Church Guitar Lessons

If you want to take part in your church’s band or choir, chances are you are going to need to learn your instrument.

Don’t worry though, because we are here to teach you all about your instrument, and walk you through the basics that well help you to get up and ready to play guitar at your church.

The first part of our christian guitar lesson is simple; scales. Scales are the foundation of all music, including church music. Learning scales, believe it or not, is fairly easy.

Every scale consists of seven note names. The most basic of all scales are the C Major and A minor scales. These scales contain no accidentals at all. The C Major scale contains the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The A minor scales contains the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

Every Major scale is built of this exact pattern:

Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step

Every natural minor scale is built of this exact pattern:

Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step

Using this equation, try your hand at building the basic Major and minor scales. Remember that a whole step is equal to two half steps, so a half step from C would bring you to C#, whereas a whole step from C would bring you to D.

Once you have a hang of the scales and are able to apply the equations without thought, next up is note recognition. In order to recognize a scale or key by ear, you need to know your notes. When you play your scales, try singing the notes one by one, until you are familiar with each note by ear.

Take your time, as this exercise requires a lot of hard work and practice to properly implement. If you are struggling to reach a note, try it an octave lower, as it may simply be out of your natural range. An octave of D is still a D, which means if you recognize a lower D note, you will still recognize a higher D note.

Once you can name basic notes by ear, the church guitar lesson is practical application. To properly apply these concepts to your church playing, you will simply need to apply your knowledge of scales and note recognition to chords.

Being able to recognize a chord by ear will allow you to play along to songs that you may not yet know, as you will be able to pick out the key chord properties. This means if your choir is singing a new song that you haven’t yet learned, you won’t be lost, as you will be able to identify the notes being played or sung.

The last tip in this lesson can only be instructed by one person; you. You will need to teach yourself to take a chunk of time each day and devote it to your instrument. The only way you will be church-ready is through practice and repetition. Good luck!

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