Lesson 1:

Mastering The "First Four Chords"

1. Understand the two areas involved in the mastery of any musical instrument

2. Learn the shapes of four of the chords (G, Eminor, C and D) most suitable for a novice guitar player

3. Play those chords in time along with a (supplied) backing track

After getting the guitar in tune take time at the start to tell the student that to play any musical instrument (not just the guitar) properly involves a mastery of two important elements.  These two elements are the “Theoretical” and the “Technical” aspects of musicianship

The first of those elements mentioned above (Music Theory) covers some of the following questions

1. Which notes do I play?
2. Which scale will fit over a particular chord sequence?
3. Which chords sound good together and why?

Explain that theory is very important to a musician and let them know that these sort of questions will be discussed during future lessons but that at the moment there is very little point in knowing which notes and chords you would like to play if you can’t physically play them!
For that reason it's a good idea to let them know that the first lessons tend to be taken up with developing a physical capability on the instrument.

First up give the student the handout featuring the G Em C and D chord progression.

Explain how the chord diagrams work and make sure that they know that the numbers inside the black dots refer to the fingers used to hold down the strings.

Ask them to refer to the handout, slowly form each chord in turn and strum it once in their own time.
Depending upon the individual this may take a little while.
During the lesson work toward a situation where the student can change between one chord and the next one

Ask them to play the chords first in the sequence presented on the handout (G Em C and D) and when they can do that mix the chords up a little (eg request that they play an D chord followed by a Em chord etc)

The idea is that the pupil develops an ability to remember the fingerings and play them without continued reference to the handout.

The handouts are great (I would say that I’m trying to sell them to you!) but it’s no good if the knowledge stays on the paper! Let the student know that what we are looking for is a situation where the chord names and the fingerings are available for instant recall.

When these changes are reasonably secure let the student hear the backing track “G Em C and D ”

The track features drums and a bass player going around the chord sequence.

Now ask the student to strum a single chord as each change comes around. The idea behind this is that having played a single chord the novice player has time (almost two bars) to get ready to fret the next one. 

Some students will adapt to this fairly quickly whilst others will take a little time to get to grips with the fingerings involved.

Now might be a good time to talk to your pupil about the following notion.

“You don’t learn to play guitar "during" guitar lessons-you learn to play "between" guitar lessons”

If an individual was able to play everything presented to them perfectly by the end of the lesson then it can be argued that the material was pitched way too low.

The object of a good lesson is to give the student a desirable (and achievable) outcome that they can work towards between sessions. If you explain this to them and have them understand it then they tend to feel a little less frustrated that they don’t play everything perfectly straight away.

For the students who pick up the changes early it is possible to introduce more involved strumming patterns. It is a good idea at this stage to be careful to restrict the strums to the early part of the first bar of each chord so that the learner will continue to have time to move between the chord shapes.

Towards the end of the session give the student a copy of the backing track on CD for private study (this usually goes down very well!) and ask them if there is anything that they do not understand about the material studied.

Before the lesson ends give the student a copy of the handout “First Guitar Chords” and tell them that it may be worth looking at the sheet before the next session as the chords used in the next backing track (Am Dm and E) are on it. You could even use a pencil to indicate which chords from the sheet are to be studied.