Beginner Guitar Lesson with Chet Atkins

In this excerpt from the DVD "Get Started On Guitar," the legendary Chet Atkins introduces his beginning students to scales, chords and John Denver's "Country Roads." More info at stefan-grossmans-guitar-workshop.webflow.io/stefan-grossmans-guitar-workshop-online-store#!/Get-Started-on-Guitar-taught-by-Chet-Atkins/p/131764702

[@Flavum]

If I were a teen and Chet called me a "show-off", I'd melt. What a wonderful man.

[@GradyElla]

I have never seen a better example of "It ain't what you play, it's how you play it." No testosterone, no smashing instruments, no lighting something on fire, no obscene gestures or foul language. Just simply a mastery of his instrument and a love for the music it makes. There is still beauty to be found in this crazy world. Chet Atkins is one of those elements.

[@josku5]

Well in some genres the mentioned things are viewed as approriate so I wouldn’t say one thing is better than the other but I get your point. Chet is a master of the instrument.

[@zeppelinboys]

the music that's what counts, and why it bugs me when people compain going to shows and the musicians aren't running around the stage like wildman. LOVE the Grateful Dead and have seen plenty of their shows and they certinaly did just fine playing the instruments. the most they'd do is tell the crowd to "take a step back, and another Step Back", when people in the front were being squished. or announce a child is looking for his parents or something.

[@derektoa]

classic chet just playing the major scale literally up and down and making it sound gorgeous

[@kevdean9967]

Just about all the great melodies are found in the major scale!!! Jimmy Bruno has a fantastic book on playing the major scale, it's called something like The five shapes of the major scale. Jimmy is a master, right there with any of the great players/teachers!!!

[@jerry-st7rc]

Every major scale is within the c major scale

[@bsnf-5]

The shape is always the same but the notes are different

[@arlarl5122]

@@jerry-st7rcno. Every major scale is not within the C major scale. C major scale: CDEFGAB C major has no sharps or flats. G major scale: GABCDEF# D major scale: DEF#GABC# A major scale: ABC#DEF#G# E major scale: EF#G#ABC#D# ECT…

[@barryjdwyer]

Seeing Chet play makes me cry. Always. Spirit of Guitar.

[@christopherdunn9488]

Chet Atkins is the best guitarist ever-he takes the most simple chords-and he just plays them and gets sounds from them that are so pleasing to the ear. Incredible!

[@fullwood13]

Chet takes two kids, a few basic chords, and he makes music. He was one hell of a guitarist and one very special gentleman. Not many around like him anymore.

[@rajathrai3154]

fullwood13 tommy Emanuel

[@vecernicek2]

Chet was great, but there are greats in this era, too. You just need to be a little less lazy to look for them. They're not on the radio anymore.

[@ronmounts8075]

Isnt he just Unbelievable!!!!!

[@richardk3788]

His style is so distinctive, the only thing close to him is when Brian Setzer is directly emulating.

[@dontgoout1434]

Not even rated info on social media's so wrong

[@TechnikMeister2]

Starting out at 66. He is my inspiration. If you watch him...his face..you can see him transported to something of beauty. He just loved the sound and he brought this to us all. Beautiful.

[@richardprutz6458]

Sir I am 73 years young and been playing about a year. And practice Daily. (But not Sunday) Time to be alone with the Lord

[@hawksandwich4742]

@@richardprutz6458 ey man, no better way to be alone with god than by plucking the 6-string

[@richardprutz6458]

I believe I did, got the response I wanted - 6 strings and all. @@hawksandwich4742

[@anuvette]

@@richardprutz6458 youre not young youre old

[@civlyzed]

You've inspired me. I was telling myself I'm too old at 50 to learn but I still have my father's guitar and am going to give it a try. Thank you!

[@darrylguy4043]

“Make it pretty”. That’s what he always said and no one has ever done that better than Chet. My favorite entertainer of all time.

[@dalewdavis3034]

Master of all masters..The godfather of guitar...R.I.P. CHET

[@MysteryMusik]

Only Chet can make such a simple scale sound so amazing! He was a true legend! RIP Chet!

[@jojomama4787]

Chet,teaching guitar to children, investing in the future of this great nation,perhaps the most important thing one could do.Imagine Chester Burton Atkins as your meastro"teacher"!God bless the man

[@VirginiaWolf88]

Beautiful!!!!

[@budm.1450]

I've always known Chet Atkins as "The Man With The Talking Guitar". That's from back in the 60's. What a pretty sound and just from the scales. We'll never forget you Chet.

[@simsonlory1459]

Even the simplest scale makes beautiful music.

