Pick up your guitar.
Start with Week 1.

Revised for your two weeks of open chords, chord changes, chromatic warm-ups, C major and minor pentatonic. Your Squier Stratocaster and Marshall amp are enough. Start on any day; Day 1 means your next practice day. This replaces the earlier course.

You will start power chords immediately, add palm muting in week 2, work on melodic phrases and hammer-ons in week 4, and treat gallops as an optional preview from week 6, with the main study later. The first 12 weeks cover a broad foundation; weeks 13-26 deepen control, musical expression and complete performances. Each week has three tabbed bars, seven concrete daily assignments and a short original piece. Familiar material returns with a new musical task rather than a week spent waiting to move on.

This pace is a starting plan, not a claim about your current playing: I have not heard a recording. A new technique can be introduced quickly while its mastery takes longer. Your clean tempo decides the pace. All tabs are original, not transcriptions of your favourite artists.

2 minutes tuning; 1 minute gentle warm-up; 4 minutes picking and the day's technique (first minute clap/count, then apply it with a pick); 2 minutes the weekly scale; 2 minutes the weekly chord/neck task; 1 minute ear training; 7 minutes the day's music assignment; 1 minute logging your tempo and next target. Every day below follows this same timing. On the lighter seventh day, the technique block is listening/counting rather than repetitive playing.

Warm-up: 30 seconds easy open-string picking; 30 seconds 5-6-7-8 on G, then backwards, using index-middle-ring-little finger. Separate the notes and release pressure between them. If the little finger feels tense, use 5-6-7 and add only a few comfortable 8s. Do not hold a forced stretch. Stop painful playing; use listening and counting instead. Day 7 intentionally reduces repetitive work while keeping your daily habit.

Standard tuning is E-A-D-G-B-e, thickest to thinnest. In the tab, top e is thinnest and bottom E is thickest. A number means fret; 0 means open. Vertically aligned numbers are a chord. A dash means that string is not played at that slot. ~ holds the previous note without another pick; r is a silent rest. h7 means hammer onto 7 at that slot; p5 means pull off to the already fretted 5. /7 means slide from the preceding note and arrive on 7 at that slot.

Eight columns fill one bar of 4/4: count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &. Each column is half a beat. Sixteen columns fill one bar: count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a. Each column is a quarter of a beat. The metronome clicks only on 1, 2, 3, 4. Learn finger placement slowly first, then apply this written rhythm. A bar always lasts four beats. Stop or hold the final note as indicated.

Power chords on E/A use the upper string two frets higher: E5 0/2, G5 3/5, A5 5/7. On A/D, A5 is 0/2, C5 3/5, D5 5/7. Use index and ring finger where comfortable, and pick only those two strings. Drop D power chords use the same fret on low D and A. Palm muting means resting the picking-hand edge lightly on the strings near the bridge. Move it slightly until notes are short but pitched. For rests, use both hands to stop all ringing strings.

Start around 50-60 bpm or slower. For sixteenths and gallops, begin around 40-50 if that helps. These are suggestions, not targets. Alternate picking means down-up-down-up; eighth-note downstrokes fall on numbers, upstrokes on &. A gallop here is long-short-short: an eighth followed by two sixteenths. Try down, down-up, keeping the hand loose.

Only raise tempo 2-4 bpm after three clean, relaxed repetitions. A successful weekly check means the eight-bar piece keeps its pulse, its rests are quiet and your hands remain comfortable. If the check fails, use the next three sessions to repair it: day 1 isolate the problem; day 2 reconnect its neighbouring bars; day 3 record again. Shift later assignments back. You can keep exploring an easier new idea, but do not force the difficult one. Missed days need no doubled session.

Each week now includes a named, complete four-bar original piece with a beginning, an answering phrase and a tonic ending. Learn it on days 1 and 3 and record it on day 6. On days 2, 4 and 5, continue a small section of a familiar song from the repertoire plan. A familiar song may span several weeks; finishing it matters more than starting a new song every week. All of this uses the existing seven-minute music block.

