Rocking on Acoustic Guitar
Found in our Beginner Lesson Sets
Will Ripley is back with his series, Acoustic Guitar! Known for his electric rock guitar series on Jamplay, Will shows us how much electric and acoustic have in common with this series geared towards rock, classic rock and pop-rock acoustic guitar techniques. Learn basic acoustic techniques like strumming, fingerpicking and chords, and apply them over classic sounding tracks in the styles of some of your favorite artists!
Lesson 1
Welcome 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...
Length: 5:08
Difficulty: 0.0
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Lesson 2
To get us started on the right foot, Will goes over some foundational techniques that are 'must know' for this series!
Length: 9:11
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 3
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!
Length: 10:29
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 4
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!
Length: 13:29
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 5
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!
Length: 12:15
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 6
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!
Length: 11:05
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 7
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!
Length: 15:19
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 8
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...
Length: 9:57
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 9
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!
Length: 5:17
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 10
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!
Length: 8:30
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 11
This lesson explores these great chords that allow you to get super pro sounds with minimal movement.
Length: 7:05
Difficulty: 1.5
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Lesson 12
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.
Length: 12:10
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 13
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.
Length: 10:42
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 14
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!
Length: 9:07
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 15
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.
Length: 8:34
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 16
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...
Length: 11:39
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 17
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.
Length: 18:01
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 18
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...
Length: 17:22
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 19
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:...
Length: 5:44
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 20
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...
Length: 11:59
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 21
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...
Length: 7:59
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 22
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!
Length: 19:45
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 23
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,...
Length: 17:19
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 24
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...
Length: 9:42
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 25
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...
Length: 13:39
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 26
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.
Length: 17:50
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 27
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.
Length: 19:47
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 28
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,...
Length: 8:52
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 29
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.
Length: 19:43
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 30
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...
Length: 11:22
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 31
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...
Length: 17:31
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 32
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!
Length: 13:16
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 33
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!
Length: 10:36
Difficulty: 2.0
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Lesson 34
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!
Length: 14:46
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 35
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!
Length: 7:50
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 36
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...
Length: 17:00
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 37
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.
Length: 5:04
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 38
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...
Length: 5:44
Difficulty: 2.5
Members Only
Lesson 39
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...
Length: 15:14
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 40
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...
Length: 8:53
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 41
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,...
Length: 15:24
Difficulty: 3.0
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Lesson 42
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...
Length: 17:48
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 43
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....
Length: 13:23
Difficulty: 2.5
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Lesson 44
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!
Length: 10:34
Difficulty: 2.5
Members Only
About Will Ripley
View Full Biography
Will Ripley is a passionate guitarist who performs, teaches, and manages a successful music business. His wild stage presence and undeniable guitar skills transcend vibe and waveforms of the highest levels of energy.. His talents however, are directly related to years of staying “on the grind” and “paying his dues”. He has played with many bands, produced, composed and collaborated both solo and with top level musicians. He is a sought-after studio musician and works creatively with other musicians.
Coming from a blues and classic rock background, Ripley discovered 90?s rock in his late teens. Ripley’s style is unique. He’s been described as combining the blues guitar playing of Albert King and Jimi Hendrix with big riffs that are reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and Rage Against the Machine with the booty shaking rhythms of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and N.E.R.D. Ripley also has a soft place in his heart for pop music ranging from The Beatles to Stone Temple Pilots to Kelly Clarkson.
In addition to creation and production of music, Ripley teaches guitar using a method he developed through his education and over countless sessions with learners of all ages and levels. This led to the development of a successful series of recorded lessons called Guitar Goals available from his website. As the founder of the Will Ripley Guitar School he has begun expanding as a franchise into other cities which has 1 location currently – the Vancouver Guitar School. Students the world over can learn guitar using this effective, rewarding, and enjoyable style at their own pace – with epic results!
Ripley seeks participation in authentic, professional-level music, with like-minded, enthusiastic, high-achieving musicians. With dreams of creating legendary songs, Ripley is open to new band mates, songwriting partners, and recording opportunities.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.You through an lot of stuff in on this one. A little rough to comprehend but fund to play around with.