
Fingerstyle master Jim Deeming teaches you the basics of guitar playing. With over 30 years of experience teaching and playing, Jim will definitely start you in the right direction. This is a great series for beginners and guitarists looking to refresh their knowledge.
Lesson 1
In this short lesson, Jim Deeming will introduce himself and talk about his upcoming lessons.
Length: 6:12 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 2
Jim gives his thoughts on purchasing your first guitar.
Length: 7:09 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 3
Jim discusses the importance of setting goals. He provides some tips that will help steer your practicing in the right direction.
Length: 11:00 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 4
Jim Deeming walks you through the process of changing your strings. He gives some excellent tips on this important process.
Length: 41:09 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 5
Jim introduces proper playing technique. Then, he explains how to play your first chord.
Length: 52:24 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 6
Jim teaches you the 3 primary chords in G major. He also explains how chords relate to specific keys. A great lesson!
Length: 39:15 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 7
Jim discusses a plethora of right hand techniques that are essential to guitar playing.
Length: 35:19 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 8
This lesson provides additional information about chords and keys.
Length: 19:08 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 9
This lesson is all about playing. Jim will start you off playing a song. You will have the opportunity to play along with him.
Length: 20:10 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 10
Jim teaches you a few more commonly used chords. Then, he discusses a technique known as the alternating bass line.
Length: 40:54 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 11
Jim covers all possible fingering options pertaining to the basic open A chord shape.
Length: 17:42 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 12
Jim talks about the future of his Phase 1 guitar series and where to go from here.
Length: 4:18 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 13
Jim delves into basic music theory. He starts from square one in this lesson.
Length: 29:00 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 14
Jim Deeming invites you to a veritable chord fiesta. He demonstrates common dominant and minor chord shapes.
Length: 43:00 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 15
This lesson is all about movable chords. Learn the importance of barre chords and other movable shapes.
Length: 40:00 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 16
Jim Deeming explains how to create a productive practice routine. Make sure you aren't wasting needless time!
Length: 30:00 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 17
Many guitarists use their pinky as an anchor. Jim explains the pros and cons of this technique.
Length: 9:00 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 18
Jim discusses an important technique--palm muting. He explains how palm muting is used by flatpickers and fingerstyle players.
Length: 7:00 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 19
Jim Deeming covers the basics of reading guitar tablature. Knowledge of tablature will help with JamPlay lessons as well as learning your favorite songs.
Length: 21:12 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 20
Jim explains various tuning methods. He provides useful tips and tricks that will ensure that your guitar is sounding its best.
Length: 31:45 Difficulty: 1.0 Members OnlyLesson 21
Jim is back with another "let's play" style lesson. He teaches the classic song "Red River Valley" and encourages you to play along.
Length: 52:38 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 22
Jim Deeming introduces drop D tuning. Drop D is a popular alternate tuning used in many styles of music including rock, fingerstyle and blues.
Length: 25:25 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 23
Jim Deeming breaks down the song sections to the classic tune Wayfaring Stranger.
Length: 29:20 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 24
Jim Deeming takes another, more focused look at drop D tuning.
Length: 6:27 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 25
Jim Deeming discusses how to use a metronome for practice, skill building, and speed building.
Length: 24:02 Difficulty: 1.0 FREE
About Jim Deeming
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Jim Deeming got his first guitar when he was only six years old. His Dad was taking fingerpicking lessons, and Jim wanted to be just like him. The Mel Bay books didn't last very long before he strapped on a thumb pick and added the Chet part to Red River Valley so it sounded better.
Most of Jim's early learning was by ear. With unlimited access to his Dad's collection of Chet Atkins albums, he spent countless hours decoding his favorite songs. They were never "right" until they sounded just like Chet. Around the age of 12, Jim heard Jerry Reed for the first time and just knew he had to be able to make that "Alabama Wild Man" sound. The styles of Chet & Jerry always have been a big influence on his playing.
More recently he has pursued arrangements by Tommy Emmanuel and Doyle Dykes, in addition to creating some of his own and writing originals.
Jim has performed in front of a variety of audiences, including concerts, competitions, weddings and the like, but playing at church has always been a mainstay. Whether playing in worship bands or guitar solos, gospel music is deep in his roots and is also the driving theme behind his debut CD release, titled "First Fruits".
Jim has been playing for about 38 years. He also has taught private lessons in the past but believes JamPlay.com is an exciting and better venue with many advantages over the traditional method of weekly 30 minute sessions.
Jim lives in Berthoud, Colorado with his wife, Linda, and their four children. Although he still has a "day job", he is actively performing and is already back in the studio working on the next CD. If you wonder how he finds time, look no further than the back seat of his truck where he keeps a "travel guitar" to take advantage of any practice or song-writing opportunities he can get.
The opening song you hear in Jim's introductory JamPlay video is called, "A Pick In My Pocket". It's an original tune, written in memory of Jim's father who told him early on he should always keep a pick in his pocket in case he ever met Chet Atkins and got the chance to play for him. That song is slated to be the title track for his next CD, which will feature several more originals plus some of his favorite covers of Chet and Jerry arrangements.
