Basic Guitar with Jessica Baron

Beginner Guitar Course from Jessica Baron

Jessica Baron, founder of Guitars in the Classroom, brings her very own unique series to JamPlay. In this highly interactive, easy to follow set, Jessica invites students of all ages to journey through fun, song-based instruction taught in ways she feels we best learn.

66 Lessons

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

Multi-Camera

Course filmed with 6 cameras for the perfect angles.

92% Appoval

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Tabs & Info

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

Included

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Full Course Breakdown

Jessica Baron shares her passion of helping others through song-based, highly interactive guitar instruction meant to blossom your unique creativity and musicality.

Begin the Course

Introduction to Gentle Guitar in G

Jessica kindly introduces herself, her background, and her approach to this series.

6:48 Runtime

0.0 Difficulty

View this Lesson

Breathing & Visualizing

Jessica takes a moment to share a breathing technique. Then, she asks you to envision who you want to be as a musician.

5:30 Runtime

0.0 Difficulty

Finding Rhythm

In this lesson, Jessica starts talking about the first building block of making music: rhythm. Using yourself as a drum, you will feel the beat and find the rhythm within yourself.

9:46 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

Rhythm & Your Guitar

In the first part of this lesson, Jessica takes some time to explain all the parts of your guitar in detail. She then flips it upside-down and makes a bongo out of it! Grab your guitar and enjoy drumming to the beat.

14:36 Runtime

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The Right Guitar

Jessica takes some time to talk about finding the right guitar for you. She explores different sizes and talks about the correct and most comfortable sitting position.

10:03 Runtime

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Why G Guitar?

Jessica Baron discusses "Gentle G Guitar" and explains why it is such a great learning method for beginners.

9:12 Runtime

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Tuning to Open G

In this lesson, Jessica Baron explains how to tune your guitar to open G with or without an electronic tuner.

12:31 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

Guitar Stringing Part 1: Steel String

In this lesson, Jessica Baron shows how to string a steel string guitar.

11:34 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

Guitar Stringing Part 2: Classical

In part 2 of Jessica Baron's restringing lessons, you will learn how to string your classical guitar, which is a little different from a steel string.

9:36 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

Ear Training & Singing in Tune

Jessica Baron delights in sharing a fun lesson that is all about ear training and singing in tune.

21:24 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Vocal Warm-up Part 1

Jessica Baron shares some fun and effective vocal exercises to get you warmed up before singing. This is very important for those of you who would like to sing while playing.

14:15 Runtime

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Vocal Warm-up Part 2

Jessica Baron shares part 2 of her vocal warm-up lessons with some fun new exercises to prepare you for singing.

16:07 Runtime

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Strumming

In lesson 13, Jessica Baron introduces you to strumming technique.

15:03 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

Your First Chord

Jessica Baron introduces your first easy chord, Gsus4.

2:47 Runtime

1.0 Difficulty

All About Chords

Jessica Baron talks about patterns and chord charts. She also provides more exercises for the C note you learned in the previous lesson.

19:57 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Simple D

Jessica Baron introduces a new chord she calls the "Simple D" and provides a song exercise for practice.

9:07 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

The Old Chisholm Trail

Jessica Baron teaches techniques in the context of "The Old Chisholm Trail." Learn about the pluck-down strum, practice changing from "Open G "to "Simple D," and learn about capos.

29:51 Runtime

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Simple C

Jessica introduces the "Simple C" chord and incorporates it into two fun songs, "Camptown Races" and "The Green Grass Grows All Around."

21:33 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Fun Strums

Jessica takes some time to show you a variety of different strums to use in your playing. She teaches the song "I'll Fly Away" to demonstrate the different feel of each strum.

19:37 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Two Finger C Major

Jessica Baron teaches the C major chord using only 2 fingers and provides some fun song exercises for practice.

9:21 Runtime

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Your First Minor Chord

Jessica Baron introduces your first minor chord! Learn the beautiful E minor chord and play along to "This Little Light of Mine."

17:28 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

The Earth Is Our Mother

In this lesson, Jessica Baron provides some good, fun practice using a traditional Native American chant called "The Earth Is Our Mother."

6:53 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

3/4 Time

Jessica Baron explains time signatures with a focus on 3/4 time. She uses fun and interactive song exercises for practice.

11:11 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

I'm On My Way

Jessica Baron teaches one final song in open G tuning called "I'm on My Way" before moving on to standard tuning.

8:52 Runtime

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Standard Tuning

Jessica Baron introduces standard tuning in this lesson! Be ready to tune your guitar and learn "You've Got to Move" for practice.

