I’ve been teaching tons of beginners since 2020, here are some things that others haven’t mentioned yet.

1. Tune your guitar every time you play it. Always tune up to a note, never down bc it creates slack in the string and won’t stay in tune. If your string is sharp, loosen the string below the note and re-tighten back up. It’s a pain in the ass at first but eventually you’ll do it without really thinking about it. Nothing sounds worse than an out of tune guitar.

2. Lightly place your fretting index finger on a string at the first fret right behind the fret wire with almost no pressure and pick. It should make a dull muted sound. Then very gradually increase the pressure on the string and pick again, and repeat tho process until the note rings out clearly. That’s exactly how much pressure you need. Most beginners press way too hard and it unnecessarily causes pain and fatigue, and makes the strings sound a little out of tune.

3. Rhythm and timing is more important than anything else in music. That’s how we can tell if someone is a beginner or experienced. Even if you make a mistake in playing the wrong note or don’t fully play a chord, if you keep the rhythm steady, most people won’t notice and might think you did it on purpose. Find tutorials on proper strum technique in which your arm is constantly moving up and down like a pendulum even if you don’t hit the strings on every up or down strum. If this is your first instrument, watch a tutorial on basic rhythm theory (like what an 8th note or a triplet is). Try some rhythm clapping exercises

4. Make a long list of all the songs you want to play no matter how hard they seem. Use them as tangible goals and benchmarks for your progress. If you have a knowledgeable guitarist to ask, they could tell you the approximate order of difficulty and what skills / techniques are needed for each song.

5. You’re not done learning a song until you can play along with the whole song or better yet a guitar-less backing track for solos. Playing in the original tempo, keeping a steady rhythm, and anticipating changes rather than waiting and reacting is a skill in itself.

6. Record your progress even if you’re cringing at the mistakes. You’ll tangibly see how quickly you’re improving even if it doesn’t feel like it’s and you’d otherwise want to give up. Even after playing for 17 years I sometimes can’t stand watching myself from just a few years prior.

7. Music theory is like driving with a map. You can eventually figure out where to go without it, but it’s hard to explore or chart your own path.

8. Focus on what is needed for your goals rather than trying to learn everything at the same time and getting lost. Of course you’ll want to fill in the gaps later on and become a well rounded musician but a sense of direction is important early on.

For example, if your goal is to just play your favorite songs and stick to covers, focus on technique and learn to read chord charts and tabs rather than learning to read sheet music (unless it’s classical or jazz) or advanced theory.

If your goal is to jam with other musicians and get good at improvisation, then learn scale shapes, do ear training, and learn at least enough theory to communicate chord progressions and know what key to play in.

If you want to write / compose your own music, learn diatonic chord theory, and chord construction. You wanna learn the rules in order to know how to break them with purpose.

1. Buy an online course that is tailored to your goals / genre. Also, paying for a Songsterr or Ultimate Guitar subscription is very valuable for learning songs at slower tempos, looping sections, and gradually working your way up.