Late Beginner Learning Pathway
Take the next step in your guitar journey.
Qualified beginners
Take the next step in your guitar journey after you complete our Beginner Learning Pathway.
3 months
Karl Kerfoot will guide you through 6 grades of instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Solid rhythm & soloing
By the end of this pathway, you'll have entered the world of soloing and have a rock-solid rhythm guitar foundation.
Take the next step
Once you've built your beginner foundation, you're ready for the Intermediate Learning Pathway.
What you'll learn
In this music-first Learning Pathway, you'll polish your rhythm guitar foundation and enter the world of soloing.
- Tackle expressive rhythm guitar techniques
- Start soloing ASAP (and sound great doing it)
- Start writing your own music
- Learn practical theory
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Grade 1. Back to Basics
In this first grade, you’ll refine the skills you already know and start using them with more intention. You’ll revisit core techniques through rhythm, lead, and fretboard exercises that make the rest of the pathway easier to navigate.
Day 1. Single notes and lead
To start the class, you'll review the basics of lead playing with a focus on clean picking and dynamic control. This will help your single-note lines sound more fluid and connected to one another.
Day 2. Chords and strumming
Now, you’ll shift to rhythm guitar and refine how both hands work together. Karl will help you make small adjustments that’ll make your chords sound clearer and your transitions smoother.
Day 3. Power chords
You’ll revisit power chords and zoom in on the technique that makes them sound even more powerful. These two-note shapes will help you unlock rock riffs and prepare for bar chords.
Day 4. Intro to the 3:2 system
In this lesson, you’ll learn a simple way to move pentatonic ideas diagonally across the neck. This intuitive system will help you break out of the same old box shapes and riff patterns.
Day 5. Strum patterns are a myth
Karl will demystify strumming patterns by showing how they’re built from constant down-up motion. You’ll use an Outkast-inspired progression to understand how rhythm really works.
Day 6. Your first classical piece
Now, you’ll work on a simple classical-inspired piece that will improve your picking accuracy and fretting-hand control. This lesson also helps you develop rhythmic precision without relying on a backing track.
Day 7. E-string workout
Sweatband on. Karl will guide you through a note-name workout on the E string so you can start navigating movable shapes with more clarity.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 1 and puts it in a song context. Here, you’ll get to jam with a live-recorded band of professional L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you’re ready to move on to Grade 2.
Grade 2. Power Chords, Bar Chords, and Riffs
Now that you’ve reviewed the basics, it’s time to strengthen your core guitar skills. You’ll work on chording techniques, fretboard navigation, and even singing while playing.
Day 1. Intro to singing and playing
You’ll learn how to sing and play at the same time using Happy Birthday. Karl will help you connect lyrics to your chord changes to make singing while playing easier.
Day 2. Power Sweater (Weezer)
In this Weezer-inspired lesson, you’ll move power chords between the E and A strings. This will help you play rock guitar more efficiently while locking in with steady 8th-note strumming.
Day 3. Combining riffs and chords
You’ll blend rhythm and lead by combining a surf-rock riff with a minor blues progression. This lesson will help you understand how riffs can connect to the chords underneath them.
Day 4. Open up your fretboard with octaves
Karl will show you how octave shapes can help you find notes across the entire fretboard. You’ll use this system to map out the neck by memorizing the notes on the E and A strings.
Day 5. 50 tips to play your bar chords
You’ll take the pain out of bar chords by focusing on hand position and pressure with a Paul Simon-inspired track. These tips will help you build cleaner shapes without unnecessary tension.
Day 6. Your first classical piece: part 2
You’ll return to your classical-inspired piece and add the next section. This lesson strengthens your alternate picking and string skipping skills.
Day 7. A-string workout
Karl will guide you through a note-name workout on the A string. This will help you combine your growing fretboard knowledge with octave shapes.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 2 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 3.
Grade 3. Blues and Folk
This grade introduces two essential genres that will help you shape your rhythm and lead playing. You’ll work on blues phrasing and folk-style rhythm so you can unlock thousands of new songs and styles.
Day 1. The blues chug
To kick off Grade 3, you’ll learn how to play a 12-bar blues using an open-string chug. This rhythm is the heart of the blues, and it’ll help you lock in the difference between a swing feel and a straight feel.
Day 2. The classic minor pentatonic box
Karl will introduce the minor pentatonic box and show you how to apply call and response in your playing. This approach will help your lead lines sound more like a conversation.
Day 3. Beautiful folk voicings
Now, you’ll expand your chord vocabulary with colorful open-chord sounds. These voicings will help you create richer progressions to support yourself or another singer-songwriter.
Day 4. Must-know folky strum “patterns”
You’ll practice essential folk strumming approaches, including the beating pulse of bluegrass: the boom chuck. These techniques will help you bring more movement to open-chord progressions.
Day 5. Blues open chords
Now, you’ll return to the 12-bar blues with open dominant 7 chords. After today, you’ll have another way to play blues rhythm with a fuller chord sound.
Day 6. Blues lead line
You’ll add a melodic blues line over the same progression as yesterday and get an introduction to playing the changes. This will help your solos connect more clearly to the chords.
