Playing Guitar

Learn a handful of chords and you can play real songs by the weekend.

Playing Guitar

Learn a handful of chords and you can play real songs by the weekend.

Essentials~$1156

DifficultyModerate

Time / session30–60 min

WhereAt home

SpaceSmall corner

Full cost breakdown →

Your fingertips hurt for the first few weeks and the chord changes feel hopelessly clumsy, like patting your head and rubbing your stomach. Then something clicks and you're stumbling through an actual song, badly but recognizably, and it's hard to put down.

The wall most people hit is the F chord and the plateau after the easy wins.

Push past it and you get the rare hobby that lets you make music in a single afternoon.

Fit

Is this for you?

Honest tradeoffs before you spend money or clear space.

You'll enjoy this if

Stumbling through a recognizable song badly is enough to hook you.
Happy drilling chord changes alone until they stop fumbling.
Making real music in a single afternoon is the payoff you want.

Not for you if

Sore fingertips and a clumsy fretting hand would make you quit early.
The F chord wall and the post-easy-wins plateau would defeat you.
Practicing alone for ages with slow progress sounds miserable.

Tends to suitThe ArtistThe Performer

Gear

The full kit

The essentials run about $1156 — you don't need it all to start. Each project lists only what it uses, and the first is often free. Links open Amazon (affiliate tag).

Acoustic Guitar

Yamaha FG800 Acoustic Guitar

~$260Buy

Electric Guitar

Yamaha Pacifica PAC112V

~$360Buy

Guitar Amplifier

Boss Katana 50 MkII

~$350Buy

Guitar Picks

Dunlop Tortex Standard .73mm (12-Pack)

~$6Buy

Guitar Tuner

Korg TM-60 Tuner & Metronome

~$38Buy

Guitar Strap

Levy's MSS3 Suede Strap

~$50Buy

Guitar Cable

Mogami Gold Instrument Cable (10 ft)

~$85Buy

Guitar Strings

Martin Authentic SP Phosphor Bronze (Light)

~$7Buy

Guides

Buying guides

Not sure which to get? These break down the choices, with tested picks from budget to premium.

Best Acoustic Guitar Strings for Beginners: Gauge, Coating, and Tone

Fresh strings transform how a guitar sounds and feels — and beginners often play far too long on old, dead ones. Light-gauge strings are easier on new fingers, and coated strings last longer. Here is what to put on your acoustic, how we chose, and what to expect.

Best Beginner Acoustic Guitar 2026: Yamaha FG800 vs Fender CD-60S vs Taylor GS Mini

The first acoustic guitar makes or breaks whether you stick with the instrument. Spend $80 and you'll quit in 6 months. Spend $230 and you'll be playing in 5 years. Here are the three acoustics worth buying as a beginner.

Best Beginner Electric Guitars: The Yamaha Pacifica and Its Rivals

A good beginner electric is easy to play, stays in tune, and is versatile enough for any style — and you do not need to spend much to get one. The Yamaha Pacifica is the runaway favourite. Here are three, how we chose them, and what to expect.

Best Beginner Guitar Amps: From Practice Amp to Modeling Powerhouse

An electric guitar needs an amp to make a sound — but the right beginner amp does far more than get loud. Modern modeling amps pack dozens of tones and effects into a small box. Here are three worth plugging into, how we chose them, and what to expect.

Best Guitar Cables for Beginners: Length, Quality, and Noise

A guitar cable seems like an afterthought until a cheap one fails mid-song or hums with noise. A good instrument cable is reliable, quiet, and lasts years. Here is what to buy, how we chose, and what to expect — and why you do not need to spend a fortune.

Best Guitar Capos for Beginners: Quick-Change, Clamp, and Tuning Stability

A capo clamps across the fretboard to raise your guitar’s pitch, letting you play songs in new keys using the easy open chords you already know. It is a small, cheap tool that unlocks a huge amount of music. Here are three, how we chose them, and what to expect.

Best Guitar Picks for Beginners: Gauge, Material, and What to Try

Picks are cheap, tiny, and weirdly important — the gauge you hold changes how easily you strum and how your guitar sounds. Buy a variety, find your favourite, then stock up. Here is where to start, how we chose, and what to expect.

Best Guitar Straps for Beginners: Comfort, Material, and Fit

A strap lets you stand up and play, and a comfortable one makes long sessions painless. It is a small purchase with a real effect on how much you enjoy playing. Here are three worth wearing, how we chose them, and what to expect.

Best Guitar Tuners for Beginners: Clip-On, Metronome, and Strobe

An out-of-tune guitar sounds bad no matter how well you play — and trains your ear wrong. A clip-on tuner is one of the cheapest, most essential things a beginner can own. Here are three, how we chose them, and what to expect.

Start here

How to start Playing Guitar

A step-by-step path from your first attempt to work you're proud of. Tick as you go, saved on this device.

Play your first chords

0 of 4 done

your next step

Tune your guitar with a clip-on tuner

Clip it on the headstock and match each string to green. An out-of-tune guitar sounds bad however well you play.

Get a clip-on tuner

Getting equipped? Get a guitar and tuner

0 of 16 steps · saved on this device

nudge me when i'm ready

Play your first chords

Tune your guitar with a clip-on tuner — Clip it on the headstock and match each string to green. An out-of-tune guitar sounds bad however well you play.
Learn G, C, D and Em from a chord chart — Four chords, a hundred songs. A chord chart shows exactly where each finger goes.
Play a four-chord song end to end — Follow a tutorial for a song that uses your four chords and play the whole thing through.
Change between two chords 30 times in a minute — The drill that builds every chord change. Time yourself and count clean switches, not fumbles.

Play songs

Learn a strumming pattern from a lesson — Down, down-up, up-down. A strum lesson turns your chords from robotic to musical.
Learn a song you actually love, start to finish — Look up the tab or chords for a song you'd be thrilled to play, and learn the whole thing.
Play a full song in time with the record — Play along with the actual recording and keep up the whole way. If you can, it's really a song now.
Learn to read chord charts and tab — Tab is the guitarist's sheet music. Read it and you can play almost any song ever written.
Play through a song without a single stop — No restarting when you flub a chord. Playing straight through, mistakes and all, is a real milestone.

Level up

Play your first barre chord, the F — The great wall every guitarist climbs: one finger barring all six strings. Buzzy and painful, then suddenly it rings.
Learn a riff on an electric guitar — Plug in and learn an iconic riff. Distorted and loud is a different, addictive kind of fun.
Add a hammer-on and pull-off to a lick — The moves that make a guitar slur between notes. Watch how, then work them into a lick.
Learn a fingerpicking pattern — Thumb on the bass, fingers on the top strings. A clean fingerpicked pattern opens up the gentle side of the guitar.

Play for people

Learn a crowd-pleaser to play for others — Pick a song everyone knows so you can play along at a party or a campfire.
Play a whole song for one person — Nerve-wracking and huge. Playing a song for someone, start to finish, is the leap every player has to make.
Play at an open mic or jam night — Perform a song for a room of strangers. Terrifying, exhilarating, and the real graduation.

Read

Playing Guitar guides

The First Guitar Chords to Learn (and How to Switch Between Them)

Almost every song you want to play is a handful of chords, so the fastest route into guitar is learning a few of them well and getting smooth at changing between them. Here are the first chords to learn and how to switch cleanly.

Gear guides