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Looking for an easy way to learn guitar? Fender has all the resources you need to build a solid foundation and embark on your own musical journey.
Whether you want to learn your favorite songs or compose your own original tunes, you’ll find what you need among Fender Play’s catalogue of chords, scales, songs and skill-based lessons.
Looking for a beginner guitar? Our interactive gear guide, FindYour.Fender.com, matches you with the perfect model by learning about your sound & style. You’ll be well on your way to finding the right guitar for you.
If you want a taste of what Fender Play has to offer, try tackling the three levels of learning compiled below.
Lesson Summary
Start by learning a few beginner chords and how to play them together.
Guitar Chords:
F Major
A Minor
Playing Chords Together
Practicing Power Chords
Next, move into guitar scales, which are foundational pieces of music theory and the basis of countless guitar solos.
Guitar Scales:
Blues Scale
E Minor
G Major
C Major
Lastly, try playing a few beginner songs to put these new skills to use.
Songs:
The Beatles - "She Loves You"
Green Day - "American Idiot"
Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
Paramore - "Misery Business"
ZZ Top - "La Grange"
Guitar Chords
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How to Play the F Guitar Chord
The F chords in its full form is a barre chord, which can be challenging for new players. You can play it with your index finger on the high E and B strings, and once you are comfortable with that, try it with your index finger a ting as a capo for all six strings on the first fret.
Even if this barre method might take some getting used to, the F chord is too important not to learn. After all, the F chord appears in songs of every genre in every decade.
How to Play the Am Guitar Chord
The A minor chord has a rich, heavy sound. And, like most minor chords, its tone evokes a somber or sad emotional feel. To play the three-fingered version, you don't play the low E string and leave the A and high E strings open, while placing your index finger on the 1st fret of the B string and your middle and ring fingers on the 2nd fret of the D and G strings, respectively.
You can hear the A minor chord in songs like "With or Without You" by U2 or Paramore's "Ain't it Fun."
How to Play Chords Together
When you are feeling good about fretting some basic chords on your guitar, you can arrange them in different orders to play a wide range of songs or even come up with your own. When you learn enough songs, you'll notice that many even use the same chord progressions. One common progression is C to A minor to F to the G chord, which you can see in the video above.
How to Practice Power Chords
A power chord is made of two different notes. The number 5 is used to indicate a power chord because the chord contains the 1st (root) and 5th notes of a major scale. When written, the chord will have the number 5 next to the root note. And you can move the shape of a power chord all over the fretboard to help you access a ton of songs.
Guitar Scales
How to Play the Blues Guitar Scale
The blues scale is a six-note progression that sounds right at home in blues, rock, and country music. This scale is essentially the pentatonic scale plus one chromatic note, often called the blue note. This extra step gives the blues scale that unmistakably bluesy sound.
There are six notes in the A minor blues scale: -- A -- C -- D -- D# -- E -- G
Learn the essential blues riffs, techniques, and classic songs by legends like Robert Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughan and more with the Blues Form Basics: I IV V Collection in Fender Play!
How to Play the E Minor Guitar Scale
A scale is an organized series of notes that can be played in an ascending or descending order, and they are a great way to develop your ear, build finger strength and learn songs faster. The E minor scale is an interesting one, because - like all minor scales - it's a little moodier than major scales.
Here are the notes in the E minor scale:
-- E -- F# -- G -- A -- B -- C -- D
How to Play the G Major Guitar Scale
The G major scale is a popular scale that is very similar to the E minor scale, as they both have the same notes, just with different starting points. For reference, the G major scale is comprised of the following notes:
-- G -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F#
How to Play the C Major Guitar Scale
The C major scale is a great guitar scale for beginners to start with because many other instruments, like the piano, are played in the key of C. This will help you learn to play along with other instruments as you advance in your guitar-playing journey.
The C major scale has these notes:
-- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- A -- B
The Beatles: "She Loves You"
Released in 1963, "She Loves You" is the Beatles' best-selling single, with the simple call-and-response refrain of "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" catching fire around the world. Its mass popularity became a defining milestone in the Beatles' early career.
Green Day: "American Idiot"
The title track off Green Day's wildly popular 2004 concept album, "American Idiot" is an in-your-face political song that is driven home at a frenetic pace with a big nod to Mike Dirnt's thumping bassline.
Jackson 5: "I Want You Back"
This J5 smash helped launch the career of the King of Pop and is a lesson in bright chord sequences and tasty R&B rhythm guitar strumming.
Paramore: "Misery Business"
Paramore's "Misery Business" serves as the first single from their second studio album, Riot! The song is considered the band's "breakthrough" hit and introduced the band to a mainstream audience.
ZZ Top: "La Grange"
ZZ Top put Texas boogie on the map by taking John Lee Hooker's rhythm approach and adding modern hard rock picking and lead work.
If you want to unlock hundreds more songs and skills, click here to get unlimited access.
For more easy songs to learn, click on the links that follow: Easy Pop Songs l Easy Folk Songs l Easy Rock Songs l Easy Blues Songs l Easy Country Songs
