A visual guide to guitar

Make the
fretboard
make sense.

From your first clean chord to the reason a progression works. Learn by seeing the notes connect.

Start with the strings

9 progressive grades·Play as you learn

01 / THE MAPG MAJOR · OPEN POSITION

Root Scale toneStandard tuning · 6 strings

FIND
YOUR
ROOT

THE LEARNING PATH

One step at a time.
Nine grades to grow.

Start with the first clean sound. Each grade adds a small set of skills, then brings them together in music.

BEGINNER · 01First soundsSetup · Em · Am · steady beat BEGINNER · 02Open chordsC · G · D · chord changes BEGINNER · 03Play songsStrumming · progressions · picking INTERMEDIATE · 04Barre shapesMovable forms · rhythm control INTERMEDIATE · 05Scales connectIntervals · minor keys · fretboard INTERMEDIATE · 06Color & motion7th chords · arpeggios · groove ADVANCED · 07Make it your ownModes · chord melody · phrasing ADVANCED · 08Arrange & expandExtensions · voicing · time feel ADVANCED · 09Compose & performHarmony · transcription · recording

YOUR ROUTE01 Start here 02 First chords 03 Rhythm 04 Progressions 05 Scales 06 Picking 07 Practice & songs

01 / GETTING STARTED

Meet your instrument.

Six strings, one repeating map. Learn the names first; the rest of the fretboard follows.

STANDARD TUNINGLOW → HIGH

6ELow E

5AA

4DD

3GG

2BB

1EHigh E

Remember it: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie.

SET UP TO PLAY01—03

Parts, in a glance

Headstock holds the tuners. The neck carries the frets; the body amplifies the strings. Press just behind a fret wire.

Tune before you play

Use a clip-on or phone tuner. Turn the peg slowly until each open string reads E–A–D–G–B–E.

Hold it lightly

Sit tall, rest the waist on your leg, and bring the neck slightly upward. Keep your fretting thumb relaxed behind the neck.

Clean note check: fret close to the wire, use your fingertip, then pluck each string one at a time. A buzz usually means adjust your finger, not squeeze harder.

02 / FIRST CHORDS

Six shapes. A hundred songs.

Read each diagram left to right: thick low E to thin high E. Open circles ring; × means skip that string.

Explore the chord library: notes, formulas & movable forms ↗

03 / RHYTHM

Feel the pulse first.

Count evenly out loud. Your strumming hand keeps moving, even when it passes the strings silently.

YOUR FIRST GROOVE♩ = 76

COUNT

1&2&3&4&

HAND

↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

STRUM

hit—hit—hit—hit—

Start with four relaxed downstrokes. Add the “&” upstrokes once your count feels steady.

SMOOTH CHORD CHANGES

Move less.
Listen more.

1 Keep fingers curved; lift only as far as needed.
2 Find the next shape before the beat arrives.
3 Loop two chords slowly until the change is quiet.

G→D→Grepeat × 4

04 / CHORD PROGRESSIONS

Chords have a home key.

Build chords by stacking every other note of a scale. The key predicts which chords naturally belong together.

THE KEY BUILDERTRY A KEY

Choose a major key

Triad recipe: 1 – 3 – 5. Stack every other scale note. C–E–G makes C major; flatten the 3rd (C–E♭–G) and it becomes C minor.

Major-key pattern: I · ii · iii · IV · V · vi · vii°
Uppercase is major, lowercase is minor; ° means diminished.

WHY THIS ONE WORKSMINOR KEY EXAMPLE

Dm → Gm → A7

DmD · F · A

→

GmG · B♭ · D

→

A7A · C♯ · E · G

C♯↗D

The C♯ in A7 is outside D natural minor. It pulls a half-step up to D, making the return to Dm feel resolved.

Try D harmonic minor over A7: D · E · F · G · A · B♭ · C♯. The chord tones of each chord are your safest landing notes.

05 / SCALES & THE FULL NECK

See every note in a scale.

Every fret moves one semitone. Pick a root and a scale to light up the full neck; root notes get the bright marker.

ROOTSCALE Root Scale note Other note

INTERVAL RECIPEW – W – H – W – W – W – HWhole step = 2 frets · half step = 1 fret

Full scales, harmony & lead guide ↗

G major notes shown across a guitar fretboard — G major across the neck · local reference chart

Intervals that make major, minor and other chord qualities — Chord qualities come from changing scale degrees

06 / PICKING

Let the notes
take turns.

A chord can be strummed all at once or unfolded note by note. Keep the same chord shape and let each note ring.

Play chord tones one at a time: root, 3rd, 5th, 3rd. Try it slowly over Am.

AM · STRING PATHHIGH E

1&2&3&4&

07 / PRACTICE & SONGS

Small sessions add up.

Ten focused minutes is a real practice. Choose one small win and keep your streak visible.

TODAY’S 10-MINUTE SET0 / 4 DONE

Warm upFinger walk, one minute1 minChord shapesEm · Am · C changes3 minSteady rhythmDown-up strums with a click3 minPlay a songOne verse, no stopping3 min

✳0 practice daysProgress is saved on this device.

POCKET METRONOMEBEAT / MIN

76BPM

SONG STARTERS

Pick a familiar shape.

Horse with No Name

America · two-chord loop

EmDsus2

2 CHORDS

Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

Bob Dylan · open-chord changes

GDAmC

4 CHORDS

Love Me Do

The Beatles · steady backbeat

GCD

3 CHORDS

Three Little Birds

Bob Marley · relaxed groove

ADE