Choose an Instrument to Borrow




Learn to Play with Free Online Music Lessons



*Lessons from LinkedIn Learning , Kanopy , and Udemy  require a library card.

Acoustic Guitar

Acoustic Guitar

  • Beginning Acoustic Guitar Music Lessons
    Learn how to play guitar at your own pace. These easy-to-follow videos feature examples in TAB and standard music notation, and hands-on instruction.

  • Acoustic Guitar Lessons: Intermediate 
    Learn about suspended chords, tuning with harmonics, and slides. Take on a variety of new styles, including acoustic funk, New Orleans grooves, modern Celtic rhythm guitar, bluegrass, and Delta blues.

  • Acoustic Guitar Lessons: 1 Picking, Fretting, & Chords
    Learn how to play bluegrass guitar with Grammy-winning flatpicker Bryan Sutton. Course 1 covers holding the guitar and pick, picking and fretting, and rhythm and chords.

  • Acoustic Guitar Lessons: 2 Scales, Walking Bass, Hammer-Ons, and Pull-Offs
    Learn how to build strength and fingerboard awareness, and expand what you can do with the rhythm guitar with "walking bass" movement, advanced scales, hammer-ons and pull-offs, and how to use a capo and slide.

  • Acoustic Guitar Lessons: 3 Rhythm & Voicings
    Learn how to move beyond basic rhythms into more complex bass strum patterns, phrasing, and scale walking. Open up the fretboard with some exciting new scales and chord shapes.

  • Acoustic Guitar Lessons: 4 Feel & Crosspicking
    Learn how to maintain flatpicking flow—consistent tone, groove, and musicality. Find out how to play along role-oriented lines, and find more musical opportunities.

  • Learning to Play Guitar 
    The guitar is one of the most accessible, versatile, and easy to learn instruments you can play. Get lessons and tips from experts, such as how a simple group of four guitar chords enables you to play hundreds of songs. Even if you already play the guitar, this 12 hour course will broaden your knowledge by applying music theory, history, and expanding your repertoire of songs and styles.

  • Acoustic Guitar Redefined. Learn Chords, Rhythm and Melody! 
    A course for any guitar player who wants to learn how to play chords, melody, and rhythm creatively and practically.
Electric Guitar

Electric Guitar

  • Rock Guitar Lessons: Teach Yourself to Play 
    For students who want to play in the rock style. By starting on the 6th string, you are immediately able to play riffs and licks—the kind of progress that inspires you to continue learning. The videos feature clear well-paced instruction along with close-up examples of fingering and strumming.

  • Blues Guitar: Learn to Play 
    In this course, follow Steve Trovato as he shows how to play blues rhythm guitar. Although the blues is a somewhat unstructured discipline that welcomes riffing and personal interpretation, the 50+ examples that Steve provides are presented in a structured, easy-to-follow manner, so it's easier for you to learn from them. Each example has a four-measure intro, or turnaround, which gives you four measures to figure out the tempo and the feel of the tune before you start playing.

  • All-In-One Guitar Course 
    This course uses logical, step-by-step methods to teach learners how to play songs and master chords, scales, and guitar theory. Exercises will help to sharpen your chord transitioning, strumming, fretting, picking, and fingerpicking.
Bass Guitar

Bass Guitar

  • Bass: Teach Yourself 
    Learn how to play the bass guitar. In this easy-to-follow course, learn how to tune and hold your bass, familiarize yourself with the parts of the instrument, and get acquainted with tablature. As you progress through the course, you will be introduced to different rhythms and keys, eventually moving on to more advanced concepts such as playing from chord sheets or tackling rock and roll licks from different eras.

  • Electric Bass Complete 
    Explore the electric bass with master bassist John Patitucci. In this course, you can learn right- and left-hand exercises, drills for groove and timing using a variety of musical sources, and ear-training techniques for bass.
Piano/Keyboard

Piano/Keyboard

  • Play Piano and Keyboards
    If you've ever wanted to pick up the piano or keyboard as an instrument, this is the path for you! You begin with the basics of keyboard-based instruments and then expand your knowledge with courses in jazz improvisation and songwriting techniques.
    • Learn the basics of keyboard and piano.
    • Explore the basics of improvisation.
    • Discover jazz song and improv foundations to build your skills.

  • Beginning Blues Keyboard 
    Learn how to play blues piano. In this course, Tricia Woods dives into the basic building blocks of blues, and helps you acquire the skills you need to really sound like a blues player. To begin, Tricia demonstrates the chord progressions for the 12-bar blues—the most classic of all blues forms. Next, she discusses the blues scale, dominant chords, comping, turnaround, endings, introductions, boogie-woogie bass lines, and more.

  • How to Play Piano 
    Discover how anyone can learn to play the piano with the right guidance and a little encouragement. These 36 accessible episodes provide the building blocks you need to go from interested novice to expressive player. Blending music theory and history with hands-on examples and step-by-step instruction, Professor Pamela D. Pike shows you how to pick up this marvelous musical skill.