19:45 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

A Minor

Jessica Baron introduces the A minor chord in standard tuning and invites you to play along to the fun song "Drunken Sailor."

9:29 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

A Major

Jessica Baron introduces the A major chord in standard tuning. Practice it with the catchy song "A Tisket, A Tasket."

11:35 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

D Major

Jessica Baron teaches the D major chord and "Down By The Riverside" for practice.

14:32 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Over the River and Through the Woods

Jessica Baron is excited to provide more practice changing from D to A7 with the fun song, "Over the River and Through the Woods."

8:29 Runtime

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The Crawdad Song

Jessica Baron teaches a new chord, B7, with "The Crawdad Song" for practice.

7:31 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

G Major

Jessica Baron helps you play the full G major chord by using the song, "I've Been Working on the Railroad."

12:02 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Full C Major

Jessica Baron is excited to finally teach the full C major chord with the bluesy song "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" for practice.

16:52 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Composing Part 1

Jessica Baron takes all the knowledge you've learned throughout her series and helps you express yourself through your own compositions.

8:05 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

Composing Part 2

Jessica Baron continues her discussion on composition with a songwriting exercise. In addition, she also takes a closer look at finger picking with one last picking pattern.

11:46 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

Yoga for Guitar Players

In this unique lesson, Jessica presents some fantastic tips on how to prep your mind and body to be fully relaxed and ready to play and learn guitar. She provides breathing and self awareness tips as well as hand and arm stretches to get you limber and loose before you even pick up the guitar.

16:09 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

Guitar Yoga - 90 Second Prep Routine

This lesson is essentially a compressed version of Jessica's 35th lesson, but presented in a way that will allow you to prep yourself using "Yoga for Guitar Players" within about 90 seconds.

4:26 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

Proper Fret Hand Positioning

Proper positioning of the fret hand is key to developing correct technique and playing clean and clear chords. Jessica explains how the angle at which the guitar neck is positioned affects left hand technique.

6:07 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

Understanding Chords: Finding the Notes

Jessica starts a mini series on understanding chords by explaining how and where to find the notes needed to build a certain chord.

14:35 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Understanding Chords: Where's the Root Note?

Jessica continues her "Understanding Chords" mini series by explaining how to find the root note within commonly used chord shapes.

15:26 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Understanding Chords: What Is Voicing?

This lesson will link all the past lesson content into one by helping you understand how to find alternate voicings of chords on the guitar neck.

13:36 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

Nashville Number System

Using the song "Down by the River to Pray," Jessica explains what the Nashville Number System is and how it is used to quickly learn a new song.

13:46 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

All About 7th Chords

What are 7th chords? How and where can they be used? Jessica answers these questions and demonstrates some popular 7th chord shapes.

10:31 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Mole in the Ground

Using the song "Mole in the Ground," Jessica applies the Nashville number system and demonstrates how to create new, unique lyrics that compliment your chord progression.

9:54 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

Choosing Accent Chords

Utilizing Major 7th chords and a song called "The Ashgrove", Jessica will demonstrate some great tips on how to chose the right accent chord to spice up your playing.

13:57 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Adding a Sus 4

Jessica will demonstrate how to add a Sus 4 to a chord to change its tone. This can be used to spice up and get creative with standard chord positions.

7:49 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

To Pick or Not to Pick?

Jessica discusses the difference in tone between playing with the pick and playing with the fingers.

21:27 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Bass Runs with No Pick

Jessica now presents the option of adding bass runs while utilizing the fingers to pluck and strum the strings.

11:18 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

Tricky Chord Changes - F Chord

Jessica taps into a mini-series that demonstrates how to navigate tricky chord changes. This first lesson focuses on the F chord.

7:59 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

Tricky Chord Changes - Partial Barre F

Time to learn the tough partial barre F chord! Jessica covers many of the basics needed to help train your fingers for the shapes needed to complete partial barre chords.

11:33 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

Tricky Chord Changes - B Minor Chord

Jessica continues to demonstrate tricky chord changes by moving on to the B minor chord.

11:58 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Power Chords

Power chords can be utilized up and down the entire fretboard. They achieve full bodied chord voicings that are neither major nor minor. Jessica demonstrates a few of the positions in which power chords can be played.

13:22 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

Full Neck Movement with One Chord Shape

Jessica demonstrates how easy it is to play a full I, IV, V song by only moving the familiar E major chord shape up and down the fretboard.

