Beginner Guitar Lessons
Learn to play guitar the easy way

This is the hub of all your beginner guitar lessons. You should use this part of the site to get on your feet, learn to play guitar and become a second-nature player (this type of player KNOWS the fretboard).

Learn at your own pace, set yourself goals and experiment with the guitar a bit in your own time. Yep, it's just as important to "noodle" and mess around. These lessons will lay the foundations for your guitar learning, and hopefully give you a push start.

A lot of guitarists give up after learning a few chords. It's not as easy as it all looks, but with a little patience, and a solid beginner guitar lessons resource, you'll gradually get more and more confident. Enjoy it!

These should be your very first beginner guitar lessons. This is a 3 part mini-course that includes guitar and pick positioning (important) and fretboard basics, plus, learn how to get access to free guitar basics video, audio and learning software.

• How to Hold the Guitar
• Fretboard Basics
• Tuning the Guitar

Guitar Chord Basics
Learn how to finger chords on the guitar's fretboard correctly. This lesson covers the physical aspects of chord fingering and how you should position your fingers. Quick and simple.

How to Read Guitar Tab
Tab, short for tablature, is musical notation for guitar (because traditional notation can be a bit of an eyeful). Learn how it works and how to read it so you can then go and learn your favourite songs easily.

Basic Guitar Chords Series
Learn all the essential chords and use the jam tracks to practice changing between chord fingerings confidently. By the end of this 4 part mini-course, you will have a huge chord library with which to create your own music confidently. Crystal clear photos, diagrams, audio examples and of course jam tracks. Enjoy!

• Open Major Chords
• Open Minor Chords
• Open 7th Chords
• Other Open Chords

• Jam: Basic Chord Changing Exercises

Beginner Guitar Strumming
Many beginners find strumming in rhythm difficult to grasp at first. This lesson provides the first logical steps for developing your strumming rhythm. Includes video, audio, jam tracks and diagrams to help you lay the foundations for your rhythm and timing.

Beginner Guitar Tips
Important article you should print out and read in your own time about organising your practise time effectively, overcoming frustrations and other essential tips to help straighten the learning curve.

To fully enjoy these beginner guitar lessons you should know the following...

Sound files

All mp3 sound files on this site will either open in your web browser or your computer's default media player (e.g. Windows Media Player, Real Player).

If you want to download them, just right click on the sound link and click "save target as" or "save as".

Number your fingers

Sometimes I use numbers in diagrams that relate to a suggested fingering.

1 = index finger
2 = middle finger
3 = ring finger
4 = pinky finger

Warming up

Warming up is important for better performance and response from your fingers and to prevent any strain (yes, your fingers can get injured if you're not careful).

Visit the finger stretching exercises page for some good ideas.

Get a decent metronome!

A metronome is a rhythm keeping device to help you time your chord and note changes. JamPlay provides you with a great free metronome you can access online...

Get Your Free Metronome

You can change the tempo and speed up as you get more confident. Metronomes are essential for improving your rhythm and timing - this may sound obvious, but many guitarists neglect the power of that "Chinese water torture" style clicking. Learn to love the torture!