Music · Guitar

Guitar

From the very first chord to fingerpicking. Short chapters, with diagrams to press and hear, tab that plays, and folk, blues, cowboy and classical songs along the way.

Each chapter takes about ten minutes. Read a little, then try it: on your own guitar, or on the diagrams and fretboards here, which play when you press them. Tune up first with the tuner, and look up any chord in the chord finder.

Your progress stays in this browser, and a check mark shows each chapter you’ve finished.

The chapters

  1. Chapter 1: Meet the GuitarThe parts of a guitar, from the headstock to the bridge, how the six strings are numbered, and the difference between steel-string, nylon-string and electric guitars.
  2. Chapter 2: Holding the GuitarHow to sit with a guitar, where each hand goes, how to press a string so it rings clearly, how to hold a pick, and how to look after your hands.
  3. Chapter 3: Tuning UpHow to tune a guitar to E A D G B E: with the microphone tuner, by ear with reference notes, and by the 5th-fret method, string against string.
  4. Chapter 4: Reading TabGuitar tablature: six lines for six strings, numbers for frets, how rhythm is shown under the tab, and how tab and standard notation fit together.
  5. Chapter 5: Reading Chord ChartsHow to read a guitar chord diagram: strings and frets, dots and finger numbers, open and muted strings, barres and fret numbers.
  6. Chapter 6: Your First NotesPicking single notes on the top three strings: the notes E, F, G on string 1, B, C, D on string 2 and G, A on string 3, with down strokes and alternate picking, and a first tune.
  7. Chapter 7: First Chords: Em, Am, E and AFour easy chords that share the same finger shapes: E minor, A minor, E major and A major, how to make every string ring, and a first strum.
  8. Chapter 8: G, C and D: the Campfire ChordsThe three chords behind thousands of folk, country and cowboy songs: G, C and D, plus D7 and G7, and how they belong together in the key of G.
  9. Chapter 9: Strumming PatternsHow to strum in time: down strums on the beat, down-up eighths, the folk strum with its missed stroke, and accents and muted chucks.
  10. Chapter 10: Changing Chords in TimeHow to move from one chord to the next without stopping the beat: anchor fingers, moving all fingers together, letting go early, and one-minute changes.
  11. Chapter 11: Bass and Strum: Waltz and Boom-ChuckThe country and cowboy way to accompany a song: a bass note followed by a strum. The waltz in 3/4 and the boom-chuck with an alternating bass in 4/4.
  12. Chapter 12: The Twelve-Bar BluesThe twelve-bar blues in E: the chord pattern behind countless blues songs, the E7, A7 and B7 chords, the two-string shuffle and swing eighths.
  13. Chapter 13: Notes on the NeckFinding every natural note in first position, sharps and flats on the fretboard, octaves, and how tab and standard notation show the same music.
  14. Chapter 14: Fingerpicking: p, i, m, aPlaying with the fingers instead of a pick: the thumb on the bass strings, index, middle and ring on the top strings, arpeggio patterns, and a first classical prelude.
  15. Chapter 15: Two Parts at Once: Classical GuitarPlaying a tune and a bass together, the way classical guitarists do: free strokes and rest strokes, letting notes ring, reading two voices, and pieces by Carulli and Sor.
  16. Chapter 16: The F Chord and BarresThe F chord in three steps, from a small four-string F to the full barre, B minor and B7, and how to make a barre ring without squeezing.
  17. Chapter 17: Movable Chords Up the NeckBarre chords as movable shapes: the E shape with its root on string 6, the A shape with its root on string 5, minor and seventh versions, and power chords.
  18. Chapter 18: Scales on the GuitarThe C and G major scales in first position, the A minor pentatonic box at the 5th fret, the blues scale, and how scales help you play tunes and improvise.
  19. Chapter 19: Hammer-Ons, Slides and Bends: Country BluesThe left-hand tricks that make the blues talk: hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides and bends, and the steady-thumb fingerpicking of the early country blues.
  20. Chapter 20: Travis PickingAlternating-thumb fingerpicking: the thumb swings between two bass strings on every beat while the index and middle fingers pick between them, with pinches and a melody on top.
  21. Chapter 21: Spanish SoundsThe sound of Spanish guitar: the Andalusian cadence (Am, G, F, E), the step from F to G-sharp, rest strokes, a first rasgueado, and the triplet arpeggio of the Spanish Romance.
  22. Chapter 22: The Capo, Keys and HarmonicsHow a capo raises the open strings so the same chord shapes play in a new key, how to find the right capo fret for a singer, and natural harmonics at frets 12, 7 and 5.
  23. Chapter 23: Practice and Next StepsHow to practice guitar well in twenty minutes a day, looking after your hands and your strings, and where to go next with the songs on this site.

Keep going with the guitar songs, from beginner to intermediate. Guitar songs →

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