[@TheZach43]

Fun to see how Chet's easygoing manner puts his young students at ease. I would have been all thumbs in his presence! And even when playing simple scales note how he closes his eyes and is "into" the music...in the end that was Chet - he simply loved music. And he surely knew how to make it. Side note: both students employ the correct "classical" right hand technique with the arched wrist. Chet didn't - but made his flat-wrist style work wonderfully. Thanks for posting!

[@yestoES355]

2019 anyone? Chet is the man, his playing even simple chords seems like a masterpiece

[@inglepropnoosegarm7801]

He respects the simple but perfect beauty of it all and gives every note his full attention. I can't imagine him playing sloppily, as I think he would regard it as disrespectful of the music. A true virtuoso.

[@nine9whitepony526]

2022 over here and chet is still the man in this neighborhood of the timeline.

[@Mell0wY3ll0w]

2022

[@RitaColacoNuminous]

The magic is that he his teaching basic skills, welcoming begginers to the beauty that is guitar. He is such a wholesome individual, truly inspirational!

[@ddfgamefarm]

one of my favorite guitar player legend. R.I.P. Chet

[@brucew44guns]

For the past 3 years I have spent many hours studying Chet "the man", the more I look at his life, the more awed I am at what a fine person he was. So helpful to others.

[@sunbike1356]

Chet was a genius even in the most trivial things! Thank you for all that you've left us! R.I.P.

[@carlosg.pereira4020]

Mister Guitar, one of the best players of all time!! True guitar Master!

[@sboy1955]

Totally Awesome! Chet was and still is the Country Gentleman 🫡🇺🇸👍🏽

[@HamzaAli-ty5us]

So simple. So beautiful. This is one of the most beautiful music sessions i've ever been to online.

[@koromach]

most calming video ever

[@noneofyourdamnbusiness9012]

I remember this! My Dad had me practice from this tape in 1991, when I was 8-9 years old.

[@ajtaur]

how beautiful sounding and enchanting. We love you Chet

[@maincharacter1405]

From now on I will actually stop rushing my guitar learning, I can see enjoying throughly even the simplest of chords and scales may be just as rewarding as the more complex sound combinations.

[@timothycollinsguitar9450]

Main Character great point!! I am guilty of the same thing.

[@guitardzan5641]

Great insight.......Thanks for that....I will remember to do just that.

[@markayeowell]

Agree with you man. I am now spending months just experimenting with a few notes and chords

[@inglepropnoosegarm7801]

@Jacob Turnbaugh Music is primal and very mysterious. It does not pay to over-analyze it. Just enjoy it and marvel that we can.

[@janebethshimon]

I even like tuning up. It's music, your focus changes, and you become a musician.

[@denisaguirre9904]

He's not teaching scales, he's teaching the beauty of music.

[@MrTheil]

The Joy of Music, with Chet Atkins

[@bradm748]

When I think of, "Mr Guitar", the word, "beginner", is left miles from my mind. Maybe it's just me. haha. RIP, you legend, you. Btw, if you ever get a chance to pay your respects to him, you'll get a chuckle out of how many people leaves guitar pics at his final resting site. There are literally dozens of them. I asked one of the employee's at the cemetery while I was asking where he was located, and she had said that they have to go by sometimes as often as weekly just to pickup the picks because there are so many. Glad to know that people still go pay him a visit.

[@tedpeterson1156]

Yep. Sure do miss Chet..

[@TheZach43]

Brad M Nice to know. On my bucket list is a visit to Chet's grave and to pose beside his sculpture in downtown Nashville.

[@randybock82]

what a confidence builder, picking with the man!

[@bzakie2]

Who knew a scale could be so amazingly God damned beautiful!

[@richw.6296]

Dude, I finally nailed a Chet Atkins song. Plus at 4:55, you can hear Sonic get some rings!

[@dull218]

Did he get to keep em?

[@richw.6296]

@@dull218 Ask Mr. Owl. The world may never know.

[@sankarprasadpain8277]

Very beautiful teaching.he is teaching the beauty of sweet melody, very soul touching music. May God bless him.

[@MrJimbaloid]

Chet is so good i've just listened to a "LESSON" and it was fantastic

[@notaprohmm3459]

thank you chet sir for teaching this great lesson... people die and all their experience, talent goes away with them..teaching is the only way to share skills,so that other people can also enjoy and spend their life happily .you are truely inspirational. you will forever remain in our hearts sir.

[@TheShotzie]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful video of Chet Atkins, and his young students. They are marvelous. The man knew how to make a guitar sing. Wow!

[@sankarprasadpain8277]

Good evening. I try to practise this Chet atkins lessons everyday. Learning every step carefully.very beautiful training. May God bless him.

[@randybock82]

It would have been so cool to have been a student of Mr. Atkins. They will never forget that.

