The first and easiest skill to learn for a complete guitar beginner is to learn to play guitar chords. Once you have learned a set of 3 or 4 chords you can start playing simple songs. The right hand can be strumming the strings while you focus on your left hand and the fingering on the fretboard. The reason I recommend students learn on a steel string acoustic guitar is because it teaches you accuracy with your finger placement. Classical guitar is easier to play chords on because the fretboard is wider but you cannot hear the detail. Playing chords on an electric guitar hides all sorts of bad playing that will be revealed when you play and acoustic guitar.
So learn to play chords on an acoustic guitar in the first place and you will be able to play any other type of guitar. There are a number of skills to playing chords on the guitar that you need to follow
Do not press too hard on the strings
You should press the strings on the fretboard just enough to sound the notes clearly but without making the notes sound out of tune. A quality guitar will barely need more than a touch to make the note sound but most beginners will not have this advantage so you need to fret carefully.
Drop your left wrist
To make your fingers vertical on the guitar fretboard you need to drop your left wrist. When you do this you will get clear sounding notes. Many beginners find it hard to avoid the back of a finger touching and dampening the next string. By having the correct position you will place the fingers in the best possible way to avoid these buzzing strings.
Change chords with the minimum movement
You must plan your chord changes so that your fingers move as little as possible from the first chord to the second. You should look at how your fingers move from the position of your first chord and how they move to the second chord with the minimum amount of movement. Professional guitarists study this technique all the time. This is why they seem to be playing fast and yet their fingers do not move very much.
Practice with your eyes closed
You might feel a bit daft doing this but you should try to play without ever looking at your hands. To learn this close your eyes and play. You will find that very quickly your left hand will learn the relative positions of the strings and fret. Once you have mastered this for the left hand you can start work on improving your right hand strumming and plucking.
