What to teach beginner in 3 free lessons?

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Tico

Here's what I'm thinking.
Advice is welcome.

YES How to tune.
I'm giving him a Snark. (Someone gave him a decent guitar)

YES Show him the letter names of the strings.

YES I'll make sure he knows how to recognize sharp and flat and which way to turn the tuner. Also to tune from string to string without tuner

YES Explain how chord diagrams show the neck, frets, strings and what finger to put where.

YES Identify a simple song to learn with I IV and V chords like D G and A.

Maybe Show the most basic theory on my piano.

See above in bold. Just my 2 cents. Use the KIS method (Keep It Simple).

Also show him/her the power of YouTube.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Tico

…is this a mistake?
If not, what is the best use of the absurdly-limited time?

Hi Tico

I'd teach him:

4 finger G
3-2-0-0-3-3

4 finger C
0-3-2-0-3-3 (move the bottom fingers over one set of strings)

3 finger Em
0-2-0-0-3-3 (lift the finger off the bass string of 4-finger-G)

D to Dsus

Tie them together into progressions in key of G

I'd teach him to play an E chord with fingers 2-3-4
Then I'd show him how to move/play that same chord shape on frets 6-7 and 8-9 (without lifting his fingers…just glide em up there)

Quick way to be up and playing E, A-ish, & B-ish chords for songs. It also sets him up to build into barre chords later.

I'd teach him a C chord and then how to move only one finger (without lifting the others) to make Am
Then I'd teach him to walk the Am down to an E major (same fingering just moving over one set of strings).

To practice chord switches, I always taught beginners to play each chord as quarter note, quarter note, half note as down strokes.

We'd play it twice on a chord, and switch chords during beat 4 of the second measure. They pick it up so quickly and it can be played slowly and it's repeatable as an exercise for any set of chords they work through. We started by switching on between two chords, then more chords for progressions later.

[Gmountain]

First- how to hold a guitar. How to put hands and fingers on the neck.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Earl49

Nothing succeeds like success. If he can play a few simple songs, that will whet his appetite more than anything else.

This. If at the end of the day he can play even very rudimentary a song or two, he is no longer an absolute beginner. He is a guitar player.

[Tracy Perry]

As for online stuff... you can't beat Justin Guitar

Definitely instruct on how to tune.
Hand stretching exercises would also be of benefit (it's an issue with me currently).


For books, I've found this one to be a very good one (and it's what my instructor currently recommends). If you are in the Christmas spirit, gifting him a copy would go a long ways towards him learning. It's available via Amazon for around $9.

[tonyo]

Tell him to buy a tuner and don't spend time on how to tune.

The first thing for him to learn is changing chords quickly enough to be able to change the chord within the beat or two that he has when playing a song.

I'd nudge him towards A E D progression played how Justin Guitar shows with the index finger anchoring on the G string which also helps with changing chords quickly.

Then on to playing a song, showing him just a single strum per bar (two if he feels like it) so he can get to being able to play his first song as quickly as possible.

Lastly heaps of encouragement and avoid theory altogether.

[George6654]

1 Teach him how to tune the guitar and download a tuner onto his phone

2 Show him the DDUUDU strumming pattern

3 Give him a basic chord chart and teach him 3 chords G C D

4 Give him a chart with the 1 4 5 sequence on and show him how to work them out

5 Point him in the direction of Justin Guitar

Forget the piano

[zeeway]

Lots of good info here. My two cents: aspiring guitar players fall into two groups... those that want to sing and those that can't/don't. Much easier to teach the singers. You find a three chord song they want to sing and teach them that and how to tune. Tell them to play that song many times, singing along, until they can make the chord changes with their eyes closed. Then give them a list of more songs with same chords. And introduce them to Youtube. They should be on their way.

[brianhejh]

Lots of great beginner advice here.

If I was the instructor wanting to leave an impression after 3 lesson more importantly leave the student with a sense of early accomplishment I would do the following.
1- Select the D shape chord only for a tune in D (first three strings) second fret

2 - Teach him a simple tune using the 145 while maintaining the same shape moving up and down up the fretboard

3 - Select another tune in E same shape (D) moving up and down the fretboard this will allow him to span the neck up to the 12 fret area while maintaining the same shape (has not got to move his fingers just the shapes.

You could even do a blues tune in A (10) fret move down to second fret for D then fourth fret E

Very little concentration needed here therefore you can introduce a strumming pattern for him to practice for early results for beginners.

Brian

[Arthur Blake]

I've never used this tuning, but a recent post had me looking.

How about putting the guitar in Open D tuning and handing it to him?

Most brand new guitar players don't stick with it.

