E
1Tune upNext up
Every lesson sounds wrong on a guitar out of tune. The tuner listens through your microphone and shows which way to turn each peg.
5 minutes
Start here
Learn the guitar
One path through everything on Chordhalla, from tuning up to soloing over the whole neck. Every step is a working page: the chords sound, the examples change key and the diagrams are drawn for your own guitar.
16 steps, in order. Next up: Tune up ›
Start playing
From a guitar straight out of its case to playing a song in time.
EmAmCGD
2Your first chords
The chords most songs need, two at a time, in the order that makes each one easy, with a progression to play along with at every step.
A few weeks
C
3Read a chord chart
The lines, dots, X and O of a chord diagram, explained on a chart you can play, so every chord on this site makes sense at a glance.
15 minutes
4Read tab
Tablature in plain words: which line is which string, what the numbers mean, and the signs for slides, bends and hammer-ons, with examples to hear.
15 minutes
↓1↓2↑&↑&↓4↑&
5Strum in time
Strumming patterns from the simplest down strums up, each counted out and played over a loop of chords at any speed.
A week
EmAm60s
6Change chords faster
One-minute changes: pick two chords, switch between them for a minute and count. The trainer times it and keeps your best for every pair.
A minute a day
CIGVAmviFIV
7Your first song
Four chords play hundreds of songs. Learn the progression in any key and play along with it.
An evening
Understand the neck
Why the chords are shaped as they are, and how to find any note.
EFGABCDE
1Notes on the fretboard
The natural notes on every string, octave shapes to find any note fast, and a one-minute game to fix them in your fingers.
A few weeks
R35♭7
2Intervals
The distance between two notes, its shape on the neck and how it feels. Every dot colour on this site is an interval.
A week
IiiiiiIVVvivii°
3Chords from a scale
Stack the notes of a scale and the seven chords of a key fall out, each with its part to play: home, the door, the pull, the shadow.
An evening
Scales and soloing
The pentatonic, the modes, and how players blend the two.
R♭345♭7
1Pentatonics
Five notes with nothing to clash: the five boxes, major and minor as one shape, and how riffs, hooks and solos come out of it.
A few weeks
2Modes
One scale heard from seven homes. The modes in their natural order and in order of brightness, each with its colour note and the vamp that sets it up.
A few weeks
R2♭3456♭7
3Pentatonics and modes
Keep the box you know and add two notes: every mode is a pentatonic plus two. Mixing major and minor pentatonic, and three pentatonics in one key.
Ongoing
The whole neck
The systems guitarists use to join it all up, and which to choose.
CAGED
1The CAGED system
Five open chord shapes moved up the neck, each with its scale around it, so soloing and chords live in the same place.
A few months
2Three notes a string
Seven patterns with three notes on every string: even, fast and made for legato and alternate picking.
A few months
BoxesCAGED3 a string
3Which system?
Boxes, CAGED, three a string, one string, octave shapes: the same notes grouped differently, and which suits what you want to play.
An evening
Look things up any time
Library: every guitar chordChords in every keyChord progressionsGuitar scalesChord finderCapo chartMetronome
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Questions
What should I learn first on the guitar?
Tune up, then two easy chords and the change between them. Everything else builds on clean chord changes in time, which is why the path starts there and the theory comes later.
How long does it take to learn the guitar?
With ten or fifteen minutes a day, most people play their first song within a few weeks. A little every day does far more than a long session once a week.
Do I need to learn music theory?
Not to start. The later stages explain what the shapes are made of, which makes them easier to remember and lets you solo and write, but the first songs need none of it.
Is it free?
Yes. Every lesson and tool on this path is free, with no account. The full version adds downloads, saving and live sheets.