Guitar Learning Resources

The few things that make learning faster, and where the material on this site comes from.

Play here

• Guitar chords for beginners: the player. Chord chart: every shape with finger numbers. Songs: the list. Learn: short illustrated guides.
• Ode to Joy, Greensleeves and In the Hall of the Mountain King: three songs, three ways each.

Tune first

A guitar that is out of tune makes every chord sound wrong, even when your fingers are right. Use a free browser tuner such as this one before each session.

Public domain music

A song is public domain when its composer has been gone long enough that the tune belongs to everyone, usually 70 years. Beethoven, Grieg and the anonymous writers of folk songs qualify everywhere. Modern recordings and arrangements of those tunes are still owned by whoever made them, which is why we make our own.

Other instruments

Want to play a piano or a drum machine in the browser? HitJam is free and works with a MIDI keyboard.