Guitar Fundamentals
with Rabea Massaad
Learn modern guitar properly from your very first lesson, or fill the gaps in what you taught yourself.
- 186 lessons
- 16.5 hrs
- 14 modules
- BEGINNER TO ADVANCED
Now $55Until 30 November, then $79
Pay once · No subscription · 30-day refund
Teaching guitar online for 12 years. 68,079 people have signed up to learn with Musicisum.
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Watch the trailer
Watch before you buy
Everything here plays on this page. Loop and speed work as they do in every lesson.
You'll be able to
186 lessons, 16.5 hrs, in 14 modules.
It starts with how to hold the guitar and builds to 3 solos over the same backing track, the last using all 5 pentatonic positions and a tapping line. Practice lessons follow the chords, scales and techniques, so you play each one before you move on. It ends with 49 licks and riffs.
Comes with
- Tab for 40 lessons
- Backing tracks for Feeling The Pinch and Feel The Burn
- Play the minor pentatonic and blues scale in all 5 positions, joined into one run.
- Play power, barre, sus, 7th and 9th chords, and find them with the CAGED system.
- Bend in tune, and play vibrato, legato, tapping and hybrid picking.
- Hear what makes each mode sound different from the major or minor scale.
- Play 3 solos over the same backing track, and improvise once you have found the key.
The course, module by module
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Getting started
The guitar, the pick, the fretting hand, the notes on the neck, and a metronome from day one.
7 lessons · 30 min
-
Chords
Power chords, major and minor chords, a first song written with them, and drop D.
11 lessons · 1 hr
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Pentatonic and blues
Position 1 to position 5, the blues note in each, the major pentatonic, and the practice that joins them up.
21 lessons · 1.5 hrs
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Lead technique
Picking, bending, sliding, hammer-ons, vibrato, double stops and harmonics, each with its practice lesson.
18 lessons · 2.5 hrs
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Scales
Major and minor, harmonic minor and Phrygian dominant, and the arpeggios inside them.
10 lessons · 1 hr
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More chords
Barre, sus, 7th, octave, blues and 9th chords, CAGED, triads, the capo and drop tunings.
19 lessons · 2 hrs
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Rhythm and muting
The two hands that stop the noise. Palm muting for the chug, left-hand muting for everything else, and the picking patterns between.
12 lessons · 1 hr
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Modes
Dorian to Locrian, one mode at a time, each with a practice lesson.
9 lessons · 30 min
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Advanced technique
Tapping, hybrid picking, string skipping and pick raking, then the final solo.
8 lessons · 1 hr
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Tone and effects
A pedalboard from scratch: distortion, flanger, phaser, reverb and delay.
6 lessons · 30 min
-
Reggae
A reggae tone, then chank picking and popping, each with its practice lesson.
5 lessons · 30 min
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Djent
A djent tone, then picking, muting and accents in 5s and 7s, each with its practice lesson.
5 lessons · 30 min
-
Warm-ups and advice
Staying motivated, playing live, restringing, building energy in a song, and 2 warm-ups.
6 lessons · 30 min
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Licks and riffs
49 licks and riffs across blues, rock, funk and metal. Each one uses a technique from above.
49 lessons · 3 hrs
Rabea Massaad
Guitarist in VOWER, Ernie Ball Music Man signature artist
“The more modes and scales you know, the more freedom you'll have on the fretboard when it comes to writing solos, phrasing and improvisation.”
Rabea's complete course, from holding the pick to playing 3 solos: chords, all 5 pentatonic positions joined up, the modes, rhythm, tone and 49 licks and riffs, with a practice lesson after each technique. Start at lesson 1, or at whichever part you're missing.
Who it's for
Complete beginners who want a proper foundation, and self-taught players who want to fill the gaps in their playing.
- You can get around the guitar, but you know there are holes in what you taught yourself.
- You want the foundation of modern guitar playing, with an exercise after each technique so you keep moving forward.
- You've never played, and you want to learn it properly from the first lesson.
