Posted: 6/20/2026 11:06:47 AM EDT
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I'm a metal player looking to expand. I don't like jazz at all and feel classical guitar has a greater carry over as far as improving my metal playing as well. I'm also interested in applying hybrid picking into some metal melody and lead playing. I've currently only learned the basic part of Fur Elise that everyone knows and Dee by Randy Rhoads. I'm using hybrid picking on an electric guitar so obviously not a classical style. I know everything is available online now, but with no knowledge of classical guitar I'm looking for advice of what classical online instruction I should follow? I'm not really interested in learning super long pieces. I'd like to learn shorter pieces starting from easy working up too difficult while keeping the length of the piece short like 1-to-2-minute pieces. Basically, so I can learn techniques with quick wins without spending months trying to learn a single classical masterpiece. |
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Chris broderick, excellent metal player thats played for several incredible bands. Chris Broderick playing Luis Legnani Classical Guitar |
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Originally Posted By Poppadent: Chris broderick, excellent metal player thats played for several incredible bands.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49fq-FFccjYWell aware of Chris, but I didn't know he had online lessons available for beginners. ETA: I can't find his classical guitar lessons with a search engine, can you provide a link? |
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Just a suggestion, what about going back to the neo-classical metal era and checking out some of the solos/riffs from that era? It may be a great bridge for you to get to full classical playing since you are a metal guy already. There are several good players from that era. You could start with Yngwie Malmsteen. Yngwie .J. Malmsteen - Sarabande [HD 1080p] |
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Originally Posted By lefty-weaver-g19: Well aware of Chris, but I didn't know he had online lessons available for beginners. ETA: I can't find his classical guitar lessons with a search engine, can you provide a link? Sorry, i play by ear. I just listen and try to figure it out note by note. My bad brother. Carry on  Here is an edit though… Yngwie has plenty of tabs https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/artist/yngwie_malmsteen_10802 |
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I'm 52 years old well aware of Yngwie from my childhood his style isn't what I'm looking to do. I'm looking for actual technique instruction for classical guitar. Hearing the note by ear I can figure out as I do not have perfect pitch only relative pitch. It still would be very hard and a waste of time for me to try to figure out how they are fingering each note even after identifying what note they are playing when I have no experience with classical guitar. I'm looking for exercises to train both the right and left hand for classical guitar as well as short classical pieces that use these techniques in a musical context. I want to incorporate hybrid picking into my distorted lead guitar playing in my own way and pickup whatever else I can learn along the journey of learning classical guitar. |
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Originally Posted By Poppadent: Just a suggestion, what about going back to the neo-classical metal era and checking out some of the solos/riffs from that era? It may be a great bridge for you to get to full classical playing since you are a metal guy already. There are several good players from that era. You could start with Yngwie Malmsteen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyZcVd-lJWsTony Macalpine |
Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out.
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General education should not be mere job training, but training in how to be fully human.
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Originally Posted By lefty-weaver-g19: Let's be honest handing a complete beginner the songs in the two videos posted and saying start here and learn these two songs by ear would be just setting them up for failure. That is not something to recommend someone for their first lesson. Well, let’s see… you said that you have experience playing and are into metal. Sorry that I didn’t have enough info to guide you in exactly the way you were imagining. If you can read music… https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HL14023154--hal-leonard-100-graded-classical-guitar-studies-book?mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=298840888995&lid=92700079954078847&ds_s_kwgid=58700008681147129&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=298840888995&product_id=HL14023154&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=m&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9052489&creative=692315745262&targetid=pla-298840888995&campaignid=21064103927&awsearchcpc=1&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21064103927&gbraid=0AAAAAD_RQYmPFygZtx7p142adC5hWSOjW If you prefer tab… https://www.classtab.org Enjoy your day |
