Start Playing the Guitar

🕐 5 min - Introduce the song

• Select the song 'Hey There Delilah' by Plain White T's from the Song library. For now, select 'Notation' under 'Tools' - 'Visuals'. Selecting the view of guitar tabs ('Guitar' under 'Tools' - 'Visuals') might not be helpful just yet, since students will learn the simplified versions of the chords.
• Tell students a bit about the song. You can mention some facts from the song description!
• Listen to the song until the end of Chorus 1 together!
  • What instruments do you hear? (Guitar, violin, cello, percussions)

🕐 10 min - Meet the guitar!

• Distribute the available guitars to the class. If you have enough guitars and there's one for each student - perfect! If not, you could eventually work in small groups, giving one instrument to each group and letting students take turns playing it.
  • Students without guitars can play the rhythm line.
• Shortly explain how the guitar is constructed:
  • Show the six strings and explain how they are numbered (the numbers are usually encircled: ① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥).
  • Tell the note names of each open string. Use a fun mnemonic to help remember the letters: for example, 'Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie' or 'Eat Apples Daily, Grow Big Ears'.
    • Ask students to try to make up their own phrase!
  • Show how the frets are numbered.

🕐 5 min - Exercise 1 - E(asy) minor

• Now it's time to finally play the guitar! Show students the optimal position for holding the guitar.
• Show how basic strumming is done: place the right thumb on the 6th string and move it downwards touching the strings with its left side.
• Let students practice strumming open strings.
• Students will learn the simplified guitar chords today, so practice strumming only 3 strings - from the 3rd string downwards.
• Explain that the three open strings together make a (simplified version of a) chord - Em.
• Play Intro and Verse 1 of the song and ask students to play along.
  • They should strum the three open strings (③ ② ①) when the red line on the screen reaches the chord symbol 'Em'.

🕐 10 min - Exercise 2 - Hey there C chord!

• Shortly explain how the left hand is used in guitar playing:
  • Explain how the fingers of the left hand are numbered (from 1 to 4, the thumb is used for support behind the fretboard).
• Show how the simplified version of C major chord is played and invite students to try it on their instruments. They have to press the 1st finger on the 2nd string, 1st fret.
  • Make sure to strum only 3 strings this time - from the 3rd string downwards.
  • Make sure your 1st finger is not touching the other strings and the 1st string is not muted!
• Practice playing the C chord.
• A challenge! Can students play both C and Em in Intro and Verse 1 now?
  • Alternatively, divide the class into two groups and assign one chord to each group. The groups play one after the other, alternating C and Em.

🕐 10 min - Exercise 3 - Full chorus

• Ask the class what other chord they noticed in Chorus 1? (Am)
• Show how the simplified version of Am is played and invite students to try it on their instruments. To play Am, they only have to add one finger to the C chord they already know - press the 1st finger on the 2nd string, 1st fret and press the 2nd finger on the 3rd string, 2nd fret.
• Let students practice the new chord. Make sure to only strum from the 3rd string downwards!
• Play Chorus 1 and invite students to play both chords - C and Am.
  • Alternatively, divide the class into two groups and assign one chord to each group. The groups play one after the other, alternating C and Am.
• Do a run-through of the whole song, playing all three chords - C, Am and Em.
  • You can mute the guitar track and let students be the only guitarists!

🕐 5 min - Discussion

• How did it go?
• What was fun in this lesson?
• What was challenging in this lesson?
• What other songs would you like to learn to play on the guitar?

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by...

• Practicing playing the chords in the song on their own.
• Giving the chatbot classes “Start Playing the Guitar” and “Super Easy Guitar Chords” to them as homework.