuning can be used.
Length: 13:04 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Nail Care
Lauren takes a short break from her songwriting lessons to discuss nail care, an often overlooked yet crucial subject.
Length: 4:25 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Mainly Distance
Lauren Passarelli demonstrates her original song called "Mainly Distance." Lauren uses this fingerpicking tune as a vehicle to talk about songwriting.
Length: 8:31 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
In the Style of Songwriting
Lauren first introduces one of her original tunes and talks about how it was written. Then, she moves on to talk about writing songs in the style of your favorite artist.
Length: 19:21 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
Lyrical Inspiration from Poems
In this lesson, Lauren talks about how classic poems and your original poems can be a fountain of lyrical ideas.
Length: 17:36 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
I Carry On
In this lesson, Lauren Passarelli talks about playing chords in random positions to find interesting sounds. She also discusses pinch harmonics and the effectiveness of palm muting. She demonstrates her...
Length: 7:38 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Warming up and Triplets
Lauren teaches a few chromatic scale fingerings that can be used as warm-ups. She proceeds to talk about interesting ways to conceptualize and count triplets.
Length: 13:20 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Warming up Muscles
In this lesson, Lauren talks about the importance of making sure the muscles in your wrist and forearms are properly warmed up before playing. She also talks about remedies for muscle soreness.
Length: 4:54 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Tuner Thoughts
Lauren Passarelli takes a brief pause from her songwriting lessons to talk about guitar tuners, which kind she prefers, and why.
Length: 3:12 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Song Imitations
Lauren Passarelli explains how a riff, lick, tuning or even chords from a song you like can be used as inspiration when suffering from writer's block.
Length: 34:23 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Song Inspiration
Lauren talks about some of the interesting places song inspiration can come from, including things as simple as refrigerator magnets.
Length: 16:54 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Song Demonstrations
In this lesson, Lauren demonstrates several of her original songs and describes the process she went through while writing each one. This lesson is perfect for songwriters looking for inspiration!
Length: 23:14 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Instrumental Songs
Lauren talks about the process of writing instrumental songs and demonstrates a few of her originals.
Length: 23:14 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Instrumentals Part 2
Lauren returns to the world of instrumental songwriting. In this lesson, she demonstrates three of her originals and talks about how they were crafted.
Length: 12:07 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Book and Movie List
Lauren Passarelli shares a list of books and movies that she thinks are valuable for any guitarist. She covers books and movies not only on the topic of guitar but also everyday living.
Length: 4:00 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Growing as a Musician
In this lesson Lauren Passarelli gives her recommendations on good ways to grow as not only a guitarist, but also as an all around musician.
Length: 10:37 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Tips on Performing
Lauren Passarelli gives a few tips on performing and then closes out her artist series with an original tune.
Length: 19:14 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
About Lauren Passarelli
View Full Biography
Lauren Passarelli is an award winning teacher & distinguished alumni from Berklee College of Music where she has been a guitar Professor since 1984.
Originally from Paramus, NJ, Lauren received a fantastic guitar foundation using the Alfred’s, Mel Bay, Harry Shearer & William G. Leavitt guitar books from her first guitar teacher, Lou Sabini.
Graduating in 1982 as the first woman to finish the guitar performance program, Lauren also became the first woman to join Berklee’s guitar faculty & first to be promoted to full Professor.
She’s a multi instrumentalist, vocalist, arranger, recording engineer & record producer & has worked with Cindy Brown, Sarah Burrill, Thaddeus Hogarth, Kate Chadbourne, Danny Morris, Pat Metheny, Elizabeth Lorrey, Nancy Beaudette, Melissa Etheridge, Jane Miller, Louis Arnold & many others.
Her students include Derek Sivers, founder of cdbaby, Panos Panay, founder of sonic bids; Will Knox; Kyle Patrick, of Click 5; Jesse Ruben & Rob Harkness, founder of Barn Productions.
Lauren specializes in creativity, composing, sight reading, the ability to groove, the music of The Beatles, alternate guitar tunings, song writing, recording, producing, arranging & Artist survival skills. She writes in standard & alternate tunings, plays slide & fretless guitar, and approaches the guitar as a mini orchestra. She has the ability to play funky riffs and sing counter melodies at the same time.
