From your first chord to finding your own sound.

You'll learn

• The string names, low to high: E A D G B E
• How frets are numbered, and which finger is 1, 2, 3 and 4
• How to tune with a tuner, and to check by ear with the 5th-fret method

Practice

• Tune up every day before you play. Say each string name out loud as you pluck it.

You're ready when

• You can tune all six strings in under two minutes.

In the app: Lesson 1

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You'll learn

• Sitting position, with the guitar body resting on your leg and the neck tilted up a little
• Thumb behind the neck, fingertips arched so they don't touch other strings
• Holding the pick between the thumb and the side of your index finger, with just the tip showing
• Strumming from the wrist rather than the elbow

Practice

• One minute of slow down-strums on the open strings, keeping a relaxed wrist and an even volume.

You're ready when

• You can strum for a minute without your shoulder tensing up or the pick slipping.

In the app: Lesson 2

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You'll learn

• Tab: six lines are the strings, numbers are frets, and you read left to right
• Chord diagrams: dots are fingers, O means play the string open, X means don't play it

e|-----------0-----|
B|---------0---1---|
G|-------0-------2-|
D|-----2-----------|
A|---2-------------|
E|-0---------------|

Practice

• Play the line above slowly, then make up your own four-note line and write it in tab.

You're ready when

• You can play any short tab without asking which string is which.

In the app: Lesson 3

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You'll learn

• Em (two fingers) and G
• Moving all your fingers to the next chord at once, rather than one at a time
• Keeping a finger in place when two chords share it

Practice

• The one-minute challenge: count your clean Em → G switches in 60 seconds, write the number down and try to beat it tomorrow.

You're ready when

• You can make 30 or more clean changes in a minute.

In the app: Lessons 4–5

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You'll learn

• Reading a chord chart, where each slash is one beat
• Counting "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &": down on the numbers, up on the "&"
• Keeping your hand swinging even when you don't hit the strings
• The pattern behind countless songs: D · D U · U D U

Practice

• Em and G with the app's band, four beats per chord, at slow speed and then medium.

You're ready when

• You can play the Em–G song all the way through without stopping, even if a change is messy.

In the app: Lessons 6–7

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You'll learn

• Playing single notes cleanly, one finger per fret
• The A minor pentatonic "box" at the 5th fret, the shape behind most rock and blues solos
• Ending phrases on the home note (A) so they sound finished

Practice

• Three minutes of the scale up and down with a metronome at 60, then make up short tunes over the backing track.

You're ready when

• You can play the box up and down from memory with no wrong notes.

In the app: Lessons 8–10

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You'll learn

• Six new chords. Together with Em and G, these are the nine open chords most songs use.
• The difference by ear: major chords sound bright, minor chords sound darker
• Easy pairs first: Am ↔ C, E ↔ Am, D ↔ G, A ↔ D

Practice

• Do the one-minute challenge with a different pair each day.

You're ready when

• You can play all nine chords from memory, with every string ringing clearly.

In the app: Lesson 11

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You'll learn

• The progressions behind hundreds of songs: G–D–Em–C and C–G–Am–F (an easy Fmaj7 for now)
• The trick that makes changes sound smooth: lift your fingers on the last up-strum ("4 &") so you land on time
• Playing songs from start to finish with the app's jam room

Practice

• Two songs from the song list below, every day, from start to finish.

You're ready when

• You can play three songs through at about 75 beats per minute without stopping.

In the app: Lesson 12 and the jam room

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You'll learn

• The full barre: your first finger acts as a capo, with the E shape played by the other fingers
• Major, minor and dominant 7 versions
• Using your arm's weight to press, rather than squeezing with your thumb

Practice

• Slide F → G → A along the neck. Then play the minor versions.

You're ready when

• All six strings ring, and you can hold the chord for four bars without pain.

I can do this

You'll learn

• The A-shape major (with a small ring-finger barre) and minor
• Finding any chord with its root on the 6th or 5th string
• Choosing the closest shape so you barely have to move

Practice

• Play I–IV–V progressions in five keys, using only barre chords.

You're ready when

• You can play any major or minor chord in two places within two seconds.

I can do this

You'll learn

• The musical alphabet and where the half steps fall: B–C and E–F have no sharp between them
• Landmark frets: 3, 5, 7, 12
• Octave shapes that copy any note to another string

Practice

• Daily drill: pick a random note and find it on every string within ten seconds.

You're ready when

• You can name any note on the 6th and 5th strings instantly.

I can do this

You'll learn

• The major scale pattern: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half
• The chords in a key: I ii iii IV V vi vii°. In G that's G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, F#°.
• The Nashville number system: "1–5–6–4" works in any key
• Finding the key of a song by ear and from its chords

Practice

• Write out the chords in the keys of C, G, D, A and E. Move one known song into a new key.

