Beginner Guitar Lessons: Learn Guitar - The Complete Guide

Start with a chromatic exercise to build hand foundations and early technique. Maintain a relaxed wrist, thumb mid-neck, and use a one-finger-per-fret approach with down-up picking.

Learn the seven nation army riff from the White Stripes using a four-fret, four-finger pattern with two versions, focusing on timing, technique, and muting.

Learn to form chords by playing three or more notes together, distinguish major and minor sounds, and practice open chords in the first position (first three frets) across styles.

Learn the e minor chord, using a two-finger shape on the second fret of the a and d strings. Keep a relaxed wrist, proper thumb, and strum all six strings.

Develop four essential guitar chords—c major, a minor, f major (and f major seven over c), and g major—while mastering muting the low e with the thumb and smooth transitions.

Master timing by tightening awareness of beats, bars, and time signatures, using a metronome at 60 bpm to anchor beat one and practice strumming E minor across four counts.

Practice at 60 bpm with a metronome to build timing and smooth transitions between E minor, C major, A minor, and F major, and target beat one and beat three.

Develop your strumming hand with a down-up pattern in a minor, focusing on dynamics at 60 bpm across E minor, C major, A minor, and F major.

Learn let it be by the Beatles using c major, g major, a minor, and f major chords, with level one and two progressions and a down-down-down-up strum.

Demonstrate turning D major into D minor by flattening the third, form the D minor shape with three fingers, mute low strings with the thumb, and link to G major.

Master the acoustic version of Times like these by Foo Fighters, focusing on D major, steady strumming, and chords such as A minor, C major, and E minor seven.

Explore how four chords, capo placement, and a simple down-up strumming pattern fuel energy, vocal layers, and percussion across songs like that's entertainment, hey ya, and shotgun.

Engage in targeted finger-stretching exercises starting on the low E string to expand reach, build finger independence across the fretboard, and prep for upcoming chords.

Master power chords by forming movable G5 and C5 shapes, muting with a curved first finger on the third fret of low E, moving shapes up and down the fretboard.

Master percussive strums and palm muting to add rhythm, using the C major shape, A minor and F shapes, with muting techniques and power chords for punchy rhythm.

Learn the Arctic Monkeys riff 'Do I want to know' by applying hammer-ons and slides, breaking the riff into sections, with stable hand position on the bridge and precise fretwork.

Master the Rolling Stones satisfaction riff with a beginner-friendly arrangement that builds finger independence, stretches across four frets, and includes pull-offs and stability-focused technique on the guitar.

Explore scales as the backbone of guitar technique, from the chromatic scale and fretboard notes to semitone and whole-tone relations, applying scale shapes to lead riffs over chords.

Form the major scale from chromatic notes using tone and semitone steps, learn the C major pattern, and apply it to other keys while locating root notes on the fretboard.

Explore how the major scale generates chords in any key using tone-semitone patterns and the order of chords (major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished) for guitar progressions.

Master the pentatonic scale, a five-note version of the major scale, and link A minor pentatonic to C major pentatonic. Practice the shapes to riff, solo, and improve fretboard fluency.

Expand your scales with hammer-ons and pull-offs to craft lead ideas over chord progressions. Practice the A minor pentatonic and major shapes in segments, ending on the home note.

Learn to write your own music by deconstructing chord progressions—C major, A minor, F major—then craft simple lead riffs using C major and A minor pentatonic scales.

Explore lead guitar improvisation within the C major pentatonic and scale shapes, crafting melodies over a backing track with D minor, F, G progressions ending in C major.

Explore the chromatic scale to move a full bodied F major seven shape along the fretboard, muting open strings as needed to form major shapes for every note.

Develop finger strength and independence through warm-up exercises that prepare you for power and bar chords, while aligning thumb position, navigating frets, and using alternate picking for smoother technique.

Apply power chords to a mix of songs, sliding the shapes up the fretboard and muting strings for clean riffs and steady rhythm.

Develop right- and left-hand strumming technique through a variety of patterns, keeping the wrist and shoulders loose for dynamic control; practice percussive strums and experiment with your own patterns.

Learn percussive strums and power chords using Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, with down-up-down rhythms and smooth transitions. Tune down a half step for Brain Stew.