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New Released in April 2026
Learn Guitar for Beginners, Starting From Scratch
To learn guitar for beginners who start from scratch is simpler than it looks. You need a guitar that is in tune, five chords and ten minutes a day. This page goes in the order a real first month goes: setup, first sounds, first chords, first changes.
No account, no download. The demo has limited content. Advanced features are in ChordRunner Premium.
- MIDI keyboard
- Digital or acoustic piano
- Guitar
- Computer, phone or tablet
Day 1: what you need
- Any guitar that stays in tune: acoustic, classical or electric with a small amp.
- A tuner app or clip-on tuner. Standard tuning, low to high: E A D G B E.
- A pick of medium thickness for strumming, or your thumb.
- A quiet corner and a chair without arms.
Days 2 to 7: first sounds
Sit up, guitar body on your right leg (left if you are left-handed), neck pointing slightly up. Press one string just behind a fret with a fingertip and pluck it until it rings clean. Then try Em: two fingers, all six strings. It is the easiest full chord there is.
Learn Guitar for Beginners, Starting From Scratch
ChordRunner is a browser game that teaches piano and guitar chords: a chord appears on screen, you play it on a real instrument, and your runner jumps.
Play the demoDays 8 to 21: five chords
Add Am, then G, C and D, one every few days. Learn each from a chart, then practise switching between two of them for one minute. When the switch takes less than two seconds, the pair is ready.
Days 22 to 30: changes in time
Now speed matters. ChordRunner shows one chord name at a time, you strum it, the microphone hears it and your runner jumps. Random order and a ticking game make the changes automatic, and the score tells you whether today was better than yesterday.
The levels in ChordRunner
- Beginner: major, minor, augmented and diminished chords.
- Intermediate: adds sus2 and sus4.
- Advanced: adds 6th, 7th and 9th chords.
- Pro: adds 11th, 13th and altered chords; an adaptive mode adds the next family when you are ready.
Common questions
Can I learn guitar from scratch on my own?
Yes. Five open chords, a tuner and ten minutes a day are enough for a first month. A game that hears your guitar tells you when a chord is not clean.
Which guitar is best for a complete beginner?
The one you will pick up every day. A nylon-string classical is softer on the fingers; a steel-string acoustic or an electric is fine too.
How long until I can play songs?
With G, C, D, Em and Am many songs are playable after three or four weeks of daily practice; smooth changes take a little longer.
Which instruments work?
A USB MIDI keyboard, detected automatically, or a piano or guitar through the microphone. Everything runs in Chrome or Edge on a computer, tablet or phone.
How is this different from apps where you tap the screen?
Tapping trains your eyes and fingers on glass. Here you press real keys or fret real strings, and the game hears the actual notes, so what you practise is exactly what you will play on your instrument.
Is everything in the demo?
The demo has limited content. Advanced features are in ChordRunner Premium.
Your instrument is the controller.
ChordRunner is a browser game that teaches piano and guitar chords: a chord appears on screen, you play it on a real instrument, and your runner jumps. MIDI keyboard or microphone, both work.
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