What students say
“This course has helped me so much. I really enjoyed how each lesson felt like I was sat there with Bea. … After playing for 20 years now, I finally have filled in so many missing gaps in my basic skill set and knowledge.”
I didn't think I would ever be able to play the second guitar course solo challenges at tempo. I went through the whole course and started with how to hold the pick. About 1.5 years later I'm still not Rabea, but can somehow play the solos.
Love your course too. Rabea Massaad made a great difference to my playing and confidence, and I'm continuing with Musicisum and my practice.
Take an online course through Musicisum. I've taken the Rabea beginner one. I wish they had this available when I started 20+ years ago.
I would really recommend to start with the first course from Rabea. I am not a beginner but I could learn a lot of it.
I've been going through your Musicisum course and I've learned so much.
I've reached the Blues Chords chapter of your main Musicisum course. It's brilliant. In fact, Musicisum as a whole is a great learning tool.
I did the basic course and it was fantastic.
It's like Khan Academy for guitar. … Perfect for beginners.
Your no-nonsense, get-on-with-it approach suits me just fine. Quick vids as well, so the attention span stays intact.
Loving Musicisum, so much help for me as a player.
Simple and very productive. Easiest way to learn scale positions.
Awesome lesson, excellently explained. Great lick.
Yeah man, this is one of the real riffs. Good work, Rabea. I learned something; old dogs can learn new tricks.
Awesome stuff. I wish this kind of stuff was available like twenty-something years ago when I was picking up the guitar. Thanks for sharing.
Bea, you're a very good teacher.
Great lessons in Musicisum, keep up.
Best guitar teacher on Earth… LOL, understatement, even.
2 ways to buy.
Just this course
Until 30 November, then $79Now $55
Guitar Fundamentals with Rabea Massaad
- 186 lessons, 16.5 hrs, 14 modules
- Tab for 40 lessons
- Backing tracks for Feeling The Pinch and Feel The Burn
- In your account as soon as you pay
Every course · All-Access Pass
$199 until 30 November, then $249$199
This course, plus 10 more from all 9 artists
- All 11 courses: 651 lessons, over 70 hours
- All 11 courses, bought separately, come to $409.
Either way: pay once, no subscription, 30-day refund.
QUESTIONS
Before you buy.
It starts with how to hold a pick. I'm past that.
The setup is the short first module. The course is set out in modules, so start at the gap in your playing: Pentatonic and blues, Rhythm and muting, or Modes. Most lessons run under 10 minutes, and you don't need to finish one module before the next.
I can get all this free on YouTube.
YouTube is great for single lessons. This is Rabea's whole method, planned from holding the guitar to 3 solos over the same backing track, with a practice lesson after each technique, so you always know what to work on next.
Modes have never made sense to me.
Think of each mode as the major or minor scale with a note or two changed: those notes give the mode its sound. Each mode gets a lesson and an exercise over a drone.
I play metal. This looks like blues and reggae.
There's a lot here for metal players: palm muting, alternate picking, drop D and drop tunings, pinched harmonics, tapping, pick raking, harmonic minor and Phrygian dominant, and a djent section on tone, picking, muting and accents in 5s and 7s. The licks and riffs include a metal rhythm pattern, drop D riffs and a Dimebag blues lick. The reggae and funk lessons work on picking-hand muting and timing, which carry straight over to tight metal rhythm.
Is this Rabea's beginner course?
Yes. It was sold as Beginner Guitar with Rabea Massaad, and later as Modern Guitar Techniques. If you bought it under either name, it is in your account at learn.musicisum.com.
Can I buy just this course?
Yes. Pay once for this course, no subscription. If you want every course, the All-Access Pass has them all for one payment.
I already own this course.
It is in your account at learn.musicisum.com under the email address you bought it with. Sign in to watch it.
How do I sign in?
Go to learn.musicisum.com/login and enter the email address you used at checkout. A 6-digit code arrives by email. No password to remember.
What if it isn't for me?
Email support@musicisum.com within 30 days of buying to ask for a refund, and we'll refund you. A real person on our support team reads every email and replies within 48 hours.
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