Ultimate Beginner Guitar Masterclass (Udemy.com)

Henry, I really wanted to take the time and thank you. Watching your lessons is a treat. Its so clear how you love the instrument, and how you want to get that passion across to your students. I often find myself with a big smile on my face just listening to you. How you excuse yourself when you repeat again how important it is not to be a robot or stressing the little important things. It's really great to work on learning how to play the guitar with you. I often return to your lessons to redo the practice, but also just to feel happy when I'm doing the practice. That's really because of you, so thanks a lot for all the work you put in! For anyone who's looking for a clearly structured and fun course to (re)start playing the guitar, I'd really recommend this one. You won't be disappointed. Thanks again!

Henry Olsen is a great teacher. I have had bad guitar teachers in the past tell me females have hands too small to play guitar. They made learning stressful and overwhelming. Olsen is very open and not overwhelming with clear and good information. I have downloaded and printed the free book and it is great. Also he has links to a YouTube class online, and students can continue the online classes there forever. I am glad I took this class first.

I’ve had guitars in my home for decades, but they were really just effectively decoration. I happened across this course bought and forgot about it. But, I made a decision to learn and this course has really been effective. I continue my course study, but the nice part is Henry has given me the tools to HAVE FUN with the guitar on my own. And that’s the point. His course has given me the ability to make my own music as well as tackle my favorite songs. I have recommended this course to several people and will continue to do so. It’s like having a teacher in your pocket. You can study new stuff or brush up on an old skill anywhere at anytime. Do yourself a favor and follow you passion. Enjoy, Rich from Downers Grove IL

Some of section 11 was really difficult and for the most part there weren't any TABS to look at. I guess you can get them if you purchase Henry's full course on his website. I don't think playing like Jimi Hendrix was meant to be in a beginner course. It was quite interesting though. BUT this course actually taught me a lot and helped catapult my guitar playing pass just basic beginner. Henry's style is great and I would definitely recommend his courses.

He is truly an amazing teacher!! This course got me so far so quickly when I first bought it at 14. After having to stop playing due to the injuries I received from an accident that got me hospitalized, I decided to buy a new guitar last week after 5 years of not playing, and this course was the first thing on my mind. I feel so grateful for the kindness and patience in each video, I had to come back and edit the comment in my review. Regardless, 5 stars then, five stars now, and 5 stars forever. Thank you so much!!!!

Hi my name is Heather and I tried taking guitar lessons for the past 4 weeks and was not getting any way. Was frustrated with the whole matter, so my son gave me your link and I tried. I sat down this evening for the very first time and had a wonderful time listening to you and following the instructions. You make playing the guitar fun and learning this instrument quite easy (except for the hurting fingers lol) You are so correct when you said about the once a week practicing. For sure, one can't even remember where to place the fingers etc. I am having fun even just starting, and looking forward to practicing daily if it's even 10-15 mins. P.S. I love the little piece 0-3-5...

This course is exactly what I have been looking for. A word of notice to all students: a course is only as good as you let them be, meaning that the course (any course for that matter, not this one in particular) only covers about 10% of the "you becoming a great guitar player". The remaining 90% is called practice. No practice - no guitar player. Bottom line: this course is really great, it covers really more than I had expected - now I'm in practice mode. Thank you Henry Olsen.

I have been playing guitar for 8 months, your introduction is still very new, clear and concise to me. (HT from Shanghai). Nov 6 - Thanks and I think I am making some progression from your course. Though I can't keep watching your video lessons everyday, I'll do it when I have time.

