The first ninety days of guitar are the make-or-break window. Quit here and most people never come back. Cross this threshold and you have a hobby — or a passion — for life. Here's exactly what we cover at The Music Corner during that crucial early stretch.
Month One: Your Hands
Month one is almost entirely about your hands. Posture, fretting position, picking mechanics, and the four to five open chords that unlock a thousand songs. Your fingers will hurt for the first two weeks. That's normal — the skin on your fingertips isn't used to steel strings. By week three, the calluses arrive and everything gets dramatically easier.
- Week 1–2: Posture, how to hold a pick, open E minor and A minor chords
- Week 3: G major and C major — the core four
- Week 4: First song, all the way through
We don't teach you guitar. We teach you how to play songs. The technique comes from solving real musical problems, not drills in a vacuum.
Month Two: Songs
Month two is about songs. We pick three to five songs you actually love and reverse-engineer them. Chords, strumming patterns, any simple lead parts. There's no point in learning Twinkle Twinkle if you're a twenty-six-year-old who wants to play Radiohead.
This is also when we start talking about rhythm more seriously. A metronome enters your practice routine in week five and never leaves. The ability to lock in time is the single skill that separates hobbyists from players other musicians actually want to jam with.
Month Three: Rhythm and Stamina
Month three is about depth. Strumming patterns, simple lead lines, and longer practice sessions. By the end of month three, you'll have five to ten songs you can play start-to-finish — not perfectly, but convincingly.
- Strumming patterns: down-up, skip, syncopated
- Barre chord introduction (F and B♭ — the ones everyone dreads)
- Basic music theory: keys, the I-IV-V relationship, why some songs sound the same
- Simple fingerpicking patterns for acoustic players
What to Practice at Home
Twenty minutes a day beats two hours on Saturday. Consistency compounds. We give every student a weekly practice card that breaks down exactly what to work on each day so you're never staring at your guitar wondering what to do.
Ready to start your 90-day roadmap? Book your free trial lesson and we'll build a custom plan around the music you love.