  • Play Pianoforall  
    Learn Piano in WEEKS not years. Play-By-Ear & learn to Read Music. Pop, Blues, Jazz, Ballads, Improvisation, Classical styles are taught.
  • Learn Piano and Keyboard from Scratch - Complete Piano Course 
    Piano/keyboard lessons for beginners. Play piano by ear, chords, reading music, improvisation, and music theory.
Banjo

Banjo

  • Banjo Lessons: 1 Fundamentals 
    Learn how to play banjo with multi-Grammy nominee Tony Trischka. Part 1 covers the fundamentals: holding a banjo, tuning a banjo, reading music, and positioning your right and left hands. Included are simple finger picking and thumb rolls, and introduction exercises to help strengthen your fingers and play some simple tunes.

  • Banjo Lessons: 2 Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs 
    Part 2 teaches you how to play more carefully, with increased speed and mastery, and use hammer-ons and pull-offs to play specific note combinations in a smooth and connected way.

  • Banjo Lessons: 3 Playing Songs 
    Part 3 gives you next-level intermediate skills for playing almost any song, as well as improving your repertoire and playing backup. Learn to incorporate harmonics, tune your bridge placement, play in a melodic, scaled-based style, and use Tony's tips to break through periods of stagnant playing, such as transcribing tunes you already know and transposing songs into different keys.

  • Banjo Lessons: 4 Improvisation and Melodic Styles 
    Part 4 is an advanced course designed to help you strengthen your improvisation skills and melodic style. Ssimple exercises, such as melodic scale patterns and single-string scales are provided to help you practice, as well as tools to add more unique sounds into your repertoire. Plus, learn the backward-alternating thumb roll—a very useful picking pattern for improvising—and advanced scale techniques.

  • Beginner 5-String Banjo - Learn Banjo From Scratch! 
    Over thirteen hours of lessons to help build
    a strong 5 String Banjo foundation for the beginner banjo players who would like to learn and/or improve their banjo skills. Every Detail is broken down and explained in easy to understand parts to help ensure  success at learning to play. Learn how to play banjo in time with real musicians in backing tracks, just like playing with a real band
Mandolin

Mandolin

  • Mandolin Lessons: 1 Fundamentals
    This four-part comprehensive video library includes hundreds of online mandolin lessons, plus exclusive performances, special guest interviews, and study materials such as tab and audio samples. Part 1 covers basics such as holding and tuning a mandolin, positioning your hands and fingers, and playing simple chords. Mike also covers a bit of music theory and techniques like chops and picking, so you can start to play the mandolin in more modern arrangements. Plus, learn to play some simple tunes, including classics such as "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" and "Wabash Cannonball," that will keep you motivated on your journey to mandolin mastery.

  • Mandolin Lessons: 2 Soloing Ideas & Kickoffs
    Learn the intermediate concepts that will take your mandolin skills to the next level. Get practice exercises to stay motivated and increase your speed and dexterity, and build your repertoire of solo and kickoff material. This course begins with some techniques for keeping your instrument in tip-top shape, including changing the strings and setting the action. Then it segues into some intermediate music theory—keeping things fun and practical by showing examples in action. Next, learn how to play some intermediate mandolin tunes, including blues licks and scales, and practice some finger buster exercises to help refine your finger positioning, stamina, and reach.

  • Mandolin Lessons: 3 Simplifying Difficult Tunes
    Once you've mastered the basics, you may want to take on some more difficult tunes. This course helps you break down popular but challenging songs and build your speed, dexterity, and ability to improvise. Learn how to incorporate a metronome into your practice, play advanced arpeggios, and use open and closed finger positioning to navigate complex chord charges. Next, learn how to spice up basic songs with embellishments, slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs; play four-finger scales; and reharmonize traditional melodies.

  • Mandolin Lessons: 4 Favorite Advanced Tunes
    Part 4 introduces instructor some favorite advanced tunes. The instructor breaks down the chords and melodies of classics like "Silent Night" and "Auld Lang Syne" and then offers some variations that will keep the tunes fresh for years to come. Plus, learn how to use the circle of fifths as a tool for playing in all 12 keys (major and minor) and for finding chord progressions, arpeggios, and chromatics.
Ukulele

Ukulele

  • Ukulele Lessons: Fundamentals
    Pick up the ukulele at your own pace. Follow Grammy-winning artist Daniel Ho as he shows you how to change chords, read standard music notation, and approach music theory concepts like the major scale, intervals, and harmony. Explore the surprising range of this fun little instrument by practicing movable chords and left-hand mute strokes for reggae and soul, trying out the blues shuffle rhythm, and strumming Hawaiian tunes. To help you practice what you learn, he shows you how to play a fiddle tune, "Solider's Joy," and the beloved island standby, "Aloha 'Oe." He wraps up with a performance of his own; watch as he performs "Bicycle Holiday" and "Living in Paradise."
    • This course also covers:
        • Reading tablature
        • Changing chords
        • Navigating a musical map
        • Strum patterns
        • Adding percussion with mute strokes
        • Using movable chords
        • Transposing the blues and the minor pentatonic scale
        • Fingerpicking



Educational Music Books and DVDs