You're ready when

• You can move any song into a new key without writing it down.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Positions 1–5 of minor pentatonic, and how each one overlaps the next
• Sliding between positions on a single string
• The blues scale: pentatonic plus the ♭5 "blue note"
• Major pentatonic is the same shapes, starting from a different root

Practice

• Learn one new position a week. Then improvise while moving through all five over one backing track.

You're ready when

• You can solo from the nut to the 17th fret without getting lost.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Call and response: play a phrase, then answer it
• Using space: rests are part of the solo
• Landing on the root or third of the current chord when the chord changes
• Repeating and developing one idea instead of playing fifty

Practice

• Solo with a limit: one string only, or three notes only, or one lick played five different ways.

You're ready when

• A recording of your solo has a beginning, a middle and an end.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Keeping your hand moving in sixteenths, "1 e & a", and choosing which strokes hit the strings
• Percussive "chucks": hitting the strings while your fretting hand mutes them
• Accenting the off-beats to create groove

Practice

• Play one syncopated pattern a day with a drum loop and record it. Check that it locks with the drums.

You're ready when

• You can copy a strum pattern from a recording by ear.

I can do this

You'll learn

• How each one sounds: bluesy (7), dreamy (maj7), smooth (m7)
• Open shapes (A7, E7, D7, Cmaj7, Am7) and barre versions with the E and A shapes
• Swapping 7th chords into songs you know to change their colour

Practice

• Play a 12-bar blues with only 7th chords, then a slow song with maj7 and m7.

You're ready when

• You can hear the difference between the three types without looking.

I can do this

You'll learn

• How extensions are built by stacking thirds past the octave
• Which notes to drop so the chord fits under four fingers: usually the 5th, and sometimes the root
• Drop-2 voicings on the middle four strings

Practice

• Play a known song again using only extended voicings.

You're ready when

• You can read a jazz or neo-soul chord chart and voice every chord.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Major ii–V–I (Dm7–G7–Cmaj7) and minor ii–V–i (Bm7♭5–E7–Am)
• Comping: rhythmic chord accompaniment that leaves space for the soloist
• Walking bass lines with chords on top, played on one guitar

Practice

• Play ii–V–Is around the cycle of fourths, in two positions.

You're ready when

• You can comp through a jazz standard's chord changes at a medium tempo.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Harmonic minor over the V7 chord in minor keys
• Melodic minor and the "altered" sound over V7
• Chromatic approach notes and enclosures (circling a target note)
• Guide-tone lines: connecting the 3rds and 7ths through the changes

Practice

• Write a guide-tone melody over a standard, then improvise around it.

You're ready when

• Your solos clearly follow the chord changes without leaning on a backing track to carry the harmony.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Legato runs: three notes per string with hammer-ons and pull-offs
• Two-hand tapping
• Sweep-picked arpeggios across three and then five strings
• Hybrid picking (pick plus fingers) for country and chicken-pickin' sounds

Practice

• One technique per week, ten minutes a day, on the speed ladder.

You're ready when

• You can use each technique musically in a solo, not only as an exercise.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Counting and grooving in 5/4, 7/8 and 6/8
• Swing versus straight time, and moving smoothly between them
• Placing notes slightly ahead of or behind the beat to change the feel
• Simple polyrhythms: three over two, four over three

Practice

• Set the metronome to click only on beats 2 and 4, then only once per bar.

You're ready when

• You can keep solid time with a click that plays only once every two bars.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Putting the melody on top and the bass on the bottom, with chord fragments filling the middle
• Choosing a key that suits the guitar, so open strings help you
• Alternate tunings: DADGAD, open D and open G

Practice

• Arrange one traditional song, such as Amazing Grace, for solo guitar.

You're ready when

• You can play a complete solo arrangement that needs no singer.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Signal chain: guitar → audio interface → DAW (recording software), plus monitoring without delay
• Gain staging: recording peaks around −12 dB, never clipping
• Mic placement for acoustic guitar (around the 12th fret) and for an amp (near the edge of the speaker cone)
• Recording direct (DI) and re-amping with amp simulators
• Double-tracking, panning and basic EQ and compression

Practice

• Record a full song: rhythm parts doubled and panned, a lead part, and a simple mix.

You're ready when

• You can produce a clean demo you'd be happy to share.

I can do this

You'll learn

• Building a set list: pacing, keys and transitions
• Handling nerves: preparing so well you could play in your sleep, and recovering from mistakes without stopping
• Gear for live playing: a simple, reliable signal chain
• Finding your style: copy three players you love, then combine them

Practice

• Run your full set once a week as a mock gig, standing up, without stopping.

You're ready when

• You've played a 20-minute set for an audience, whether at an open mic, on a livestream or for friends.

I can do this