Learning Gospel Guitar From Scratch

OK…Someone asked…what book should I buy if I want to learn guitar to play in church.

There are a few method books out there as well as courses to teach Christian Guitar.

I see some “hymn-based” instructional methods.

and I see some “praise-based” instructional methods.

Mel Bay’s Deluxe Gospel Guitar Method is an example of the Hymns-Based Approach.

One book that really helped me understand that you can play a lot of hymns (and songs in general) just by learning 3 chords in a key, is Mel Bay’s Deluxe Gospel Guitar Method Volume 1.

The book takes well known hymns and arranges them into different keys….

And then in each key you learn 3 chords that will help you play a ton of songs in that key…

The keys are G, D, A, E, Em, C, Am, and Dm.

After learning to strum you then move to learning how some finger picking patterns.

There are some pretty simple strumming patterns, but I don’t use them. You will outgrow them quickly…

I think the key to this and just about any method is that you learn to take the ideas and thoughts from the book and move on to doing your own arrangements of hymns.

One exercise that just about any gospel guitar player should do is open up the hymnal..and just start playing….In a ton of cases….all you need are the three chords that you learn in this book.

There is a volume 2 that appears to be out of print.

In that book you learn sight reading and you move on to other important techniques like hammer on and pull offs.

In any case, if you are a complete beginner, Mel Bay’s Deluxe Gospel Guitar Method would provide a good supplement to a YouTube Teacher like Justin Guitar or Party Marty.