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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Guitar for Beginners by Berklee

4.8
stars
2,235 ratings

About the Course

Grasp the essentials needed to begin playing acoustic or electric guitar. You'll learn an easy approach to get you playing quickly, through a combination of exploring the instrument, performance technique, and basic music theory. For students who have long thought about picking up the acoustic or electric guitar, this course will provide an easy-access foundation that will get you playing. When first learning guitar, it is important to have the material presented in stages, in an enjoyable way that allows you to grasp the basics of the instrument and music. The course begins simply with the parts of the guitar, the names of the strings, tuning, and technique—whether finger-style or pick. It then explores the basics of music theory with such topics as scales, triads, power chords, and fingering and shapes. At the end of this course, students will understand the structure, parts, and accessories of the instrument, in addition to an understanding of its basic maintenance. Electric guitar players will learn the operation of their instrument along with basic options for amplification, effect pedals, and sounds. Students will also learn to develop correct technique and apply theory concepts to their playing. They will have the foundational knowledge necessary to pursue most intermediate guitar courses....

Top reviews

SM

Sep 11, 2020

If you want to learn guitar no matter which guitar you want to learn acoustic or electric if you are a beginner then quickly join this course it will really help you to upgrade your skills in guitar.

MH

Apr 4, 2020

This course was a brilliant experience. My special thanks to Thadeus Hoggart for his patient and well organized course. Highly recommended for all those who are planning to start playing the Guitar.

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26 - 50 of 650 Reviews for Guitar for Beginners

By Pranav J

Feb 4, 2019

First course I completed on Coursera. I'm very happy with the results.

By José L M C S

Feb 14, 2019

Easy to follow. Loved it!!!!

By Otto E S F

Feb 13, 2019

great course, i love it

By Kelly

Dec 26, 2015

I learned quite a bit from this instructor in a short period of time. He has a way of explaining things that really makes it sink in. The one thing I would change is not to have so many chords to learn in one week toward the end of the class. I would add a few weeks to the course.

By Sanjeevani J

Jan 2, 2017

I liked the course overall. One star less for the duration and content alignment. It would have been much helpful if the content was spread over for a longer time period as a week wasn't enough to finish many assignments esp for beginners.

By Ang C C

May 16, 2020

The pacing of the course is a little uneven - it starts out quite slow, which is actually really good for a beginner like me who knew nothing about guitar. But starting from the third week or so, the difficulty ramps up quite a bit, and the learning curve became quite steep. The final assignment was also, in my opinion, a bit of a curve. For future improvements, my suggestion is for the course provider to consider building the lessons up to the final assignments rather than just going "Here is the song you need to play. record it. upload it." At least for me, I really needed to practice quite a lot. Fortunately, I was able to complete earlier lessons much faster, or otherwise, I don't think I could have finished the course on time.

By Tom S

Nov 14, 2022

I gave it a middle grade because, while the course itself was fine, it covered far to great a range for 6 weeks. In the beginning it did address what a note was, the names of the strings, how to pick and how to strum, and other basics for students who had never played a guitar. However, a mere four weeks later we were expected to play songs using moveable fingering and advanced techniques. This is simply an impossible achievement for student who had just because with "What is a note, and what are sharps and flats?" a month prior.

By Sayan M

Aug 20, 2020

This is not a beginner course tbh.

Take it only if u have some prior experience of playing guitar.

It teaches a whole lot of music theory (which is good if u have the beginner skills and want to improve) but fails as an introduction to the guitar.

The teacher and course content is great but again this is not for beginners.

By Jeff R

Oct 5, 2016

I expected something a little more faced paced from Berklee. But it was still good.

By Sharon S

Jan 17, 2021

Instructor was fantastic but this is not a beginners course!

By Arturo F C F

Jun 16, 2019

One thing that really should improve is the thing of having students grading other student's work, it is not the best way to grade because their criteria is based on their knowledge and most of the times it is limited to what they understand from the lessons and it might not be accurate. I had to resubmit my activities because I was miss graded with some nonsense feedback, and I feel I'm wasting my time. It would help a lot if someone who actually knew about the subject, graded the projects.

By Nabil S

Jan 22, 2016

While it is a great course for all beginners to the Guitar, the only problem that I see is the grading system that is absolute loony. It is left to other students to grade it and that may or may not show up to be graded by other students. If it is not shown up to be graded by other students then you are left grade-less for that assignment hence leaving you unable to complete this course and you cannot receive your certificate or completion letter.

By ZeroSet

Oct 3, 2019

Lessons are out of order in the end and much needed information on scales (no detail on minor scale??) is left out entirely. But, you can get going on your guitar with this course and learn the basics OK. I wouldn't pay for this course until they fix up lesson #6, add the missing materials and include some detail on minor scales.

By רועי א

Feb 3, 2022

I think the order of the lessons is completely wrong. we learned music notation before rythem and different chord strokes. I finished the course and still can't play one song.

