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Basic Acoustic Guitar with Randall Williams

Beginner Guitar Course from Randall Williams

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Randall Williams guides you through the basics of acoustic guitar.

10 Lessons

Complete course with step-by-step lessons and practice examples.

Multi-Camera

Course filmed with 6 cameras for the perfect angles.

86% Appoval

478 of 514 of our members have given this their approval.

Tabs & Info

Download tabs, helpers, JamTracks and docs included with lessons.

Included

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Full Course Breakdown

Randall Williams starts off with the absolute basics and moves forward with easy chord progressions and strum patterns.

Begin the Course
1

Series Introduction

Meet Randall Williams in this brief introductory lesson. Learn who he is, his teaching approach, and what he plans to cover in this series.

2:13 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

2

Basic Chords & Strums Part 1

Randall starts off by teaching the Em chord and a basic strum to get you going.

5:25 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

View this Lesson
3

Basic Chords & Strums Part 2

Randall Williams continues his discussion on basic chords and strums.

7:22 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

4

The Learning Process

Randall discusses his philosophy on studying the guitar before moving onto some basic songs.

4:29 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

5

Your First Song

Randall guides you through your very first song. He teaches a rendition of a current popular song that uses only three chords.

6:25 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

6

Song Two

Randall Williams shares another wonderful song in his beginner series. This song should be rather easy to pick up due to its similarity to the previous song.

3:10 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

7

Song Three

Randall presents the third song in his beginner series set.

7:40 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

8

Song Four

Randall Williams shares one last song in his beginner series.

2:55 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

9

Right-Hand Techniques

Randall Williams talks about basic strums and right-hand techniques in this lesson.

15:20 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

10

Fingerpicking

Randall continues his extensive coverage of beginner right-hand techniques with a lesson on fingerpicking.

34:17 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

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Randall Williams

478
  • Bath, Maine
  • Playing since 1988
  • 41 lessons at JamPlay
Begin Course
He felt that classical music lacked the inclusiveness of folk music, and that the inevitable division between performer and audience was unbearable. And so Randall returned to the world of traveling with his guitar, writing songs in train stations and sleeping on couches, then singing and playing on street corners, cafï, and pubs. For a time he lived aboard a 20' sailboat that he bought for $800, teaching himself how to sail by single-handing through the Baltic and North Seas with his guitar sleeping in the berth beside him at night. He wrote a book about the trip, which begins with the story of almost getting squashed by a tanker before dawn one morning in the North Sea.

He moved to North Africa, then set off across the Sahara by hitching with locals - bouncing through a minefield on the way that made his mother have bad dreams. He loved the adventure, but he missed the music.

In 2005, Randall returned stateside to scrounge up a career as a performing songwriter, hoping it wasn't too late. So far, it hasn't been. As the "Partial Capo Guy," Randall has written two books for Hal Leonard, recorded a DVD for Kyser Musical Products, and given workshops at some of the biggest festivals in United States. As a performer, Randall has been a finalist in the Founder's Title and Mid-Atlantic Song Contests, A regional finalist at Kerrville, a showcase artist at Northeast and Midwest Folk Alliance, and at the International Folk Alliance in Memphis, and an Audience Favorite at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. His 2007 live release, "One Night in Louisiana" made a respectable dent in the folk DJ charts (One single, "Lebanon," was #8 in May,) and he's generally a nice guy to have around, capos or not.

Randall is as much at home in a Bangkok slum or a Senegalese village, at the Kennedy Center in D.C. or the Fine Arts Palace in Brussels sandwiched between a twitchy orchestra and a full house, or shoeless on the floor of your living room. Randall has sung in a dozen languages in over 35 countries.

Lynne Andrews: "When Randall left the confines of classical music largely behind, they lost a great talent, but the world gained a good friend - a friend who will tell its stories with grace, compassion, humility and humor."

Randall began playing guitar seriously in 1988, and played his first open mic one year later. Randall kept playing and learning more and more. Randall began teaching guitar in 1992, while studying musical composition, analysis, and performance. Randall got his undergraduate music degree in 1996, then studied flamenco for about a year (1997) before beginning studies at the royal conservatory of music in mons, belgium.

From 1998 to 2001, Randall studied voice, analysis, and harmony at the conservatory, with classical guitar lessons on the side for about 6 months. Randall's undergraduate study and the conservatory courses added a degree of musical structure to his improvisational ability, and gave him a strong music theory base. He recieved the premier prix for concert singing from the conservatory in 2001.

