FretGarden curriculum

Learn guitar one clear step at a time

Start with a simple practice plan, steady focus, and clear timing. Each lesson asks you to understand, try, adjust, use the idea, and come back for review.

Open practice tools

Curriculum path

Tending the Practice Garden

The 51-lesson path starts with healthy practice habits. Then it moves through guitar basics, fretboard knowledge, harmony, improvisation, songwriting, and portfolio work. Every lesson listed here is ready to use.

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51 units shown

  1. 1
    Absolute BeginnerNot started

    Tending the Practice Garden

    Build a sustainable practice identity and a constructive response to frustration.

    • Explain why consistency is more useful than occasional extreme practice.
    • Choose a repeatable minimum practice commitment.
    • Write a constructive response plan for one likely frustration.
    Begin unit
  2. 2
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Focused Practice and the Pomodoro Technique

    Turn practice time into a focused cycle with one measurable goal, a break, and reflection.

    • Distinguish focused practice from casual playing.
    • Select a sustainable work-and-rest interval.
    • Complete and reflect on one focused practice cycle.
    Preview unit
  3. 3
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Using and Practicing With a Metronome

    Use pulse, subdivision, count-ins, and tempo ladders to build steady, recoverable time.

    • Count and perform quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and triplet subdivisions.
    • Choose a clean starting tempo and use three clean repetitions before increasing it.
    • Use a metronome to diagnose rushing, dragging, and recovery after mistakes.
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  4. 4
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Meet the Guitar and Produce a Clear Sound

    Safe setup, relaxed posture, first sounds, and musical pulse.

    • Identify essential guitar parts and standard string names.
    • Use an external tuner safely and produce five clear fretted notes.
    • Perform an original three-note riff in steady quarter-note time.
    Preview unit
  5. 5
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Pulse, Subdivision, and First Chords

    Steady beat, simple strumming, and two-note chord shapes.

    • Distinguish beat from whole, half, and quarter-note rhythm values.
    • Form Em and Asus2 with planned strum ranges.
    • Maintain a two-chord progression for one minute without stopping.
    Preview unit
  6. 6
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Open-Chord Vocabulary I

    First common chord family and clean transitions.

    • Read and form a practical family of open chords.
    • Diagnose unclear strings and prepare efficient chord changes.
    • Perform an original verse-chorus study with steady pulse and recovery.
    Preview unit
  7. 7
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Reading Rhythm and Tablature

    Independent decoding of beginner guitar music.

    • Decode tab orientation, fret numbers, rests, ties, dots, and eighth-note rhythm.
    • Coordinate adjacent-string alternate picking with score reading.
    • Sight-read an unfamiliar eight-measure beginner tab without a model.
    Preview unit
  8. 8
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Melody, Scales, and Musical Alphabet

    First scale patterns and melodic phrasing.

    • Explain the musical alphabet, whole and half steps, tonic, and octave.
    • Play and name one octave of C major from memory.
    • Perform and create a short melody with contour, breath, and dynamics.
    Preview unit
  9. 9
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Power Chords and Rock Rhythm

    Movable roots, palm muting, and eighth-note drive.

    • Build movable root-fifth power chords from strings 6 and 5.
    • Control palm-muted and open articulation without changing pulse.
    • Perform and plan an original power-chord riff with two rhythmic motives.
    Preview unit
  10. 10
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Open-Chord Vocabulary II and Song Form

    Fluent accompaniment and structural listening.

    • Add Dm, Fmaj7, and B7 with appropriate strum ranges.
    • Identify phrase, section, cadence, and grouped 6/8 feel.
    • Perform and map a complete multi-section song form.
    Preview unit
  11. 11
    Absolute BeginnerPreview available

    Level 1 Integration Project

    Combine foundation skills in one complete performance.

    • Prepare contrasting chord, riff, and melody performances.
    • Complete a 60-120 second original piece with form, contrast, recovery, and an ending.
    • Use what you hear to name one successful choice and one next practice exercise.
    Preview unit
  12. 12
    BeginnerPreview available

    Barre Chords and Movable Harmony

    Full movable major and minor forms with sustainable hand use.