By Lo'real C B

Aug 27, 2020

It'll get playing by the end of the course and give you all the tools to get there. This isn't a "learn songs by ear" setup. It includes fretboard maps, chord charts, tablature and practice exercise. There's a bit of simple music theory: 4/4 rhythm (most commonly used in music), reading notes on the staff for Treble Clef and step by step you learn to connect the notes on a music sheet to what you play. The pace is pretty even, but I do recommend you practice every day: even nylon strings are hard on the fingertips. Go slow and steady and by the end, you will have a new skill to be proud of and share with friends.

By Lorraine C

Jan 24, 2021

This is a very difficult beginner course and only suitable to someone who has played the guitar and is looking for independent lessons for theory and practice. It is not truly for a novice guitarist. Also, it is a college level class, not suitable for anyone who does not already have some theory and practice. You can go slowly but I needed to find supplemental information to understand the concepts that are presented, as you cannot have an instructor answer questions. If you want to learn this instrument and have prior knowledge of other string instrument or piano ,it is a good way to learn the guitar.

By Michael B

Jun 20, 2016

Outstanding course! I was an absolute beginner and knew nothing about the guitar or how to play it. I now feel that I have great understanding and a strong foundation to build upon. It starts out fairly easy and takes you step by step through everything you need to know but builds quickly and takes lots of practice to become proficient with each of the lessons, especially if you've never played and instrument before. The biggest benefit from the class is that I know feel comfortable that I have sufficient knowledge that I can continue to develop my skills at my own pace using various on-line resources.

By Krithika G

Aug 5, 2016

I have tried to learn guitar through regular classes with three music schools before. But have never been able to find it taught this simplified yet detailed. Kudos to our teacher. The playing gets so much easier when we know the logic. I feel more eager to take my instrument which has been lying in a corner for more than a year now. I just hope i would be able to enough time to practice and stay in touch with the instrument i love. Thanks coursera and Berklee college for this wonderful course and thanks sir for making me feel so much at ease with my guitar..

By Renata C

Mar 24, 2021

I'm so happy I have finished this course. I can sincerely say I have learnt to play the guitar at a beginner level. More than playing, I have learnt some music theory, such as scales, chords, rhythm etc., so I understand what I'm doing and not only memorizing it. Also, I could see how consistent practice really makes perfect. I know there is a long way ahead for me to master the skill and I want to keep going. Many thanks to Thaddeus Hoggart, who was a great and competent instructor, and to Berklee online, for making this possible in the midst of a pandemic.

By Четверухин А А

Dec 20, 2016

Great course and teacher. The beginning seems to be too easy for somebody who studied music before or already plays guitar at least to some extend, but this can be skipped if required (i.e. one can just pass the tests) and then there is a whole bunch if interesting information starting.

The end of the course may be quite difficult for absolute beginners, but if you practice you'll get there or, otherwise, nobody will blaim you if you deliver it a bit later.

Good luck and thanks to coursera and the teacher!

By Dina

Oct 18, 2020

I have had a great experience doing the course in coursera. Many thanks coursera organizations.For those like me who live in a conservative family, who want to do something good with music, who have a strong desire to be a singer or a musician. But who cannot lead a life for family, relatives, society ignorance, coursera is a great opportunity and platform for them. I request coursera organizations if It is possible to re-introduce these courses so that the backward people can learn something better.

By Marty S

Jun 10, 2020

I am very grateful for this course. I have learned many things ranging from chords and chord progressions to pentatonic scales, how to read sheet music, and now how to use the Audacity and Soundcloud apps, which all makes me feel very accomplished and like a much better musician than when I first started this course :). Learning all the reasons "why" things work the way they do in the musical world has taken a lot of the frustration out of playing since I am more STEM-minded than creative. Thank you!

By Kenda R T

Jul 11, 2017

This is a wonderful course. I took this as a complete beginner. The teacher is very able to explain things for a baby to the guitar world. Though it was a little bit more complicated for me at my level when I took it , towards the latter end of the course, I was still equipped with a great foundation. Due to this foundation, I was able to work with my current guitar teacher, who works mostly with intermediate to advanced players, with a better footing. Thank you for this wonderful course!

By Sandeep H

Aug 24, 2015

Excellent precision. Great teacher...! Not the one who rushes through to complete the lessons in a hurry but he really takes it slow and makes it very understanding for slow learners and beginners.

I love coursera...! Great innovation. Awesome work! Keep it up guys..!

Also Berklee college of music, thank you for making thousands of distressed and unlucky students(for various reasons) be a part of your great culture of music and valuable teaching.

Hats off!!!

By Umesh K

Aug 27, 2020

Fantastic course for anyone wanting to learn guitar. It has given excellent base level knowledge on guitar as well practical initiation into playing basic chords as well as melody. This is a very good foundation level course and I recommend to all guitar aspirants. Prof Thaddeus was amazing with high quality video instructions & demos. Thanks Coursera & Berkelee for providing this opportunity to participate & i thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks you. Regards, Umesh