Session 1: Meeting Your Guitar

Duration: 50 minutes

Welcome to your very first guitar session. Today you are not going to play a song — you are going to meet your instrument. By the end of this session, you will know every part of your guitar by name, how to sit with it comfortably, how to hold a pick, the names of all six strings, and how to play your first open-string rhythm. That is a lot for one session, and it is exactly the right place to start.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session you will be able to:

1. Name and point to the major parts of your Saga SF-600C-BK guitar (headstock, tuners, nut, neck, frets, body, soundhole, bridge, saddle, strings)
2. Sit in the correct playing position with the guitar stable on your lap
3. Hold a guitar pick with a secure, relaxed grip
4. Name all six strings from thickest to thinnest (E-A-D-G-B-E)
5. Play an open-string rhythm exercise with steady downstrokes

Materials Needed

• Your Saga SF-600C-BK guitar
• A guitar pick (medium thickness, 0.71–0.88 mm recommended)
• A clip-on tuner or phone tuner app
• A metronome (phone app is fine — search “metronome” in your app store)
• Reference: Guitar Guide (for detailed setup and care instructions)

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Segment 1 — Warm-Up and Stretch (5 minutes)

Since this is your first session, your warm-up is about preparing your hands — not the guitar (we will tune in a moment).

Finger Stretches

Do each of these three times:

1. Finger spread: Hold both hands in front of you, palms facing away. Spread all fingers as wide as possible. Hold for 5 seconds. Relax. Repeat.
2. Wrist circles: Extend your arms and slowly rotate each wrist in a full circle — 5 circles clockwise, then 5 anticlockwise.
3. Finger touch: Touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of each finger in sequence (index, middle, ring, pinky), then reverse. Do this 5 times per hand.

These stretches prevent strain. You will do a version of them before every session going forward.

Tune Your Guitar

Pick up your clip-on tuner (or open your phone tuner app). Clip it to the headstock of your guitar.

The six strings must be tuned to these notes, from the thickest string (closest to your face when you hold the guitar) to the thinnest:

String Number	Note	Memory Aid
6 (thickest)	E	Eddie
5	A	Ate
4	D	Dynamite
3	G	Good
2	B	Bye
1 (thinnest)	E	Eddie

How to tune: Pluck the 6th string (thickest) and watch your tuner. If the tuner shows the note is flat (too low), turn the tuning peg for that string to tighten it (raise the pitch). If the note is sharp (too high), loosen the peg. When the tuner shows “E” and the indicator is centred (green on most tuners), that string is in tune. Repeat for each string.

Always tune from below — if you overshoot and go sharp, loosen the string below the target note and tune back up. This helps tuning stability.

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Segment 2 — Technique Focus: Guitar Anatomy and Posture (10 minutes)

Know Your Guitar

Pick up your Saga SF-600C-BK. This is a dreadnought cutaway acoustic guitar. “Dreadnought” means it has a large body that produces a full, loud sound. “Cutaway” means the upper body has a scoop cut out of it near the neck — this gives you easier access to the higher frets (you will use this later in the course).

Find and name each part:

• Headstock — The flat piece at the very top of the neck where the tuning pegs are
• Tuning pegs (machine heads) — The six pegs you turn to tune each string
• Nut — The small white/cream bar at the top of the neck where the strings rest before reaching the headstock
• Neck — The long piece of wood you wrap your fretting hand around
• Frets — The thin metal strips embedded across the neck. The space between two fret strips is called a “fret” (fret 1 is the space between the nut and the first metal strip)
• Fretboard (fingerboard) — The flat surface of the neck where you press strings
• Dot markers — The dots on the fretboard (and often on the side of the neck) at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12. These help you navigate without counting every fret
• Body — The large, hollow wooden part that amplifies the sound
• Soundhole — The round hole in the body face
• Bridge — The wooden piece on the body face where the strings are anchored
• Saddle — The thin white/cream bar on the bridge (like a second nut at the other end of the strings)
• Strings — Six steel strings running from the bridge, over the saddle, along the neck, over the nut, to the tuning pegs

Try this now: Point to each part and say its name aloud. Do this twice.

