Enter the passcode from the workshop.
Pick the one that sounds most like you. I'll point you to the right tools, in the right order.
Sore fingertips are normal for 1–2 weeks. That's Patience, the second P.
Rule: go up 5 bpm only after 4 clean loops in a row.
Split it if you need to: 15 minutes after work, 15 before bed. That's how I learned.
| Practice | A little, every day. 30 minutes beats 3 hours once a week. |
|---|---|
| Patience | Fingers hurt and chords buzz at first. Everyone goes through it. |
| Positive reason | Know why you play. That reason brings you back to the guitar. |
Plus: learn from the people around you, and keep the will to learn. If it's there, the path builds itself.
The full hour, in order: my story, the 3 P's, the instrument, how music is built, the 12 notes and tuning, rhythm, and how to practise. Tap any heading to fold it away.
"Aadat" hooked me, like every kid back then, and my cousin Sikandar played beautifully. A teacher gave me one month of basics and said, "Ab khud seekho." After that I learned from internet cafés, YouTube (pause, play, rewind), and my friends. We sent each other whole songs' tabs by SMS on Nokia phones.
In FSc I practised 15 minutes while the roti cooked and 15 minutes at 10 pm, volume low. That's 30 minutes a day, and it's what I still recommend. Then came a university band and a song on TV, a pause, and a comeback.
| Practice | A little, every day. |
|---|---|
| Patience | Sore fingers and buzzing chords are part of it. |
| Positive reason | Know why you play. |
Plus: learn from the people around you, and keep the will to learn. The path builds itself.
| Wind | Bansuri, flute, harmonium* · breath makes the tone |
|---|---|
| Skin | Tabla, dholak, drums · exact timing |
| Strings | Guitar, sitar, rubab · you make the note |
| Keys | Piano · every key is already a note |
*Harmonium has keys, but it's a wind instrument: air through reeds. A pick in Urdu is a mizraab, from zarb, "to strike".
| ~3000 BC | Guitar-like instruments painted in ancient Egypt |
| 1400s–1500s | Vihuela, Spain: the guitar's direct ancestor |
| Mid-1800s | Antonio de Torres gives the guitar its modern shape |
| 1931 | Rickenbacker "Frying Pan": first commercial electric |
| 1950 | Fender Broadcaster: first mass-produced solid-body |
Electric guitars add: pickups (magnets that sense the steel strings), a pickup selector, volume and tone knobs, and an output jack.
| Acoustic | The hollow body is the amplifier: string → top → air → sound. |
|---|---|
| Electric | Magnetic pickups turn string movement into a signal you can shape with effects. |
Wood, body shape, strings, gauge, pickups and amp shape the timbre: the character that makes one note sound different on a guitar and a piano.
| Music vs noise | A simple way to think of it: music = sound in a regular pattern, noise = no pattern. |
|---|---|
| Sur + Taal | Melody + rhythm. |
| Beat | The steady pulse you count: 1 2 3 4. |
| Rhythm | The pattern you play over the beat. |
| Note / Chord | One pitch / usually 3+ notes together. |
There are only 12 notes. Then they repeat, higher. Tap to hear.
There's no note between B and C, or between E and F. On a guitar, one fret = one note step.
Thickest string to thinnest. Tap a string, listen, and turn the peg until your string matches.
Memory trick: Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie. Always tune up to the note. A clip-on tuner or a free tuner app is more exact.
Start from the open string's name and count up one note per fret. Fret 12 is the same note, one octave up.
Top line = thinnest string (high e). Bottom = thickest (low E), like a tab.
I'm not a great public speaker. The guitar gave me a voice. That's what Apni Awaaz means. Whatever your reason is, hold on to it.
Pick a root note and a type. You get the finger chart, the notes and the sound.
Chords in the same key sound right together. Pick a key and these are your building blocks.
The Roman numerals are the chord's position in the key. Capital = major, small = minor, ° = diminished. Musicians say "a I–V–vi–IV" so it works in any key.
Do them in order. Move on when the current one feels easy at the target tempo.
Each one teaches a specific skill. Practise them slower than the record first.
Learn these once and you can play along with hundreds of songs.
English songs, broken down simply. Great for strumming and easy versions of popular songs.
Hindi / Bollywood songs on guitar. One of the first to teach them on YouTube, with a focus on rhythm.
A free, structured beginner course if you want a step-by-step path.
The biggest library of chords and tabs, including many Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi songs. Free to use; ratings help you pick the most accurate version. A paid Pro plan adds extras.
Tabs that play back as you read, so you can hear how each part should sound. Free to use, with a paid plan for extra features like slowing down.
Shows the chords of almost any song as it plays. Great for songs nobody has written tabs for yet. Basic use is free.
Reading a tab: 6 lines = 6 strings, thinnest (high e) on top. A number = which fret to press on that line. 0 = play the string open. Always check 2–3 versions of a song and trust your ear.
Copy fingers and strumming slowly. Pause, play, rewind. That's how I learned from YouTube.
Tap a box: ↓ down → ↑ up → · miss. On a miss your hand still moves, it just skips the strings.
Want a famous one? Rule: go up 5 bpm only after 4 clean loops.
With sincere thanks to Anaar Art Gallery by Ruman for hosting and organising Guitar 101 on Sunday, 8 November 2026, and for giving artists and learners a welcoming space to create.