Core · Beginner
Zero to Hero
The default beginner path. Five open chords, real chord changes, and a song you'll actually recognize — built so something plays like music at every step, never twenty drills in a row.
Starts from zero. If you've finished First Notes, your Em and Am work is already checked off here — skip straight to where it gets new. More sections (C and G, the pop progression, more songs, your first scale) land next; what's here already ends in a real song.
What you'll know at the end
- Five open chords — Em, Am, E, A, D — formed cleanly and checked string by string
- Real chord changes: the Em–Am switch, the fret-2 A–D pivot, and the A–E–D rock cycle
- Steady down-strums that hold a chord through a full bar
- Three Little Birds — a real three-chord song, end to end
What this path deliberately skips
- Barre chords (the F is Barre Bootcamp's boss fight)
- Fingerstyle (that's the Fingerstyle Primer)
- Strum-timing grading — strumming is taught, but the app doesn't score your rhythm yet
- Theory beyond following a chord chart
First Sounds
Get a clean sound out of the instrument — open strings, first frets, first chord.
Open String Call-Out
The app names a string — find it and pick it open. Six strings, six calls, no fretting hand needed.
Name That String
Hear a string, find it on your guitar. First ear-training rep. Two misses and the fretboard reveals the answer.
One Finger Per Fret
Index on fret 1, middle on 2, ring on 3, pinky on 4 — pick each note as the finger lands. The hand position guitarists drill forever.
Hello, Em
Six strings ringing together — your first chord. Press hard. Strum slow. Then prove it: pick each string by itself and hear all six ring. Three rounds.
The Em Arpeggio Check
Make Em. Don't strum — pluck each string one at a time, low to high. If a string won't ring, this check won't move past it: adjust until it sounds.
By the end · You can name the open strings, put a finger exactly where you want it, and make Em ring.
Two Chords, First Music
A second chord, the switch between them, and your first minute of continuous music.
Hello, Am
Your second chord. Three fingers, same fret. Em and Am share two fingers — you already know most of this chord.
The Slow Switch
Em to Am, one switch at a time. No clock. Take as long as you need. Ten clean transitions and you've done more chord changes than most people manage in their first month.
The Em-Am Vamp
Two chords, one minute, no stopping. Em, four strums. Am, four strums. Loop. Keep the music moving even when a change is late.
All Down Quarters
Hold Em. One down-strum on every click — even, full, relaxed. The simplest strumming there is, and the foundation of all of it.
By the end · Two chords, a clean switch, and a minute of steady strumming. That's music.
The Rock Three
E, A, and D — then the classic three-chord cycle, and a song everyone knows.
Hello, E
Em plus one finger. Your pointer joins at fret 1 and minor turns into major — the easiest major chord on the guitar.
Hello, A
Three fingers in a row at fret 2. A little crowded, hugely useful — A powers more songs than almost any chord.
Hello, D
A little triangle of fingers on the thinnest three strings. Only four strings get played — aiming is half the exercise, and the string-by-string picks will tell you instantly if a thick string snuck in or the thin one died.
The D Ringing Check
Hold D and pluck its four strings one at a time. If a string won't ring, this check won't move past it: adjust until it sounds.
The Fret-2 Pivot
A to D and back, no clock. Both chords live at fret 2 — your fingers rearrange without your hand going anywhere.
The Rock Cycle
A, E, D, repeat — one minute. The classic three-chord rock progression; half the songs you know run on these three.
Three Little Birds
The Bob Marley classic — A, D, and E, around and around. Three chords you know, one real song. Don't worry about a thing.
By the end · Five chords, the rock progression, and Three Little Birds end to end. You're playing songs now.
Next sections are on the way: C and G (spaced out, no finger-twister cliff), the four-chord pop progression, three more songs, and your first scale — the doorway to Lead Guitar 101.