Guitar: Play Your First Song
Like Duolingo, but for Guitar: Play Your First Song. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Guitar: Play Your First Song
- G, C, and D are the primary chords in the key of G major
- The ring finger stays on the third fret of the B string for both G and D chords
- Most popular folk and pop songs rely on just three or four chords from the same key
- Keeping a finger in contact with the fretboard provides a physical reference point for the other fingers
- Learning these three specific shapes allows a guitarist to play a vast library of music without learning new fingerings
- Lifting all fingers off the strings during a change creates unnecessary movement and slows down the transition
- Applying the anchor finger technique to speed up transitions
- Understanding why G, C, and D are grouped together in music
- The diagram is a vertical 'map' of the guitar neck facing you
- Using the pads of the fingers often causes them to lean over and accidentally touch adjacent strings
- The leftmost vertical line represents the thickest string (Low E)
- Arching the fingers to use the very tips ensures clear clearance for all strings
- Pressure must be applied directly behind the fret wire to prevent buzzing
- The drill focuses on the number of clean transitions made between two chords in 60 seconds
- Diagnosing the cause of buzzing or muted strings
- Repeatedly switching shapes builds the muscle memory needed to play without looking at your hands
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Guitar: Play Your First Song the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Which finger stays in the exact same spot when you switch between a G major and a D major chord?
Get it right to open this lesson and 10 more in the app.
Where Guitar: Play Your First Song takes you
Skip the tedious scales and go straight to the music. Learn the essential shapes and rhythms that power thousands of your favorite songs.
- 1
From Zero to Strumming
- The Three-Chord Shortcut
- The Universal Strumming Pattern
- 2
Sounding Like a Pro
- Putting the Song Together
- Pro Secrets for a Clean Sound
2 sections · 4 units · 11 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Guitar: Play Your First Song is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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