9:01 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Accents in Blues Music

A lot of the techniques Jessica shows in this lesson can be applied within any genre of music. However, she demonstrates hammer-on and pull-off techniques and how they are applied within blues.

33:53 Runtime

0.0 Difficulty

Fingerstyle Folk Blues

Jessica now dives into fingerstyle techniques, specifically Travis picking.

14:08 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

Basic 3 Finger Picking

Jessica now works on picking hand techniques. She starts with the basics of using 3 fingers to create arpeggio patterns.

11:16 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

Quick Chord Changes

Still working within finger picking techniques, Jessica now demonstrates how to navigate more chord changes while still keeping a steady picking rhythm.

13:19 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

6/8 Fingerpicking

Continuing along with fingerpicking techniques, Jessica now adds the unique time signature of 6/8 into the picking rhythm. This requires adding extra finger strokes. Jessica demonstrates how to make this happen in detail.

7:04 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

6/8 Picking Part 2

Jessica continues her 6/8 fingerpicking techniques by adding yet another step in the full picking progression. However, she will still utilizes the same song from the previous lesson.

8:00 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Travis Picking

Demonstrating yet another widely popular fingerstyle picking technique called Travis Picking, Jessica breaks down this technique and applies it to a very catchy song that is easy to play.

13:30 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Song Arrangement

It's time to apply the techniques that have been taught so far to understanding and creating a song arrangement. In this lesson, Jessica discusses how to create a song beginning and ending.

17:36 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Find Your Voice

Jessica presents a lesson with tips and techniques on how to find the ideal key for your voice when performing a song. From discovering your lowest note to opening a new world in higher octaves, Jessica gives you the tools to help you find your vocal range.

35:28 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

Creativity within Song Arrangement

It's now time to learn some creative tips on how to spice up how songs are arranged. Jessica gives pointers on both singing and playing along the lines of improvisation and tempo alternations.

24:49 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Travis Picking Applications

Still within the topic of song arrangement, Jessica now delves into Travis picking and how it can be applied in a creative manner to compliment other techniques that Jessica has already taught.

22:50 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Time to Write a Song

Jessica creates a song in front of your eyes. She guides you through the steps from starting with a catchy riff or progression to developing a full song idea.

9:43 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

Develop Lyrics Using Chord Colors

Jessica lays out a great tutorial on how to listen to chords and the emotions they evoke. This technique can easily help transform an atmosphere or mood into a full song with lyrics.

8:24 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

Composition: Musical Contour

Jessica demonstrates how you can combine the discovery of writing a song with chords and the playfulness of creating possible lyrics over those chords. Let your mind run free with this subject!

17:03 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

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Jessica Baron

1,570

Encinatas, California
Playing since 1965
66 lessons at JamPlay

Begin Course

Jessica believes in making your introduction to the guitar easy and pain-free. She is a developmental educator who understands how positive early experiences can motivate us to keep learning. Jessica Baron founded and serves as Executive Director for Guitars in the Classroom, an organization that brings music making to education by integrating singing, strumming and songwriting with learning throughout the school day and across the curriculum. Jessica created the first developmental guitar instruction method and she has written six groundbreaking books in the field of music and guitar education. She believes that we are each unique musical and creative beings with individual pathways we can choose to discover and follow if we are given instruction in the ways we best learn. This vision informs and fuels her dedication to service through teaching.

Jess spent several years in California teaching music in public and private schools; she also worked for a long time as both a human development educator (at Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences) and as a private educational therapist treating children and teens with learning disabilities. These experiences, combined with Masters level training in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University helped her develop an approach to teaching music that creates access to musicality through people’s dominant learning styles while helping them strengthen the others. This, combined with her philosophy that musical learning can be fun and stress free, define her work as an author, teacher, and non-profit leader.

In addition to her years teaching in the classroom and counseling young people, Jess co-authored the highly successful MusicMakers curriculum for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, as well as the International House of Blues Foundation’s Make an Impression guitar program. Her best-selling guitar method, SmartStart Guitar as well as her parenting book, YOUR MUSICAL CHILD: Inspiring Kids to Play and Sing for Keeps (Hal Leonard, 2004) are soon to be followed by The Green Songbook & CD from Alfred Music Publishing. This compilation of music for living lightly on the Earth is now available at www.greensongbook.com.

Jess lives in Encinitas with her teen-age son, Elias, their three birds, two lizards, and one ridiculously adorable dog named Homer. You might have known Jess by her published and formerly married name, Jessica Baron Turner, a last name she went by during her marriage to Eli’s dad, luthier, Rick Turner. These days she goes by Jessica Anne Baron. Jess is also an incidental songwriter, an enthusiastic gardener, a vegetarian, and lover of literature.