Their fingers hurt, strings get muted or buzz, coordination for finger picking seems impossible.

With Open D, the strings are easier to play because most are tuned down, and you can easily make melodies with one finger.

Also explain, that this is not "standard" tuning. Show him that in the 3rd lesson, and introduce E and Am chords.

I'm partial to finger picking, so I'd introduce that in the 2nd lesson.

The idea is to get him making music and sustaining interest right from the start.

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by Tico

Here's what I'm thinking.
Advice is welcome.

How to tune.
I'm giving him a Snark. (Someone gave him a decent guitar)
Show him the letter names of the strings.
I'll make sure he knows how to recognize sharp and flat and which way to turn the tuner.

Explain how chord diagrams show the neck, frets, strings and what finger to put where.

Identify a simple song to learn with I IV and V chords like D G and A.
Show the most basic theory on my piano.

Sounds good. With 3 lessons I don't expect much of the theory to stick, but I'd still throw some in.

I generally start beginners with Em - A7 (same two fingers, all on the second fret), but no songs come to mind with just those two chords. I have them finger pick with I,M & A staying on the first three strings - the thumb plays the root.

If he can get his hands on a book 1 of some series I'd quickly go through the first third of the book and explain anything that looks scary.

Probably the most important thing to do is explain how we learn - how to practice. And that we all need to do things "less well" for many repetitions before they click. If you can't play it it only means you have not done it enough times yet.

Also important: how to hold the pick and use the wrist. How to hold the guitar and good hand technique. If the basics are solid the rest comes much easier.

You are a good man.

[caster]

Hi,

After tuning I'd go right on chords and songs as soon as possible.
In my opinion, starting just with theory is the fastest way to lose motivation.
About chords, hide as much as you can the barre chords, he will find them shortly if he wants to continue, but there is no need to scare him the first day

There are plenty of songs with two or three easy open chords, and there is nothing more encouraging that playing a song the first day. Specially if you can play something more than happy birthday.

There are some websites with examples of songs for absolute beginners. Try this one:
https://www.direectory.com/b/N8DD25A...-from-scratch/

I have more references if you want them.
The first day, the student can just strum the guitar once at the beginning of every bar and it will sound great if you are listening the song.
If the chords are simple, it is really easy! Even the first day!

Good luck!

[devellis]

I think the most important thing for an absolute beginner is not getting discouraged. That means, often, getting to something musical as soon as possible and in the simplest way. For that, I think one-finger chords are the path of least resistance.

So, in Hour One, work first on some basics like holding and tuning the instrument and then show some really simple one-finger chords. Perhaps the simplest are C and G played on only the three highest strings. So, that would be first fret, second string for a simple C chord, and third fret first string for a simple G. Play only the top three strings (although the fourth string will work for the G). Find a simple song that uses those chords (there are about a zillion songs that you can play with C and G).

In Hour Two, go over the simple songs that you taught in Hour One and teach some simple strumming patterns. Maybe add a second finger to the C and G shapes, allowing more strings to be played. That's a big step forward, as far as difficulty goes.

In Hour Three, show the three-finger versions of C and G, and teach the three-finger version of D. Now, teach a song in the key of G using those three chords. Give sets of lyrics and chords for other songs in G that use G, C, and D. Show how to find resources online, like lyrics with accompanying chords and diagrams for various chords. Spend a little time talking about next steps and where he or she can find the resources needed to accomplish them.

I think that this is about all a true beginner can manage in three hours. Remember, fingers will get sore really fast and hands will move very slowly from one chord shape to the next. One-finger chords allow a true beginner to hear what chord changes sound like without the awkwardly long pauses that changing between more complex chord shapes inevitably entails for a beginner. By Lesson Three, hopefully, dexterity will have improved somewhat and things will start to be just a bit more fluid.

Also, I think it's really important to emphasize that virtually everyone who learns goes through the same awkward, inept stage at the beginning. People can readily imagine that they lack the skills needed to play guitar. Be sure to emphasize that having those thoughts is normal. Pretty much all of us felt at some point that we'd never be able to play guitar and that we lacked basic skills that others have. I think knowing that those discouraging feelings are part of the normal process is reassuring to beginners and gives them some incentive to push on when things don't go smoothly (which will happen).

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

I don't think that one can teach much of "practical" playing value and I think it a mistake to try. Instead, I'd give an overview of music, in general, and the guitar in particular - a sort of music/guitar appreciation class.

this - (rather than quote the whole post).

[Woodstock School Of Music]

Em and Am are the first chords I show students for obvious reasons. I would stay away from the G chord until you think they're ready. That chord can make people hyperventilate lol