All My Lessons from 2025!

My friends! A new year is upon us, and before my next lesson I want to share a summary of all the lessons I made in 2025. For your convenience, I’ve grouped them all by category. Each lesson is linked below… enjoy!

At Long Last… My Guitar 101 Course!

In Spring 2025, I finally released a much-requested series on videos on guitar fundamentals. These are aimed at folks who are getting started or otherwise looking for some guidance along their guitar-playing journey.

While there are more videos I plan on adding to this series, I’m proud of this initial batch! Here’s what I’ve got so far:

• Advice for New Guitar Players
• Choosing a Guitar
• Guitar Anatomy for Beginners
• Other Gear You’ll Need
• Holding Your Guitar Comfortably
• Sitting & Chair Advice
• Learning Without an In-Person Teacher?
• How Sound, Pitch, and “Notes” Work
• Getting In Tune
• Standing & Using a Strap
• Holding a Guitar Pick
• Fretting Notes Cleanly

Leaning Into the PDF Handbooks

While my weekly lessons almost always feature a members-only PDF with practice notes, I’ve started to create some more comprehensive “handbooks” that go deep on a particular topic or technique.

Below are the topics I tackled in 2025. I have a lot more ambition to continue pulling on this thread in the new year, so after enjoying what’s below — stay tuned for more!

• Major & Minor Scales In Every Key — over 40 pages!
• 1-4-5 Chord Handbook
• Minor Key Handbook
• Major Key Cheat Sheets
• Diagonal Pentatonics (Extended Scale Shapes)
• Double Stops: Harmonized 3rds, 6ths, 10th

Songs: Strum & Sing!

Here’s the song lessons I made in 2025 which more-or-less feature straightforward strumming. Some of these songs are more beginner-friendly than others, but they all can be tackled with basic strumming patterns — if that’s what you’re after.

• America by Simon & Garfunkel
• Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen
• Fairytale of New York by The Pogues
• Handle with Care by Traveling Wilburys
• Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan
• Rise by Eddie Vedder
• Stuck in the Middle by Stealers Wheel
• Third Coast by Larry Joe Taylor
• Wild World (Rhythm Breakdown) by Cat Stevens

Songs: Strum, with Lead and/or Melody

These lessons are also strummed, but each one features some sort of lead guitar or melody deep-dive.

• Back in Black by AC/DC
• Centerfield by John Fogerty
• Hallelujah (Chords + Melody) by Leonard Cohen
• Hey Joe by Jimmy Hendrix / Billy Roberts
• Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett
• Sloop John B by The Beach Boys
• The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole

Songs: Fingerstyle

Fingerstyle and Travis Picking is a favorite playing style of mine, and I made plenty of lessons in 2025 using these techniques! Each of these songs, along with all those above, came in by member request.

• All The Best by John Prine
• Dust in the Wind by Kansas
• Heaven Passing Through by Turnpike Troubadours
• If I Needed You as played by Emmylou Harris & Don Williams
• London Homesick Blues by Jerry Jeff Walker
• Mama I’m Coming Home by Ozzy Osbourne
• Pacing the Cage by Bruce Cockburn

Other Helpful Tips

The following lessons don’t fall into any of the categories above, but I wanted to share just the same! These range from practice tips to technique-specific deep-dives.

• Must-Know YouTube Shortcuts for Guitarists
• Strummy Walkdowns (Key of G)
• Guitar & Comfort Zone: Leave It, But Not Too Much
• Smooth Chord Changes with Open Strings
• FretMonster Tour (2025)
• Music Theory & Why Learn It

Here’s to a great 2026!

I look very much forward to continue growing my Song Notes lesson library in the new year. I have a bunch of ambitions & ideas, both for new lessons as well as considerable improvements to my website.

If you have any particular requests, especially for courses or website updates, please reply to this email and let me know! And thanks again for coming along this journey with me… your support means the world. See you in next week’s lesson!