    • Use sustainable partial and full movable major and minor shapes.
    • Explain major/minor triad formulas and enharmonic roots.
    • Perform I-IV-V-vi in three keys using movable harmony.
    Preview unit
  13. 13
    BeginnerPreview available

    Minor Pentatonic and Blues Language

    A first improvisation framework built around phrasing.

    • Play and name A minor pentatonic degrees with controlled articulation.
    • Track I-IV-V through a 12-bar blues form.
    • Improvise two call-and-response choruses with space and endings.
    Preview unit
  14. 14
    BeginnerPreview available

    Fretboard Notes and Octave Shapes

    Find notes across the neck with octave shapes.

    • Find natural notes on strings 6 and 5 within five seconds.
    • Derive octave locations while naming pitch identity.
    • Create a riff using named roots in two registers.
    Preview unit
  15. 15
    BeginnerPreview available

    Major Scale and Diatonic Melody

    Connect scale structure to melody and key.

    • Construct and play the major scale in two movable positions with named degrees.
    • Identify tonic and relative minor by sound and function.
    • Compose and perform an eight-bar melody with motive, sequence, climax, and resolution.
    Preview unit
  16. 16
    BeginnerPreview available

    Rhythm Guitar Vocabulary

    Groove, syncopation, muting, and stylistic feel.

    • Maintain continuous sixteenth-note motion through sounded and silent events.
    • Distinguish and perform straight, syncopated, and shuffle feels.
    • Sustain a planned rhythm-guitar groove for two minutes with recovery.
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  17. 17
    BeginnerPreview available

    Triads in Open and Movable Contexts

    See chords as three-note structures.

    • Construct major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads from formulas.
    • Play and name root-position and inverted triads on a top-string set.
    • Arrange a voice-led second guitar part with planned register choices.
    Preview unit
  18. 18
    BeginnerPreview available

    Lead-Sheet Literacy and Transposition

    Read practical song charts and adapt keys.

    • Interpret lead-sheet form, repeats, slash chords, rhythmic cues, and capo markings.
    • Read two unfamiliar original charts while looking ahead and recovering in time.
    • Transpose a progression to two keys using Roman and Nashville notation.
    Preview unit
  19. 19
    BeginnerPreview available

    Level 2 Band and Songwriting Project

    Integrate accompaniment, lead, and complete-song craft.

    • Create and perform a two-to-four-minute original piece with contrasting sections and recovery.
    • Communicate rhythm, lead, improvisation, form, and arrangement decisions in a readable chart.
    • Produce short ear-transcription, functional-analysis, and reflection notes.
    Preview unit
  20. 20
    IntermediatePreview available

    CAGED System and Fretboard Integration

    Connect chord shapes, arpeggios, scales, and notes.

    • Locate and play one named major chord through all five CAGED regions.
    • Name roots, thirds, and fifths while connecting nearby arpeggio and scale tones.
    • Revoice a three-section song through at least three neck registers.
    Preview unit
  21. 21
    IntermediatePreview available

    Diatonic Harmony in Major Keys

    Understand why common progressions work.

    • Harmonize a major scale as seven triads and connect efficient inversions.
    • Explain tonic, predominant, and dominant function.
    • Perform four cadence types and write four purpose-built progressions.
    Preview unit
  22. 22
    IntermediatePreview available

    Relative Minor and Minor-Key Harmony

    Use natural, harmonic, and melodic minor in practical contexts.

    • Construct and compare natural, harmonic, and melodic minor.
    • Explain relative and parallel minor plus minor v and major V.
    • Perform an original minor verse with a relative-major chorus.
    Preview unit
  23. 23
    IntermediatePreview available

    Seventh Chords and Arpeggio Soloing

    Expand harmonic color and target chord tones.

    • Build and identify major seventh, minor seventh, dominant seventh, half-diminished, and diminished seventh qualities.
    • Target guide tones and chord tones through a changing progression.
    • Explain one functional seventh-chord resolution.
    Preview unit
  24. 24
    IntermediatePreview available

    Melodic Development and Motif

    Make solos and melodies coherent.

    • Create a recognizable motif and transform it through multiple development techniques.
    • Compose and perform a coherent sixteen-bar melody.
    • Explain phrase contour, climax, and resolution.
    Preview unit
  25. 25
    IntermediatePreview available

    Chord-Tone Improvisation

    Build lines that follow the chords.