Each week's table is your actual daily assignment, not an extra task list. A, B and C refer only to the three tabbed bars on that week's page. The A/B/C technique-study form is A A B B A C B C; it is optional review, not the required weekly piece. Play it at one tempo, with a one-bar count-in. At 60 bpm it lasts about 32 seconds. Repeating the form twice makes 16 bars. The later performance projects explain how to combine weeks.

Reviewed 15 October 2026. I compared published curricula and official teaching materials, not paid courses lesson by lesson and not controlled trials. There is no single proven best electric-guitar method for every learner. My recommendation is a blended structure suited to your preferences and 20-minute limit.

Sources: JustinGuitar Grade 1, JustinGuitar ear training, Fender instructor curriculum, Berklee curriculum, Rockschool Grade 1.

My assessment of our previous version: regular short sessions, pick-first study, recording and fingerings were useful. It accumulated too many topics, used almost the same weekly form repeatedly, treated calendar weeks too much like advancement, and offered little systematic strumming, ear recall, accompaniment or triad-set progression. Plain text obscured note lengths and made chords look like lists rather than playable shapes.

The revision keeps the faster introduction of techniques but reduces new scale vocabulary. Dorian and harmonic minor are optional later references, not required weekly scales. Seven minutes now go to music, with song work on days 2, 4 and 5. Every day includes one minute of ear work. Triads now progress through all four adjacent string sets. Short rhythm and performance gates decide progression. Fingerpicking remains postponed. Your teacher can use your weekly recordings to check movement and timing that a written course cannot assess.

Within the one-minute ear block: day 1 play and sing the scale root; day 2 sing root-third-fifth from that week's chord, then check on the guitar; day 3 listen to a short self-recorded two-beat rhythm, pause, clap it back; day 4 play two notes, then hum whether the second went up/down; day 5 try finding a two- or three-note phrase by ear; day 6 recall the week's first bar before looking; day 7 compare your current and prior recording. This is practice, not an external assessment. On a difficult day, use one note and a simpler rhythm.

Within the FIRST minute of the four-minute technique block, count/clap: weeks 1-2 quarters and rests; 3-4 eighths; 5-6 offbeat entries and the slow gallop subdivisions; 7-8 a down/up strum pattern; 9-10 sixteenths in short bursts; 11-12 contrast 4/4 with the linked song's 6/8. Weeks 13-26 revisit the weakest of those rhythms in your current music. Strumming study from week 7: hold Em, count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &, strum DOWN on 1, DOWN-UP on 2 &, UP on & after 3, DOWN-UP on 4 &. Keep the hand moving through silent subdivisions. Strum only the intended strings. Practise first on muted strings, then on Em-Am; this replaces picking drill time for that day.

Week-check gate: (1) count the exercise correctly; (2) play the named four-bar weekly piece twice with a steady pulse and quiet rests; (3) play the scale from memory and find its root; (4) form two current chord shapes cleanly; (5) make one short phrase that ends on a chord tone. Start at a comfortable tempo; there is no required speed. If one item fails, repair that item for the next three sessions, preserving familiar-song time. Every fourth week is a consolidation week: new material is optional, and at least half the music block reviews earlier work. Keep one known section in your repertoire throughout rather than abandoning it after its scheduled month.

For accompaniment from week 8, record four bars of a simple Am chord pulse and practise an A-minor-pentatonic answer over your recording. If recording/playback is inconvenient, alternate four rhythm bars and four lead bars unaccompanied. Replace music time; do not add time. A pentatonic note is not equally stable over every chord: listen, and finish on A, C or E over Am.

Weekly scales and musical bars now have vector TAB staves with fret numbers, counts and a separate rhythm line. Eighth/sixteenth notes have flags or beams; long values have open noteheads where appropriate; rests are marked r. The scale LH and position rows remain underneath. A small curved connector labelled h, p or / marks the legato action. Chord shapes are shown as fretboard diagrams with LH fingers. The expandable plain-text tab is retained as a reference.