She endorses, Line 6, Wechter, Guild, Fender, Taylor, Godin, Washburn, Yamaha, Martin, Rane, Electro Voice, Crowley & Tripp, AKG, Audio Technica, Groove Tubes, Bose, DR Handmade Strings, D’Addario, Planet Waves, IK Multimedia, East West, Apple, Studiomaster, ADA Amplification, Marshall, Vox, ART & more.
There are hundreds of performances, clinics & interview videos on youtube featuring Lauren & her original music as well as Beatle covers while she was touring as the sound-a-like George Harrison.
She is the co-founder of Feather Records, Cotton Moon Music, Wizard & Feather Brown Productions & PassaBrown Studios.
Lauren’s music is available world wide on cdbaby, iTunes, Rhapsody, Pandora & many other sites. Her CDs include: “Among The Ruins” & “Shadow Language” under her band name Two Tru, “Back to the Bone”, New CDs coming soon ~ “Playing With the Pieces” & “Blast of Love.”
"Lauren Passarelli is a great guitar player" Pat Metheny.
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Steve Eulberg
Steve Eulberg does a quick review of this lesson series and talks about moving on.
Free LessonSeries Details
Randall Williams
In this lesson Randall introduces the partial capo (using a short-cut capo by Kyser) and talks about how it can make the...
Free LessonSeries Details
Nick Amodeo
Nick explains how to play some of the most commonly used chords in the bluegrass genre.
Free LessonSeries Details
Kaki King
In lesson 6, Kaki discusses how the left and right hands can work together or independently of each other to create different...
Free LessonSeries Details
Danny Voris
Lesson 7 is all about arpeggios. Danny provides discussion and exercises designed to build your right hand skills.
Free LessonSeries Details
Mark Lincoln
Time to unlock your creativity because in this information packed lesson. Mark dives deep into how to deconstruct the process...
Free LessonSeries Details
Hawkeye Herman
Hawkeye teaches several Robert Johnson licks in this lesson. These licks are played with a slide in open G tuning.
Free LessonSeries Details
Erik Mongrain
Erik expounds on the many possibilities of open tunings and the new harmonics that you can use in them. He explains what...
Free LessonSeries Details
Mark Kroos
Free LessonSeries Details
Electric Guitar Lesson Samples
Our electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Lauren Passarelli
Lauren Passarelli offers up her wisdom on purchasing a guitar. She also includes information regarding proper setup and care....
Free LessonSeries Details
Tosin Abasi
Tosin explains some of the intricacies of the 8 string guitar such as his personal setup and approach to playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Nick Kellie
Nick explains how to use scales and modes effectively when soloing over a chord progression.
Free LessonSeries Details
David Wallimann
This is a crucial lesson that explains tablature, how to read it, and why it's important.
Free LessonSeries Details
Allen Van Wert
Allen shows you the 24 rudiments crucial to developing finger dexterity. This is a short lesson but the exercises here can...
Free LessonSeries Details
Kenny Ray
Albert Collins brought a lot of style to the blues scene. In this lesson, Kenny breaks down Albert's style for you to learn.
Free LessonSeries Details
Daniel Gilbert
Known around the world for his inspirational approach to guitar instruction, Musician's Institute veteran Daniel Gilbert...
Free LessonSeries Details
Eric Madis
In this lesson Eric talks about playing basic lead in the Memphis Blues style.
Free LessonSeries Details
James Malone
James explains how to tap arpeggios for extended musical reach.
Free LessonSeries Details
Lisa Pursell
Lisa breaks into the very basics of the electric guitar. She starts by explaining the parts of the guitar. Then, she dives...
Free LessonSeries DetailsAdditional Lesson Features Available to Members
While we have attempted to provide you with an accurate rendition of our video lesson experience, there are some features which
require a membership with us!
Custom Progress Reporting
At JamPlay, we give you the ability to monitor your own progress for any lesson! If you watch one of our lessons and feel as though you understand around half of it, mark your progress at 50%. This adds the lesson to your customized Progress Report, and gives you an incredible ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.
