Will Ripley is back with his series, Rocking on Acoustic Guitar! Known for his electric rock guitar series on Jamplay, Will shows us how to rock on the acoustic with this series geared towards rock, classic rock and pop-rock acoustic guitar techniques.
Complete course with step-by-step lessons and practice examples.
Course filmed with 6 cameras for the perfect angles.
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Find out just how much electric guitar and acoustic guitar have in common! Learn basic acoustic techniques like strumming, fingerpicking and chords, and apply them over classic sounding rock, classic rock and pop-rock tracks in the styles of some of your favorite artists!
Begin the CourseWelcome to Acoustic Guitar! This series is geared for beginning and intermediate players with a focus on rock, classic rock, and pop-rock aspects of the acoustic guitar. In this video, Will gives you the rundown of what you can expect in this series.
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To get us started on the right foot, Will goes over some foundational techniques that are 'must know' for this series!
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In this lesson, Will gets more specific with the right hand. Learning proper hand placement for strumming and fingerpicking will set you up with a solid foundation!
10:29 Runtime
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Not to forget the left hand, Will focuses in on proper thumb placement on the neck of the guitar, as well as how to get nice clean tones from your guitar without any buzz!
13:29 Runtime
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In this lesson, Will lays out a path for the beginning guitarist. Following this path will ensure you set yourself up for success on the acoustic guitar!
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Before Will dives into all the chords you need to know, he brings us this lesson that will set you up for success moving forward. This includes his big secret to changing chords!
11:05 Runtime
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Not all chords are necessary to know when you're just getting going on guitar. Will shows you some essential chords that will get you prepped to play tons of songs!
15:19 Runtime
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Strumming and rhythm are huge parts of learning guitar. Many players feel they have to know very specific patterns. Will is here to teach you that it's more about developing a sense of rhythm that will give you the freedom to create your own patterns.
9:57 Runtime
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Here's a cool little technique that gives some dynamic quality to your playing. Just another tool in your tool belt that you can use at any given time!
5:17 Runtime
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Sometimes chords can be way more simple than we think. This is the case in this lesson. With a basic one finger movement, you can play three super cool sounding chords!
8:30 Runtime
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This lesson explores these great chords that allow you to get super pro sounds with minimal movement.
7:05 Runtime
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In this lesson, Will expands on these great sounding chords with more easy chord movements. In addition, he shows us how to inject more rhythm into our strumming by accenting certain beats.
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In this lesson, Will has a great track for us done in the style of Buffalo Springfield that is a great vehicle for getting solid strumming and rhythm down pat.
10:42 Runtime
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So much of acoustic guitar strumming is about rhythm. This lesson in the style of a Guns 'n' Roses ballad has a great simple strum pattern that will help you understand connecting with rhythm even more!
9:07 Runtime
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Sometimes the coolest sounds are just certain chord shapes moved around the fretboard. This lesson clues you in on how to get some awesome sounds out of your basic E chord shape.
8:34 Runtime
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Learning to put accents into your strumming will help you become a more dynamic player, especially when you're playing by yourself! This lesson works on the accents, plus a simple chord progression with a key transitional chord.
11:39 Runtime
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Another classic sounding chord progression here from Will! This lesson will also focus in on changing chords efficiently and smoothly, as well as how to add dynamics to your playing.
18:01 Runtime
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It's time to ramp up the difficulty on your chords! Luckily, Will gives us a great track at a moderate to slow tempo to work out this very Beatlesque chord progression. If you can master this, you will have earned your chord playing diploma!
17:22 Runtime
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In a basic sense, your acoustic guitar is really a percussion instrument. To start to get the most out of that aspect of your guitar, Will shows us a great technique for injecting rhythm into your playing: Slap Strumming.
5:44 Runtime
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Now, let's take this new technique of slap strumming and apply it to some tracks we've already learned in this series. This will help you see the value of injecting rhythm into your playing, especially when you're playing your guitar all by yourself!
11:59 Runtime
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Open barre chord shapes allow you to get very cool colors in your chords by using open strings. Will shows us some of his favorite open barre chord shapes, leading us up to a very cool track in the next lesson!
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Now we put those open barre chord shapes to use with this 90's sounding track. This is also a great track for practicing big chord movements around the neck!
