The daily 15 minutes

Use the same four steps every day. Only the chords and songs change from week to week.

1. Tune and loosen up (2 min). Tune all six strings. Open and close your hands a few times, then strum the open strings.
2. Shapes (3 min). Place this week's new chord, then pick each string one at a time. Fix any string that buzzes or sounds dull. Lift your fingers off and repeat five times.
3. One-minute changes (5 min). Choose a pair of chords, such as C and G7. Set a 60-second timer and change back and forth, strumming once on each chord, counting the clean changes. Write the count in a notebook. Do two or three pairs a day.
4. Song (5 min). Play this week's song slowly, holding a steady beat. When the changes feel comfortable, sing while you play.

For older hands: two 8-minute sessions a day are fine. Stop if you feel sharp pain, as opposed to ordinary fingertip soreness.

One-minute changes timer