How did this start?

I’m a guitar teacher, and people sometimes donate their old guitars, which I use in my classes or pass on to pupils who might need them. 

Three Strings Attached started when someone donated this quarter size guitar. I could immediately tell that it was not a bad instrument at all - though it only had three strings on. Judging by the extra notches the previous owner had made in the nut, this was intentional and he was actually using it as a 3-string guitar. 

Rather than immediately reaching for a new set of strings, I started to mess about with the three existing strings to see what sort of sounds emerged. I tuned them to G - D - G in the manner of a cigar box guitar, and was immediately very taken with the sound that the little guitar made in this tuning, and started thinking what a great instrument it would be for a complete beginner.  

So I kept it, had a guitar repairer do a quick fix on the string spacing and alignment (cost £10) and otherwise left it as it was. 

I am now teaching a number of pupils to play 3-string guitar, and I wanted to share some of the teaching ideas that have emerged.