How to play an easy song on a guitar

Summary

Mix and match activities to create a fun lesson in which students will learn to play a popular song with only two or three chords on the guitar. Integrate Solfeg.io in teaching the basics of guitar playing.

💻 Materials:

• Solfeg.io web app best used with Chrome browser
• Projector or computer and access to WIFI
• Guitars
• Mobile devices with the Solfeg.io mobile app installed (optional)

🎲 Activities included:

• Learning the D chord
• Playing the D chord in a song
• Learning the G chord
• Combining D and G chords in a song
• Learning the En chord
• Combining D, G & Em chords in a song

Introduction to the song

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Get familiar with the chosen song
• Recognize instruments in a song
• Understand the song structure
• Describe the characteristics of a song

🎶 Recommended Song:

🎲 Activity:

• Project the song on the screen Click on 'Guitar' under 'Tools' - 'Visuals' so that the guitar chord diagrams are visible.
• Listen to a part of the song, for example, the chorus and shortly discuss it with the class.

What instruments do you hear?

Is there a guitar played in this song?

What parts are there in this song?

Which chords are featured in this song?

What is the tempo, mood and genre of the song?

Learn or recap the chord shapes

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Practice reading the chord diagrams
• Learn or recap two or three easy guitar chords

🎶 Recommended Song:

🎲 Activity:

- Distribute guitars to students. If there's one for each student - perfect! If you have less guitars than students, distribute one instrument to a small group of students - they will have to take turns when playing.

- Press “Play” and then pause the song at each new chord that appears in the chord diagrams at the bottom of the song player.

- If needed, explain to class how to read the chord diagrams:

• The horizontal lines represent the strings. At the top you can see the string which is at the bottom when playing the guitar - the E/1st string.
• The vertical lines indicate the frets.
• The dots indicate where the left hand fingers should be placed on the guitar.
• The numbers inside the dots indicate which finger should be pressed:

1 - index finger

2 - middle finger

3 - ring finger

4 - pinky

• If there is an “X” on the string, it should not be strummed with the right hand.

Play the D chord

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to play the D chord on the guitar

🎶 Song:

🎲 Activity:

• Click on 'D' under 'Tools' - 'Chords' so that the Solfeg.io fretboard showing the D chord is visible.
• Tell your students to play the D chord on their ukuleles with their left hand. To play that chord, students should place the 2nd finger on the 1st string, 2nd fret. Then add the 3rd finger on the 2nd string, 3rd fret. Lastly, add the 1st finger on the 3rd string, 2nd fret. Strum only four strings downwards, starting with the third thickest string.
• Let them practice the chord and get familiar with it!
• Play the verse or the chorus of the song and listen to it with your students.
• Tell the students that they will now have to try to play the D chord in this song.
• The rules are simple - as soon as the D chord passes the red line - play it! Other chords should be omitted now.
• Press play and let them practice the chord and get familiar with it! You can also press the loop button in the controls so that the intro section would repeat multiple times.

Play the G chord

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to play the G chord on the guitar

🎶 Song:

🎲 Activity:

• Click on 'G' under 'Tools' - 'Chords' so that the Solfeg.io fretboard showing the G chord is visible.
• To play the G chord, students should place the 3rd finger on the 1st string, 3rd fret. Then add the 1st finger on the 5th string, 2nd fret. Lastly - add the second finger on the 6th string, 3rd fret. Then strum all six strings downwards with their right thumb.
• Let them practice the chord and get familiar with it!

Combine D & G chord

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to play the D & G chord on the guitar

🎶 Song:

🎲 Activity:

• Tell students that they will have to play the D and G chords in this song.
• Look at the song and play D and G chords when they pass the red line
• Leave out the Em chord for now.
• Slow the song down by pressing “﹣” on the left side of the “Play” button. You can press it up to 4 times to choose the preferred speed.
• Play the verse or the chorus of the song and let them practice the chords and get familiar with it! You can also press the loop button in the controls so that the section would repeat multiple times:
• When students are comfortable with the speed, repeat the exercise at a faster speed until the original speed of the song is reached.

Last chord - Em

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Learn to play the Em chord on the guitar

🎶 Song:

🎲 Activity:

• Click on 'Em' under 'Tools' - 'Chords' so that the Solfeg.io fretboard showing the Em chord is visible.
• Tell your students to play the Em chord on their guitar with their left hand. To play that chord, students should place their 3rd finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret. Then add the 2nd finger on the 5th string, same fret. Then strum downwards with their right thumb.
• Let them practice the chord and get familiar with it!

Switch chords

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Practice playing chords in a song
• Improve ensemble playing skills

🎶 Recommended Song:

🎲 Activity:

• Divide the class into two or three groups. Assign one chord to each group. Students will have to play only their assigned chord when its symbol appears at the red line on the screen.
• Press “Play” and invite students to play along.
• After a while, assign a different chord to each group and play it again.
• You can loop a selected part of the song by pressing the “Loop” button on the right side of the “Play” button. This is optional - in the suggested songs, the same chord combination is repeated over and over throughout the whole song.

Play verse

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Switching chords at different speeds
• Learning the verse from the chosen song

🎶 Recommended Song:

🎲 Activity:

• Explain to students that they will now have to play all the chords in the song.
• Slow the song down by pressing “﹣” on the left side of the “Play” button. You can press it up to 4 times to choose the preferred speed.
• Click on the beginning of the verse on the timeline of the song player, press “Play” and invite the class to play along, following the chord symbols.
• You can loop a selected part of the song by pressing the “Loop” button on the right side of the “Play” button.
• When students are comfortable with the speed, repeat the exercise at a faster speed until the original speed of the song is reached

Play chorus

🕐 Time: 10 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Switching chords at different speeds
• Learning the chorus from the chosen song

🎶 Recommended Song:

🎲 Activity:

• Click on the beginning of the chorus on the timeline of the song player, press “Play” and invite the class to play along, following the chord symbols.
• You can loop a selected part of the song by pressing the “Loop” button on the right side of the “Play” button.
• When students are comfortable with the speed, repeat the exercise at a faster speed until the original speed of the song is reached.

Reflection

🕐 Time: 5 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Reflect on the learning process

🎲 Activity:

• Ask these questions to the class and have a short discussion

Was the song difficult?

What differences did you notice between the verse and the chorus? Which part did you like best?

What other songs would you like to learn to play on the guitar?

Homework assignment

🕐 Time: 3 min

🎯 Objectives:

• Practice playing the whole song
• Consolidate the concepts learned in the lesson

🎲 Activity:

Challenge students to go beyond the lesson by…

• Playing the song from the beginning till the end.
• Learning to play another song from the suggestion list.
• Practicing a song on the app