    • Choose chord-tone targets through a progression.
    • Use approach, passing, neighbor, anticipation, or suspension tones for a clear reason.
    • Perform and audit an eight-bar solo that follows the harmony.
    Preview unit
  26. 26
    IntermediatePreview available

    Arrangement and Multiple Guitar Parts

    Create complementary guitar layers.

    • Design complementary guitar parts with distinct register, rhythm, density, and articulation roles.
    • Resolve texture collisions through arrangement choices.
    • Document a two- or three-part arrangement map.
    Preview unit
  27. 27
    IntermediatePreview available

    Level 3 Musicianship Project

    Demonstrate integrated intermediate musicianship.

    • Perform or document a complete Level 3 musicianship project.
    • Produce matching analysis, transcription, arrangement, reflection, and practice-plan notes.
    • Create a four-week plan for the weakest domain.
    Preview unit
  28. 28
    Upper IntermediatePreview available

    Modes as Centered Sounds

    Use modal color with a clear home note.

    • Hear modes as centered sounds with their own home notes.
    • Emphasize characteristic degrees over drones or vamps.
    • Compose and explain short Dorian and Mixolydian studies.
    Preview unit
  29. 29
    Upper IntermediatePreview available

    Secondary Dominants and Tonicization

    Create directed harmonic momentum.

    • Build secondary dominants from target chords.
    • Resolve altered guide tones by choice.
    • Write a progression with temporary tonicization inside one key.
    Preview unit
  30. 30
    Upper IntermediatePreview available

    Borrowed Chords and Modal Mixture

    Blend parallel major and minor colors.

    • Identify borrowed chords from the parallel mode.
    • Use modal mixture for section color without losing tonic.
    • Explain changed scale degrees and voice-leading effects.
    Preview unit
  31. 31
    Upper IntermediatePreview available

    Voice Leading and Chord Melody

    Move chord notes with clear direction.

    • Arrange melody-forward chord voicings with compact shells.
    • Trace melody and inner voices through a progression.
    • Perform a short chord-melody passage with clear function.
    Preview unit
  32. 32
    Upper IntermediatePreview available

    Advanced Rhythm and Meter

    Control odd groupings and layered subdivisions.

    • Perform odd-grouped rhythm with stable accents and recovery.
    • Move between complex grouping and simpler release sections.
    • Explain subdivision, grouping, and re-entry strategy.
    Preview unit
  33. 33
    Upper IntermediatePreview available

    Genre Language and Stylistic Authenticity

    Learn vocabulary without reducing style to cliches.

    • Analyze style through rhythm, tone, articulation, harmony, role, and context.
    • Create an original style study without copying recorded phrases.
    • Explain musical vocabulary and respectful context.
    Preview unit
  34. 34
    Upper IntermediatePreview available

    Counterpoint and Independent Lines

    Compose interacting melodies.

    • Compose two independent lines with singable contour.
    • Use contrary, oblique, and parallel motion for clear line movement.
    • Prepare and resolve dissonance inside a clear harmonic frame.
    Preview unit
  35. 35
    Upper IntermediatePreview available

    Level 4 Creative Portfolio

    Show upper-intermediate control of color, rhythm, and arrangement.

    • Create Level 4 artifacts across harmonic color, rhythm or style, and line writing.
    • Complete one two-to-four-minute performance or arrangement.
    • Produce matching analysis, reflection, and a weak-domain practice plan.
    Preview unit
  36. 36
    AdvancedPreview available

    Extended Chords and Color Tones

    Use ninths, elevenths, thirteenths, and alterations for clear color.

    • Voice extended chords with clear guide tones and chosen omissions.
    • Use ninths, elevenths, thirteenths, and altered colors by function.
    • Resolve or sustain color tones by choice.
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  37. 37
    AdvancedPreview available

    Chord-Scale Relationships

    Select note collections over changing harmony.

    • Choose chord-scale collections from chord quality and function.
    • Target chord tones before adding scale color.
    • Explain tension and resolution decisions.
    Preview unit
  38. 38
    AdvancedPreview available

    Modulation and Key Relationships

    Move convincingly between tonal centers.

