In this video
Welcome to my FREE 10 day acoustic guitar series!
Playing guitar as close to everyday as possible is the best way to improve in the shortest amount of time - especially for total beginners! I created this to also encourage you to pickup your guitar everyday for 10 days - even if it's just for 10 minutes!
Day 1 is my absolute beginners first guitar lesson. It is ideal for anyone that is totally new to playing the guitar.
Here, I show you how to play the easiest 2 chords on guitar, and then teach you how to play the EASY song called 'For What It's Worth' by a band called Buffalo Springfield.
See the 'Jam along' video with live on screen chords for the full song further down this page!
> Printable chord sheet for 'For What It's Worth' to match this video - click here
Need help getting your guitar in tune? That's here
Introduction to Neck Diagrams aka Chord Boxes
Each string is shown by a horizontal line. We number these strings 1 to 6 from the thinnest to the thickest.
Each vertical line represents a fret, which are the metal strips down the guitar.
Finger placement
We call the area between the metal strips fret 1, fret 2 etc. Place your fingers towards the side of the fret closest to you, rather than in the middle. This really helps the notes ring out and sound better when you play!
For example, this is where to place your 1st finger on the 1st string at the 1st fret!
The easiest 2 chords on guitar
This is the E major chord. Each number tell you which finger to place down; 1 being index, 2 is middle and 3 is ring finger. Anchor finger in yellow.
This is the 2nd chord we'll learn, the A major chord. Notice the 1st finger is on the same string as it is in the E major chord.
To change from the E chord to the A chord, keep your 1st finger down, lift off the others and slide it to the 2nd fret
If you're still really struggling after watching the video and using these notes above - no problem! Try this lesson from my full Beginners Guitar Course as a little pre workout, then come back to this when you're ready!
Strumming
The intro of the song we're going for uses something called 'Spreads', which is just one strum per chord on beat 1 of each bar.
Intro & after chorus
The verses and chorus use the same chord sequence but we strum on the beat, so 4 strums per chord repeated until the breaks post chorus.
Verses & chorus strumming
Jam along video now with live on screen chords!
Once you’ve completed the lesson, test your new skills by jamming along to Andy to the FULL song in the video below. Now features chords and chord progression live on screen as you play - check it out!
Video going too fast? Slow the video to a little using the video speed function.
What's next? Day 2!
If you've successfully played along with Andy in the full demo video above, you're ready to move on to Day 2 of this Starter Course where we'll be checking out a NEW chord and another easy song PLUS a new easy melody!
Course Outline
10 Day Free Acoustic Challenge