Progressive Bookmarking
With thousands of lessons at your fingertips, JamPlay can be a touch intimidating to a first-time user. With Progressive Bookmarking, we give you the ability to systematically bookmark sections of any lessons you are working on to quickly access later. After all, what is the point of all this content if it isn't easy to use?
Save Your Notes
JamPlay also gives you the ability to leave notes for yourself on any lesson. Just like in any educational system, taking your own notes while learning gives you the ability to highlight the instruction that is important to you. Leave your notes, and we store them in our database for you to reference each and everytime you come back to the lesson.
Join the Thousands of Members at JamPlay
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Unlimited Lesson Viewing
A JamPlay membership gives you access to every lesson, from every teacher on our staff. Additionally, there is no restriction on how many times you watch a lesson. Watch as many times as you need.Live Lessons
Exclusive only to JamPlay, we currently broadcast 8-10 hours of steaming lesson services directly to you! Enjoy the benefits of in-person instructors and the conveniences of our community.Interactive Community
Create your own profile, manage your friends list, and contact users with your own JamPlay Mailbox. JamPlay also features live chat with teachers and members, and an active Forum.Chord Library
Each chord in our library contains a full chart, related tablature, and a photograph of how the chord is played. A comprehensive learning resource for any guitarist.Scale Library
Our software allows you to document your progress for any lesson, including notes and percent of the lesson completed. This gives you the ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.Custom Chord Sheets
At JamPlay, not only can you reference our Chord Library, but you can also select any variety of chords you need to work on, and generate your own printable chord sheet.Backing Tracks
Jam-along backing tracks give the guitarist a platform for improvising and soloing. Our backing tracks provide a wide variety of tracks from different genres of music, and serves as a great learning tool.Interactive Games
We have teachers covering beginner lessons, rock, classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, fingerstyle, slack key and more. Learn how to play the guitar from experienced players, in a casual environment.Beginners Welcome.. and Up
Unlike a lot of guitar websites and DVDs, we start our Beginner Lessons at the VERY start of the learning process, as if you just picked up a guitar for the first time.Our teaching is structured for all players.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Every NOT NEW student should review this lesson. Thanks for helping to turn drudgery into purpose. I love the way you think. I am returning to the guitar, after many years away. Thanks to you for helping me adjust my perspective.
Every new Student should view these lessons, Its great! thank you!
Forgot more than I knew and trying to relearn all that I left bind. I like the way you explain what I left behind and am working on to get back. Thanks Leon
Lauren: Thank you for emphasizing the need for patience. I have been practicing finger exercises and its slow going but I have seen progress in the last month.
we shouldn't even be questioning patience, or be impatient with ourselves, if it's something new, it's new. How goog can we possibly be when we're new at something? Are we enjoying doing it is the question. Then you will do it a lot & actually improve. But you can't keep asking if you're improving it's like trying to watch grass grow. You grow when you're showing up doing it day in day out. You won't be good until you get good. You won't be taller til you are taller. It's fun to learn, just have fun. Before ya know it you'll be good.
Great lesson! I had reached the point of becoming a bit frustrated. This lesson re-energized me to keep going and try to be patient.
well in this day & age we all want everything last week or sooner. you are actually teaching your body & mind how to do these things it's like learning how to crawl & walk. You didn't even question it. How long is this gonna take? Should it really hurt this much when I fall down? I'm not sure I want to do this. And all your relatives just shook their heads, "tsk tsk, oh well looks like this one is never gonna walk..." No, ya just did it. Nike just do it. Y a have to show up & put in the hours. There's no short cuts. It's repetition that builds skill. If it looks easy for someone, then you know they've put in the time.
Lauren, OMG Thank you. I started playing guitar in Oct. 2010 and for the most part dedicate about an hour/day to practice. Your comments regarding how the brain works was a very comforting to hear. It's good to know my approach will benefit me in the long run. Your lessons to date really resonate with me.
I agree. When filming her that was one of the sing mots valuable things I picked up.
Ok, we have a teacher!!! Great stuff!
I really like your teaching! And moreover funk seems so natural to you.
where were yo when i first started learning guitar i have picked up a lot of bad habbits. pointed out in this video.
i mean you.
Lauren you seem like a great teacher Im looking forward to your lessons. I'm sure you have much to offer Jamplay. love that guitar!