I am now 1/3 of the way through this course, and it has already turned out to be an obvious winner. Henry is a fantastic instructor: He knows his material, explains it well, and walks students through everything. Personality-wise, he is engaging, encouraging, and relentlessly supportive. (In addition to his responsiveness to messages and questions, he also leads a wonderfully supportive and welcoming online community.) I started out as someone who was close to an absolute beginner. I took lessons for a while when I was about 12, but I did not practice enough, and I think in my heart of hearts I did not believe I could really learn to play. I gave up after only a few months of lessons. Fast-forward through 40 years of mild regret which has over the past few years become much less mild, as it so often does for people when we get to a certain age, and I finally decided to take the plunge and try again. I picked up a sweet little second-hand acoustic electric and started Henry's course the same day. This was four weeks ago to the day. All I remembered from my childhood lessons was that the strings are EADGBE, more or less how to tune a guitar (badly) by ear, and how to play three chords: E minor, A7, and D. As I said, I've been doing Henry's course for four weeks and I am about a third of the way through. The videos are excellent, short but very focused and thorough, with each one focusing on a particular skill. Henry explains what you'll be learning, demonstrates the skill, and then has you try it out along with him. His formula works very well. For me, noticeable progress was practically immediate. Henry's instructional approach has been amazingly effective for me. I am still going back to some of the videos over and over, like the ones that cover strumming patterns, which I have found to be incredibly helpful. He covers them one at a time, explains each strumming pattern, uses visual aids on the screen so you will know what you're supposed to be playing (i.e., the order of up and down strokes), shows you how to do it and what it will sound like, and then has you play along with him, slowly at first and then picking up speed, until you start picking up the rhythm, after which you can (and should!) practice the pattern on your own. I have watched and played along with these videos probably three or four times apiece, maybe more, and then I practice them on my own. And it WORKS. I am actually LEARNING TO PLAY GUITAR. The earlier videos are great too, and when I was at that level -- way back in the olden days about two weeks ago :-) -- I went back to those time and time again also. All the videos are short enough to be an easy investment of time, so I never felt daunted or overwhelmed by having to do a rewatch. This is a huge plus: Watching (or rewatching) the videos never feels like a big commitment, a fear that I think can discourage a lot of people from taking a course like this to learn to play an instrument. That fear is totally unfounded with this course. Henry will have you playing immediately. Henry also reminds his students constantly that they will see real progress if they stick to it and practice regularly. Especially at the beginning when I was not sure I believed I could do this, I needed these reminders (which feel more like encouragement than reminders). But from the beginning I have followed his instructions, and I practice every day. I was surprised early on to find that practice doesn't feel like a chore. It is actually something I look forward to all day. When you can tell that you are getting better and better, it is super exciting and fun and the motivation to practice comes naturally. That is one of the best things about this course: If you follow Henry's advice and stick with it, you will see progress SO FAST that you won't believe it. As I said, I am only four weeks into the course, but I am already able to start playing around with songs I want to learn and having way more success with that than I ever could have imagined. Speaking of which, I had not planned to write my review until I finish the course, but I am writing it now, only four weeks in and a third of the way through, because of a breakthrough I had last night. I had been messing around with one of my favorite songs for about the past week, which I found tabs and chords for online. Last night it somehow came together, and I was able to play it (and sing it!) all the way through. I'm not ready to play it in public or anything, but I PLAYED IT!!! and recorded it and it actually sounds pretty OK and even kind of good. I had hoped someday to learn to play this song but imagined that "someday" to be at least a year away, maybe longer. Thanks to Henry's instruction, it took me FOUR WEEKS. I am walking on air. (BTW, he also teaches you how to play and sing at the same time and to focus on this as you are learning a song, which is super helpful to learn early on and is serving me very well.) As I said, I started this course pretty close to an absolute beginner. I believed that I had no musical aptitude whatsoever, and this had always been one of the great regrets of my life thus far. I never thought I could sing (I wouldn't even sing "Happy Birthday," not even in large groups) and definitely never thought I could play an instrument competently. But you know what? For almost anything you want to do, if you stick to it and practice consistently, you will get better at. It really is that simple. I wish it hadn't taken me 53 years to learn this lesson because figuring it out has cracked my life wide open in the best possible way, and I would have loved to have tried some other things that I passed on over the years because I didn't believe I could do them. I may never be a great guitar player, but what I have learned is that it doesn't matter. I am becoming a competent one, and maybe I'll even get to be a good one. I am already infinitely better than I was four weeks ago, and I keep get exponentially better faster than I ever could have imagined. All you need is the right instruction (thank you, Henry!!!) and the willingness to keep at it. In sum, I recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn to play guitar, including people who don't believe they can. YOU CAN. This is the course that will get you there.

I'm an old guy who decided, in fit of "midlife crises" to try to learn to play guitar. I looked around for an instructor, but between my job and family, it's difficult to find time. This is working great. It steps you through, and I think I'm making progress. He's a little goofy, but honestly, he's kind of charming and fun. I would recommend this to people who are trying to learn on their own. You can pace it how it works for you. I wanted to update this. I've now been playing, on and off, for nearly two years. At times I moved away from Henry, but the fascinating thing is, I keep going back. I find lessons that I skipped, or didn't get to are just what I need now. Also, the Super Simple Guitar Facebook group is great.