19:45 Runtime
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So you've mastered the open barre chord shapes, now it's time to make a slight adjustment and voila! You've got your full barre chord shapes. These shapes will truly open up the entire fretboard to you, and Will uses that to lead us into some cool barre chord songs in the next few lessons!
17:19 Runtime
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Putting those full barre chord shapes to work, Will teaches us a chord progression reminiscent of Jason Mraz. This will allow you to use the shapes you learned, plus practice moving them around the neck of the guitar!
9:42 Runtime
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Learning the nuances of strumming is something that can really take your acoustic playing to the next level. In the track that Will made just for this series, he gets into the details of getting a good strum going which adds lots of dynamics and feel to the track!
13:39 Runtime
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This lesson is about big, resonant chords. These chords turn your guitar into a huge sounding instrument! In the chorus section of this track, Will shows you how to get the most out of these chords.
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Now it's time to learn the signature lead melody of this track! Not only does Will show us the notes, but he also gets us going on some fundamental techniques like bending, vibrato and hammer-ons.
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7th chords can drastically change the tonal character of not only chords you're playing, but the songs you're playing them in. Will gets you up to speed on your dominant 7th and minor 7th barre chords, which can be used all over the neck!
8:52 Runtime
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In lesson #29, Will unveils a classic sounding R&B style track that will give you all the practice you need on your barre chord shapes, particularly the dominant 7th shapes.
19:43 Runtime
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In part two of this lesson, Will takes a look at 'thumb chords' as a great alternative to your regular barre chords. And as always, he looks at the rhythm and strumming, adding another type of feel to your repertoire!
11:22 Runtime
2.0 Difficulty
Adding chord hammer-ons and embellishments is a great way to really step up your game on the acoustic guitar. In this lesson, Will gives you the low down on some commonly used chordal hammer-ons that will make you sound even more pro!
17:31 Runtime
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The moving bass technique is something commonly found in country, old rock and roll and rockabilly. Join Will as he gets us up to speed with this super fun technique!
13:16 Runtime
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Are 'slash' chord still a mystery to you? Well, this lesson is designed to take away that mystery, and get you playing these chords that add a lot color to your sound!
10:36 Runtime
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Here's a cool mellow track in the style of John Mellencamp or Neil Young that gets you moving certain shapes around the neck. This one's a lot of fun!
14:46 Runtime
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Lots of triads shapes can be moved around the neck to get great, colorful sounds. Will takes the common shapes in this lesson, and shows you how and where to move them!
7:50 Runtime
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For some of us, fingerpicking can be quite the mysterious process. Will demystifies that process in this lesson, giving you some simple, attainable techniques to get you started on this must know guitar style!
17:00 Runtime
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Now that you've got a few fingerpicking basics under your belt, here's a catchy descending riff that is fingerpicked in the style of Santana or Led Zeppelin.
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Fingerpicking can be applied in many different ways. Case in point, this is a riff we learned to play with a pick earlier in the series, now Will shows us how the riff can be just as effective using a fingerpicking technique.
5:44 Runtime
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This lesson encapsulates a lot of elements of classic acoustic blues, but with a rock 'n' roll attitude. Explore the minor pentatonic scale, along with fingerpicking to get that traditional Delta Blues sound!
15:14 Runtime
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Will now continues with the "B" section of the Acoustic Blues track. Here we'll find some driving, straight ahead strumming, culminating with a simple yet effective minor pentatonic lick at the end of the section.
8:53 Runtime
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This one is all about the shapes. Once you get these intervallic shapes down, you open a whole new world of sounds on your guitar. Couple that with a very rhythmic track, and you end up with a very uplifting, fun practice time!
15:24 Runtime
3.0 Difficulty
Here's a nice acoustic rock ballad done in the style of Radiohead or John Mayer. This track incorporates some very atmospheric chord voicings, as well as right hand techniques such as strumming without at pick and fingerpicking.
17:48 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
This technique is sort of a hybrid between strumming and picking. Will uses a track that we learned earlier in the series to demonstrate this technique that you will find in all sorts of classic songs. A great technique to know, it can do a lot to spice up your strumming!
13:23 Runtime
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Capos: A great inspirational tool, or a great mystery? In this last lesson of the series, Will attempts to demystify the capo with some basic information that can get you started using one right away!
10:34 Runtime
2.5 Difficulty
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