One of the most perennially popular posts here on FA is The Fun Way To Learn The Names of the Notes On Your Guitar.

It’s a non-boring way to deeply internalize the names of the notes, spread out over ten days.

In the past, it was all on you to schedule out the work, remember to show up each day, do the work, review it at the right time…

In other words, the most organized people among you probably did great with it, while the rest of you probably forgot about it right around day four and never returned to it again.

Which, when you think about it, really sucks. I mean, the folks who are already really organized probably needed it the least!

So I’m excited to bring you something that I’ve been thinking about for a very long time––tiny sequential guitar lessons delivered to your inbox.

Some Context

One-on-one guitar instruction is a wonderful thing. Fixing problems as they arise, learning songs the student is interested in, answering questions, and tailoring lessons to fit the individual’s needs are the province of traditional guitar lessons, and I have no intention or desire to replace or change this.

But individual lessons, spaced a week apart, are not well suited to learning the important bedrock material that all guitarists should know, understand and apply. Things like daily metronome use, fretboard knowledge, practical music theory, and the ability to read & write music.

These things require a shorter-but-more-frequent format.

I want to lift that burden from teachers of the one-on-one weekly lesson, allowing them more time to focus on those things that work best in their format, while simultaneously providing them with a better-quality student.

And I want to give the self-directed guitar learners among you something that you especially need––someone to give you a frequent nudge, so you don’t make it years and years into your guitar journey only to find that you neglected something essential early on. (Trust me on that one––been there. No fun.)

All of this is to say that, whether you’re self-teaching, working with a teacher, or are yourself a teacher, I have something awesome for you.

And I get it: these fundamentals (like metronome use, knowing the note names, understanding chord construction, & building a great system for practicing ) are really difficult to prioritize over things like learning new songs, writing your own tunes, jamming with your friends, or just plain going to work and taking care of family stuff.

Which is why I want to give you these things in a format that reminds you each day what to work on (via email), reviews what you’ve already learned (so you don’t forget it), and packs it into 15 minutes or less (because life).

The first of these tiny sequential guitar courses is centered around internalizing the names of the notes on the fretboard.

In the shape-centric world most guitarists live in (TAB, scale shapes, chord grids, etc), the ability to look down at the fretboard and see note names is almost a superpower.

There’s so much information inside every song you learn that’s hiding in plain view. Knowing the note names gives you a perfect framework for organizing all of the metadata that we call “theory.” A thousand tiny epiphanies await you.

If you can spare a few minutes each day for the next ten days, I can help you deeply internalize the note names on your guitar.