Day 7. D-string workout
Karl will guide you through a note-name workout on the D string to help you feel more comfortable moving beyond the lowest strings.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 3 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 4.
Grades 4-6
In these last grades, you’ll build a more complete rhythm and lead toolkit. You’ll work on detailed strumming, chord texture, and phrasing so your parts fit seamlessly into songs.
Grade 4. Strum Techniques and Fingerstyle
In this grade, you’ll learn how to shape your sound with more control over your strumming hand and start creating softer parts using fingerstyle and arpeggiation.
Day 1. Intentional strum placement
Kick off the grade by learning how targeting different strings with your strums can change the sound of the same chords. This way of thinking will help you become more deliberate with your rhythm guitar parts.
Day 2. The strum slap
Karl will help you add groove and movement to acoustic rhythm parts with a percussive strumming technique inspired by Stealers Wheel’s Stuck in the Middle With You.
Day 3. Sus4 chords aren’t sus
You’ll add tension and release to yesterday’s Stealers Wheel-inspired tune with an Asus4 chord and new song sections. Sus chords are a great tool to add interesting movement to your chords.
Day 4. Intro to fingerstyle
Now, you’ll set up your picking hand for fingerstyle using Karl’s core technique tips. This lesson gives you a foundation for softer, more detailed guitar parts.
Day 5. The rake
You’ll learn a relaxed strumming technique over a track inspired by Lord Huron. The rake will help you add a natural push and pull to your rhythm playing.
Day 6. The E major scale
Karl will introduce you to the major scale and demonstrate how you can use it to create melodies. You’ll apply the E major scale to our Lord Huron-inspired track.
Day 7. G-string workout
You’ll close out the grade by building fretboard familiarity with a G-string note-name workout. Your fretboard map is really coming along.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 4 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 5.
Grade 5. Chord Explorations
This grade will help you expand your chordal vocabulary and make more tasteful rhythm choices that sit nicely in the mix. You’ll explore smaller chord shapes and broken-up textures that help your parts support the song without taking over.
Day 1. Intro to jazzy chords
To start off Grade 5, you’ll unlock shell chords and learn why the 3rd and 7th are so important in your chords. These smaller voicings will help you access jazzier sounds without difficult shapes.
Day 2. Chord picking arpeggios
You’ll break open chords into flowing arpeggios over a House of the Rising Sun-inspired progression. This will help you improve picking accuracy while keeping your chords ringing clearly.
Day 3. Quick-switch power chords: part 1
Karl will help you nail fast power-chord movement with an Olivia Rodrigo-inspired track. You’ll work on quick shifts and punchy rock rhythm.
Day 4. Quick-switch power chords: part 2
You’ll finish yesterday’s song and learn how to keep power chords moving at a faster tempo. This lesson will help you build the stamina needed for rock rhythm parts.
Day 5. Blackbird fingerstyle voicings
You’ll expand your fingerstyle vocabulary with some Beatles-inspired chord movement. This gives you a more melodic way to support singer-songwriters and leave some sonic space for vocals.
Day 6. Trying triads
Now, you’ll work on three-note chord shapes and see how they live inside full bar chords. You’ll apply them in a reggae-inspired setting with offbeat strums.
Day 7. B-string workout
Finally, you’ll hit the gym with Karl for a B-string note-name workout. This will help you continue building fretboard awareness across the neck.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 5 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 6.
Grade 6. Lead Explorations
In the final grade, you’ll focus on making your lead lines more vocal and intentional. You’ll work on pitch, phrasing, and articulation so your lines stop sounding like scale practice.
Day 1. Slides and vibrato
To start, you’ll learn how slides and vibrato can make your guitar sound more like a singer. Karl will show you how to use these techniques within the 3:2 system.
Day 2. Bending control and intonation
Now, you’ll train your ear and fingers to bend in tune. This lesson introduces whole-step and half-step bends to add a more vocal-like quality to your lines.
Day 3. Hard rock hammer-ons and pull-offs
Karl will show you how to add speed and attitude to your playing with legato techniques. You’ll apply them in a classic-rock setting.
Day 4. Combining expressive techniques
You’ll bring together all of your new phrasing tools over a neo-soul-inspired track. This lesson helps you make lead lines sound more deliberate.
Day 5. Palm-muted arpeggios
Now, you’ll learn how to play lead lines that feel punchy and locked in with the band by applying palm muting to single-note arpeggios.
Day 6. Putting it all together
In the final lesson, you’ll combine techniques from across the pathway in one complete song. You’ll shift between rhythm and lead roles while keeping the part connected from section to section.
Day 7. The 1234 workout
Karl will guide you through a final workout that strengthens both hands. This exercise can stay in your practice routine long after you finish the pathway.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 6 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to new challenges.
REAL students
Don’t take our word for it, take theirs
What guitarists love about this course
Your Instructor
Karl Kerfoot
Take your playing to the next level by learning fundamental lead & rhythm concepts from Pickup Music's Head of Education.
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Frequently asked questions
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