Beginner Guitar Path
A step-by-step route from picking up the guitar to playing your first song and first solo. Each step tells you what you'll learn, links straight to the lesson, and lets you mark it complete to track your progress.
Work through the ten steps in order, or jump to whatever you need next — your completed steps, streak, and badges are saved in your browser.
-
1. Parts of the Guitar
Meet the headstock, neck, body, and strings before you play a note.
Lesson -
2. How to Tune Your Guitar
Get in tune by ear or with a tuner before every session.
Guide -
3. Reading Chord Diagrams
Decode the grids, dots, and X / O markers on every chord chart.
Guide -
4. Your First Chords
Learn Em, Am, C, and G — the open shapes that unlock hundreds of songs.
Guide · practice -
5. Your First Strum
From steady down-strums to the "old faithful" D-DU-UDU pattern.
Lesson · practice -
6. Your First Song
Put your chords and strum together on a real public-domain song.
Lesson · practice -
7. Chord Transitions
Move between shapes smoothly with pivot and guide fingers.
Guide · practice -
8. Barre Chords
Learn the movable E-shape and A-shape barres and clean up the tone.
Guide · practice -
9. Keys & the Number System
Read chord charts in any key with the Nashville number system.
Guide -
10. Your First Scale & Solo
Play the minor pentatonic and turn it into your first solo.
Guide
Finished the beginner path?
Keep climbing with the Intermediate Guitar Path — ten more free steps from fretboard fluency and the major scale to seventh chords, CAGED, the 12-bar blues, and your first improvised solo.
Learn another instrument
Not a guitarist — or picking up a second instrument? The same free, step-by-step format is built for each instrument from the first note up: start the Beginner Bass Path or the Beginner Ukulele Path.
Where the path leads
Each step connects to the site's reference content: first chords, tuning, barre chords, the guided practice routines, and the public-domain songbook.
Beginner path FAQ
- Do I have to do the steps in order?
- The path is designed to be worked through in order, but you can jump to any step. Your completed steps are saved so you can always pick up where you left off.
- Is this really free?
- Yes — every step and the pages it links to are free, with no sign-up required. Progress is stored in your browser.
- How long does it take to learn the first song?
- Most beginners can strum a simple three-chord song within the first few weeks of steady practice, once the first open chords and a basic strum feel comfortable.