The visual TAB is a custom course renderer, not an export from MuseScore. MuseScore supports MusicXML import; each week also has a MusicXML file containing its scale and A/B/C bars, with durations, string/fret assignments and scale fingerings. The triad atlas has its own file. Import them into MuseScore for editable notation and playback; import layout and technique placement may need adjustment. The course vector graphics have been rendered and visually sampled. Browser preview was blocked by its local-file security policy, and native MuseScore checking lacked computer-control permission. MusicXML duration/string data is structurally checked; MuseScore import itself is not verified. The MusicXML files use a six-line TAB staff; you can add a linked notation staff in MuseScore if desired.

This is a useful guitar equivalent of a classical string-instrument position system, with guitar fret numbers remaining the main reference. Roman numerals label the hand position: I around fret 1, II around fret 2, V around fret 5, VII around fret 7, and so on. In a simple four-fret scale position, finger 1 covers the starting fret, 2 the next, 3 the next, and 4 the fourth. Open strings use 0 and need no fretting finger. The LH row under each scale gives the suggested finger for each note; the Pos row shows its position. A shift moves the hand, rather than stretching farther. For descent, reverse both notes and fingerings.

LH fingers: 1=index, 2=middle, 3=ring, 4=little finger, 0=open. Picking-hand p/i/m/a remains thumb/index/middle/ring; it is a separate system. A number on a string line ALWAYS means a fret, never a finger. In chord tabs, the separate LH finger column gives fingers. x means omit that string. Repeated finger 1 across several strings means a barre; use a partial shape if a full barre is not yet comfortable. Chord fingerings are practical suggestions, not a rigid one-finger-per-fret rule. For example, a chord may use two fingers on the same fret.

Weeks 1-11 establish lower-neck scale routes. From week 12, repeated scales use an upper-neck or upper-register route with the same note names. Learn each route independently first, then compare their root notes. A full-neck scale is built from connected routes, not by stretching one fixed hand position over the guitar. These one-octave routes are starting points, not all five pentatonic boxes or a complete CAGED scale atlas. In your two-minute scale block, use one minute on the current route and one minute recalling the earlier route when comfortable. This replaces practice time, not adds it.

For every chord tab, form the shape, pick each included string separately to check it, then strum once. The chord tab is a static shape with no prescribed note duration. In your two-minute chord block, choose just two shapes from that week's set; compare the others on subsequent days. Do not try to master six shapes in two minutes.

One focus each week is a good pace; it does not need to be a new scale every time. Repeated scales develop recall, phrasing and fretboard knowledge. The schedule concentrates on major, minor pentatonic, blues and natural-minor material across 26 weeks, with repeated applications. Each tab is one octave, ascending, in eight eighth-note slots. A pentatonic scale has five distinct notes plus its octave; hold that final note for the remaining slots. A blues scale has six distinct notes plus its octave. Seven-note scales fill all eight slots including the octave. First learn with one note per click, then use the printed rhythm.

Use the two-minute scale block like this: day 1 learn the first half; day 2 learn the second half; day 3 join and descend; day 4 name the notes using the formula/key information below; day 5 invent a three-note phrase; day 6 play from memory and check; day 7 sing the first note, play slowly and review. On repeat weeks, retain the notes but vary the phrase, rhythm or starting note. Do not rush to add positions.

Scale notes: C major C-D-E-F-G-A-B; G major G-A-B-C-D-E-F#; A minor pentatonic A-C-D-E-G; E minor pentatonic E-G-A-B-D; D minor pentatonic D-F-G-A-C; A blues A-C-D-Eb-E-G; A natural minor A-B-C-D-E-F-G; A Dorian A-B-C-D-E-F#-G; A harmonic minor A-B-C-D-E-F-G#. All return to their starting note at the octave.

In Drop D weeks 11, 22 and 23, the scheduled scale uses only A/D/G strings, so the printed scale frets stay valid. All other scale tabs assume standard tuning. Shift your hand between small groups rather than forcing a stretch, especially in Dorian. Your little finger need not remain planted.

