For all of the applications, YouTube videos, and other free materials that exist, nothing beats having an actual tutor with you, sharing their experiences and helping me find what works best to accomplish a goal. My friend Nicole has been playing guitar for a few years, and is certainly more talented than I am, so last Friday night we got together and had a jam session! I asked her whether there were any easy, basic songs that I’d be able to play with the level of experience (minimal) and number of chords (7) that I know. She thought of one right away: Radioactive by the Imagine Dragons.

The actual song doesn’t feature guitar per se, but it’s possible to play some chords and simulate the beat and feel of the song. Radioactive is especially suitable for beginners because it only uses four chords (A minor, C, G, and D, in that order) and they’re all played at the exact same rhythm and order, through the verses and chorus. Because the chords themselves match the rhythm I’m already familiar with, it was pretty easy to pick up and play. In fact, only four days later I had some other friends over to my house and, excited to show them my progress, I started playing Radioactive. My friend Kenzie, who is also a guitarist, recognized it as soon as I started playing, because it’s such a basic song that maybe most guitarists learn it somewhere along the way.

I’ve by no means perfected it–it will be weeks or months until my fingers consistently move together to the proper strings, but I can confidently say that when I play it, it doesn’t hurt (a non-musician) to listen to.

When I wasn’t learning Radioactive, I went back to the Level 3 melodies and played through each of them several times, using a guitar pick instead of my thumb. It took a bit of getting used to, but I’m starting to feel more comfortable finding each string with the pick. My hands can still get a bit confused when quickly switching between strings and/or frets, but the muscle memory is developing bit by bit, and the most important thing right now is to keep repeating it. The last two days were a return to the first “picking up and down” song, and while I can mostly get through it, I’m still developing a personal feel for when I want to pick on the way up, and when it makes more sense to sequentially strum down. Maybe next week I’ll be able to play some of that quick-strumming stuff enough to post here, but for now, Radioactive will have to do.

Photo by Kilian Karger on Unsplash