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Originally Posted By Poppadent: Well, let’s see… you said that you have experience playing and are into metal. Sorry that I didn’t have enough info to guide you in exactly the way you were imagining. If you can read music… https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HL14023154--hal-leonard-100-graded-classical-guitar-studies-book?mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=298840888995&lid=92700079954078847&ds_s_kwgid=58700008681147129&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=298840888995&product_id=HL14023154&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=m&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9052489&creative=692315745262&targetid=pla-298840888995&campaignid=21064103927&awsearchcpc=1&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21064103927&gbraid=0AAAAAD_RQYmPFygZtx7p142adC5hWSOjW If you prefer tab… https://www.classtab.org Enjoy your day The title of the thread is "Classical guitar for a beginner". I understand I'm not good at explaining what I'm looking for so this is my fault. I found a few video series that look good one starting from the very beginning with great detail on how to sit with the guitar. I prefer video honestly for technique practice. It's easier for me to make sure I'm using the correct technique rather than misunderstand an explanation or photo. I'm having a great day thank you, just finished my Ribeye steak I made on the grill. |
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I found this lesson series. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVzwBH6y7aM6H6N2HyUe8Kj-rCaNKvFAQ That along with my metal lessons from Bernth will keep me busy for a while. I’m spending over an hour a day on picking/fingering exercises for metal and half hour a day on classical guitar techniques. Then 2 hours a day noodling and writing parts/working on my own songs. The Bernth exercises have really made a difference. Very well thought out exercises that are crafted to work very specific technique problems. |
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Originally Posted By lefty-weaver-g19: I'm a metal player looking to expand. I don't like jazz at all and feel classical guitar has a greater carry over as far as improving my metal playing as well. I'm also interested in applying hybrid picking into some metal melody and lead playing. I've currently only learned the basic part of Fur Elise that everyone knows and Dee by Randy Rhoads. I'm using hybrid picking on an electric guitar so obviously not a classical style. I know everything is available online now, but with no knowledge of classical guitar I'm looking for advice of what classical online instruction I should follow? I'm not really interested in learning super long pieces. I'd like to learn shorter pieces starting from easy working up too difficult while keeping the length of the piece short like 1-to-2-minute pieces. Basically, so I can learn techniques with quick wins without spending months trying to learn a single classical masterpiece. If you're just looking to "play classical" for technique development and are not interested in learning theory or performance, then look for "etudes." Etudes are short pieces that were composed to develop specific techniques like proper finger placement on the strings, or dynamics, or whatever. Personally I'd say find a teacher, though, as without someone in the room to correct you, bad habits can develop quickly. Practice makes permanent. Hope that helps. |
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Originally Posted By RickFinsta: If you're just looking to "play classical" for technique development and are not interested in learning theory or performance, then look for "etudes." Etudes are short pieces that were composed to develop specific techniques like proper finger placement on the strings, or dynamics, or whatever. Personally I'd say find a teacher, though, as without someone in the room to correct you, bad habits can develop quickly. Practice makes permanent. Hope that helps. Yes primarily looking to advance my technique which I would then use to expand my limited hybrid picking on electric guitar. I took a one hour a day 5 days a week music theory class with the band geeks in high school for a full school year. Obviously that was over 30 years ago and I’ve only started playing guitar again 6 months ago. I will say with online tools and previous experience the mental and theory part has come back way quicker than the physical part. I live in small town Iowa there aren’t any guitar instructors here of any type let alone a high level classical or metal instructor. I can video myself and send to an instructor for metal stuff though so that’s working well. I could probably do the same with an online classical guitar instructor. |
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Originally Posted By RickFinsta: Yeah technology has been great for learning that is for sure. It’s the primary reason I chose guitar as my new hobby. Around Christmas my wife asked me what I wanted. I wanted a new hobby since I quit drag racing and hardly ever do my long range shooting anymore. I started researching and modern recording quality and readily available guitar instruction made me chose guitar. Being limited to what I could learn be ear as a kid and having a 4 track is wild compared to a modern DAW and guitar instruction all over the internet now. In music theory class we had to write arrangements for the entire orchestra. I didn’t even play those instruments just learned the range of each instrument and wrote a song for the orchestra that was our final project. It was my only A class my senior year if I remember correctly lol. I remember playing riffs for friends and then saying the second guitar will do this and the drums will do this. My friends were like ok whatever. Now with a Daw I can put it all together and my friends are shocked even though I’m not nearly as good today as I was as a kid. You could try this with your own friends. Play a single guitar part and they may like it but aren’t super into it. Then show them that same guitar part in the context of the song with the entire band and suddenly they are impressed no matter how simple the guitar part alone was. |