Chord numbers run from thickest to thinnest; x means do not play. For example x02210 is open Am. Numbers separated with slashes in a triad task are G/B/e string frets, not six-string chord shapes. A chord is a group of notes, so the same chord can appear in several shapes. Major chords use root-third-fifth; minor chords lower the third; power chords omit the third. Dominant 7 chords add a flattened seventh to a major chord.

Low E root map, frets 0-12: E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E. A-string map: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A. Flats are the same frets under alternate names: Bb=A#, Eb=D#, Ab=G#, Db=C#, Gb=F#. Frets 12 higher repeat the same note one octave up. Learn natural notes first, then fill in the gaps.

Use the two-minute chord block: day 1 find roots; day 2 form and check the chord; day 3 move or compare shapes; day 4 name chord tones; day 5 use it in a two-chord loop; day 6 recall without the diagram; day 7 review gently. A full barre is optional while developing strength and coordination; clean partial chords are useful music. E and A movable shapes plus upper-string triads are your first route across the neck; the remaining CAGED shapes can follow later.

On days 1-6, use the four-minute technique block as one minute clapping/counting the exercise, two minutes on the weekly picking focus and one minute on the daily technique task. During the two picking minutes, play for 40 seconds, pause for 20, then repeat. Begin with the easiest version. On day 7, use the four-minute technique block for listening, counting and reviewing instead. Apply pick control during scales and music too, without adding time. Fingerpicking is postponed until you choose to add it after this course. All scheduled arpeggios and song exercises currently use a pick.

A good picking session has even note spacing, controlled string changes, quiet rests and a relaxed grip. After three clean repetitions, change only one thing: tempo, string pattern or accent. If accuracy falls, simplify or slow down. Progress is not measured by how long you can keep playing without a pause.

Hold a pick lightly between thumb and the side of your index finger with only a small tip showing. Use small, comfortable movements; do not lock your wrist or squeeze harder for speed. Experiment with a slight angle if the pick catches, but keep the note clear. Pick thickness is a preference: use what you already have. Practise both clean and with moderate gain so unwanted strings remain audible.

P1 — downstrokes: pick low E on each numbered beat for four beats. Rest one bar, repeat. Add eighth-note downstrokes only while relaxed. For muting, keep the picking-hand edge lightly near the bridge rather than pressing hard.

P2 — alternate picking: eight low-E open notes per bar, down-up-down-up-down-up-down-up. Then use G5-G7-G5-G7-B5-B8-B5-B8 with the same strokes. Slow down at the string change; keep strokes small. Mute other strings.

P3 — picked arpeggios: hold Em and pick E0-D2-G0-B0-e0-B0-G0-D2 as eight eighth notes. For C, hold x32010 and pick A3-D2-G0-B1-e0-B1-G0-D2. Choose comfortable down/up strokes initially, then try strict alternate picking slowly. Let chord tones ring; keep unused strings quiet. These are original picking drills.

P3 — string crossing: play G5-B5-G7-B8-G5-B5-G7-B8, eight eighth notes. Alternate pick. Next, pick only the two strings of a power chord together. These are separate exercises: single-note accuracy and controlled chord strokes.

P4 — gallops: use week 6 or week 17 bar A, with the printed sixteenth grid. Down on the long note, down-up on the two short notes. Rest a full bar after each practice bar. Use alternate-picked sixteenths as an easier rhythm drill if the gallop is tense.

P5 — bursts: play four open-low-E sixteenths on beat 1, rest beat 2, play four on beat 3, rest beat 4. Count 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a. Alternate strokes within each burst. End the last note at the start of each rest.

P6 — accents: play eight even open-low-E eighth notes, making only the numbered beat requested in the weekly focus stronger. All other notes stay quieter. Keep the tempo and movement comfortable.

Fingerpicking: saved for a later stage

For now use a pick on clean arpeggios as well as riffs. After the six-month course, or when you feel ready, we can introduce thumb-and-finger patterns in place of some picking practice. There are no scheduled fingerpicking exercises in this version.