If you want to make steady progress, then your practice needs be directed. Please refer back to the Music 101 series if need be. But if you only want to play a few simple songs, you don’t need directed practice.

We want a beginner to start playing simple music as soon as possible, so (s)he feels progress, motivation, enjoyment, and ideally starts thinking (s)he wants to continue learning and enjoying it, including working on technique, theory, song repertiore, and especially on making music (improvising, composing).

The consensus is that beginners shouldn’t worry about understanding what they are doing, and should only concentrate on

• building enough technique to play a few simple songs in time.
• knowing where to locate some notes on the guitar (primarily to play chords)

I don’t agree that beginners get overloaded if they gradually learn about what they are doing (note choice), as humans have a great deal of capabilities they are equipped with by nature. Here are some thoughts on this.