Sitting Position

1. Sit on a chair or stool without armrests. Sit toward the front edge — do not lean back.
2. Place the guitar body on your right thigh (if you are right-handed). The waist of the guitar (the inward curve) should rest on your thigh.
3. The neck should angle slightly upward — roughly 30 to 45 degrees from horizontal. Do not let the neck point at the floor.
4. Your strumming arm (right arm) drapes over the top edge of the guitar body. Your forearm should rest on the upper bout (the widest part of the body).
5. Your fretting hand (left hand) reaches around to the front of the neck. Your thumb rests behind the neck — roughly behind fret 2 to start. Do not wrap your thumb over the top.
6. Both feet flat on the floor. Back straight but relaxed — no hunching over to look at the fretboard. You will learn to feel the frets instead of always watching.

Posture check: Can you hold the guitar in position and take both hands completely off it? The guitar should stay put, balanced on your thigh and held by your strumming arm. If it slides, adjust the angle.

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Segment 3 — New Learning: Strings, Picks, and Your First Strum (15 minutes)

String Names and Numbers

Guitar strings are numbered 1 through 6:

• String 1 = thinnest, highest pitch = high E
• String 2 = B
• String 3 = G
• String 4 = D
• String 5 = A
• String 6 = thickest, lowest pitch = low E

The numbering feels backwards at first — string 1 is the thinnest, closest to the floor when you are in playing position. String 6 is the thickest, closest to your face.

Memory trick: “Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie” — from string 6 to string 1.

Try this now: Without looking at this page, pluck each string one at a time from string 6 to string 1 and say the note name aloud (E, A, D, G, B, E). Then go back from string 1 to string 6. Repeat three times.

How to Hold a Pick

1. Hold your strumming hand in a relaxed fist — like you are holding a cup handle.
2. Open your index finger and place the pick on the pad of your index finger, pointed tip facing away from your palm.
3. Bring your thumb down on top of the pick. The pick should be secure between your thumb and the side of your index finger.
4. About 5–8 mm of the pick tip should stick out past your thumb.
5. Grip firmly enough that the pick does not fly out of your hand, but loosely enough that you can push the pick into a table and it flexes slightly. A death grip creates a harsh sound and tires your hand quickly.

Common mistake: Holding the pick with your thumb and the tip of your index finger (like pinching). This gives you less control. The pick should rest on the side of your index finger, not the tip.

Your First Strum — Open Strings

An “open string” is a string you play without pressing any fret. You are going to strum all six open strings together.

1. Hold the pick as described above.
2. Position your strumming hand over the soundhole.
3. In a smooth, relaxed motion, drag the pick downward across all six strings from string 6 (thickest) to string 1 (thinnest). This is called a downstroke — written as D.
4. The motion comes from your wrist, not your whole arm. Keep your arm mostly still and let your wrist do the work.
5. Strum at a moderate, even speed. You should hear all six strings ring together.

What it should sound like: A full, slightly dissonant jangle. It will not sound like a chord — that is because open strings played together do not form a standard chord. This is just about getting the motion right.

Try this now: Play 4 downstrokes, one per beat, at a slow, steady pace. Count aloud: “1, 2, 3, 4.” Pause. Repeat. Do this 8 times.

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Segment 4 — Song Workshop: Open String Rhythm Exercise (15 minutes)

You are not playing a song yet — you are learning to keep time with a rhythm. This is the single most important skill in all of music. A guitarist who plays the right notes at the wrong time sounds worse than one who plays wrong notes at the right time.

Open String Rhythm Exercise

Tempo: 60 BPM (set your metronome to 60 BPM — one click per second)

Pattern: All downstrokes (D) on open strings, 4 beats per measure

How to read this: Each “D” is one downstroke across all six strings. Each ”|” marks the start of a new measure.

