My method for teaching rhythm guitar is very simple. I break it down into six steps of chord mastery.

1) E, A, and D major
2) G major
3) C major
4) F major
5) B minor
7) B major

I have a definite lessons plan of scales, chord exercises andsongs to get anyone with no knowledge of the instrument to being able to play fingerstyle, rhythm, or lead guitar.

Here's a quick rundown of my great and terrible plan:

Rhythm Guitar
1. E, A, and D chords - 2-5 weeks
2. G chord and songs - 6-10 weeks
3. C chord and songs - 4-8 weeks
4. F chord and songs - 6-10 weeks
5. Bm chord and songs - 4-6 weeks
6. Bmaj chords and songs - 4-6 weeks

Please be aware that this timetable is very approximate and depends on the students ability to practice every day for thirty minutes. It can also vary if I feel the student is getting bored with the material, in which case I might switch over to the lead guitar program for a little while, and pick back up on the rhythm guitar songs after a few weeks. Speaking of which:

Lead Guitar
1. Songs with riffs and chords (e.g., The Ocean by Led Zeppelin)
2. Songs that are mostly lead guitar (e.g. Manic Depression by Jimi Hendrix, Roadhouse Blues by the Doors)
3. Simple solos, such as the one at the end of Kryptonite by Three Doors Down
4. More complex solos, like the solo in Live Forever by Oasis
5. Really long, complicated and fast solos like the solo in Stairway To Heaven

Fingerpicking
1. Easy arpeggiated songs like Brain Damage by Pink Floyd or Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel
2. More complex arpeggiated songs like Jethro Tull's acoustic stuff (Thick As A Brick, Mother Goose, etc.)
3. Simple Fingerpicking patterns
4. Songs with the same fingerpicking pattern for most of the song (e.g. Dust In The Wind by Kansas, The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel)
5. Songs with multiple patterns, more complex right hand technique (Going To California by Led Zeppelin, The Circle Game By Joni Mitchell)

-keeping the fingers perpendicular to the neck (more or less)
-holding the pick with a light, relaxed grip between the thumb and index finger, and not letting the middle finger help out
-finding a stable, comfortable position for the guitar, where it doesn't feel like it's going to slide off your lap.

The chord exercises should be done in the following order

1)	Emin	3)	Emaj	5)	C
2)	E7	4)	G	6)	F

Chords - Sibelius Files
C-major Exercises
E7 Exercises-
E-major Exercises -
E-minor Exercises-
F-major Exercises-
G-major Exercises-

Of course, I'm not going to give away all my secrets for free. If you were taking lessons from me you'd go through some extra exercises for the G, C, and F chord that aren't here, and I'd make you learn some songs to practice each one of your newly acquired chords. To get those exercises, you'll have to either take lessons from me or wait for my book to come out.

However, if you live extremely far away and could not ever possibly take lessons from me, until my book comes out you can get some of those extra exercises by asking very nicely in an email with the word "Supplicant" in the heading.

Scale Exercises:
Playing the guitar, like employee of the week, is not all plaques and roasted hams. One must practice scales FROM THE BEGINNING (as Emerson, Lake, and Palmer might say).

SO . . . to begin with you should do the warm-up scale for a few weeks, and then try the other scales, possibly giving yourself two weeks on each one.

FYI, the scale exercises are pentatonic scales. I start you out at the seventh fret because the frets are thinner, and therefore pose less of a stretch for your fingers.

Scales - Sibelius Files
Warm Up
Scale Exercise 1-
Scale Exercise 2-
Scale Exercise 3-
Scale Exercise 4-
Scale Exercise 5-

AND AS AN EXTRA BONUS!
Fingerpicking exercises for the beginner! -