Reviews & Feedback 92/100 with 1634 ratings

yve

All of the above!

benigno

Lovely for my kids. A lot of interesting things learned... not entirely sure how I am going to relate it to the guitar yet though

orlandomike

I just joined JamPlay, this was the first video I took a look at. I gave up on guitar in the past for precisely the reasons she mentioned: Difficult to learn and finger chords, frustrating to play songs and keep interest. This is the track I a

pcmj004

I like the idea and where she wants to teach it sounds like what I believe in

jzirun

This is exactly what I want to learn, from the really basic feel and understand of music of a human being. I love it!

Rafterman

Having fun slapping myself!

marymoo

Really good

skernohan

I'm already an intermediate guitar player and a lot of what Jessica teaches I already know....that said I am loving her energy and teaching method..and gorgeous voice...I do regret that I didn't start here at the beginning! Awesome lesson with

Barry G

Definitely worthwhile!

Bruce Reader

Thank you

MrAnderson566

Excellent! Just where I needed to begin!

eversio11

Awesome to see this kind of holistic approach available

mike4044

Jessica does a great job explaining the benefits to be reaped from each lesson

Adelsonplus

Wonderful!

akmatov

Just bought into JamPlay today, this lesson has convinced me it was not just a good idea, but a great on. Jess and her methods are going to be my entry into actually learning to play, I sure.

majicmahon

Good Stuff

ScSmith

I know I'm older than Jessica, but I think I had her as a music teacher when I was in second grade.

nanook

Very nice to follow. Didn't know I had a voice to! Interesting !

louis77

Wow, I love this lesson. Finally after hours, I had the feeling to actually get any meaning out of my guitar :)

Vickie56

So far I like her a lot...she is my pace....new to music....I really want to learn...so away I go.

schizzmuddle

consider mz baron an excellent teacher, outstanding in fact. our family is full of teachers,nlp,brain gym, brain development. Thank you cheers jb

april 1

It made me feel more excited for learning how to play the guitar. I also feel more inspired to not keep my eyes on the tv but know to keep my eyes on my future.

bertschf032

you are a very sweet person

Ginger34

Now I am excited to learn again. I had nearly given up since I just couldn't learn or reach the chords. Jessica is making this all make sense and I'm making such good progress. And who knew? I actually have a pretty good voice, what a bonus!

guloguloguy

I think it'd be nice to have a few, easy, simple, chord/arpeggio exercises in which to practice doing the "travis picking" method. Trying to get too focused on playing a tune/song WHILE also just learning the picking pattern, (to develop the "

Oceanbreeze

For san overview I like the approach.

phoenixpower152

So inspirational

thewellbeing

Loved it!! Made so much sense and Jess is a brilliant teacher!

Mikey T.

just cool :) that was fun.

EB35

Felt a little unnecesary. Having played other instruments, I understand rhythm. I only liked the last section.

grburgess

Although this was not a technical information session, the content of visualization was perhaps the most important idea that I've encountered about the guitar ever. It set an overall foundation to the whole enterprise/activity that is of utmos

street60

As a 60 yr old who has tried to pick up the guitar a couple times before Jessica seems to be the right person to guide me to my goal of sticking with the dream of being able to play songs with the family.

musiclover2324

to fast a little

pjbird33

I'm going to try the open G tuning.....but I've never heard of it. I like Ms. Baron's approach, so I'll give it a try.

jet3rry

So friendly and good-natured! All your teachers are great, but Jessica helps me feel like a kid, playful, confident, and wanting to play more. Thanks!

danonwheels

inspirational calm and interesting great work from sunny Cornwall UK

ezravan

Doing this lesson with my daughter. I like the teacher and the way she make sus feel at ease learning.

Parlorstar

SHE SURE COVERS ALL THE BASES TO GET A PERSON SETUP TO GET GOING.

jnorthrup

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm ready to learn more.

tomwaz1234

This was a little more difficult for me. It was the strumming changes, and then making the chord changes, to make the music sound great.

WillowBella

The teacher was very encouraging . It was just what I needed and it was easy to understand!

Joel S.

Jessica's approach is new to me.... It is odd... It is fun! (I've been told that I am "kinda odd and fun" so I am cool with it... :-) )

Danny7

Jessica is a good teacher her approach is very different I resound with it.

LisaTee

It gets at the root of what I've always had trouble with - rhythm - and shows me what to do to improve.

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