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Free LessonSeries DetailsEve talks about the boom-chuck strum pattern. This strum pattern will completely change the sound of your playing.
Free LessonSeries DetailsLesson 7 is all about arpeggios. Danny provides discussion and exercises designed to build your right hand skills.
Free LessonSeries DetailsIn this lesson Randall introduces the partial capo (using a short-cut capo by Kyser) and talks about how it can make the...
Free LessonSeries DetailsIn lesson 6, Kaki discusses how the left and right hands can work together or independently of each other to create different...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJim Deeming discusses how to use a metronome for practice, skill building, and speed building.
Free LessonSeries DetailsJessica kindly introduces herself, her background, and her approach to this series.
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In this lesson Eric talks about playing basic lead in the Memphis Blues style.
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Free LessonSeries DetailsKris analyzes different pick sizes and their effect on his playing. Using a slow motion camera, he is able to point out the...
Free LessonSeries DetailsThis is a crucial lesson that explains tablature, how to read it, and why it's important.
Free LessonSeries DetailsJames explains how to tap arpeggios for extended musical reach.
Free LessonSeries DetailsAllen shows you the 24 rudiments crucial to developing finger dexterity. This is a short lesson but the exercises here can...
Free LessonSeries DetailsBrendan demonstrates the tiny triad shapes derived from the form 1 barre chord.
Free LessonSeries DetailsNick starts his series with Alternate Picking part 1. Improve your timing, speed, and execution with this important lesson.
Free LessonSeries DetailsLauren Passarelli offers up her wisdom on purchasing a guitar. She also includes information regarding proper setup and care....
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Pretty darned cool playing along with you Jim. I am getting a little less self-conscious when I play.
Great lesson. I seem to be having trouble finding the great base runs you use. Could please provide them some place. Thanks jim. I am almost through the beginners phase and can not wait to learn how to play the meiody with my right hand while alternating base notes. Keep up the great lessons thanks
this is an excellent lesson. I hope to see more that are similar in teaching style. Great builds. Thanks.
Jim, where is the tab for the whole thing, the way you play it? I'd like the challenge of playing the entire thing, rhythm and melody and bass notes all at once.
beautiful song, excellent guitar and teaching style but the F barre is a stumbling block for me
tried to print off lesson but would not work
You have to click on the check boxes. I was able to print.
FANTASTIC, I definately want more of this. I know my chords pretty well, but love learning lead. Thanks !!!!
Sorry, don't know how to use the "user rating" but I would give this a super ten.
tab is coming - hang on!
How do we online students of yours get the new tab of this performance? I can't wait to learn it. Thanks for sharing this tune!
Jim, Your teaching style is fantastic and your playing is just 'off the charts'. The number system does not go high enough to rate your playing style. Hope to see the complete tab sometime. Thanks for all you do.
Love your style - I wish you would post the whole tab with walking bass and all as you play it.
Nice guitar-nice sound! What is it?
Great.
Seriously tab it like the performance, that is what i want to learn
I like your lessons, but I think it might be helpful if you slowed it down a little for those of us who haven't been playing for years. Thanks.
very nice tune and lesson , but just like other comments the tab for version he played is what i need
Complete tab would be great because i have not learned to figure the bass and melody together by ear yet
having difficulty printing the song. Any suggestions. I would like to practice the tabs. ...
So when do we actually learn to play in the combined fingerstyle like you are.
I really like this song . Been playing for eight years with flat pick.I am learning to fingerpick. This is a great song to start on .I have been watching over & over to see how you do it. Getting close. Wish I had known about Jamplay years ago. I just joined. Thanks
Hey Jim, Please post the fingerstyle version of tab. Your performance is awesome. Thanks.
I a bit lost, does the tab follow the performance video? Just does not seem toooooo
Hey Jim, Who wrote this song? It sounds similar to "unchain my heart" by Ray Charles. Maybe it's just me. Do you think maybe he got influence from this, or the other way around? Thanks for another great lesson.
Hi Jim, love you're playing and instructions. As a newbie, should I learn to fingerpick or try and stay with the flat pick for awhile? I should be asking Can you do the same sounds of playing both rytham and lead as you do with the thumb pick as well as with a flatpick? Thanks
Love this song. Could you post a tab or better even do a lessen on what you are playing, I mean the full song? Would be great!
I really like this lesson. I very much appreciate the trading parts between rhythm and lead style you use, Jim. I want to be able to play both. And it's a good Phase 1 level lesson that sounds cool and makes me want to play it. Yes, I would love to see more like this. Incidentally, I can't help but think this tune is not unlike "Summertime", only not quite so dramatic and bluesy. I wonder if this influenced that song.
this is one of my favorite songs. I sing it to my baby all thetime
Why cant you guys make the lesson and the tab available at the same time.. This is just teasing :D
Excellent lesson. This is something I can learn and impress my wife. Keep it coming. thanks
nice. i might learn this...
Great job, I love this song, and even more, you version =)!!!