Beginner’s Guide: Where To Start When Learning Guitar
This exact method for learning guitar has been tested with over 1,000 students across the 13 years I've been teaching, and I can tell you with total confidence: it works. Learning guitar as a complete beginner comes down to five things: knowing your instrument, learning your first chords, understanding how to read music, building a small set of songs you can actually play, and knowing what gear is actually worth buying.
In this free starter course, you'll learn:
Basic guitar vocab, so you can talk to other guitarists
Your first chord, and what order to learn the next 8 in
Three ways to read music, so you can pick what works best for you
Your first five songs
When it's time to buy new gear, and how to not get ripped off
I cover all of this, plus a lot more in the video above.
What Are the Parts of a Guitar Called?
Every guitar has a body, a neck, and frets, the metal lines (and the spaces between them) that shorten a string when you press it down, raising the pitch. Acoustic guitars send that vibration out through a sound hole; electric guitars capture it with pickups, magnets wrapped in copper wire that send the signal to your amp.
The six strings, from lowest to highest, are E-A-D-G-B-E. My favorite way students remember it: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie. One of my 8-year-old students taught me that one, and I've used it ever since.
How Many Chords Do You Need to Learn Guitar?
Nine. E, A, D, G, C, F, Em, Am, and Dm.
G and Em are the easiest to start with. You can play G with a single finger on the third fret of your high E string, and Em by holding down two strings on the same fret. From there, E, A, D, C, F, Am, and Dm round out your first 9 chords — enough to play the overwhelming majority of songs you already know.
Tab vs. Sheet Music: How Should You Learn to Read Guitar?
There are three ways to read guitar music: chord charts, standard notation (sheet music), and tablature (tab). Tab is the easiest to start with, since each line represents a string and each number tells you which fret to play — no music theory required, which is why it's the most popular format for guitarists online. It's also a lot older than you'd think: tab dates back to the 13th or 14th century, long before standard notation existed.
Standard notation takes more upfront work, but it's worth learning too, especially once you know a couple of shortcuts most beginner resources skip. I walk through a simple trick for reading ledger lines in the video.
What's the Best First Song to Learn on Guitar?
Start with a simple, familiar melody. It lets you get comfortable reading notes before tackling harder songs. I start every student this way, whether they're 7 or 77, beginning with a nursery rhyme like Happy Birthday. From there, pick songs that play to your preferences: chord-heavy songs if you like practicing chords, vocal melodies if you're better one note at a time, or rock riffs if you've got power chords down.
When Should You Buy New Guitar Gear?
The best guitar to learn on is the one you already have. When you're ready to upgrade, test guitars up to around $1,500. Instruments under that price tend to have similar-feeling necks, so you're really shopping for the neck that fits your hand, and then choosing different body types from that brand. In the video, I talk about how to get a better deal once you find the one you love.
For accessories, a clip-on tuner is worth the small cost for the convenience alone, and your choice of pick is entirely personal preference. For a capo, match it to your strings: a curved pad for steel strings, a flat pad for nylon.
FAQ: Common Beginner Guitar Questions
How many chords do I need to know to start playing guitar?
Nine: E, A, D, G, C, F, Em, Am, and Dm. That's enough to play the vast majority of popular songs.
Should I learn guitar with tab or sheet music?
Tab is the fastest way to start playing, since it just shows you which string and fret to play. Sheet music takes more work upfront, but it's worth learning too, especially with the right shortcuts.
What's the best first song to learn on guitar?
A simple, familiar melody like "Happy Birthday." Starting with something you already know by ear makes it much easier to connect what's on the page to the sound in your head.
How much should a beginner spend on a guitar?
Start with the guitar you already have. When you're ready to upgrade, test instruments up to around $1,500 to find the neck that fits your hand best.
What accessories does a beginner guitarist actually need?
A clip-on tuner, a set of picks you like, and the right capo for your string type. Everything else can wait.
Ready to Actually Learn This?
This post covers the basics, but the full video walks through every chord shape, the sheet-music reading shortcut, tab notation in detail, your first songs step by step, and exactly what gear to buy and when, all in the order that's helped over 1,000 students actually stick with guitar.