you thoughts on helping a new player?

Looks like you have a great start on it ... I'd suggest strumming patterns and rhythm with all those chords.

 

Tell her to buy one of these:

 

She will also need one of these:

 

What’s the basic boogie pattern at open e?

 

Here’s my two cents.

What you’ve showed her so far is great but show her how it relates to a song. Pick a song she likes and try to incorporate the lesson into a song she likes. Like how a C chord functions as the one chord in the key of C but how it also functions as a four chord in the key of G.

If she starts to hear and understand the difference there and relates everything to the Nashville number system or in traditional theory to Roman numerals for chords, the sky is the limit.

If she’s a great singer then she’s off to a better start then 99% of us. She’ll quickly hear and recognize the difference of a C chord in the key of C then G major. It’s just getting it down to memory the textile difference of them.

Keep showing her different things but relate the sound to theory so she can piece together what she’s hearing in her head to music to quickly jot her thoughts down.

 

Get her a capo and work with her to pick some simple songs she likes. Then she can work on strum patterns while singing, and hammer on individual notes in open chords for accents and interest. a singer who can do that, in good time, is ready to play on stage.

 

I'll add some things:

*Teach her about standard tuning/how to tune a guitar.
*Show her the note names of the open strings in standard tuning.
*Have her play the major scale on the sixth string ascending and descending (WWhWWWh) so she can hear the intervals of the scale and get a sense of the musical distances across one string.
*Explain to her that musical scales are collections of notes that musicians over time have glommed together because those particular notes sound good together/create a mood. Major vs Minor.
*Alternate picking

 

jam with her.

 

She needs to apply what you've shown her to songs.
Time to play some songs (as others have already mentioned).
No more theory 'til she can play 20 songs.

............ then you can show her the major and minor scales.

 

Practice, Practice , Practice !!!

Ain't no substitute...

 

Like you said, you can get a long ways with 3 chords. One thing about funk/rock rhythm playing is that you just gotta GET LOOSE and get over your shyness. You're trying to move your hand in a way across the strings that will make people want to dance. In the getting started phase I'd limit single note stuff to little fills, bass lines, riffs.

 

Teach her how to tune that mother.

 

She wants to play a song. Show her a song. Never mind major scales blah blah blah. Play a song, not a scale. Not everybody wants to go to Berklee.

 

#1 – as others said: songs… best way to learn chords (KEY), rhythm patterns, little riffs. Would be nice to use an acoustic and sing for herself while doing it. Any song she likes!
#2 – a little routine for the basic skills (no more than 10' a day): warm-up (a chromatic scale up the neck, slow and clean), time (this exercise: ) while doing the major scale. Maybe some rhythm patterns. "Lord let my quarter notes be even today"!

For soloing skills, when time comes: what music does she like, and what is she aspiring to play? Country, Jazz, Blues all have their foundational skills you have to develop – and they're different.

EDIT: yes, I know the Chirillo exercise looks terrifyingly boring. But tell her she just has to do it 2 minutes per day. The rewards are huge. Time/Rhythm feel is the most essential skill for the aspiring musician of ANY level. I'm doing that every day, and if I go without for a week or so it messes my rhythm.

 

All good advice here.

Buy her a decent inexpensive metronome, and show her how to use it when practicing strumming and playing little fills and riffs.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002E2YMG/

or

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LFCXL8/

Digital metronomes with LCD screens and air conditioning are flimsy and do not last. These two are bombproof and the batteries last forever.

 

Guitar face repertoire....

 

How do you explain that to your daughter-in-law without incurring the wrath of either your wife or son?