Randall's most recent discoveries: how to build a structure for creating chords in open tunings, and learning how to structure placement of partial capos in standard and alternate tunings.
Reviews & Feedback 86/100 with 514 ratings
Islander66

I try to keep my right hand finger nails at least relatively sharp file them etc.. But they don't last long become chipped or broken ... however i just keep on playing I liked the demonstration on the slap/pluck funky think. Cool

Setgold

All of the above. Only occasional challenge was finger placement on strings but that's probably just me.

oldbear

all three apply ... thanks

Revans3181

At times its hard to see your figuring for the chords. call out string and fret would be help to better understand what can't be seen.

Sam cortese

Awesome

Morpheus32393

Awesome progression! I used different with different grooves and found it very motivating.

GARYPICK

Nice, easy going

francis5443

can i get more help from this teacher.

Lilgameovercuz

cool cant wait to get started

ShepardN7

Entertaining, easy to understand and gets right to the heart of it. Im wishing this teacher had more lessons than 10 in the series.

Lindsay1jocko

Excellent teacher

mackiespi

funny comments too!

salorso

He keeps the lesson calm. I was able to fellow nicely.

evelynhazzard

I love this guy!!!

juliesyc

he's great

0745am0745am

He's real.

DennisAring

He’s very professional. Great!!!

deirdreregnier

hi, really good but please be get camera to show clearly finger positions ,would be great if you had over the shoulder shots ,yes I know that's asking a lot ! bye for now Deirdre

diptip25

How do you get that drum sound ? Can you show closer finger positions ?

coach2b12

I like his approach . A little too basic for me , but like the utilization of movable positions . I'm of the persuasion that you can learn a little something from everyone . I'm self taught and filling in gaps . I would find a song I like and

seanwkennedy

I like how Randall teaches. The calm style is really terrific, and he's providing very basic, beginning instructions and that makes it easier to understand and repeat. Well done!

grhoades

I liked Randall and his way of teaching. He is easy to understand and mellow.

AkitaBear

I love that he teaches several chords at once and helps practice with strumming at the same time.

yopester

I started learning classical melodies way long ago and later chords. I don't blame him for not turning my playing into a success but now we are many years later and maybe this may be what I need now.

StageCraft

I totally agree and when I teach drums I have the same concept.

ScSmith

I'm in. Let's go for the $1,000,000

Ashforever

The teacher is awesome he showed me a different method than some other teachers show and is good to understand

GlutBug

It is nice to hear a teacher give their personal opinion on a subject without sounding forceful or snobbish in the slightest. Biggo props for being very nice about some students disagreeing and not condescending to their stance.

Leah2019

It's easy to get it done but I need more practice tonight or tomorrow but I won't to do a ctar that I cooed praxis. More wall I have one but to sing will not sing will to sing oh nvm ????

Jbauer-RNJD

its nice to just make it simple in the beginning. as a true novice but one who is passionate about actually playing...learning to play music early on is crucial to avoid feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. im not one to give up so i will contin

obbig

Laid back style

lovestruck94

Love the way he explains things..makes so much sense to me to actually play something that sounds ok rather than endless chord excersises . I wish he had more beginner lessons though

SemperFI7

need to learn rythem and timing

Meisam

No time wasted. Jumps in fast, and gets you going with the easy stuff. Great Segway to other classes.

Martin2014

Not sure why I haven't discovered Randall until now. This is just what I needed to better understand fingerstyle. I will continue to check out this series. Thank you!!!

Laithn

only problem don't where to get the material thats he is talking about

AnnieT

Perfect for beginner adults.

SeattleKim

Randall is great. The first four chords make me feel like I am playing something beautiful.

DutchDeJordy

really Ran enjoyed it very informative thanks Randle

tokajergh

Slow and calm approach is perfect for learning.

FrankPT

Starting to like the teacher

mpflynn

Thank you. It's good that getting sore fingertips is a result and knowing that you have to work on developing calluses. Learning chords that appear in many songs is a good way to start. A patient instructor - thank you.

Sailing

Thanks

Pykypyks

This guy is great. His humor is on point. His lessons keep me engaged. He isn't too slow or too fast. He's the teacher I was hoping to find on this site. Thanks Randall!