[@silvermediastudio]

Elizabeth died as a homeless addict. Not sure about the boy.

[@tubbers20]

I love the harmonics on the first song. My Dad loved Chet. :^)

[@jamesgrice1412]

I wonder where those kids are now and if they know what a honor it was for them to get to do that

[@emmabradford137]

I think they knew

[@DrVonNostrand]

The only one I'm familiar with is Elizabeth Chen, the young girl in this video. Sadly, she struggled with alcohol and drug abuse, among other personal demons. She was homeless for the later part of her life, living in East LA. She recently passed in early 2019.

[@JordnBeats]

DrVanNostrand jesus

[@World-as-i-c-it]

DrVanNostrand that’s horrible, such a pretty girl, seemed to have a great future. Very sad

[@kevdean9967]

@@DrVonNostrand That's really sad to hear!!!

[@markmartin3221]

Gentlemen and ladies this is how it’s done, Bravo

[@onlywatching6504]

Chet is a cornerstone in the definition of music.

[@ayushmanbhalla8737]

How lucky these both students were..... i mean getting a lesson from a guitar legend, one of the best day of dere life.....

[@Zsolto66]

So amazingly soothing, watching such "simple" stuff being so beautiful. A great upload, thank you. Chet has been my heroes for a long time. What a personality and what a great guitar player. Zs

[@KountryCuz1]

Chet Atkins What Great Guitar Player He make just plane scales sound Great

[@smaklilu90]

Even a simple C major scale sounds magnificent in the hands of a legend. Proves we are mortals lol

[@serfamill]

Chet was one the best guitar players. I learned a lot from him thank you for the videos you post God bless you forever

[@thomashamilton9658]

You need to correct that first sentence. And I am not talking about adding the word "of."

[@Ant_Man211]

That’s a real throwback to some childhood music thanks Chet

[@abagthisbig2894]

Such a wonderful guitar lesson! A wonderful piece of music (several) right away with the simplest ingredients.

[@edwardkrzynowek241]

If anyone is impressed with Chet's masterful playing, it's certainly me. I know that tons of others, from fans to casual listeners, would agree. I found out in a most interesting way, that it wasn't all due to raw talent, however. In my teen years, I was fortunate enough to 'accidentally' hear him give a radio interview back in the early to mid 70s. I usually listened to music. He said he practiced every single day, for 8 hours a day. Maybe he took Sunday off--i can't remember. I'm laughing as I write that line, BTW. But, my point is that a lot of what he accomplished was the result of very hard work. But, yes, he had enormous talent, too. As I listened to this scale-based song of his, it became apparent to me that someone could simply put some decent words to almost every note he sang, and have a truly great song. As mentioned, this offering of him with his friends is so soothing. For all his fine playing, though, I wonder at times if he would have traded at least a tiny bit of his instrumental prowess for a little more in the vocal category--if only to see what it was like for a day. Very sincerely now, that sn't meant to be a dig or poke at him. For example, when I heard him sing the live version of 🏷️I Still Can't Say Goodbye, dedicated to his father, I often get a lump in my throat once again. But, we all know that good old pickin' is where he truly excelled. I don't think we'd want him to trade even a small anything for what he did for us on the guitar. It would be as repregesable as sentencing Renoir or Van Gogh to spending their entire life in a straight jacket. RIP Chet Atkinsi CGP.

[@lawrencecarter8072]

he feels the music..his tempo and nuisances are amazing

[@hosshansen]

So simple and still so beautiful...a true Master

[@goodjorb]

not only the one of the most skilled ever, wow - made something so simple sound so awesome. plus you can see he was a nice person - what a great legend!

[@irishguy13]

I miss him.

[@CalvinEdmonson]

I am mesmerized by this simple scale work. Chet Adkins was truly a master guitarist.

[@caohoang10]

Holy crap! He makes it so simple and yet it sounds amazing!

[@RadhaVijayanMFA]

Mother’s Grace Chet…..The legend👍😊🌹

[@jimreeves1954]

I went to KR music in Chino hills for guitar strings and brought to the young rock metal clerk, this beautiful piece from the master. He was blown away and kept asking me who this was. Now this young man is a Chet fan.

[@Ozmulki]

So pretty! The progressions are so tuneful.

[@Grumszy]

Wish I had just 5% of that great man's guitar talent... Legend rip Chet.

[@everysingleguitars]

The Master of Fingerpicking

[@manolojimenez165]

wow....so pleasing to hear and to see, fantastic, great guitarist to share your talents,

[@JasonVanDoornOfficial]

This is awesome. Thanks for posting!

