The first layer is the easiest to do, and the hardest to teach. The reason is that you can do basically anything you want to the cube because you have nothing to screw up. The only requirement is that you have to understand how to move the cube. Not just how to move each side, but how to take pieces and move them where you want them. You need to know how to affect the cube. I know I'm making it sound hard, but once you get the basic idea (and it's pretty basic) you will find the first layer very easy, and you should be able to do it every time. First, some annotation.

F
Move the front face(the one facing you) clockwise*
R
Move the right face clockwise
L
Move the left face clockwise
B
Move the back(not bottom) face clockwise
U
Move the top face(upper) clockwise
D
Move the bottom face (down) clockwise
'
Move that face counterclockwise* (ex: F' is front face counterclockwise)
2
Move that face twice (ex: R2)
*All clockwise and counterclockwise turns are from the view of looking directly at that side If you have any troubles with this go to the annotation page in the navbar for an example of every move. Make sure when doing a move sequence that you dont rotate the whole cube accidentally. Your U face should stay in the same position from the start of the move until the end. Same with each other face.

The idea behind the first layer is this.

  1. Get the cross on the top layer of your choice.(The "cross" consists of the four edge pieces)
  2. Get the four corners of that color.

To get the four edge pieces(little pices with only two sides) onto a color, first choose a color(I always start with white). There should usually be at least one edge pice on that side. Turn the top color (the whole thing, so that the very center piece rotates) until that edge piece matches an adjacent middle(i will explain). The cube is made up of 27 pieces. Each pice is either a corner piece with three sides(stickers) on it, these pieces are always on the corners no matter how you turn the cube. Edge pices have two sides and are always on an edge in between two corners. The middle pieces of each side are connected at the center of the cube and dont move, they just rotate (you can see this if you take the cube apart). Each piece has stickers on it that match whatever middle pieces it touches when solved (ex: the piece touching the blue middle and the red middle would have a blue and red sticker on it, hence the name blue-red pice). Whatever edge piece you have on top, touching its color, has another sticker on it. You need to rotate the top color (the color you chose) so that the edge pice matches its other middle. It is now in place and touching both its middle pieces. Now find another edge pice with the color you started with on it(there are four total) that is on the bottom layer. If you look dirrectly at the cube with your color on top there are three horizontal moving layers (your color is the top layer). Find an edge with your color on it that is on the bottom layer and turn the bottom layer until that piece in dirrectly under the spot that it goes on the top layer. If your piece matches the middle that it is touching(under) do F2. If not, do D R F' R'. If a piece is not on the bottom face, simply rotate the face it is on until it is and continue. If done right, you should have a cross on the top face, and all the top edges should match the middles that they are touching.

The corners are done with the same method, but a a slightly different move. First turn the bottom until the corner is under where it belongs. If it is not on the bottom, R'D'R. Position the cube so that your color on the corner is facing you. It will now either be on the right face of the cube or the left. If it is on the right, D'R'D R. If it is on the left, D L D'L'. If it is on the bottom, R'D2 R D2 F D'F. After this your top layer should be complete and from the side there should be a stripe at the top all the way around the cube.

A common mistake is that your edges and/or corners dont match the middles they touch. Just remove them from their bad spots(current) and put them onto the top where they belong. This will move down the piece that was in its spot, then simply put that piece in its spot. For edges, take off top(with wrong edge facing you): L'R U L R', to put onto top(under where it belongs): D L'R F' L R'. For corners, take off top (with wrong corner facing you and to the right[there are two corners facing you on top]): R'D'R. Put on top: same as when puting them up in the first place.


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On to the second layer.