Playing Your First Song

Welcome to lesson 2 of the Quick Start Series! By now your guitar should be all tuned up. If you missed that part, you should go back to the previous video.

In the rest of this course we will teach you all the information you will need to learn about the guitar: Correct posture, how to hold the guitar, technique for each of your hands, and much, much more. For now, let’s not worry about the details. Let’s have some fun with your guitar by learning some easy one finger chords and making music!
These metal bars are called “frets”. When we fret notes we put our fingers in the space right behind the frets, not on top of them. The strings are all numbered from the thinnest & highest in pitch, to the thickest and lowest. So, this is the first string (demo) & this is the second, and so on.

Our first chord is going to be a simple version of a C chord. Just take your index finger and put it right here behind the first fret, and on the second string. Ok now that you have your finger in the right spot, press down firmly with the tip of your finger. You might also have to slightly readjust your finger so that all three strings ring cleanly and clearly.

Then with your right hand, strum just the highest three strings like this. For now you should only strum these three strings, using a pick or just your thumb like this – for now it doesn’t matter.

Now that we can do that, let’s learn one more one-finger chord so that we can play them together and make music!

Our second chord will be a simple version of the G chord. Take your ring finger and put it right here behind the third fret of the first string. Ok now that you have your finger in the right spot, press down firmly with the tip of your finger. You might also have to slightly readjust your finger so that all three strings ring cleanly and clearly.

Let's try a simple down strum pattern while counting 1, 2, 3, 4 for the simple C major chord, then 1, 2, 3, 4 for the simple G major chord.

If it’s hard to transition between these two chords, don’t worry! Changing chords in time is a big part of playing the guitar. It’s a big challenge! So be patient. It’s not easy at first, but everyone can improve with practice!

The last step is to play these 2 chords together, really slowly, one after the other. Let’s play it along with a backing track! Take your time and be patient with yourself, you will get it! Don't expect to be perfect right away. Try to enjoy the process!

Caren Armstrong
Instructor Caren Armstrong
Styles:
Acoustic
Difficulty:
Playing Your First Song song notation

You need to be registered to ask our instructors a question.

Questions & Answers

There are no questions for this lesson yet.