[@pemchen]

i felt his feeling going back to his childhood memories when he used to play in bathroom coz of wonderful eco and most of the time sleeping with guitar ... 🤗 hope you r in heaven.. thank you... first song make me cry😢😢😢

[@Stevewatson3]

Anyone who’s studying guitar seriously knows how critical and precise this way of teaching/learning is. For most of us it was tabs or ultimate guitar lol you where lucky if someone taught you this it saved time later on! Made a musician out of you!

[@Gwyhir]

Chet Atkins is so laid back.

[@nataliaoleksander6386]

gonna miss this man.

[@ahamefulehenry8455]

I love the scale tune

[@Heynowville]

So-o-o-o lovely.

[@randyjones280]

That really was beautiful and melodic too 😍

[@Jeremy-yr8yg]

Awesome guitar player and an awesome man!! RIP Mr. Guitar!!

[@soundslikeawinner9538]

I spent a lot of hours learning off of this video tape, which I still have. I'd say that Elizabeth and Will were a couple of pretty lucky kids

[@soundslikeawinner9538]

There was a real thick book that came with it to that showed you how to play everything on there oh, even the fancy stuff Chet is laying down! I spent a lot of hours learning that fancy stuff and it was enjoyable time well spent

[@DC180]

what a beautiful sounding lesson!

[@vinceleone3952]

I love this video.I think Chet was the greatest and anything I can see from him I appreciate.Thank you.

[@rocky7232]

Sounds beautiful,,,

[@mohitVivek]

Amazing!! Thanks for uploading this..

[@World-as-i-c-it]

Thanks for the post, he is Was and always will be awesome

[@ivanhectordemarez1561]

I ADMIRE THIS... A GREAT AND SERIOUS MAN. WITH THE HEART ON THE RIGHT PLACE !!!!. Thanks; Ivan.

[@cenaakashakash]

Man this is gold..

[@chrisandersen5635]

fantastic! Simple, elegant, tricky, beautiful! Time takes time. Beauty takes longer.

[@enochfrey2476]

I have never seen anyone take the scales and play it with a melody just blows my mind

[@iandmanful]

Just made a song I don't like sound haunting and unforgettable. Now that's genius.

[@egonatello807]

I learned on this when it was still on VHS and cassette back in 86. I didn't know they had remastered it.

[@mrob611]

I had this video/book set back in the late 80s and still love to play the song from this video.

[@junemacdonald44]

I love Chet, he was such a good dude.

[@nicolo9093]

True beauty. He could never play a bad note - his fingers knew only too well

[@Brittanyfowler_81]

Wish you were here to teach my babies uncle Chet. The love for playing runs deep in our blood for sure❤️

[@Kopernicus1967]

He’s like the Bob Ross of guitar

[@zepareace]

I literally just said this to my friend haha! He truly is!

[@PODMTHC]

Or George Bush

[@kevdean9967]

@@PODMTHC which one, the one that lied about WMD's or the one that claimed he didn't know where he was the day Kennedy was murdered?

[@PODMTHC]

@@kevdean9967 :D the one that smokes Alabama kushhh

[@Mr_Gray_Sky]

You might like Ted Green. I think of him as kind of a Bob Ross rainman.

[@geartweaker8518]

Dude seems to be in such a fine mood 😁

[@davestevens1600]

So innovative and what a cut up.

[@CrockettsCabin]

I wonder where these kids are today and if they understand how awesome this was for them.

[@528491Inception]

First day of Guitar lessons, and you walk in... Hi I'm Chet.

[@chester777ful]

My hero sure wish he had gave me a few lessons

[@mattberger3657]

4:38... a passage I always heard Breau and Chet do. YES. Adding that to the bag of knowledge.. C.A. was the king.

[@stevedoingstuff3960]

Great video! His guitar looks thin and comfortable. Every acoustic I've ever picked up felt so big and bulky.

[@willer3399]

That’s a hollow body electric.

[@David-y8m8z]

Wow I need more practice even before this beginner lesson. Amazing

[@Xochiyolotl]

Wow! Two have had Chet Atkins as my beginner guitar teacher. Nothing against my beginner guitar teacher. The man was great. But, to have had Chet Atkins! Lucky kids.

[@schlitze1]

Not exactly a "beginner" lesson. I like the little harmonics he adds and such.

[@kevdean9967]

Even good guitarists or great guitarists can get a lot out of this video. Hendrix liked to listen to ANYONE playing guitar because he said he could always get some kind of a musical idea from listening. Chet certainly isn't just anybody and this is awesome for beginners but there's great tips for players at every level here!!!

[@edugitonga2024]

Learning this during quarantine in Nairobi 🇰🇪 💙

[@Mr_Gray_Sky]

What I'd give to be able to sit at this man's feet for an hour and learn everything I could from him.