Guitar guides

Step-by-step guides that explain one idea in plain words, then let you try it: hear examples, answer questions and play along. New to guitar? Start with the first three, in order.

Start playing

Read your first chords, change between them in time, and read TAB.

  1. Step 1Beginner Guitar ChordsStart with Em and Am. Read x, o and finger numbers on a chord diagram, hear each string, check your reading and play a four-bar Em–Am accompaniment.
    • Read chord diagrams: strings, frets, finger numbers, x and o.
    • Hear Em and Am one string at a time at their real pitches.
    • Play a four-bar Em–Am accompaniment with an adjustable tempo.
    12 min readUpdated
  2. Step 2Guitar Chord ChangesChange chords without stopping: make Em and Am clear, practice the move with no timer, then strum the new chord on the next downbeat in a play-along.
    • Separate a clear chord, the finger movement and the timing.
    • Get ready on beat 4 and strum the new chord on the next 1.
    • Play along in demonstration or practice mode, then follow a new chart.
    11 min readUpdated
  3. Step 3How to Read Guitar TABThe six lines are strings with high E on top, numbers are frets and 0 is open. Read one bar step by step, then decode two short phrases with feedback on each mistake.
    • Read TAB lines as strings and numbers as frets, with high E on top.
    • Tell one-after-another notes from stacked notes, and see why dashes are not rhythm.
    • Decode a two-bar phrase you have not seen, with feedback on string, fret, order and timing.
    15 min readUpdated

Learn the fretboard

Know where every note lives and how chord shapes connect up the neck.

  1. How to Memorize the Guitar FretboardLearn every note on the neck with anchor strings, octave shapes and short recall practice, including an interactive lesson that explains your mistakes.
    • Start with anchor strings and octave shapes.
    • Use the B-string adjustment to avoid memorization mistakes.
    • Practice octave shapes in an interactive lesson with feedback on each mistake.
    14 min readUpdated
  2. The CAGED System on GuitarSee how the five open chord shapes, C, A, G, E and D, connect across the whole fretboard, become barre chords, and frame every scale and pentatonic box.
    • See the five CAGED shapes of G major on an interactive neck.
    • Turn open chords into movable barre chords.
    • Connect each chord shape to its scale position and pentatonic box.
    15 min readUpdated

Understand the theory

The distances between notes that build scales, chords and melodies.

  1. Intervals ExplainedLearn how musical distance becomes melody, chords, scales, voice leading, tension, resolution, and practical composition on the guitar fretboard.
    • Hear and locate every simple interval from unison to octave.
    • Build scales, triads, seventh chords, and extensions from interval formulas.
    • Use motifs, chord tones, tension, and voice leading in your own compositions.
    18 min readUpdated

Reference and tools