Guitar / first lessons
Your first guitar lessons: holding it, three chords, one song
Holding the guitar, the first three chords, the first strumming pattern, and one song you can play at the end of the week. Adult beginner focus.
Guitars are unforgiving of bad posture and forgiving of bad tone. Prioritise posture and left-hand shape from day one; you can polish tone later.
Holding the guitar
Sitting: guitar on the right thigh (right-handed player), neck angled up at roughly 30 degrees, back straight against the chair. Left hand supports the neck with the thumb behind the neck (not wrapped over the top for beginners). Right elbow rests on the guitar body.
The first three chords: E minor, A minor, D major
- E minor (Em): fingers 2 and 3 on the 5th and 4th strings, 2nd fret. Strum all six strings.
- A minor (Am): finger 1 on the 2nd string 1st fret, finger 2 on the 4th string 2nd fret, finger 3 on the 3rd string 2nd fret. Strum from the 5th string down.
- D major: finger 1 on the 3rd string 2nd fret, finger 2 on the 1st string 2nd fret, finger 3 on the 2nd string 3rd fret. Strum from the 4th string down.
Week 1: hold each chord cleanly
Play each chord for four counts, one strum per count, then check every string sounded clearly. If a string buzzes, your finger is not straight up on it (or is touching the next string). Adjust and try again. Metronome at 60.
Week 2: change between chords
Em to Am. Am to D. D to Em. Slow and clean beats fast and clumsy. When you can change every four counts without dropping the beat, halve the interval.
Week 3: your first strumming pattern
Down-down-up-up-down-up. Six strums per bar (in 4/4 that is one down per beat, plus two ups on the &-of-2 and the &-of-3). Play this pattern over Em for a bar, Am for a bar, D for a bar, back to Em. You have played the changes for hundreds of folk songs.
Week 4: your first song
Horse with No Name (America) uses two chords: Em and D6/9 (a variant of D). Both are in your vocabulary. Sing along. That is your first song.
Adult beginners on guitar plateau most often not on chord shapes but on chord changes. Piston’s principle from harmony instruction applies here too: pattern practice, not isolated shape practice, is what produces fluency.
Piston, Harmony, 5th ed, ch. 4 (voice leading as pattern).
Where to go next
Weeks 5-8: add G major, C major, and E major (the last of the essential open chords). Weeks 9-12: your first barre chord (F major). See beginner guitar chords for the full first-eight-chord set.
Structured course, if you want one
Free: work through the essays here. Paid: Guitareo (Nate Savage’s structured course, adult-friendly).
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