    • Plan modulations using pivot chords, common tones, or dominant preparation.
    • Confirm a new key through cadence or phrase behavior.
    • Analyze old-key and new-key functions.
    Preview unit
  39. 39
    AdvancedPreview available

    Advanced Melodic and Harmonic Minor

    Use minor systems beyond basic dominant function.

    • Use harmonic and melodic minor colors in minor ii-V-i contexts.
    • Name raised sixth and seventh degree choices.
    • Resolve altered dominant color into tonic minor.
    Preview unit
  40. 40
    AdvancedPreview available

    Advanced Technique as Musical Vocabulary

    Integrate specialized technique without losing phrasing.

    • Use advanced technique as phrasing vocabulary.
    • Control timing, tone, release, and articulation.
    • Perform an etude with named technique purposes.
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  41. 41
    AdvancedPreview available

    Form, Development, and Large-Scale Direction

    Sustain musical interest beyond loops.

    • Design larger forms with development, contrast, and return.
    • Use motif, density, register, and harmonic pacing across sections.
    • Revise transitions for long-range direction.
    Preview unit
  42. 42
    AdvancedPreview available

    Reharmonization and Substitution

    Generate alternatives while preserving melody and direction.

    • Reharmonize melodies with functional substitutions.
    • Account for melody notes and bass direction over changed chords.
    • Perform original and reharmonized routes.
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  43. 43
    AdvancedPreview available

    Level 5 Advanced Musicianship Jury

    Demonstrate advanced theoretical and instrumental command.

    • Present a complete advanced musicianship jury performance or arrangement.
    • Provide matching notes on harmony, form, technique, and substitution.
    • Write a four-week study plan from the weakest area.
    Preview unit
  44. 44
    AdvancedPreview available

    Songwriting Identity and Constraint

    Turn influences into a personal process.

    • Use constraints and influence boundaries to define a songwriting process.
    • Create an original constrained sketch with revision notes.
    • Explain identity choices and future study direction.
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  45. 45
    AdvancedPreview available

    Melody, Prosody, and Lyrics

    Integrate words, melody, harmony, and speech rhythm.

    • Align speech stress, melody, contour, lyric rhythm, and phrase endings.
    • Revise prosody conflicts in an original melody.
    • Document lyric or instrumental phrase choices.
    Preview unit
  46. 46
    AdvancedPreview available

    Arrangement for Rhythm Section and Ensemble

    Write parts that function beyond solo guitar.

    • Arrange guitar inside a rhythm-section or ensemble texture.
    • Map roles, registers, cues, and collisions.
    • Revise one part to serve the ensemble.
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  47. 47
    AdvancedPreview available

    Alternate Tunings, Capo, and Guitar-Specific Composition

    Use the instrument's physical design as a compositional tool.

    • Use alternate tuning or capo choices as compositional tools.
    • Document sounding key, setup, drones, and safety checks.
    • Translate the idea back into standard-tuning language.
    Preview unit
  48. 48
    AdvancedPreview available

    Production-Aware Guitar and Demo Craft

    Record ideas, then use the playback to improve the arrangement.

    • Plan production-aware guitar demos with part priority and tone decisions.
    • Use listening notes to revise arrangement layers.
    • Explain demo decisions without requiring upload or automated audio judgment.
    Preview unit
  49. 49
    AdvancedPreview available

    Professional Charts, Scores, and Communication

    Make music transferable to other musicians.

    • Prepare readable rehearsal charts with roadmap, setup, cues, and revision notes.
    • Communicate form and responsibilities to other musicians.
    • Adapt or transpose charts for another player.
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  50. 50
    AdvancedPreview available

    Independent Study and Teaching the Concept

    Prove deep understanding by explaining and adapting.

    • Design an independent study question with clear success criteria.
    • Teach one concept with examples, misconceptions, and remediation.
    • Revise the explanation from observed confusion.
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  51. 51
    AdvancedPreview available

    Capstone: Complete Artist Portfolio

    Integrate playing, theory, listening, writing, arranging, and reflection.

    • Assemble a complete artist portfolio with performance, analysis, chart, process, and reflection notes.
    • Connect artistic identity to finished and supporting artifacts.
    • Write a future study plan from the portfolio.
    Preview unit