How to Play the Guitar for Beginners

Hold the guitar with the body resting on your right thigh if you are right-handed, and the neck angled slightly upward. Take your time with this stage of getting set up so your setup stays consistent from start to finish.

• Fingertip soreness is normal for the first two weeks. Ten minutes a day builds calluses faster than an hour once a week.
• Howcompass Music Team notes that checking your progress before moving on to Step 2 prevents the most common beginner mistakes.

Tune the strings from low to high: E, A, D, G, B, E. A clip-on tuner is the fastest way to get this right.

• Press close to the fret wire and use the very tips of your fingers so the strings ring cleanly.
• Have your tuner within reach before starting this step so you do not have to pause mid-process.

Number your fretting fingers 1 (index) through 4 (pinky) and practice pressing just behind the fret wire, not on top of it. Take your time with this stage of getting set up so your setup stays consistent from start to finish.

• Fingertip soreness is normal for the first two weeks. Ten minutes a day builds calluses faster than an hour once a week.
• If your wrist or forearm hurts, stop. Sore fingertips are fine; joint pain is not.

Check your posture — sit up, relax your shoulders, and keep your fretting wrist slightly curved rather than flat. Take your time with this stage of getting set up so your setup stays consistent from start to finish.

• Press close to the fret wire and use the very tips of your fingers so the strings ring cleanly.
• Have your metronome within reach before starting this step so you do not have to pause mid-process.

Place your fingers for an E minor chord: middle finger on the second fret of the A string, ring finger on the second fret of the D string, and strum all six strings. Take your time with this stage of learning your first chords so your setup stays consistent from start to finish.

• Fingertip soreness is normal for the first two weeks. Ten minutes a day builds calluses faster than an hour once a week.
• Howcompass Music Team notes that checking your progress before moving on to Step 6 prevents the most common beginner mistakes.

Add a C major chord by moving your ring finger to the third fret of the A string, middle finger to the second fret of the D string, and index finger to the first fret of the B string. Take your time with this stage of learning your first chords so your setup stays consistent from start to finish.

• Press close to the fret wire and use the very tips of your fingers so the strings ring cleanly.
• If your wrist or forearm hurts, stop. Sore fingertips are fine; joint pain is not.

Learn G major with your middle finger on the third fret of the low E, index finger on the second fret of the A, and ring and pinky on the third fret of the high E and B strings. Take your time with this stage of learning your first chords so your setup stays consistent from start to finish.

• Fingertip soreness is normal for the first two weeks. Ten minutes a day builds calluses faster than an hour once a week.
• Howcompass Music Team notes that checking your progress before moving on to Step 8 prevents the most common beginner mistakes.

Practice switching between the three chords slowly. Clean changes matter far more than speed at this stage.

• Press close to the fret wire and use the very tips of your fingers so the strings ring cleanly.
• Have your metronome within reach before starting this step so you do not have to pause mid-process.

Strum down four times per bar in a steady count of one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and. Use a metronome at 60 BPM.

• Fingertip soreness is normal for the first two weeks. Ten minutes a day builds calluses faster than an hour once a week.
• If your wrist or forearm hurts, stop. Sore fingertips are fine; joint pain is not.

Once the downstrokes feel automatic, add upstrokes on the "and" beats for a basic folk strum. Take your time with this stage of playing your first song so your setup stays consistent from start to finish.

• Press close to the fret wire and use the very tips of your fingers so the strings ring cleanly.
• Have your tuner within reach before starting this step so you do not have to pause mid-process.

Loop a chord progression like G–C–Em–D for ten minutes. This is the progression behind thousands of pop songs.

• Fingertip soreness is normal for the first two weeks. Ten minutes a day builds calluses faster than an hour once a week.
• Howcompass Music Team notes that checking your progress before moving on to Step 12 prevents the most common beginner mistakes.

Play along with a recording at half speed. Playing with other musicians is the fastest way to build timing.

• Press close to the fret wire and use the very tips of your fingers so the strings ring cleanly.
• If your wrist or forearm hurts, stop. Sore fingertips are fine; joint pain is not.