Strum: D D D D | D D D D |

Count: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |

 

Strum: D D D D | D D D D |

Count: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |

Instructions:

1. Start your metronome at 60 BPM.
2. Listen to four clicks to feel the tempo before you start.
3. On the next click, play a downstroke. One strum per click.
4. Count aloud: “1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4…” Each number lines up with a click and a strum.
5. Play through all 4 measures (16 strums total) without stopping.
6. If you lose the beat, stop, wait for the “1,” and start again.

Once comfortable at 60 BPM, try this variation — strum only on beats 1 and 3:

Strum: D - D - | D - D - |

Count: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |

The ”-” means do not strum — just let the beat pass. This teaches you to feel beats even when you are not playing.

Final variation — strum on beats 1, 2, and 4 (skip beat 3):

Strum: D D - D | D D - D |

Count: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |

Practice each variation 4 times through (4 measures each time). Keep your metronome running. Count aloud — this is not optional. Counting aloud locks the rhythm into your body.

Individual String Picking

Now try picking one string at a time. This is not strumming — you are aiming the pick at a single string.

At 60 BPM, play string 6 (low E) four times, then string 5 (A) four times, continuing through all strings:

String: 6 6 6 6 | 5 5 5 5 | 4 4 4 4 |

Count: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |

 

String: 3 3 3 3 | 2 2 2 2 | 1 1 1 1 |

Count: 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |

Tip from your Saga SF-600C-BK: The dreadnought body projects a strong, full sound even with a light touch. You do not need to dig the pick hard into the strings — a relaxed, controlled stroke produces a better tone and hurts your hand less.

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Segment 5 — Review and Practice Plan (5 minutes)

What You Learned Today

• The parts of your guitar (headstock, tuners, nut, neck, frets, body, soundhole, bridge, saddle, strings)
• How to tune to standard tuning (EADGBE)
• Correct sitting posture
• How to hold a pick
• String names and numbers (6 = low E, 1 = high E)
• Downstroke strumming across all strings
• Keeping time with a metronome

Common Mistakes

1. Gripping the pick too tightly — Relax your hand. If your thumb knuckle turns white, you are squeezing too hard.
2. Strumming from the elbow instead of the wrist — The strumming motion is a wrist flick, not an arm swing.
3. Letting the neck point downward — The neck should angle slightly upward. A downward neck forces your fretting hand into an awkward position.
4. Forgetting to tune — Make tuning the very first thing you do every time you pick up the guitar.
5. Not counting aloud — It feels silly, but counting aloud is the fastest way to develop internal rhythm.

Self-Check Questions

1. Can you name at least 8 parts of your guitar without looking at the diagram?
2. When you strum a downstroke at 60 BPM with a metronome, do all your strums land exactly on the click?
3. Can you name the six strings from thickest to thinnest without hesitation?
4. Is your pick grip relaxed enough that the pick can flex slightly when you push it against a surface?

Practice Plan (Daily, 15–20 minutes)

Block	Time	Activity
Warm-Up	3 min	Finger stretches (spread, circles, touch)
Tune	2 min	Tune all 6 strings with your tuner
String Names	3 min	Pluck each string and say its name — forward and backward, 5 times
Rhythm Exercise	5 min	All three strumming variations at 60 BPM with metronome, counting aloud
Single String Picking	5 min	Pick each string individually at 60 BPM, 4 beats per string

Steel-string note: Your fingertips on your fretting hand may not hurt yet because you have not pressed any strings down. Enjoy that — it changes next session. Your strumming hand may feel slightly sore from the pick grip. If so, put the guitar down and stretch your fingers. This is normal.

Guitar Tip — Saga SF-600C-BK

Your guitar’s dreadnought body is larger than many beginner guitars. If it feels big and awkward right now, that is completely normal. The size is what gives it that bold, room-filling sound. The cutaway on the upper body will not affect anything you do in the early sessions — it becomes useful later when you explore higher frets (from Session 14 onwards). For now, just get comfortable with the weight and balance of the instrument.