Beginner's path · Fretwork Guitar Tuition
Your First Weeks on Guitar, Step by Step
Starting guitar is easier than most beginners fear. This is what actually happens in the opening weeks at Fretwork, in the order you will meet it.
The short list
Before your first lesson
You don't need much. A guitar that stays in tune, a clip-on tuner, a spare set of strings, and a chair without arms will carry you through the first month. That is the entire preparation list.
If you haven't bought a guitar yet, hold off on the expensive one and tell us in your enquiry. The right choice depends on whether you're drawn to acoustic or electric, and that is worth deciding with the instrument in your hands rather than in a shop.
Trim your fretting-hand nails short. Long nails stop your fingertips reaching the strings cleanly, and it is the one small thing beginners most often skip.
Clockwise from the top of the list: something in tune, something that tunes it, and a spare in case a string goes in week two.
What happens in lesson one
The first session covers holding the guitar, sitting position, and how much pressure the fretting hand actually needs, which is less than most beginners use. We tune together, then work on one or two open chords and a basic downstroke strumming pattern. You will play something before the lesson ends.
The aim isn't to sound good yet. It is to feel what correct hand position is like, so you can repeat it at home without guessing. Expect your fingertips to be tender for a week or two. That is normal, it fades, and it is not a sign you are doing anything wrong.
The first chords, and why they're these ones
Most beginners start with a small set of open chords, because between them they unlock a huge number of songs. The order below is roughly the order we introduce them. E minor and A minor come first: two fingers, no stretching, and they sound fine immediately. C and G take more work because they need three fingers across different strings. We don't move on until each one rings cleanly.
E minor and A minor
Two fingers · no stretching · usable on day one
C and G
Three fingers · more stretch · worth the patience
D
A compact shape that opens the key of G
We introduce them in an order that keeps you playing songs rather than drilling shapes in isolation. That matters more than it sounds: a chord you have used in a tune sticks faster than a chord you have only stared at.
Chord changes: the real beginner hurdle
Knowing a chord shape and being able to change to it in time are different skills, and the second one is where most beginners stall. There is no shortcut around the repetition, but there is a better way to spend it.
The fix is deliberate practice: slow changes against a metronome, concentrating on the fingers that move together rather than the ones that don't need to move at all. Switching between C and G is the usual example, where two fingers can stay anchored if you use the right voicings. Expect it to feel clumsy for a couple of weeks. It stops being clumsy with repetition, and then it stops being something you think about.
Strumming patterns that carry songs
Strumming looks simple and isn't, mostly because beginners grip the pick too tightly and strum from the elbow rather than the wrist. The first patterns use downstrokes only, in time with a slow count. Once that is steady, we add upstrokes and the wrist motion that makes them possible.
Most students are playing a recognisable pattern within two or three weeks. Fingerpicking comes later for most people, though students drawn to acoustic singer-songwriter material sometimes start it early, because it suits that style better than a plectrum does.
Practice at home
Short and frequent wins
Fifteen minutes a day, five or six days a week, beats one two-hour session on the weekend. A sensible beginner routine is a couple of minutes of warm-up, ten minutes on the current chord changes or pattern, then a few minutes playing something that is fun.
Notes after each lesson
So you're not guessing
Written practice notes come out of every lesson: what to work on, at what tempo, and what to leave alone for now. If a week goes badly, say so at the next session and the plan adjusts rather than the notes piling up unused.
When it starts to click
Finger by finger
The feeling to expect is not sudden fluency but fewer corrections. First one chord change lands without looking, then a whole strumming pattern holds its tempo, then you notice you stopped counting out loud.
When the first song happens
Most beginners play a full simple song within the first month, usually a two or three chord tune with a basic strumming pattern. It won't sound like the record yet, and that is the point: finishing a song teaches you more than perfecting an exercise does.
We pick material based on what you actually like. Adults often bring a specific track they have always wanted to play, and we will tell you honestly whether it is a realistic next step or a goal for month three. Practising a song you resent is a fast route to stopping.
Acoustic or electric for a beginner
Acoustic
Louder without amplification, so practice happens more easily. Handles strumming and fingerpicking well, and it is the sound most people picture when they think of learning guitar.
Electric
Lighter strings and slimmer necks, which many beginners find kinder on the fingertips, and you can practise quietly through headphones without bothering anyone.
Neither is wrong. The practical test is which one you will pick up daily. If you already own either, start with it. If you are undecided, play both at the first lesson before spending money.
Light pressure, curved fingers, thumb behind the neck. Most of the list opposite is a variation on this one photograph.
Common beginner mistakes
Every one of these is fixable, and most get caught in the first few lessons rather than months later. Knowing them in advance just means less time spent unlearning.
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Gripping the neck too hard and pressing strings sharp, which is why the chord sounds wrong when the shape looks right.
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Practising chord shapes without ever changing between them, which builds a tidy diagram and no usable skill.
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Learning ten songs badly instead of two properly, so nothing ever gets finished.
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Buying an instrument that won't stay in tune and then blaming the hands.
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Skipping the warm-up and jumping straight into the hardest thing in the notes.
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Ignoring rhythm while chasing fancy chords, which is how a song stops sounding like a song.
Questions beginners ask
The ones that come up in nearly every first enquiry. If yours isn't here, put it in the message box and we will answer it directly.
Do I need to read music before I start?
No. Chords, strumming and songs come first, and most beginners get a long way on chord shapes and a reliable sense of timing. Reading comes in later, and only as far as you want it to.
How long before my fingers stop hurting?
Usually a week or two of short daily sessions. Tender fingertips are part of the process, not a warning sign, and they settle once the fingers get used to the strings. Long practice marathons at the start tend to slow that down rather than speed it up.
I played years ago and stopped. Does that count as a beginner?
Yes, and you usually move faster than a complete beginner. The first lesson will find out what stayed and what didn't, then skip past the parts you don't need. Returning adults are a large part of what we teach.
How much should I practise each day?
Fifteen minutes, five or six days a week. Consistency does more for chord changes than length does, and a missed day is far less costly than a missed week. Your written notes will say exactly what to do with those minutes.
Can I start without owning a guitar?
Yes. Say so in your enquiry and we will talk through acoustic versus electric before you spend anything, then you can try both in the room. Buying the wrong instrument first is a common and avoidable expense.
Next step
Tell us where you're starting from
Send an enquiry with your question and we will get back to you directly with a straight answer and a suggested way in. No prices are listed here, so the reply is where the practical detail lives: what to buy first, how lessons are arranged, and what to bring to lesson one.
Studio
Where lessons happen
Fretwork Guitar Tuition teaches from a single room in central London. Beginners are welcome to see the space before deciding anything.
Address and contact
12 Denmark Street
London, WC2H 8LS
United Kingdom