Basic Guitar: From First Strum to First Song
Learn to hold, tune and play the guitar, master six essential open chords, and strum your first complete songs.
Rafi Ahmed
Beginner
About This Course
Welcome to the guitar
This course takes you from never having held a guitar to playing full chord progressions with a steady strum. It’s taught the way I’d teach a friend backstage: practical, honest about the hard parts, and focused on what actually gets you playing music.
What you will learn
- The parts of the guitar, how to sit and hold it, and how to tune it
- How to read chord diagrams and simple tablature
- Six essential open chords: Em, Am, E, G, C and D
- How to change chords smoothly and in time
- Counting, down-strums, up-strums and the most useful strumming pattern in popular music
- A daily practice routine and your first songs
Who this is for
Complete beginners on acoustic or electric guitar. You don’t need to read music. All you need is a guitar, a tuner (a free phone app is fine) and 15–20 minutes a day.
Curriculum
Getting to Know Your Guitar
- Meet Your Guitar: Parts, Strings and TypesText
- Holding the Guitar: Posture, Hands and the PickText
- Tuning Up and Reading Chord Diagrams and TabText
- Quiz: Getting to Know Your GuitarQuiz
Your First Chords
- Fretting Cleanly and Your First Three Chords: Em, Am and EText
- Three More Essential Chords: G, C and DText
- Changing Chords SmoothlyText
- Quiz: Your First ChordsQuiz
Rhythm, Strumming and Your First Songs
- Counting and Strumming: Down-Strums, Up-Strums and the BeatText
- The Essential Strumming PatternText
- Putting It Together: Your First Songs and a Practice RoutineText
- Quiz: Rhythm, Strumming and SongsQuiz